Silent majority

[ONT-CA]

Just returning from a trans Atlantic cruise that was posted on this site. From the replies we established that there were to be 5 FOD's aboard. We were overwhelmed to see 38 guys and 4 gals at the announced FOD get together. That was 6% of the ship. We wonder if it is not time to do some recruiting for CC to get more input or is it that CC is well read but by a Silent Majority.

[garsny]

My posts and roll calls never seem to get answered.It seems to all happen on board.Maybe people are too closeted,or scared to post.Thank god i am not like that.

[Blazerboy]

Or, quite the opposite is possible. We are "out" on the main board roll calls, as is another couple, so haven't felt the need to chat over here on a separate roll call.

But it's all good.

Andrew

[bdpnatl]

I always look for a Roll Call in the GLBT section, but have rarely found one for the cruises we have been on. I have started one also, and gotten no response, but there are always other GLBT's on board and we always manage to find each other.

[chelsea brown]

Originally Posted by bdpnatl

I always look for a Roll Call in the GLBT section, but have rarely found one for the cruises we have been on. I have started one also, and gotten no response, but there are always other GLBT's on board and we always manage to find each other.

Yes , I always look here too , but usually end up meeting other couples on board , although it would be nice to open a friendship link before boarding ...


Josie

[bdpnatl]

I agree it is nice to know ahead of time that you will know someone else on board. I imagine it is probably more important if you are traveling single.

We have always been pleasantly surprised at how friendly eveyone is on board and it has never been a problem to meet people and to find other LGBT people on board the ship. I doubt that this is just something that happens on Celebrity, but it has made our cruises on Celebrity that much more enjoyable.

[chelsea brown]

Originally Posted by bdpnatl

I agree it is nice to know ahead of time that you will know someone else on board. I imagine it is probably more important if you are traveling single.

We have always been pleasantly surprised at how friendly eveyone is on board and it has never been a problem to meet people and to find other LGBT people on board the ship. I doubt that this is just something that happens on Celebrity, but it has made our cruises on Celebrity that much more enjoyable.

We usually attend the FOD get togethers onboard and have made some long lasting friendships that have lasted after the cruise ended ... Always fun ...

[BayAreaBC]

Did you write a review for the trip? If you mention the FOD meetings in your review you may smoke out a few more closeted people.

It would be funny if you have to explain what FOD means.

[bdpnatl]

I have thought about writing some reviews to counter all the negative reviews out there. I had not thought about posintg here to see if it would bring more questions and responses from LGBT's that were uncertain about taking a straight cruise.

[Chicken_Lips]

I wish the LGBT crowd would participate more in the G/L roll calls. The straight ones are so freakin boring! I try to participate in the mainstream roll calls but I usually end up drifting away after reading tons of boring stories about grandkids, Cruise Critic get togethers with lame gift exchanges, etc. Gays and lesbians are always the life of the party and you know it!

But I don't let that deter me from taking mainstream cruises. I've never had a homophobic problem and there's always cool straight couples aboard along with some wild f*g hags in the happening bars.

[bdpnatl]

I know there have been times when I have seen gay couples participating in the regular roll calls and they were not necessarily aware that there were gay roll calls.

[Kenito]

I think part of it is that the main roll calls are populated by people with more time than those among us who are still in the workplace.

Also... a lot of GLBT cruisers are partnered, and don't feel the need to worry about meeting others. I'm a regular here... my partner could care less about posting.

And... I have found many who are just not into this kind of "internet stuff!"

I don't agree with them... I think any kind of networking and visibility is good for us as a group, and good for us as individuals. And even more important, I think visibility on the ship helps bring attention to the cruiselines that we are a market they need to pay attention to.

I organize annual gay group cruises... every cruise I always speak to the Cruise Director, and on occasion have found reason to address the captain or other key staff. I think it is good to let them know we are there and I encourage you to do the same.

[chelsea brown]

Originally Posted by Kenito

I think part of it is that the main roll calls are populated by people with more time than those among us who are still in the workplace.

Also... a lot of GLBT cruisers are partnered, and don't feel the need to worry about meeting others. I'm a regular here... my partner could care less about posting.

And... I have found many who are just not into this kind of "internet stuff!"

I don't agree with them... I think any kind of networking and visibility is good for us as a group, and good for us as individuals. And even more important, I think visibility on the ship helps bring attention to the cruiselines that we are a market they need to pay attention to.

I organize annual gay group cruises... every cruise I always speak to the Cruise Director, and on occasion have found reason to address the captain or other key staff. I think it is good to let them know we are there and I encourage you to do the same.

I like your way of thinking . My partner has absolutely no interest in the Internet but I enjoy checking in here to keep an eye on the pulse of our fellow cruisers , and perhaps fan the flames of anticipation of the cruise . She used to say that if I had my way I'd " drape our house in the rainbow flag " however I have outgrown my political aspirations years ago and am now perfectly content to reside in a country where same sex marriage is the norm...

[Kenito]

Originally Posted by chelsea brown

I like your way of thinking . My partner has absolutely no interest in the Internet but I enjoy checking in here to keep an eye on the pulse of our fellow cruisers , and perhaps fan the flames of anticipation of the cruise . She used to say that if I had my way I'd " drape our house in the rainbow flag " however I have outgrown my political aspirations years ago and am now perfectly content to reside in a country where same sex marriage is the norm...

I think Harvey Milk said something like, "If they know us, they don't hate us."

That doesn't require draping the house, but just being visible is a good thing. Glad to see you are out there 'representing!' Maybe we'll see you on a cruise one of these days.

[Trickie Dickie]

Originally Posted by ONT-CA

Just returning from a trans Atlantic cruise that was posted on this site. From the replies we established that there were to be 5 FOD's aboard. We were overwhelmed to see 38 guys and 4 gals at the announced FOD get together. That was 6% of the ship. We wonder if it is not time to do some recruiting for CC to get more input or is it that CC is well read but by a Silent Majority.

We always promote CC at the FOD's we attend! Most of the people we talk to have never heard of CC and love the idea. We've recruited many a new member!

[Kenito]

I know someone at CC will consider this being a "troublemaking" but I honestly think that anything that encourages cruising is a good thing for CC. When you are the biggest, you don't have to fear the competition.

Hence, McDonalds understands it is good to have Burger King or Taco Bell in the same area, because rather than losing business, it encourages more visits to the area. That's also why food courts prosper.

I don't understand why CC prohibits our discussion of our small groups getting together for a cruise. As if a gay bowling league sponsoring a group cruise would discourage someone from going on a CC sponsored group cruise. I don't get it.

The point is, that we could encourage more gay cruisers to check in to CC and encourage cruising in general if we could mention that information was also available at www.****************** but as you can see, sharing that kind of information is not allowed.

Ford invites comparison with Chevy because they believe they have a better product, and asking their customers to ignore their competition's existence is silly.

Just sayin'

[Amsterdamguy]

Originally Posted by Kenito

I know someone at CC will consider this being a "troublemaking" but I honestly think that anything that encourages cruising is a good thing for CC.

Would there be such a person on CC? They don't seem to mind to point out to their advertisers that I'm more than average interested in gay issues. All the banners shout to me about this All Gay Caribbean cruise and everything else gay they can come up with. I think they've pretty much figured out we're an important market for them

Shame though that these roll calls and other attempts of linking before boarding seem to fail these days. It's become too main stream to be gay I guess. Good for us!!

[Trickie Dickie]

Originally Posted by Amsterdamguy

Would there be such a person on CC? They don't seem to mind to point out to their advertisers that I'm more than average interested in gay issues. All the banners shout to me about this All Gay Caribbean cruise and everything else gay they can come up with. I think they've pretty much figured out we're an important market for them

Shame though that these roll calls and other attempts of linking before boarding seem to fail these days. It's become too main stream to be gay I guess. Good for us!!

We do really well with the gay roll calls on longer cruises. The short cruises not so much.

[Kenito]

Originally Posted by Amsterdamguy

Would there be such a person on CC? They don't seem to mind to point out to their advertisers that I'm more than average interested in gay issues. All the banners shout to me about this All Gay Caribbean cruise and everything else gay they can come up with. I think they've pretty much figured out we're an important market for them

Shame though that these roll calls and other attempts of linking before boarding seem to fail these days. It's become too main stream to be gay I guess. Good for us!!

Just to clarify, I did not mean to imply that CC has any particular disinterest in gay cruisers (and not sure you meant that either) but just that CC does not allow the mention of other websites that cater to the gay cruiser, specifically.

I understand it is their website and they choose what rules to enforce... but that I think it would be good for CC and us if they allowed mention of other gay-specific cruising sites. Not a biggie....

[bdpnatl]

I would think it would also be a good thing to allow those sites to at least be mentioned. CC is still a wealth of information on things topics that are not "gay". Examples are information on cabins, excursions, and food to name a few. I think that a gay cruiser would still find the value in all that CC has to offer, even if they went to other sites that catered more to the Gay traveler for other information.

But those are the rules and I guess the issue is if they changed the rule fof gay sites, where do they draw the line?