Western Caribbean, gay friendly, or not so gay friendly.

Hello everyone

Me and my fiancé are planning a Disney Cruise as part of our Honeymoon this November and have currently booked onto the November 28th Sailing on the Fantasy. Stopping at Cozumel, Falmouth, Grand Cayman and Castaway Cay.

I've been reading into things a bit more, and been finding a lot of horror stories about Falmouth and Grand Cayman being hostile towards gay tourists. Can any one shed any first had feedback on this.

Were not very public couple, so were not the sort to kiss in public, so thats not the issues, but its very clear were a couple due to our chemistry. While I'm not expecting open arms, I was hoping to not have a horror story either.

Any insight would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

K and P

We have not sailed in the Caribbean since 2010 however we did not witness anything that worried us. Provided you are careful you should both be fine.

We have avoided Jamaica since we visited in 2001, not a pleasant experience.

No issues in Cozumel. Never had an issue in Cayman. We are very careful in Jamaica tho.

Thank you for coming back to me on this.

Im getting the general consensus that Jamaica isn't the nicest place, which surprises me that Disney have put it on their itinerary.

Hello everyone

 

Me and my fiancé are planning a Disney Cruise as part of our Honeymoon this November and have currently booked onto the November 28th Sailing on the Fantasy. Stopping at Cozumel, Falmouth, Grand Cayman and Castaway Cay.

 

I've been reading into things a bit more, and been finding a lot of horror stories about Falmouth and Grand Cayman being hostile towards gay tourists. Can any one shed any first had feedback on this.

 

Were not very public couple, so were not the sort to kiss in public, so thats not the issues, but its very clear were a couple due to our chemistry. While I'm not expecting open arms, I was hoping to not have a horror story either.

 

Any insight would be much appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

K and P

As long as you don't really show PDA's, you should be fine. As to Jamaica, It's a filthy area. Lots of crime & extremely AGGRESSIVE local trinket hawkers. Make it a "spa day" when in that port & stay on board!

I have sailed to all those ports serval times (except Castaway Cay, private disney port). I have never had an issue in any of them including Falmouth. I've walked around outside the port area, had lunch, gone to the beaches and never had an issue. It's true Jamaica does have an exceptional amount of crime, but honestly what city or country in the world doesn't have it's issues?

Jamaica is known to be not-gay-friendly. I would avoid any PDA.

My husband and I honeymooned on a Western itinerary last month (we chose Celebrity this cruise). In an "abundance of caution" we left our new wedding rings in the stateroom safe while in the ports of call, which may or may not have been necessary.

We felt fine in Cozumel, even when walking the longer-than-we-thought trek from the International Pier to town. No issues in town; no issues with the cab ride back. (I think Disney docks downtown, which is a plus.)

Same in Grand Cayman, where we did a private horseback ride for two, which made it pretty clear we were a couple. Felt no animosity from the tour staff.

In Jamaica (we docked in Ocho Rios), we felt mostly fine in the tourist bubble created by our ship's shore-excursion vendor, Mystic Mountain. The only moment of stress was in dodging the extremely aggressive vendors along the winding exit path from Dunn's River Falls, but I think just about everyone experiences that there. We didn't go into town as it wasn't near our pier, and it was a rainy day. Reports from another gay couple on the ship made us glad we didn't bother. I'd say go with an organized group excursion or stay onboard (and I'd say this for any couple, gay or not).

Enjoy Castaway Cay ... it's by far my favorite private-island experience!

Great advice Eric.

The Bobsleds is the only excision thats peaked my interest, so goo dot know that its not too big an issue.

Its great to hear from other people that its not as bad as some stories are making it out to be.

Thanks everyone for coming back with some great advice and guidance.

Hello everyone

 

Me and my fiancé are planning a Disney Cruise as part of our Honeymoon this November and have currently booked onto the November 28th Sailing on the Fantasy. Stopping at Cozumel, Falmouth, Grand Cayman and Castaway Cay.

 

I've been reading into things a bit more, and been finding a lot of horror stories about Falmouth and Grand Cayman being hostile towards gay tourists. Can any one shed any first had feedback on this.

 

Were not very public couple, so were not the sort to kiss in public, so thats not the issues, but its very clear were a couple due to our chemistry. While I'm not expecting open arms, I was hoping to not have a horror story either.

 

Any insight would be much appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

K and P

There are many places in the world that are not GLBT friendly. Most of the Caribbean is religiously conservative and maybe with the exception of Mexico, Aruba, Curacao, Bonaire, Puerto Rico, St. Barts & St. Maarten GLBT people need to heed caution. (Of course you could say the same about certain places in the US) However, I've been to most of Caribbean and never had any problems as long as you are respectful of their culture and avoid PDA's. Really, how does any local know you are GLBT unless you openly display it? You could just be friends or relatives. The locals are more interested in selling you sometime vs bashing GLBT. That's being said never wonder off the beaten path or go to a secluded beach or wear expensive jewelry. There are no gay bars and most gay life is underground. As long as you use common sense you will not have any problems. It's always best to take a ship's organized tour as there is safety in numbers and this is especially true for Jamaica. Grand Cayman is OK in the city tourist areas. Cozumel-no problems. Castaway Cay is a private resort island.

After our first cruise together as a couple (in 1989), we swore to never book another one that stopped in Jamaica. Our feeling unsafe, though, didn't have anything to do with our being a gay couple. I talked with others on our ship who had experienced similar concerns for their safety. If you do get off the ship, I'd recommend sticking to the ship's excursions and not booking anything independently or going off on your own.

We managed to stick by our pledge to avoid Jamaica until we finally took a Panama Canal cruise that included a stop in Ocho Rios. We stayed on the ship and had a great time.

Any of the ports normally visited by cruise ships are nothing to be overly concerned about.

We have been to Grand Cayman and Jamaica a couple of times each and had no issues. We tend to book independent excursions for the better experience and smaller groups. In Jamaica we had great experiences with Courtney Taylor tours.

After our first cruise together as a couple (in 1989), we swore to never book another one that stopped in Jamaica. Our feeling unsafe, though, didn't have anything to do with our being a gay couple. I talked with others on our ship who had experienced similar concerns for their safety. If you do get off the ship, I'd recommend sticking to the ship's excursions and not booking anything independently or going off on your own.

 

We managed to stick by our pledge to avoid Jamaica until we finally took a Panama Canal cruise that included a stop in Ocho Rios. We stayed on the ship and had a great time.

We feel basically the same. I have stayed in Jamaica twice on resorts for a week at a time and I visited it once as a cruise port. I pledged last time which was several years ago to avoid Jamaica completely. Jamaicans have done little to be more welcoming towards tourists in general, not just LGBT visitors.

The Jamaican government is not showing leadership in demonstrating tolerance for their own LGBT citizens let alone visitors.

The staff on the resorts are usually perfectly ok, but venture out to explore and you are pestered or harassed. I won't consider any itinerary that includes Jamaica as a port now. I spend my hard earned dollars on places that are either welcoming or at the very least tolerant or indifferent.

The other issue I have with Jamaica is the general lack of pride in their environment. Jamaicans have a beautiful country but some of their citizens treat their properties like a garbage dump. I don't expect extreme wealth every where I go, let's face it, many of the countries in the Caribbean are far from financially wealthy but general cleanliness and demonstrating pride in your environment costs nothing.

Grand Cayman - never had an issue, always feel safe and I would absolutely return again.

As others have said, none of the Caribbean islands are the greatest but it's all about how you present yourself.

We went Eastern Caribbean in September for our honeymoon, and the only real uncomfortable moment wasn't due to our relationship (the very few locals who commented thought we were crew), but rather due to the incessant offers to buy stuff, or buy drugs in St Maarten. Not kidding about the drugs part, as much as I wish that I was.

Certain islands find "friends" traveling together to be unusual, so you could always suggest that you are relatives or work together, if you want to maintain anonymity.

PDA was an absolute no for us while off the ship. We wore our wedding bands, but I would opt not to next time as to not have any flashy jewelry on me. I just couldn't bear to take it off on the last cruise for sentimental reasons.

If you are looking for clearly LGBT accommodating situations, you may want to look at Atlantis or RSVP. However, you shouldn't have much to worry about as long as you exercise good judgement.

Happy sailing!

Regarding Jamaica; read this report about Jamaica that tries to balance the negative reputation of Jamaica with more recent efforts to change that reputation:

https://76crimes.com/2017/02/22/new-coalition-in-tunisia-fights-for-lgbtqi-rights/

Personally, I won't spend my queer dollars in Jamaica.

Cayman Islands have had trouble in the past (there was a big kerfuffle about 20 years ago when they wouldn't let an Atlantis charter dock) but have been fairly welcoming since, and actually do recognize same-sex marriages performed abroad.

Hello everyone

 

Me and my fiancé are planning a Disney Cruise as part of our Honeymoon this November and have currently booked onto the November 28th Sailing on the Fantasy. Stopping at Cozumel, Falmouth, Grand Cayman and Castaway Cay.

 

I've been reading into things a bit more, and been finding a lot of horror stories about Falmouth and Grand Cayman being hostile towards gay tourists. Can any one shed any first had feedback on this.

 

Were not very public couple, so were not the sort to kiss in public, so thats not the issues, but its very clear were a couple due to our chemistry. While I'm not expecting open arms, I was hoping to not have a horror story either.

 

Any insight would be much appreciated.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

K and P

Basically, I'd keep the PDA's on most of the islands to a minimum. Aruba/Bonaire & to a lesser extent Curacao/St. Marten are fairly open. Grand Cayman is ruled by religious zealots as are Jamaica/Bahamas & a few others. We've never had any issues with any except Jamaica. Not Homophobic issues, just the drugs & an unsafe feeling. Jamaica I'd do a spa day.

The RSVP cruise this year brought 2600 gay guys to both Cozumel and Cayman with no issues. I wouldn't rush to get off the ship in Jamaica, though.

The RSVP cruise this year brought 2600 gay guys to both Cozumel and Cayman with no issues. I wouldn't rush to get off the ship in Jamaica, though.

Thank you! Good to know!! We will be traveling in January!

We've been to these ports as well as many other places in the world that are not particulalry gay friendly. If you don't display PDA or wear a sign around your next that says "I am gay", you should have no issues. The biggest issue when we were in Jamaica was constantly being accosted by someone wanting to sell us "weed" or hire a prostitute.

We have been on two Disney cruises and never had an issue being gay on board or in the ports. I think that we all need to be careful about judging other countries and societies based on how they treat the LGBT community. If we do, the United States comes out poorly but my partner and I still go to the US often and focus on what is good about being there.