Story & Lesson Highlights with Andru Fratarcangeli

We’re looking forward to introducing you to Andru Fratarcangeli. Check out our conversation below.

Hi Andru, thank you so much for joining us today. We’re thrilled to learn more about your journey, values and what you are currently working on. Let’s start with an ice breaker: Have any recent moments made you laugh or feel proud?
I’ve been 3d printing terrain for the popular tabletop wargame Warhammer 40k for our upcoming Oct 5 – 11, 2025 Battle Barge Tabletop Wargaming Cruise. Most recently I’ve finished up a table worth of ice spires and terrain features and had an idea of how to speed paint them to look like glacial ice. They came out better than expected after painting them solely with spray can colors. It’s such a simple thing among so many duties I manage for the company but I enjoyed the simple work with some creative expression from start to finish.

Can you briefly introduce yourself and share what makes you or your brand unique?
Hi, I’m Andru Fratarcangeli, CEO of Event.Cruises. We turn cruise ships into floating conventions for gamers, artists, music fans, and entrepreneurs. Think tournaments, workshops, and community quests at sea, like your favorite con but with better views and a buffet.

What makes us special is the people. Our team, our partners, and especially our guests are what bring these events to life. I’m just the guy steering the ship so to say. Right now we’re growing our event lineup of themed sailings and building a marketplace so more communities can create their own dream cruises.

Big picture, we’re scaling from small sailings to full ship takeovers and one day maybe even our own event cruise vessel. Until then, I’m grateful to everyone who has come aboard and made this journey possible.

Appreciate your sharing that. Let’s talk about your life, growing up and some of topics and learnings around that. What’s a moment that really shaped how you see the world?
A big turning point for me was at 19 in US Army boot camp. My platoon had to pick a leader, and to my complete shock they chose me. Teenage me would’ve run for the hills at the idea of leading or public speaking, but that moment flipped a switch. I realized that being genuine and looking out for the group made people want to follow and thrive together.

That experience gave me the confidence to keep building communities, first with game developers in Miami and now with Event.Cruises. At the end of the day, everything I do comes back to that lesson: people trust you when you trust them, and great things happen when you create spaces where folks feel they belong.

Was there ever a time you almost gave up?
Absolutely. the global pandemic felt like it sank the entire cruise industry overnight when the world shutdown. For a while it felt like everything we had built was gone and no idea if it would come back. We survived those two years by making very deliberate choices by cutting costs where we had to and dealing with the cruise lines to ensure our guests best interests were taken care of once we could return to sea. We took some calculated risks but none that would compromise the future that we hoped would return over those 2 long years. It wasn’t easy, but holding that line meant when ships finally came back, we were ready to sail again and have even rebounded with more sailings than ever.

Alright, so if you are open to it, let’s explore some philosophical questions that touch on your values and worldview. What’s a belief you used to hold tightly but now think was naive or wrong?
I used to think life would just “happen when it needed to happen.” That passive mindset felt safe, but it was naive. Over time I learned no one’s coming to save you, you’re your own best advocate. If you want something, you have to move now, do the hard work, and earn it. Waiting for permission will leave you behind and you’re not going to like the regret debt you build overtime vs knowing you tried and failed or better yet tried and succeeded.

Okay, so let’s keep going with one more question that means a lot to us: Have you ever gotten what you wanted, and found it did not satisfy you?
Yes, honestly pretty often too. I hit milestones I thought would be the summit, like record size events or turning a self-funded idea into a profitable operation, and felt…unsatisfied. Turns out the entrepreneurial bug is voracious. Goals expand, problems evolve, and the thing you chased becomes the launchpad for the next chase. I’ve learned to be kinder to myself about it though. Now I try to celebrate the wins with the team and the community who actually make all of this possible. Heck, I think even with all the resources in the world, I’d still want more time to do everything I care about, so I try to enjoy the ride while I am here and say thanks more often.

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Image Credits
Image credits to Event.Cruises

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