What Nomad Cruise is all about
Have you ever heard of Nomad Cruise? For anyone not yet acquainted with this company and concept, it’s basically a group trip and conference for digital nomads, based on a cruise ship. Each Nomad Cruise trip brings together a few hundred remote workers and location-independent entrepreneurs on a commercial cruise line. Offered onboard is a jam-packed programme of conference talks and workshops by handpicked speakers, plus leisurely and social activities such as themed parties.
Nomad Cruise is also heavy on the community and co-creation, with a WhatsApp community for each cruise trip, and the freedom for any attendee to host their own meetup on an interest of their choice. And of course, how could it be a proper cruise without the port stops, where Nomad Cruise organises group excursions (each for an additional cost). Alternatively, you can leave the ship at your own leisure, or even stay on board if you’d rather.
It’s also not just about the cruise itself; in the port city or town a few days before it starts, Nomad Cruise organises pre-reunion events – usually relaxed networking mixers in bars or restaurants that give attendees an initial opportunity to meet each other and hang out. Plus, there are usually excursions organised in that location, both by Nomad Cruise and by attendees.
After the cruise trip finishes, there are even more tours and reunion events set up at the arrival destination for Nomad Cruisers to continue the adventure. The Nomad Cruise team suggests an onward route to other nearby locations to gather and explore together. The Nomad Cruise schedule off the ship is a lot less busy (usually a few events a week), so this is a good opportunity to slow down, reflect on your time on the cruise, catch up with your usual work, and cowork with other Nomad Cruisers. Plus, the WhatsApp groups remain open long after the main event for people to continue discussions, posting updates and arranging informal reunions around the world.
Nomad Cruise runs 2 – 3 trips a year and sails a variety of routes each time on different cruise lines, covering every continent around the world (even Antarctica!). This is sure to satisfy the novelty and adventure that many digital nomads seek. The cruise trips also vary in length, from 1 week to 1 month, to suit different budgets and time constraints. Please note that Nomad Cruise doesn’t take up the whole cruise ship (usually) – there are other regular cruise passengers on board at the same time. However, Nomad Cruise does provide its own itinerary and reserves a room on board for its conference.
My first Nomad Cruise
Initially, I heard about Nomad Cruise through a social media advert many years back, and I thought what a cool idea it was. I didn’t join one straight away, but kept it in mind. Then the COVID pandemic came and went, before I started travelling more and got more involved in the digital nomad world. I started going to various events and colivings around the world and kept meeting people who had been on a Nomad Cruise and raved about it. So it was firmly back in my mind, and I kept an eye on their upcoming trips, until I finally booked and attended my first one in June 2025 – NC14, sailing from France to Greece. It was a mostly positive experience, and I decided to return and do NC16’s Hong Kong to the Philippines route in February 2026. And I’m not the only one – many people go on Nomad Cruise multiple times, as it’s such an amazing experience that brings something different each time you do it.
I was very excited when I touched down in Marseille, France, for NC14 – my first-ever Nomad Cruise. I sort of knew what to expect, but not really. It was definitely an overwhelming experience – not necessarily a negative, but to be expected for an event of this magnitude, especially for your first time (and it was my first time ever on a cruise!). This cruise was only for one week, which I thought was an ideal way to try this out without the commitment of a longer cruise. However, I made the mistake of deciding to continue my full-time work alongside being on the cruise – I was constantly “go go go” running between cruise activities and client work, having little time to fully relax. So I already knew that next time I would take the time off work to be able to experience the cruise better.
Despite the overwhelm, I overall had a great time and was glad I joined. There were many familiar faces there whom I’d met already on my extensive digital nomad journeys around the world, so that helped me to feel part of something bigger. And even if you are brand new to the digital nomad world, like many people I met are, I’d be shocked if you struggled to find a place to fit in at Nomad Cruise. So many Nomad Cruisers are so open and welcoming to bring you into their gang.
I’d decided not to sign up for any official Nomad Cruise excursions and just went with the flow instead. I joined self-directed walking tours with other Nomad Cruisers at our stops in Sicily and Malta, and also joined a small Nomad Escape reunion dinner in Malta. I was having a bit of travel burnout at the time, so this ended up being the best way for me to spend my time on this cruise. I also had a chilled-out couple of weeks in Greece after we arrived at our final cruise stop of Athens and continued on to Naxos Island for some reunion meetups. Another mistake I made here was accidentally booking accommodation in Naxos that was far away from everyone, and it isn’t a location where you can easily get public transport or on-demand taxis. This was pretty much my fault for not reading the Nomad Cruise Notion guides thoroughly enough – best believe that I did so properly next time!
At both Nomad Cruises I went to, I made an effort to participate in many fun parties, go to several seminars and take many notes, enjoy many group meals, and generally get really immersed in the experience. By the end of the cruise, I could definitely see what the fuss was about!
My second Nomad Cruise
NC16 Asia, a two-week cruise, was first announced during the NC14 trip that I attended. I was excited about NC16 because I love Asia and always welcome an opportunity to go back and explore some more. The route was slightly different back then and had changed a couple of times, which was apparently an unusual thing to happen for Nomad Cruise. It was, of course, slightly frustrating for some folk who had their eye on particular locations. The first iteration would have started in Singapore, and the second included stops in South Korea and Japan, which I was excited to go to, but then they were switched out on the final route. However, I was in Asia anyway and still ended up making my way to those two countries shortly afterwards – the Philippines is only a short two-hour flight to South Korea. The Nomad Cruise team did well to communicate these changes, and much of the community was happy to adapt accordingly.
If I’m being completely honest, the route that did happen – Hong Kong, Malaysia, Brunei, Vietnam, and the Philippines – didn’t sound the most exciting to me. I’d been to Hong Kong before, and the rest of the countries were not on my bucket list. However, I remained open-minded to check out what they had on offer and see what might pleasantly surprise me. In the end, it worked out really well. The whole route was in very warm regions, which made for constantly pleasant weather. I checked out all these stops, including joining an official Nomad Cruise tour to Bana Hills and Golden Bridge, and had a really good time exploring all these interesting places. The cruise itself had a majority of Chinese nationals on it (not part of Nomad Cruise), and a bunch of us joined their Chinese New Year’s party on board, which was great to experience, as well as all the decorations for it everywhere. A couple of Nomad Cruisers of Chinese origin held red envelope events, which I found really interesting to learn about and participate in. The Philippines was a cool place to finish in and check out for a couple of weeks, such as Manila, Boracay, and more, before many of us travelled onwards to other parts of Asia or back home elsewhere in the world.
Before that cruise, I’d just been in Chiang Mai, Thailand, for Nomad Summit, and I met a few people there who ended up going to Nomad Cruise too – the direct flight to Hong Kong was conveniently just a couple of hours. Then at NC16, I met lots of people whom I’d met before at the previous Nomad Cruise and/or other events – it feels like these little reunions are always happening. Of course, I met lots of new people too – many who attend are first timers.
The beauty of Nomad Cruise
At its core, Nomad Cruise is about community. It attracts a huge number and variety of people, of many nationalities from around the world, working in different industries and having many different interests. The things that Nomad Cruise attendees have in common are that they all love travel, are wholly (or at least partly) location-independent, with many being entrepreneurs, and they are also seeking community. In a world where there is a rising loneliness crisis, Nomad Cruise is providing an innovative solution to its target audience. Started in 2015 by Johannes Voelkner, when he wanted to gather a bunch of his fellow remote working friends to go travelling together, Nomad Cruise has continued to grow from strength to strength and become somewhat of a pilgrimage for many digital nomads.
As I’ve already mentioned, Nomad Cruise can be an overwhelming experience – I certainly find it to be. I’m also an introvert, so take that into account. I would suggest that it’s best to treat it as a “pick your own adventure” thing. Yes, there’s going to be something scheduled almost every single hour of the day, every day of the cruise, but there’s really no need to push yourself to attend everything. Not every talk or activity is necessarily going to be relevant to you anyway, so it’s best to stick to what is. And for other times, don’t feel guilty if you’d rather just catch some extra sleep, check out the ship’s spa, do a bit of work, watch the waves on the top deck, go shopping, or have a drink with one of your Nomad Cruise mates — these are all part of the experience too! This all circles back to my point about using the Nomad Cruise as a vehicle for finding your community.
What next?
As of writing this blog post, the next two Nomad Cruises on the roster are the AI-themed NC17, sailing from Southampton, England, to New York, USA, and NC18, starting in Barcelona, Spain and making its way across the Atlantic Ocean to the Caribbean. Personally, I have my eye on NC18, since I’m very interested in visiting the Caribbean islands and I’ve never been before.
Let me know if you’re thinking of going on a Nomad Cruise! You can spread the cost by booking now with only a €250 deposit. Plus, save even more money by entering my discount code of TOKSTRAVELS for €100 off the total cost 🙂
