Gay Cruisers and Freedom of the Seas

Going on RCCL Freedom of the Seas in September 2014 and curious as how friendly is it onboard? Also do they have the Friends of Dorothy meetings still on board?

Going on RCCL Freedom of the Seas in September 2014 and curious as how friendly is it onboard? Also do they have the Friends of Dorothy meetings still on board?

Not sure how friendly it is, but you can actually host your own meeting. You would need to put one of those postcards in the GS area with the time, date and venue.

We had done Freedom a few years back and had absolutely no problem finding family! She is a great ship and would love to sail on her again especially since we live about 1/2 hour from the port!!!

Enjoy ;)

Very friendly...They do not put the FOD meetings in the newsletter, but you can post it by the front desk....We have sailed on that class 4 times, and we found that 6pm Happy Hour in Olive or Twist seems to get the largest attendance...Later ones usually interrupt later dinners or shows....

Going on RCCL Freedom of the Seas in September 2014 and curious as how friendly is it onboard? Also do they have the Friends of Dorothy meetings still on board?

My partner, myself (gay males) and our then four-year-old twins travelled along with our friends (gay males) and their three young girls. FOTS had FOD meetings but when we walked past we never saw anybody.

You can always tell by looking at the ship photos (especially when people embark on day one) who the "FODs" are! :)

In fact, we may be going on the Carnival Liberty during March break (in Ontario) and hope/wonder if there will be any issues with Carnival as opposed to RCL or NCL, so there ya go!

Hope this helped.

Looks like you are cruise the week before my bf and I.

March 16th-23rd 2014. RCCL Allure leaving from Ft. Lauderdale.

We are a gay male couple that will be experiencing this, our first cruise.

Previous and new cruisers: can you share any information about which are the popular bars, restaurant, or event area for gay men to meet new friends during happy hour and other enjoyable events.

March 16th-23rd 2014. RCCL Allure leaving from Ft. Lauderdale.

We are a gay male couple that will be experiencing this, our first cruise.

Previous and new cruisers: can you share any information about which are the popular bars, restaurant, or event area for gay men to meet new friends during happy hour and other enjoyable events.

As others have mentioned, there is a bulletin board at the guest services desk that will have a card posting a suggested time for a "Friends of Dorothy" meeting. On our Allure cruise, I believe it was the Champagne Bar. Sometimes there were a few people there. If you meet others otherwise, best suggestion is to arrange a mutual time and post it, if desired, and maybe more will join in.

As for meeting up in venues or at events, it is likely to be random. We met two other MM couples completely by chance on the Rising Tide bar one evening. 70s night is probably going to be popular, though the huge crowd on the promenade might make it difficult to find anyone during the event. You'd almost have to meet up beforehand.

We're not dancers, but I understand the late-night dance clubs can be friendly places. As an aside, we haven't found anywhere on ship not to be friendly, generally speaking. I hope that you have a good time on Allure. For us, the entertainment is the big thing with Oasis and Allure. You may find additional information by looking at past roll calls, or if there is a G&L roll call for your sailing, though often these do not have a big following.

Enjoy!

My husband and I had a blast on the Freedom of the Seas....very cool staff....actually made friends with a very nice straight couple that we still keep in contact with today....you'll love it!

And as mentioned, just look for the posting near GS.....you can submit a post card and it will be posted. Nothing will be in the newsletter about an FOD. Enjoy!

I hate to say this, but this was our worst experience on a cruise. We went on this ship a few years back and it left such a distaste in us that we have yet to sail with RCCL again. The problem began with our cabin steward. He was against moving our beds together since we were 2 males. The problem with him ended up deteriorating throughout the cruise. There were times when we asked for beach towels and he never brought them. Other staff members did step in to assist us. In fact, other cabin stewards came to us and said they would take over, but couldn't since he was in charge. They were great people! I have never met someone who was so rude. The other problem came at dinner. We showed up at our scheduled dinner time with knowing our table assignment. We were taken to our supposedly table, but were then told it wasn't going to be our table. Next we were taken to a small 2-seat table where the waiters enter and exit. After complaining, we were moved to a table. I will admit that we had a great time with the people at our table and even spent days at shore with them.

We have sailed with Carnival, NCL, and RCCL and Royal Caribbean was the only ship that we encountered problems with a staff member. Yes, the main person causing the problem was only a portion of the trip; however, this occurred daily and the people on the ship did nothing to correct it.

Four of us are going to be on the Freedom for the August 31 sailing. Two in our group have never been on a cruise before. We were just on Oasis in April, and had an amazing time. We found the gays with no problem, so hopefully it will be the same on Freedom.

Oasis was the first cruise for the other person in our party so this will be his first "real" cruise. :)

As you can see from my list of cruises, we find the FOD/LGBT meeting very subjective from ship to ship and line to line. It all depends on time of year, home port, length of cruise and the time and venue posted for our FOD or LGBT. We have always had a great time and meet other family members and never had a problem with the staff. Just use your gaydar……

Joe & Jim

I must admit that we have never attended FOD meetings on cruises. For some reason we end up meeting straight couples and doing activities with them. We just like meeting people regardless of sexual orientation.