Why do gay men like celebrity vs. Other lines?

[RMS Olympic]

I like Celebrity because the ships are of a style that does not get old quickly. They are stylish, but not formal. I have found the service extremely polished for a mass market line and never had a "gay" issue.
As for FOD meetings....I have yet to see any of them, regardless of cruise line well attended. In fact I have not seen much effort in gay couples to seek out and strike up conversations onboard most ships. So having a FOD gathering isn't a big draw for me. Me, I'll strike up a conversation out on deck....that has always been succesful.
Food...I personally feel the Celebrity food dropped in quality and selection when they were bought by RCI. Now with cost cutting.....I think the food has once again suffered, but I think that is with every other line.Just look at NCL....to me high school cafateria food.
The one cruise Line I understand tht has improved a lot with food is Carnival. My guess is that the alcohol revenue in Carnival helps offset the food bills. For years their reputation for food was low and they directed their energy on the situation. I'm not saying Carnival passengers are all big drinkers...but along with the party boat or fun ship image I would suspect the bars do a bit more business. Of course nothing compares to the gay charters where bar business goes up about 700% on a week cruise.
Now Princess...I love the crew. The ships are OK but the interiors are the same on all their vessels which I feel is boring. If I could put Princess crew and staff on a Celebrity ships......fab-u-lous.
HAL...an identity problem. They have ships formal in decor, formal service which would cater to the oler set...yet they continue to try to cater to families with childern. I dont think this works. The crew is very polite, but I think a bit to rigid in the main dining room. I prefer a European waiter and busboy.
Oh for the days of Italian dining staff. Between the accent and the good looks the food could be lousy and I'd never know it.
Back to Celebrity...its the decor and as already mentioned...the attention to detail that brings me back. As a result I have selected Celebrity for my first crossing in October. I will have a great time, and pretend it is like...an affair to remember.

[Bundles917]

Originally Posted by eroller

I

I took a lot of pictures of DISNEY WONDER if you are interested. They can be found at this link:
http://gallery.mac.com/ekroller#100479

Ernie

Thanks Ernie for the wonderful pics. I scrolled though all of 'em. When did you get time for yourself?

[CruisinMaterial]

If I were not on a gay charter I would not sail on Celebrity. While I do appreciate Celebrity's nice ships for their decor and design, the overall product alone does nothing for me. I want to have fun at night and be out late. Celebrity is almost like HAL with respect to that. There is no nightlife on their ships that runs to any late hour and nor do they do anything to spice it up.

Food is subjective to anyone. I find the food on NCL to be just fine and the food on Celebrity to be fine as well. As long as it's not being served by Aramark and it's not Sheppard's Pie then I'm good. Very easy to please after four years of dining hall torture with meals by the swill company.

I prefer the NCL product myself because I'm very much free to do whatever and they've always treated me very kindly onboard. I have never once encountered a staff member who was rude to me for who I am. NCL has pioneered the cruise market with having FODs daily (albeit unhosted) and to continue to advertise them. That's another mark against Celebrity is the deletion of the FOD from their daily hand outs and looking at some board - tacky!! RCI is going back in time with their logic and so they'll never get my money unless I decide to pony up even more and give it to Atlantis for an "all-gay" experience onboard an RCI vessel (which he will not deny he has stock in the company so of course he'll continue to use their vessels).

Again just my two cents...
OP: Maybe you should try NCL again!

[CruisinMaterial]

Originally Posted by Schplinky

Our GLBT parties on NCL were not hosted. Is this a recent change? On our sailing, they just listed them in the daily (usually in a busy bar) and you sort of had to figure out who was there for the party and who just happened to be there but they didn't send a staff member to host people. Princess is the only line we've been on so far that actually hosted the party. They sent a really fun staff member with champagne.

I believe what the other poster meant was that they set aside daily space for a Friends of Dorothy meeting and they publish it in their FreeStyle Dailies. NCL has not in since I started sailing with them ever had a host present at the meetings but usually it's in a bar with a friendly bartender and waitress - all of whom are very warm and welcoming to the space!

Princess can keep the champagne... it was nasty but they did have hosted ones but not daily onboard when I used to sail them.

[cruzeluver]

Partner and I have sailed on Carnival, NCL Royal and Celebrity, and Celebrity is far and away our favorite.

We could not possible care less about FOD meetings.

We love great food. Yes I know all the "its subjective" talk. And while there is truth in that, it is also true that Celebrity prepares everything on board from scratch. The other lines we have sailed cannot make that claim. I get this information from a high-ranking member of the culinary staff on Mercury whom I had the pleasure to speak to one-on-one. He informed me he received offers from Princess, Carnival, Costa and Royal but went with Celebrity for that reason.

The service we have received on Celebrity has been exemplary. It is far more polished than other lines we have sailed on.

We also love their smoking policy and the greater passenger/space ratio Celebrity offers over the other guys.

[greg_atlanta]

I'll take no kids over gay empowerment any day.

[eroller]

Originally Posted by Schplinky

Hey Ernie,

The Dream was our first CCL cruise so we can't really compare it to other classes. It was definitely a work in progress as we were on the ship in its third month of sailing (or something like that) and they were trying to figure out how to cope with the crowds. I don't think that it was a matter of the number of people so much as design that was not thought all the way through. For instance, they had really interesting options in the buffet like a mongolian grill and a pasta bar. The problem was, these offerings could only serve a few people at a time and so literally, the line could be 45-75 minutes. To make matters worse, they only operated these special things for a couple hours at lunch some days, which is hard to understand. You design something people like and then make it hard for them to enjoy. That's just unacceptable. The lead cruise director, in his blog, yammered on about all ships having lines but then all of a sudden (and luckily before we boarded) they addressed this. They started doing a bbq on the lido deck and a champagne brunch in the dining room to diffuse the crowd. The brunch was imaginative and tasty so we liked it. I pitied the people above the bbq on the lido because charcoal smoke would have wafted up to their rooms daily. Yuck!

Speaking of the rooms above the lido, if you go on the Dream, don't take the first deck or two above it because there is very little privacy. The lido sticks out very far, which makes for a nice wide walking space but also means those on their balconies for the first deck or two up will see the lido traffic as opposed to the ocean when they look down. We saw lots of people on the lido chatting with folk on those decks and I would hate that. Also, there are hot tubs on the lido and people always seem to talk loudly in them. To my mind, this is a bad design flaw.

We had a cove balcony, which is a balcony built into the ship, as opposed to out from it, on deck 2. It was great to be outside closer to the water and to be able to walk straight up to our room from excursions as opposed to waiting for crowded elevators. I liked it very much except that the balcony door was a traditional door and not sliding glass and lots of people let theirs slam, which got old fast. Still, it was a great novelty and I wish more lines had it.

The other area that got crowded, of course, was the pool deck. Actually, the main areas were much like any ship but the free adults-only area was a zoo. Some people "claimed" chairs with towels, which happens on all lines, and that led to some loud discussions and we saw two shoving matches/fights over chairs. Even taking chair wars out of the equation, this area simply wasn't large enough to cope with the demand for it.

I don't want to give the impression we didn't like the ship. I was just pointing out areas where the crowds or operations were lacking. We thought the shows were great fun. The service in the main dining room was also great and here's an example of how: our friends had sent us some wine but we were under the weather the first day or two (caught a bug at WDW) and so we skipped the MDR twice. The head waiter actually called to make sure it was not an issue with their service. That's very thoughtful. We also really enjoyed the activities on the ship and would look forward to doing them again.

We really enjoyed our CCL sailing and would do it again on a less busy ship. I thought the food was among the best we've had at sea and I didn't mind the decor.

Thank you for the report. Mind you I have no intention on booking Carnival anytime soon, but I was interested in your thoughts as I know you have a lot of cruise experience.

I think you made the right choice with the so-called "cove balconies". Cunard has had these for years on the QM2. I wondered how private those balconies above the promenade deck would be, and as I imagined they are not too private.

I agree about the food. Carnival has excellent food for a mass-market line. It can even be better than Cunard and Celebrity depending on the ship. Unfortunately that alone is not enough to lure me back to Carnival. I've basically outgrown the line. Also, they are not the bargain they used to be as you can sail on Princess, HAL, and Celebrity for the same cost (in many cases).

If you ever do decide to return to Carnival, try one of the Spirit Class ships. I think they are the best in the fleet in terms of space and layout. The CARNIVAL SPIRIT and PRIDE are my two favorite Carnival ships. The DREAM is based off the Destiny Class which I think has a very poor layout and passenger flow. The most crowded feeling ship I have ever sailed was CARNIVAL CONQUEST. Not an experience I want to repeat.

Happy cruising!

Ernie

[eroller]

Originally Posted by Bundles917

Thanks Ernie for the wonderful pics. I scrolled though all of 'em. When did you get time for yourself?

I'm glad you enjoyed the pics. I actually take the pictures very quickly. I'm not one to carry a camera around with me. I usually take about one hour to an hour and a half on a port day to quickly photograph all the ship's public areas. Sometimes I will will take them late at night as well, when most people are sleeping. Either way, it goes quick.

Ernie

[yyjguy]

I'm just back from a 14 Caribbean cruise on Grand Princess. There were 15-20 gay men, and a few females as well. While docked at St Kitts, we were just across the narrow pier from Celebrity Millenium, and there were alot of gay men on balconies and up on the top side deck; many more than on our ship. Here in my home town, we get Alaskan cruise ships in all summer, and indeed there always seems to be more gays on Celebrity. I've sailed them just twice, and that was some years back and found the product very good. Because of free laundry, minibar and the free internet, I've stuck mainly with Prncess; I guess they have their hooks into me!!

[johhnnyt]

Two or three cruises ago we were on a transatlantic, sponsored by Pied Piper. There was a gay deaf couple onboard and although not a part of our Pied Piper group we got to know them at the nightly FOD meetings.
One of the the things that struck me was that Celebrity provided them with a sign language translator for any show they attended, or for any shore excursion they went on. I know it wasn't required that Celebrity do that, but was very impressed that they did.
Seen the same type of respect given to passengers in wheelchairs or with other disabilities, really admire that they show such respect to all of their passengers.

[shepp]

Originally Posted by Schplinky

Presuming that all gays abhor christianity, or vice versa, is as lazy as presuming that one line exists that would please all gays. We're all different.

Yeah, but jamming aural Christianity in our ears from Hallowe'en till New Years doth not diversity respect. I was raised Jewish in a goyishe 'burb, feeling a total outcast during December, and am now an atheist. And frankly, I would rather not, when waiting in line at Walgreens to pick up my statins, be reminded by the Muzak that Christ our savior is born. But at least, unlike a ship, I can walk out of Walgreens. If there's gonna be seasonal music wafted to everyone onboard, keep it secular.

To me, there's very little difference between Christian hegemony and het hegemony. When some 'phobe says, "You don't see us straights flaunting our sexuality," I can only, gape-mouthed, think Really? Likewise, devoting a full sixth of the year to insistently, publicly flaunting the Christian myth can be pretty damn irritating to those of us who opt out.

Does it make me a Grinch to object ? Well, I can just imagine the hoo-hah if Celebrity, during Ramadan, broadcast the call to prayer six times a day over the loudspeaker system. And I strongly suspect that if, onboard, I wore my T-shirt questioning the divinity of Jesus, I'd be politely asked by staff to change. But if I wore a "Christ is the Only Way to Heaven" shirt, no.

[shepp]

Originally Posted by RMS Olympic

I like Celebrity because the ships are of a style that does not get old quickly. They are stylish, but not formal.
Now Princess...I love the crew. The ships are OK but the interiors are the same on all their vessels which I feel is boring. If I could put Princess crew and staff on a Celebrity ships......fab-u-lous.

I've only been on one Celebrity ship - the Mercury - and am headed on my fourth Princess cruise in a couple of weeks, and to some extent I agree with you. My memory of the Mercury is that it was sleek and stylish, making Princess seem kinda bland. But truth to tell, I've come to like the feeling that many Princess regulars describe as "coming home," and the predictability of the decor is, I think, part of that. I read somewhere that the Princess philosophy is to keep the look traditional, not easily dated, and thus the sameness.

Meanwhile, I just looked at my photos of the Mercury for the first time in quite a while, and was surprised at how unimpressed I was. Now, I know the newer ships are more fab - when I see photos of the Solstice class, I get moist - but the Mercury looks like something Heidi Klum would deride as yesterday's fashion, kind of like an upscale airport lounge, albeit with much better art.

The Princesses I've been on have been "pretty" rather than "beautiful," while the Mercury now looks to me "interesting" rather than "pretty." But I've found both lines to be very gay friendly, and I'd choose Celebrity again in an instant if the itineraries suited my needs better, and if Princess didn't do such a good job bribing past passengers to stay with them.

[johhnnyt]

Been an interesting thread. I guess so much is the variables in any particular cruise. What I've noticed is so much depends on the Hotel Director, he can make or break a good cruise on any cruise line. The fixures, lighting, decor, food, entertainment, etc really don't vary much from most cruise lines (OK maybe the extremes do like Carnival and Crystal, but others are all in the same categories I think).
Some HD run the ships with attention to detail and that will make or break a cruise as that attention to detail runs downhill. I guess that what keeps me returning to Celebrity, the attention to detail, and that knowing for that week or two, they'll make me feel a lot more important than I really am.

[wolfatlga]

Originally Posted by Bundles917

Hi Denmen,

I and my partner sailed on Celebrity Summit with Pied Piper travel. Our group of 50 - 60 gay men and women felt very comfortable on the ship. On our dailies F.O.D. meetings were listed. There were about 10 - 15 'family' members traveling outside of our group and we welcomed them in to our gatherings.

My partner and I enjoy Celebrity for the quiet, adult atmosphere. Despite our love for Disney and theme parks you'd think we'd gravitate towards Carnival or Disney lines. But we need sanity at sea and not a ship full of sugar-shocked tots.

Greetings...
We were looking at Pied Piper Feb. 2012 cruise on the Summit to the Southern Caribbean.
We have sailed before with Pied Piper but not on Celebrity, it was on the Serenade RCCL.
Thinking of a CC balcony, it seems there are three categories any thoughts would be great.
Just got a new job so 2012 would be our first chance for a cruise, so just planning ahead.
Thanks..
Wolf

[Schplinky]

Originally Posted by shepp

Yeah, but jamming aural Christianity in our ears from Hallowe'en till New Years doth not diversity respect.

Diversity doesn't mean eliminating everything that will offend someone. If that were true, there would be no menorahs (which most ships have at Hannukak), Friends of Dorothy or Red Hats (those ladies freak me out). Diversity is about making sure everyone IS included.

If I had your issues about the holidays, I would not choose to travel to a resort or on a cruise at Christmas. You must have been miserable. Even in Vegas, there is Christmas music everywhere at Christmas.

[MiamiSpartan]

(Hiding Red Hat....)


You bring up good points about diversity....
The OP asking why gay people like Celebrity is like asking why blonds like Marriott....
Some do, and some don't....
I have gay friends who swear by Carnival and frankly don't have that good a time on any other line....
Seems like everyone has their favorites, and since we are different, we all are looking for different thinks when we travel....
I do have to agree with RMS about HAL....That was the same feeling we had from them as well....altho we would travel with them again if the opportunity presented itself....

[Blazerboy]

Hmmm. The comparison I'd make is drinking wine (which I've done a bit ...even on cruise ships!) We generally serve wines to guests that cost "xx " amount, and find good value there, as we like enjoying fine wines when we entertain. That said, we have our favorite "Wednesday Night" wines that cost "x" and we enjoy those more often. Occasionally, we get some wine that costs "xxx " a d we really enjoy that, but on rare occasions. All is good value for us at the time.

We've sailed Crystal, Cunard, Celebrity and Princess (as well as other lines long gone) and Celebrity fits us best for the value- we cruise more often, but get less caviar,etc. We do take advantage of the specialty restaurants, and on our last cruise, only ate in the MDR once. Again, for us, good value.

But back to the wine analogy: have you ever been to a blind tasting where the "best" wine was the bargain brand, and the fancy wine bombed? It's all personal taste /palate.

But you'll never find me drinking two-buck Chuck, and you'll never find me on a ship where neon is the decorative motif. Just not my taste, so for me, it's not a good value. And at 48 y.o., I'm more like a typical HAL passenger, so wouldn't notice if the cruise line shut down at 11:00, let alone the wee hours of the morning. But 20 years ago on Crystal (Cruises!) I was out until sunrise ...

Go figure.

Andrew.

[RMS Olympic]

I am glad the lines are not all the same....although the differences are shrinking.
But in the end...its what you make of each experience, its the people you meet, the little moments you grasp.....looking at the stars, having a shrimp cocktail.....pretending to be a millionaire on a ship. When you consider how poor the rest of the world is......some without clean water.....being on a huge ship is LUXURY.
But in the end maybe it comes down to service, and how you feel from the moment you board till you disembark.....minus some of the tacky decor.

[cruiseguysusa]

Originally Posted by johhnnyt

I like … being treated like a guest rather than just a customer

We recently completed our fifth Celebrity cruise and crossed to a new level beyond being a guest, we now feel as if we are part of the Celebrity family.

When we entered the dining room on a cruise a few months ago, we were recognized by an assistant waiter (female) from two years ago. She came over and gave us a hug and kiss on both cheeks. What an incredible feeling as other guests in the dining room stared at us with a quizzical look of “who are those celebrities”.

We have been fortunate to meet so many wonderful people on Celebrity ships, gay and straight, fellow passengers’ crew and staff. Some have become very dear friends, some we have traveled with multiple times, others we will be traveling together in the future; all of this in two years, five cruises and 56 days on Celebrity ships.

This is why we like Celebrity.

[bobnjeff]

Originally Posted by cruiseguysusa

We recently completed our fifth Celebrity cruise and crossed to a new level beyond being a guest, we now feel as if we are part of the Celebrity family.

When we entered the dining room on a cruise a few months ago, we were recognized by an assistant waiter (female) from two years ago. She came over and gave us a hug and kiss on both cheeks. What an incredible feeling as other guests in the dining room stared at us with a quizzical look of “who are those celebrities”.

We have been fortunate to meet so many wonderful people on Celebrity ships, gay and straight, fellow passengers’ crew and staff. Some have become very dear friends, some we have traveled with multiple times, others we will be traveling together in the future; all of this in two years, five cruises and 56 days on Celebrity ships.

This is why we like Celebrity.

We have to agree. We are going on the Century for the 4th time in less than two weeks. We have also been on the Solstice, Galaxy and Infinity. We love them all.
Cruiseguysusa looks like you guys are doing the B2B on the Infinity Feb. 26th 2012? We are too. To celebrate our 25th anniversary. We'll look forward to meeting other FOD on board.