Does anyone do the FOD/LGBT gatherings?

We went to our first FOD on QM2 crossing 2017 May. It was fantastic.

Never having been to a FOD meeting- and introverted and shy, we did not know what to expect.

The number of attendees varied nightly, but never less than 12 and at most 30.

We met the most interesting and nicest people, it seemed as though everyone made

a real point to circulate and meet new members, which is very nice.

So happy we went. Please consider attending your FOD meetings.

Our Holland America cruise earlier this year had a few couples and a few singles show up for the LGBT gathering. Our problem with it was the time interfered with our second seating dinner. We had to leave almost immediately. Nevertheless, it was nice to meet some people. We ended up hanging out with some of them at other times.

 

Princess seems to have better attendance at its LGBT meetings--at least the cruises we have been on.

Good to know! We're traveling on HAL Boston/Montreal in July, our first cruise, and was wondering about whether we'd be "trapped" without like-minded folks.

Gave up on them a long time ago. Usually spot family throughout our journey so it's never been a problem. The stigma of FOD is rather alarming and nobody really cares anymore if your gay or straight.

Stigma? You mean as in use of an antiquated euphemism. On NCL they now put. (LGBT ) in parentheses. Those under 30 would be clueless. As would be most women.

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Gave up on them a long time ago. Usually spot family throughout our journey so it's never been a problem. The stigma of FOD is rather alarming and nobody really cares anymore if your gay or straight.

Would that that was completely true.

Would that that was completely true.

I hear you. Sometimes I feel as though it is geography. Some places are safer than others. And some cruises (not cruise lines per se) are safer than others. I recently did a b2b on NCL. The first ten day felt really safe we often shared tables and all seemed okay. The second had a far different tone. While playing Yahtzee in spinnaker I had to listen to a drunken bridal party which contained members who said incredibly homophobic things. I was surprised. But not shocked. Overall I still felt safe but knew to be more wary.

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I always try to attend early on in the cruise and make the best of it. Sometimes I stroll into the bar with a few snaps a say "It's Friends of Dorothy time, let's get this party started" and that seems to help. :)

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I always try to attend early on in the cruise and make the best of it. Sometimes I stroll into the bar with a few snaps a say "It's Friends of Dorothy time, let's get this party started" and that seems to help. :)

 

 

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Well...I hope there are others like you on our Escape cruise in September - it's so much more fun when people put themselves out there and meet people!

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I always try to attend early on in the cruise and make the best of it. Sometimes I stroll into the bar with a few snaps a say "It's Friends of Dorothy time, let's get this party started" and that seems to help. :)

 

 

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That beats the sort of wandering around looking for anyone who might be gay and there for the Friends of Dorothy Meeting. The cruise lines need to make it a little easier to find one another.

I go. Sometimes it clicks and is a cruise highlight, and other times it's a bust. It's always worth a shot. I make a point of going the first two nights. On Carnival, it seems to work best on the ships with an Alchemy Bar--the menu and drink selection seems to be a natural ice breaker, and the staff also get conversations started to figure out your "prescription."

We always go just to see what's going on and possibly meet new people. Depending on time of year and itinerary, attendance can be zilch, to friendly, to aloof and intimidating. On our last AK cruise on Princess, we traveled with another gay couple and with the exception of another rather cool younger couple, nobody ever attended. It was nice, however, to have the Adagio bar completely to ourselves for a pre-dinner cocktail every night. These were listed in the daily Patter. On the Carnival Vista this last Christmas, we met evenings in the Alchemy bar before and after dinner, and we found a group of the most friendly LGBT people we've ever encountered on a cruise. Subgroups of us would get together for dinner, shows, and even trivia. Guess who won the Broadway, television, and movies trivia? It was really fun. Prior to that, I hadn't had much luck at their LGBT gatherings. Generally, the meetings would be in the piano bar and it was already busy with other cruisers so there was this kind of walking around the place with an sense of wondering as to "are you...?" Plus that made it a little less intimate for getting to know people, as they were scattered among the other passengers.

We usually try to attend at least the first one. Sometimes they just click and other times not. The very best that we have attended was on the Queen Mary 2 last year. Very well attended and fun with people from many countries. We met a German guy who told us of seeing American GIs during WWII and how handsome they were. The ship served hors d'oeuvres during the meeting. The guy who cuts my hair told me of a couple of his clients who asked the captain on their ship if it was OK for them to dance together. They were told that he supposed that it was ok but that they might upset other passengers. This was a very high-end cruise line and they had sailed dozens of times with them. On the QM2 a couple of the (male) dance hosts (they are NOT gigolos) attended the FOD and I asked them about that. They said that they would dance with ANY passenger if asked, not just the ladies. A Belgian/Swedish male couple won the ships dance contest. They are same-sex ballroom dancers. As you can tell we had a delightful time on the ship and at the FOD.

The newsletter for the next day had a note that Friends of Bill W. meetings, LGBT meetings, and other (unspecified) meetings could be found on the bulletin board. It did not list the location of the bulletin board. I don't know how far in advance the newsletters are printed, so I don't know if the inclusion of LGBT was in response to my request.

Oddly, the LGBT reference was only in the newsletter that one day. For the rest of the cruise, the newsletter referred passengers to the bulletin board for Friends of Bill W. meetings and other (again, unspecified) passenger meetings.

Speaking of Friends of Bill W, we were once on a Princess Cruise to Alaska. The Friends of Dorothy were meeting at the Champagne Bar and having an enjoyable time. A woman came up to us and asked if ladies were welcome and of course we said yes. One of the guys started talking about his lesbian sister and the woman got a strange look on her face. She then asked us if this was the AA group. Poor lady. She must have wondered why all of the "alcoholics" were having cocktails. Needless to say, she left quickly. I hope that it gave her a good story to tell.

Well...I hope there are others like you on our Escape cruise in September - it's so much more fun when people put themselves out there and meet people!

 

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My husband and I will be on the Escape for the Sept 23rd sailing

My husband and I will be on the Escape for the Sept 23rd sailing

Fantastic! We'll be hitting the happy hour as often as we can.

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Fantastic! We'll be hitting the happy hour as often as we can.

 

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This will be our first cruise so looking forward to all the activites the ship has to offer. We will be celebrating our first anniversary but together for 40 years.

Sadly, I had the exact same experience sailing solo on Getaway 9/4-11/2016. Lots of the gays at the FOD, but not an especially friendly bunch. I ended up hanging out with a lot of friendly straight folks that I met through CC or on shore excursions. I had an awesome cruise, but I didn't spend any time with the gays and when I did try and strike up a conversation it went nowhere.

I'm late to the party on this one but my partner and I were also on this cruise. We attended the first night and met a nice couple but for the most part it seemed to be one large click. I assumed it was a group traveling together. I hope to have a better experience on my next cruise in a few weeks. Hope to see you on another cruise!

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We have been on a few cruises, have never met any other couples (or singles) at these meets. Granted I can be a little slow on a few things LOL. Out and about I would have guessed I had seen a few, but I believe sometimes my gaydar is being influenced.

That being said, in the newsletters I have only seen mention was on Anthem of the Seas. Allure did not have it in the Compass.

In a couple weeks we will be on the Serenade and will see how this is.

We would like to meet others for enjoying a nice social evening but not much night owls, maybe I am getting old LOL.

We have been on a few cruises, have never met any other couples (or singles) at these meets. Granted I can be a little slow on a few things LOL. Out and about I would have guessed I had seen a few, but I believe sometimes my gaydar is being influenced.

That being said, in the newsletters I have only seen mention was on Anthem of the Seas. Allure did not have it in the Compass.

In a couple weeks we will be on the Serenade and will see how this is.

 

We would like to meet others for enjoying a nice social evening but not much night owls, maybe I am getting old LOL.

Noticed you were on the Grandeur in June. How did you like the ship/crew? Passengers? Activities?

Noticed you were on the Grandeur in June. How did you like the ship/crew? Passengers? Activities?

Love the Grandeur! Will do it again .. Maybe 2019?

Crew was great! Schooner Bar crew was awesome! Very attentive and interactive.

Dinning was great in the main dinning room. She was most formal while "Ma & Pa" personal.

Passengers, the ones we did interact with (while also the ones that acknowledged us) were great.

Enjoyable story: The female that was Judge for sexy man contest voted for a Gay man, which got turned down by him & his partner. Then "came on" to me at the schooner bar (which to me was a enjoyable compliment LOL). She was good sport and enjoyed her company.

All and ALL, Grandeur has been dear to us.

That being said, it is small, does not have the big Broadway shows. It is a personable ship that is like your old school towns that knows everyone. You tell a crew member once your name, they know it from there on.

Always go to the first one that is held. After that, folks sort of get together on their own.

Always go to the first one that is held. After that, folks sort of get together on their own.

Got a any future cruises coming?

The FOD gatherings are a highlight for my cruises. I always look forward to them. Sure, sometimes they aren't well attended but more often than not we've met many delightful people and more join in as the cruise days go by. I try to talk to everyone that does attend.

We always go to the first meeting .. sometimes it works well. Other times we have been left sitting feeling like the only 2 gay people on a cruise. We (lesbian couple) have made good friends though on most cruises ... even now having planned another cruise with 3 other couples we met!

Where do you even find out about the FOD meetings? I'll be going on the NCL Epic with my partner in December. There's bound to be lots of gays going on a ship that big.