Asamau

It's been a little over 2 years since my last cruise, and I'm thinking about going on the Auckland/Sydney trip. Might be going alone this time so may be looking into the Share program. Thanks for all the wonderful advice and any one also looking, let me know. Cheers

Yah, I may have the terminology wrong. This is a gay cruise trip on a straight cruise. The agency booked a bunch of cabins but it's still a straight cruise.

I'm a newbie to cruises. The December trip with AlandChuck will be my first.

I was sold on the trip when I found out the queens from Rupaul's Drag Race were going to be there. This is the biggest congregation of performers ever and one I didn't want to miss. So that's selling point number 1.

Then I found out the trip WAS going down to the site where the Doomsday prophecy of 2012 was fortold (sorry forgot the name). I've never been, and to be able to go and visit a site considered to be a world wonder, it was a deal not to pass. So that's selling point number 2.

In all it was a package worth more than what it was costing in my opinion.

So to my horror, when I received that email stating that the itinerary has been changed. Now it's just going to go island hopping. I was DEVASTATED. It wasn't what I had signed up for, in fact I was only getting 50% of my dream trip. But the sore points were there wasn't even a hint at these changes when booking the trip. The agents just played along and kept up the charade of everything was going fine. Then of course they had the "Computer issue" that weekend which meant no one could contact them. Once the weekend passed, the agents kept saying that it was really to our benefit that these changes were made. No indications of being sorry, no indication of compensation of any kind. It wa pretty much a "take it or leave it" attitude.

So I debated and debated. I really want to see the performers, where else was I going to see so many of them in 1 place? The islands aren't bad, but I've been to them before. The thought of being on a gay cruise still held merit. And I had already made plans to go.

In the end, I sucked it up and decided to still go. BUT, before all this, I was ready to plop down the entire payment and seal the deal. Now, I'm hesitant. I'm expecting the "other shoe to drop", because I'm expecting more drastic changes to take place. Most likely, some or many of the performers are going to bail out. Right now they have about 37. I'm guessing as we get closer, the numbers will drop and AlandChuck will replace them with "up and coming" Drag "Stars". If that happens, I think I'll take my losses and forego the $100 deposit.

It's sad really. I thought with a company like AlandChuck, who've been so consistent in sponsoring the show would stoop this level of underhandedness, has really left me with a bad taste in my mouth. Don't want my first cruise, and a gay cruise at that, be marred by all the shadyness. But what can I do right? All I can do is wait and see.

But reading the previous posts, if I have a good time on this trip, I'll book with RSVP or Pied Piper from then on. I would think really hard about going with AlandChuck again. They've got to really pull out all the stops to get my business again.

It's sad but true. Even in our community, we've got predators.