We’re proud to announce two cruises for 2011, and registration starts now!

March 6 – Miami to Grand Cayman and Cozumel – 5 Days

SQLCruise 2010 - Shoes Optional

This cruise is geared towards entry-level and beginner SQL Server Professionals who have 1-3 years of experience working with SQL Server.  We will be covering the early stages of advanced topics:

• High Availability – Clustering, mirroring, log shipping and replication are difficult technologies to master.  We’ll explain how to make the right choices.  Attendees don’t need any experience with HA, because we’ll be teaching you how to get started.
• Performance Tuning – When users complain that your SQL Server is slow, learn how to use the free tools SQLDiag and SQLNexus to get to the real root of the problem and prove it.
• SAN Storage – Learn what’s happening inside the black box.  We’ll teach you what SQL Server DBAs need to know about RAID and multipathing in order to get your money’s worth out of your SAN.
• Using DMVs – We’ll go into depth about our favorite dynamic management views for easier server management and tuning.  No DMV experience required – we’ll teach you from the ground up.

We depart Miami, FL on March 6, 2010 for a five day cruise to the Cayman Islands and Cozumel on board the Norwegian Dawn.  Book your cruise through Norwegian – rooms are as low as $400 per person, and you can choose from inside or balcony rooms.  The cost for training and materials is an additional $495.  (You only have to pay the training cost for folks who are coming to the training – if you bring your spouse & kids, there’s no training cost for them.  Unless they wanna learn SQL Server too, in which case, bring the crayons!)

May 29 – Seattle to Alaska – 7 Days – SOLD OUT!

Everybody into the hot tub!

This cruise is aimed at the moderate and advanced SQL Server Professional.  Our special guest speaker will be none other than Buck Woody (Blog – @BuckWoody)!  We’ll be covering:

• High Availability – We’ll dive into how active/active clustering, mirroring, and log shipping interoperate with each other to meet your HA and DR needs, and cover common implementation pitfalls.
• Performance Tuning – We’ll show you how to use SQLNexus to write a report for your internal users or clients to pinpoint performance problems.  We’ll walk through constructing and delivering that report to convince them to make changes.
• SAN Storage – We’ll cover what you need to know before you make a bad SAN investment decision.  Don’t buy more drives or a new SAN controller until you learn how to test with SQLIO, design for snapshot backups, and see the differences between vendor implementations of SAN storage.
• Using DMVs – We’ll go into depth about our favorite dynamic management views for easier server management and tuning, plus show how to consolidate the data for easier reporting.

Plus more, like how to give back to your local user group via presenting.  We depart Seattle on 5/29/2010 en route to Ketchikan, Skagway, Juneau, and Victoria on board the Norwegian Pearl.  Book your cruise through Norwegian – rooms are as low as $800 per person.  Cost for training and materials for this week-long SQL Cruise is an additional $895.

Update – in just one day, the Alaska cruise sold out! Spots are still available for Miami, though.

But The Best Thing You’ll Learn On Either SQLCruise…

Is that you’re not alone.  There are fun people who do the same thing you do all day long, struggling with the same issues, and we’ve all come up with cool ways to get things done.  Session after session, day after day, you get to bounce ideas off people who you respect.  We all share, we all bond, and we all relax together.  It’s easier to ask career questions, salary questions, or manager questions when you’ve got a margarita in your hand and everybody’s wearing flip-flops.

SQLCruisers Having a Ball in 2010

You want honest answers from real people?  Here’s where you’ll get ’em.

How to Register & When Payments are Due

First, you need to contact Norwegian Cruise Lines to book a room.  They’ll reserve your cabin with a $200 deposit per person, and you’ll need to pay the balance of the cruise before departure.

Then register for the SQLCruise training, and we’ll send you an invoice for the training fee.  Hopefully your company will foot at least that part of the bill, but if not, you’ve got until January 31st to pay that portion.

Your next steps:

• Download the SQLCruise 2011 brochure and leave it discreetly on your manager’s desk
• Check out Norweigan’s rates for the March 6th Miami cruise and the May 29th Alaska cruise (and note that you can book your room with as little as $200 down)
• Meet your fellow cruisers
• Register for the SQLCruise training
• Ask for forgiveness from your spouse

Act quickly – we’ve only got 15 spots open per cruise, and our prior cruisers have already booked spots on both cruises!

Update – the Alaska cruise has sold out! Spots are still open for the Miami cruise, though.