Gay couple's first cruise ever: Do we have to fear homophobia?

Hi all, we're a gay couple (one is Aussie, one German, both in our 30ies) and will go on our first cruise ever on RCI's Allure of the Seas in September. I've seen some reports here and there about single staff members who act discriminating or outright homophobe towards gay couples- is this something we need to fear?

It has happened only once or twice since we've been together that we had to have discussions in a hotel about our beds being together and we travel a lot so the last place I want to experience something like this is on our long awaited first every cruise. We've already been told that Jamaica will be the perfect port to stay on the ship (which is probably quite a nice thing to do anyway ;)) but what about staff from a country like this? I am pretty confident that we can tell the occasional homophobe guest where to go in case they can't stand seeing me applying sunscreen to my partner's back but if we get into trouble with any of the staff- what would be the best place to complain, I'm sure RCI wouldn't endorse any such behavior?

Any tips or suggestions very much appreciated. And no- we don't have sex in public. But yes- I think it is our very right to hold hands in public even if some of the more conservative-minded fellow cruisers might have an issue with that.

We have NEVER had an issue. Everyone knows we are a couple. On the last cruise, we were one of the couples in the Not So Newlywed game. They recorded the show and played it all week (over and over and over) on the ship television. If anything, we became minor celebrities.

Never had a problem in 14 cruises as a couple. Should you experience an issue though, I would definitely head to Guest Services to report it.

We have been on lots of cruises with various cruise lines - Princess, RCI, Azamara, Thomson, P&O and have never ever had any problems, we always ask for a queen size bed so it is quite obvious to the cabin steward but no problems at all.

Chris and John

Awwhhh.. to bad you won't be on our cruise.. We are going on RCI Jewel of the Seas Nov 8-15th. It will be our honeymoon cruise and our first ever cruise together and we are not sure either of the reactions from people. My Wife to be has never cruised before and I was on one many years ago in college, back in 1989. We took a week long resort vacation in June to Mexico and we were just about the only gay couple on the resort, we met another gay couple from Argentina but the guys were leaving the day after we met them on the beach so we only had a few hours to chat with them on the beach their last night. I tell you it was so nice to find another couple that was "family" to chat with. Hopefully you will meet at least one other gay couple on the cruise. We are keeping our fingers crossed that we meet at least one other couple that we can hang out with even if it's just a dinner here or there or walking around town at one of the ports. We have tons of straight friends and are very friendly with everyone but there is always just something more special when you can meet other gay couples on vacation.

Not on the ship but depending what ports you go to you may.

Many of the Caribbean islands and ports in North Africa are very homophobic.

In all my 30+ cruises homophobia has never been an issue. Never. Cruise lines are people friendly. No one care about your sexual orientation or if you want your beds together. Sure, you could find a homophobic passenger and/or crew member. That can happen anywhere in the world. Just be prepared. I can assure you this is a rarity and you needn't be worried. If you do you need to report that crew member to the head of their department immediately.

FYI-RCI was hosted twice the Allure of Seas all gay charters with Atlantis Events.

It is for sure a rarity, and becoming rarer all the time as the scales tip in the US on attitudes towards same sex marriage. You're also sailing out of Fort Lauderdale and not, for example, Mobile, Alabama.

In the past few years I've had a couple of male ship photographers who were obviously uncomfortable doing a same sex formal portrait or something like that, but were not outright rude about it and did their job. Cabin stewards have always been great about "beds together" and things like that. The spa won't care if you do a couples treatment, etc. If there is a problem, speak to the head of the department involved, or guest services.

I have not encountered any issues with fellow passengers with the unfortunate exception of an infamous encounter in 2003 on the old Monarch of the Seas. But I think those days are mainly past, and the world will always be full of mighty ignorant people, no matter where you are.

Go, have fun, and be sure to check out the "groups" board by Guest Services when you board and look for the "Friends of Dorothy" meeting. If there isn't one posted, or the one posted is inconvenient, post your own :)

Years ago, I took one cruise (with a lot of Southern Baptists wearing name tags) where there was actual anti-gay stuff going on. But on our honeymoon cruise last year on the Royal Princess, we wore matching "Just Married" T-shirts, and days later straight folks were still coming up to congratulate us. Yes, I'm sure there were people aboard who disapproved, but they kept their stupid, bigoted mouths shut. :)

I do think, though, on the basis of nothing provable, that a short family-oriented cruise out of, oh, Galveston on Carnival might attract a somewhat less gay-supportive crowd than our Princess TA from Venice.

And I'm with you: I insist on the right to hold hands on the promenade deck or slow-dance with my husband. Even give him the same sort of kisses het couples share in public without a second thought. Thing is, when we do the PDA thing, it's the most interesting straight people onboard who are the ones who become our friends.

I've been on many cruises / crossings as a single, "in love" and with my partner(3 distinctly different status) and never had any incident or problem( I worked in Corporate and my partner was a really big(size wise / height)NYC policeman). And after dinner & a couple of cocktails we sometimes head up to the night club & boogie..alone or as couple and one of my favorite moments is when we take our walk around the promenade deck before we go to bed for the night ...and all I have to do is hold his pinky & feel & know all is right with my/ our world!

What you really should be concerned about is all the polyester & inappropriate gym clothing seen around the ship - especially at the buffet!!!! My my if that spandex ever explodes it could take out hundreds if innocent passengers & crew!!!!

Have a faboo cruise.....enjoy!!!

I've been on many cruises / crossings as a single, "in love" and with my partner(3 distinctly different status) and never had any incident or problem( I worked in Corporate and my partner was a really big(size wise / height)NYC policeman). And after dinner & a couple of cocktails we sometimes head up to the night club & boogie..alone or as couple and one of my favorite moments is when we take our walk around the promenade deck before we go to bed for the night ...and all I have to do is hold his pinky & feel & know all is right with my/ our world!

 

What you really should be concerned about is all the polyester & inappropriate gym clothing seen around the ship - especially at the buffet!!!! My my if that spandex ever explodes it could take out hundreds if innocent passengers & crew!!!!

 

Have a faboo cruise.....enjoy!!!

Yeah, I remember this guy in a spandex thong at a local ice cream shop. No beach within miles. So big, you couldn't tell his "sex". He tried to cause a scene in the icecream shop, but was kicked out amid laughter & boos. Sorry, all you PC folks out there, this just

was obscene on so many levels!

I was a little worried before our first cruise last May, but there was really no need to be. Never had an issue on the ship or at any of the ports. Our next cruise departs out of Galveston, TX, so I'm a little more concerned about people on that ship, but still not overly worried. I grew up in Texas until 07 and the attitude is definitely getting better.

My partner and I are sailing out of Galveston on November 9, in past cruises from Galveston we always meet others like us. We always have a great time

My partner and I are sailing out of Galveston on November 9, in past cruises from Galveston we always meet others like us. We always have a great time

My first cruise was a transatlantic out of Galveston in 2010, it was about 75% Texans, many of the others foreigners trying to get home due to flight delays from a volcano in Greenland. There was a noticeable gay contingent on board. Although Texas has a well deserved conservative label, it's a big state. Houston's mayor is openly gay and both Houston and Galveston have gay communities to rival Castro in SF. The previous shots at cruising from Texas are not well informed.

My husband and I have been on multiple cruises on Royal Caribbean and have never experienced any homophobia. The only thing that might be remotely related to it is that on our first RCI cruise we didn't request that the beds not be separate because we didn't know any better. We pushed the beds together and the stateroom attendant was confused when we tried to explain to him that we wanted them together until the lightbulb went off in his head. For the rest of the 14-day cruise every time he saw us leave our room he would give us this devious smile as if to say "I know what you guys were doing in there!"

My first cruise was a transatlantic out of Galveston in 2010, it was about 75% Texans, many of the others foreigners trying to get home due to flight delays from a volcano in Greenland. There was a noticeable gay contingent on board. Although Texas has a well deserved conservative label, it's a big state. Houston's mayor is openly gay and both Houston and Galveston have gay communities to rival Castro in SF. The previous shots at cruising from Texas are not well informed.

I didn't know about Houston and Galveston. When I left the state in 07 Austin was one of the few places I really felt like I didn't have to worry. But as time goes on the US is getting more and more accepting everywhere.

My partner and I live in Austin and have never had any issues, most of your larger cities in Texas are very liberal and accepting. the rural areas have a way to go.

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First of all, a huge thank you for all your responses, you guys are amazing!:o

We definitely feel a bit better now after reading all of this! We'll definitely put something up on the meeting board or whatever it's called unless there's already something on it. I would probably extend the meet up to open-minded straight couples around our age group as well, as someone had said on here, the most interesting straight people often are the ones who appreciate a little bit of home around them!:cool:

Less than two months now so we can't wait!

5 cruises under our belts, with two more booked, and we have never had any issue:)

My first cruise was a transatlantic out of Galveston in 2010, it was about 75% Texans, many of the others foreigners trying to get home due to flight delays from a volcano in Greenland. There was a noticeable gay contingent on board. Although Texas has a well deserved conservative label, it's a big state. Houston's mayor is openly gay and both Houston and Galveston have gay communities to rival Castro in SF. The previous shots at cruising from Texas are not well informed.

Like you said, Texas is a big state. Sure, there are urban enclaves where there are domestic partnership and anti-discrimination laws. And though I've never heard before Galveston and SFO mentioned as queer-equivalent, Galveston does apparently have "a handful of gay bars and clubs, gay-friendly restaurants and guesthouses." http://galveston.gaycities.com/

Thing is, if the entire state were Austin, Perry would never be governor. (Same as if all California were Bakersfield, Jerry Brown would never have been elected.) Sure, on the pro-gay-o-meter, the state ranks smack-dab midway between Massachusetts and West Virginia. But Galveston is also, I'd assume, where folks from less-friendly Louisiana and Arkansas would also go to cruise.

So I really do think (on, as I said, the basis of nothing provable) that a short family-oriented Texas cruise (not a TA) would simply not have the same percentage of gay-friendly pax as an off-season two-weeker out of San Francisco or Seattle.

Sometimes you will arrive on board and find the beds made up as singles, even if you have requested a queen set-up. This is not a deliberate snub, it happens often and is easily remedied by a quick word with the room steward. I hope you have a fantastic first cruise :)

I've only had 1 problem -- on my 2nd cruise, on RCCL's Splendour OTS in 2007. It was my honeymoon cruise and I went to Guest Relations to clear up a mistake on our bill. When I told the employee (Italian, if I recall correctly) that my husband and I had an issue, she looked perplexed and said, "your...what?" I said, "my husband." She still looked puzzled, then laughed nervously, and then told me she had serious customer issues to deal with (implying that I was a stupid American kid playing a prank on her?). Instead of a full on confrontation, I opted just to return later on and get the issue sorted. But it stands out to this day as the one negative experience I've ever had on RCCL. For the most part, RCCL (and by extension, Celebrity) has been a very welcoming atmosphere for us.

My last cruise in March 2014 on NCL Sky was a different story altogether. There were at least 2 instances of outright homophobia (slurs, taunts directed at my group of friends) by fellow pax. But I attribute this more to the nature and timing of the cruise (a 4-night bahamas/spring break party cruise) than to NCL itself.

In general, I think you have nothing to fear, particularly on Allure, where you'll undoubtedly be 2 among literally hundreds of other gay pax.

Hi all, we're a gay couple (one is Aussie, one German, both in our 30ies) and will go on our first cruise ever on RCI's Allure of the Seas in September. I've seen some reports here and there about single staff members who act discriminating or outright homophobe towards gay couples- is this something we need to fear?

 

It has happened only once or twice since we've been together that we had to have discussions in a hotel about our beds being together and we travel a lot so the last place I want to experience something like this is on our long awaited first every cruise. We've already been told that Jamaica will be the perfect port to stay on the ship (which is probably quite a nice thing to do anyway ;)) but what about staff from a country like this? I am pretty confident that we can tell the occasional homophobe guest where to go in case they can't stand seeing me applying sunscreen to my partner's back but if we get into trouble with any of the staff- what would be the best place to complain, I'm sure RCI wouldn't endorse any such behavior?

 

Any tips or suggestions very much appreciated. And no- we don't have sex in public. But yes- I think it is our very right to hold hands in public even if some of the more conservative-minded fellow cruisers might have an issue with that.

My husband and I are going on our first cruise on the NCL Dawn this October and had the same concerns. Thanks for posting!

We have NEVER had an issue. Everyone knows we are a couple. On the last cruise, we were one of the couples in the Not So Newlywed game. They recorded the show and played it all week (over and over and over) on the ship television. If anything, we became minor celebrities.

My husband and I are cruising on the NCL Dawn this October to Bermuda. It's our first cruise and really looking forward to it. It looks like you've cruised on NCL quite often. How have your experiences been? Any tips for us newbies? Thanks for sharing.

My partner and I have just returned from a 7-night Alaskan Cruise on the Celebrity Solstice and experienced nothing but the best from every person on board, both crew and fellow passengers. We do always keep our beds apart, mainly due to the "lump" in the middle but also because I toss and turn all night and don't want to wake him!

We got formal pictures done at literally every photo station and the photographers didn't flinch one bit. The passengers waiting after us to get their pictures done didn't bat an eye either. It's nice to go on a trip and not have to worry about the "gay thing" when all you want to do is enjoy your vacation.

This was our first cruise on Celebrity but we have done many RCCL cruises as well, most recently last summer on the Freedom of the Seas. Again, no issues at all. I can say that of all the cruises I've taken, I felt most comfortable on the Solstice, but in no way did I feel uncomfortable with Royal.

I hope you guys have a great time on your cruise. Relax and enjoy each other!