Base Camp 2008 - Europe?

JasonWD

I am referring to London, but I am still keen on somewhere in Europe, maybe somewhere warm .

dylan

Yes London is expensive, but I guess most major Cities are.
The beauty about London is the accessibility.

plot-paris

and most people speak english...

perhaps it is possible to find something a bit outside of London (still within reach of the tube).
accomodations would get much cheeper there. and if you go far enough it isn't necesarrily too dirty anymore

solo

Is there a time of the year when it's NOT raining? and maybe the sun makes an appearance?

plot-paris

SUNSHINE IN LONDON at the moment!
there is definitely a lot of sunshine here (but a lot of rain too )

last month we had a whole week of complete sunshine without a single raindrop.

it is very unfortunate that weather forecast isn't for the next six months - that would be cool

solo

Well it is Wimbelton time (the best time for an outdoor event) even though the weather normally does not conform during the finals.

Archi Rag

I'd second that, im moving up to newcastle to start a placement and stopped off there for a few hours and was pretty impressed by how much it had changed (i hadnt been there for a few years) although newcastle is a favourite for me (in terms of a good looking city)

linea

Dylan will probably back me up here: in Yorkshire we laugh at the rain! We have to. Although today it has been sunny. Today I went to Dylan's town of Sheffield for a meeting. I hadn't been there for years and I was amazed by all the fantastic looking new contemporary architecture. I would like to nominate Sheffield as a possible Base Camp venue, as yorkshire is quite a surprising place these days.

Mike Lucey

I can't sleep, still in Mid Atlantic time zone but getting
closer to Europe.

I had a long chat with Ross about what he thought might be
a good location and he suggested a Cruise Ship. At first I
thought, no way, but the more we discussed it the more it
made some sense for the following reasons.

a. Its an ALL IN PACKAGE i.e. no extras.
b. Spouses, Partners, Girlfriends, Boyfriend could also tag
along and enjoy the gig. Also the kids!
c. Most decent Cruise Ships have good facilities for meetings.
d. If we had a Med cruise it might even be possible to arrange
a hop on at various ports.
e. It would be nice to get some of the Google SU Guys ALSO some
of the Regular SketchUp Members from the USA and others areas
and as Ross says 'it could be swing-able from a monitory point
of view when it also combines a nice holiday for all'. BTW Ross
is Scottish! So, we have to give this serious thought, only kidding
Ross

I have been looking up what's available on the Mediterranean and
see some great cruises there. I have some contacts in the business
and will (just for the fun of it) check out what kind of a deal
might be had.

Mike

Gaieus

Mike don't forget that we need a bunch of power computers and broadband internet connection for such an event (though I can imagine some of the more modern ships have these facilities).

mateo soletic

A month or so ago Me and My wife were invited aboard MSC Poesia
during its first visit to my town .. It’s their newes ship and it great.
Have a look here.

http://www.msckrstarenja.com/flotta/multimedia_ship/infoship.asp?ship_id=261
and the company:
http://www.msccruises.com/cruises.asp

I don’t know if this would be the greatest choice for such a meeting .
Too much going on over there , sightseeings other events but if all
majority are for it why not.
I also have good connections there.

Mike Lucey

I notice that the Costa Concordia have a week's Med Cruise
for under $500 €322 £253

It seems that these ships do not have broadband connection
but again is this really essential? I only need to check
my emails once a day and answer same while travelling. I
prefer to spend as much time with people not computers. I
don't need to do any up / downloads. More importantly would
be a good sized meeting room for presentations / discussions
and these ships have these facilities plus dozens of Bars

A thought has just popped into my head about he various excursions
that would be involved. These are mostly to historic areas /
places that may not have yet been Skoogled! Could this be an
opportunity for the SUC Cruisers to do some useful work that
could be uploaded to Google Earth? And maybe even get some form
of subsidy from Google for this professional work, just a thought
and one that I will investigate further.

We would have the expertise 'on-board' (pun intended ) headed
up by our esteemed Csaba If successful this could be an annual
event and we could cover all the Med and its historic treasures

Under $500 for 7 days.jpg

kwistenbiebel

I wanted to sit this thread out until a place was chosen, so I can see if it fits the time schedule and the budget.

But I just have to react on this:
A cruise? Isn't that expensive?

solo

Funny enough Chris they really are not expensive, I have been on a few (Mostly Caribbean) 4 day cruises that were less expensive than going to a hotel by the beach for the same amount of time.

Mike Lucey

I don't think €322 (sharing) for 7 nights full board is
expensive. There are some quite good deals to be had
and I imagine better if there are some numbers involved.

kwistenbiebel

Oh...I didn't know that.
I always get the mental image of Hercule Poirot on a luxury ship solving a murder, when I think about cruises.

But cheaper than a hotel room hey? Now the idea starts to grow on me

mateo soletic

First I Would like to say that it is a good thing that we have
seriously started discussing the possible base camp Europe.

Since my town is a home port to many of these Cruise ships
I have some inside information that I think is necessary to
shed some light on this topic .

First:

@unknownuser said:

Oh...I didn't know that.
I always get the mental image of Hercule Poirot on a luxury
ship solving a murder, when I think about cruises.

The cruise holiday has only recently become available to masses.
The last couple of Years have seen the cruise industry expand
greatly. It is the most growing tourist industry with the most
satisfied percentage of clients.

@unknownuser said:

I don't think €322 (sharing) for 7 nights full board is
expensive.

It is not expensive if say a hundred people could get that price.
What they usually do is advertise some of the cheapest inside cabins
Some of which are limited. The other cabins are much more expensive.

@unknownuser said:

There are some quite good deals to be had and I imagine better
if there are some numbers involved.

Another problem might be accommodating larger number of
people at short notice. I was told that a six month in advance
booking for larger groups is a usual thing. If we are serious on
this I think we should start inquiring now because it will take
us at least two months to get organised here as to who is going .

@unknownuser said:

Its an ALL IN PACKAGE i.e. no extras.

Another thing to bear in mind is that they don’t allow people to
bring alcohol on board. The catch is in the fact that drinks are very
expensive on board. This is one of the mayor income to them .
The excursions they organise are also expensive. Sometimes up
to 100 Euro per person. But one can get around with that.
One can organise excursions directly through local agency and
save more than 50% .

So the mayor problem might be the booze.

And for the end :
The best informative price I got from a close contact
from a competitive company was 550 Euro inside cabin
and 650 euro outside cabin. This would be for a group
100-150 people around the same time and similar destinations.
He also told me that this is the only availability for such
a group this Year.

Everything else has been booked well in advance.

This is the price per person in a double room.
Children can go free in a four bed cabin.
Another additional expense is the tax of 115
euro per person which is not included in the price.

The ship is MSC Opera.
http://www.cruise-ferry-center.com/hr/default.asp?id=1051

EddyNL

Hey guys,

I'm new here, whats all this talk about Base Camp?
Is it like a get-together for SU users?

mateo soletic

Right James,
I think that all these facts should be put forward and say
we come to an average price of say XY Euros per person .
for a weeks holiday. The transportation could be then calculated
and added individually, You from Ireland, Me from Croatia...
to form the final expected expenditure.
And then we can ask how many people are going and see what
we get.

plot-paris

@mateo soletic said:

The best informative price I got from a close contact
from a competitive company was 550 Euro inside cabin

@mateo soletic said:

Another additional expense is the tax of 115
euro per person which is not included in the price.

so it is 665 Euro...

@unknownuser said:

And just to add to that list Mateo, some of us would have to fly to the respective country and make our way to the port ..so add cost of flight and transportation.

lets asume 100 Euro for travel there and back again.
then we are at 765 Euro (and haven't took any excursions or alkohol in account)

I am afraid for some (poor students like me for example) this will be quite a lot of money

for comparisson: you will get a hotel room (double room) in London - expensive city - for about 300 Euro a week

I would like the idea of a whole ship full of SketchUp nerds very much though