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Crystal Cruises ~ your gay friendly perspective


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Funy, I was just checking out a couple of Crystal cruises yesterday that seemed interesting. and their rates are competitive with lower tier lines when you add in drink packages and spa treatments, and upcharges for specialty dining. with the pricing being so similar, yet the service and overall experience is a true luxury one, makes really want to try a Crystal cruise. Buy as a solo gay guy mid 40's, i don't know if I will meet others with similar interest.

 

My personal opinion is that I would assume the gays would be all over luxury cruising - there's lots of fancy dress up nights, it is a high end product with Nobu on board, and the price point would limit the less sophticated (biggoted) types.

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quote=Blazerboy;34604545]It's been nearly 20 years since my first cruise on the Harmony, but, at 29, I did feel a little out if place, as people kept asking if I was part if the crew or entertainment staff. One woman passenger actually had the chutzpah to ask how I afforded the trip. Nonetheless, we had a wonderful time, and my (previous) partnr and I sailed several more times on the Harmony. The Gay thing was a total non-issue, and there were always many gay men and fun straight folks.

 

I last sailed on Symphony about 10 years ago, and had the same experience, except I fit in age -wise a little better. The passengers do tend to skew older, but I found lots of people of all ages, orientations, etc., to hang out with on the ship. Even had rowdy late nights in the Disco a few times.

 

Have fun.

 

Andrew

 

I'm taking my first Crystal Cruise in November solo. Any suggestions. FOD?

 

Based upon our 25 days on the Serenity this past spring, expect an extraordinary cruise experience from the perspective of food, enrichment activities and service. As to FOD and fellow gay passengers, not so much. You will meet a few. They may not be very friendly. Otherwise the passengers are likely to be older people of wealth, very American.

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Heinz: Based upon our experience during spring, 2015, gay folks made up less than 2% of the passengers on the Crystal Serenity. There was one LGBT meet-up. We were told that it was held because one of the passengers asked Crystal to set it up, otherwise there would have been nothing. About 15 people showed up, but a number of them were not gay. The announcement for the meet-up was in the daily bulletin, but was hard to find. Otherwise, you will just have to use your gaydar to spot gay folks. Don't expect much. One travels on Crystal for the service, enrichment program, and the food, not for the gay environment.

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As a point of interest there are no longer many fancy dress up nights on Crystal (or any of the other luxury lines) as dress codes have changed to keep up with the times and the younger demographic they are all seeking. Formal nights are now formal "optional" so a suit or blazer is fine and even a tie is not de rigueur. Makes packing so much easier.

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Thank you all for the great replies!

 

Considering all said, our decision is to wait on booking a Crystal cruise.

 

Although what was being offered for the cruise was a great deal. We feel for now that RCCL will be our choice for cruising over the next few years. We have done many caribbean cruises and look forward to the day of cruising aboard a Crystal ship. Given our ages, although we are far from heavy partiers, we feel that a Crystal cruise may be a bit reserved for us.

 

Thank you all again for your replies....and keep the thread going. Perhaps we could always reconsider! :)

Do consider Celebrity(it's part of the RCCL empire)it's a bit more formal & the food is definately a step up.

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We're in our late 50's/early 60's and have sailed 10 cruises on Crystal since 2004. While there's never been what I consider a large contingency of gays aboard, several sailings had FOD parties that were either automatically arranged by Crystal or done so by request. Despite a low gay population, we've always enjoyed our cruises from a social standpoint. As another poster presumed, the higher per diem does tend to weed out any bigoted types. We've made some great long-time friendships, both gay and straight while on board.

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I sailed on a 7 day cruise on the Crystal Symphony. My main observations:

 

- elegant, dressing for dinner means a tuxedo on Crystal, very few suits.

- most of the passengers on the sailing were age 70 plus

- food was fantastic

- service was exceptional

- quieter atmosphere

- Crystal spends a small fortune on their evening shows, costumes etc.

 

A great experience overall but it was refined...picture Downton Abbey at sea.

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Not sure when your cruise on the Symphony was but the dress code has definitely become far less formal in the last year or so. You will always see some tuxedos but far fewer, especially on a seven day cruise.

 

It was several years ago, so I'm glad to hear the tuxedos are not the norm anymore! Too much hassle to bring a tux with you, and too expensive to rent one onboard.

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It was several years ago, so I'm glad to hear the tuxedos are not the norm anymore! Too much hassle to bring a tux with you, and too expensive to rent one onboard.

 

A year or two ago they did away with the three tier evening dress code. They eliminated semi-formal and changed formal to "black tie optional".

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Hubby & I were on the full 108 day 2015 Serenity World Cruise, Jan-May 2015. We met so many other gay & lesbian couples and quite a few gay widowers and singles. The median age on the WC was 84.6, so the two of us certainly helped to lower the median! There were multiple LGBT scheduled cocktail hours and many gay staff members, guest lecturers and entertainers attended, but by the second week onboard, we all pretty much had found each other anyway. We thought this WC would be our one-and-only-once-in-a-lifetime-trip, but we had such a fantastic time, we placed a deposit on the 2018 Serenity WC. In the interim, we are booked on the Symphony in 2016 as well as the Serenity again in 2017.

 

More people tended to dress formally on the WC. There were generally 3 black tie optional nites per segment. We wore tuxes on about 2/3 of the formal nights and a dark suit on the other 1/3. The rest of the nights were casual. However, for our future Crystal cruises, other than the WC, we only plan to bring a sports coat for the optional formal nights.

 

The WC was our 30th cruise on Crystal. We have met so many nice, fascinating and interesting people onboard and have become lifelong friends with so many (both gay and actually, mostly straight) people that we would have never met anywhere else. We especially enjoy Crystal's unique itineraries, the outstanding lecturers and entertainers, the all-inclusive pricing, but most especially the professionalism and care exhibited by every crew and staff member toward each and every guest. They always make us feel very special every time we step onboard.

 

Rob & Jim

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  • 1 year later...

I know I am resurrecting this thread from years gone by, but I found that it provided some interesting angles on the LGBTQ Crystal Cruises experience. We are a couple in our late-40s/mid-50s booked on our first Crystal Cruise on Crystal Serenity coming up in November. We have sailed Celebrity mostly and look forward to socializing, pampering, and relaxing on board. Does anyone have any other Crystal experiences they care to share with the unanointed?

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Expect good food and drink and an excellent enrichment program. Expect that you will be among the very youngest passengers on board; average age is usually well above 70. Expect a few other gay travelers, maybe one LGBT party during your cruise, maybe none.

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Sticking my neck out, being the second response since I was the last responder two years ago, our impressions and observations have not changed in two years. Our last Serenity cruise in April 2017 had very few gay guys onboard. I requested a LGBT get together with the cruise director; it was prominently listed in Reflections in at least three very obvious locations. Only 5 of us showed up, and we had already met each other earlier in the cruise. It was a very nice private party...a bartender, two waiters and mountains of food for the five of us!

 

That said, just let your gaydar lead your way. Its very easy making friends in the Cove before dinner or in the Avenue after dinner. Gay couples have really become mainstream, at least on Crystal. We've been treated fantastically by staff, crew and fellow guests. Your ages will still probably place you in the chronologically youngest 10% of those onboard

 

We're on Serenity from Quebec-Ft. Lauderdale this October. Probably the cruise right before yours. Arriving in Ft. Lauderdale for Halloween weekend!

 

Bon voyage. have a great journey!

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I have been on two Crystal cruises--both 7 days, one Caribbean and on Mediterranean. The service, food, entertainment, excursions, and enrichment programs are all excellent. No negative (anti-gay) experiences, but I did not notice any LGBT meetings, either. An older crowd (more in their 60s than 40s, more 80s than 20s) but pleasant, friendly, well-traveled people. A lot of repeat Crystal cruisers. I agree with one post that this cruise line is more for those who want to relax and learn than those who want to be active so I enjoyed the cruise with a few sea days rather than the one that was a different port every day. I enjoyed both cruises a lot and definitely plan to sail on Crystal again in the future (after I try out a few more cruise lines).

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I have found that on all the luxury lines I have sailed that if there are few gays aboard that gives me the opportunity to meet some very interesting, sophisticated and fun straight people, some of whom have become lifelong friends. Just as I expect straights not to differentiate between them and us I also try to give them the same consideration.

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  • 5 months later...

Guys, just to say we are just off Symphony this month. I am still in shock.

How ordinary it is for a LUX line with its great past reputation. I compare with Serenity about 3 years back.

Crystal made no arrangement for a LGBT get together, yet the happy couple at the Crystal Society award ceremony for most cruises with the company were a Gay couple!

The refit money has smartened up the old ship, but the food and drink budget seemed way down.

Sure felt to me that the great years for these old couple of ships could be past.

No denying some good junior staff (Crystal spoil there staff more than they spoiled me!) No treats in the cabin, two single flowers in 15 days, no fruit, chocolate, or wine or present of any kind in the cabin, all of which we were given by the first hotel stay after the ship.

Entertainment (band & dancers/singers)was the only great plus of Symphony at this time!

Going back to Hapag- Lloyd Europa 2 next month so will let you know. It has a major refit every 2 years!! It reads VERY well for a little more money.

OK my standards are high, Cunard,Ponnant, and Crystal have been a major waste of my money recently.

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Guys, just to say we are just off Symphony this month. I am still in shock.

How ordinary it is for a LUX line with its great past reputation. I compare with Serenity about 3 years back.

Crystal made no arrangement for a LGBT get together, yet the happy couple at the Crystal Society award ceremony for most cruises with the company were a Gay couple!

The refit money has smartened up the old ship, but the food and drink budget seemed way down.

Sure felt to me that the great years for these old couple of ships could be past.

No denying some good junior staff (Crystal spoil there staff more than they spoiled me!) No treats in the cabin, two single flowers in 15 days, no fruit, chocolate, or wine or present of any kind in the cabin, all of which we were given by the first hotel stay after the ship.

Entertainment (band & dancers/singers)was the only great plus of Symphony at this time!

Going back to Hapag- Lloyd Europa 2 next month so will let you know. It has a major refit every 2 years!! It reads VERY well for a little more money.

OK my standards are high, Cunard,Ponnant, and Crystal have been a major waste of my money recently.

 

Very interesting...thanks for posting!

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Guys, just to say we are just off Symphony this month. I am still in shock.

How ordinary it is for a LUX line with its great past reputation. I compare with Serenity about 3 years back.

Crystal made no arrangement for a LGBT get together, yet the happy couple at the Crystal Society award ceremony for most cruises with the company were a Gay couple!

The refit money has smartened up the old ship, but the food and drink budget seemed way down.

Sure felt to me that the great years for these old couple of ships could be past.

No treats in the cabin, two single flowers in 15 days, no fruit, chocolate, or wine or present of any kind in the cabin, all of which we were given by the first hotel stay after the ship.

Entertainment (band & dancers/singers)was the only great plus of Symphony at this time!

.

 

So sorry to hear that your recent cruise on Symphony did not meet your expectations.

We are now 1 week into the 112 day World Cruise on Serenity.

 

Crystal has not automatically scheduled LGBT get togethers for several years. Any passenger needs to specifically request a get together with the cruise director, and it will be scheduled and posted in Reflections in several places. We've personally asked the cruise director on several recent Crystal cruises, and it happens within 48-72 hours. But you have to ask; it is no longer automatic.

 

We have no issues at all with the variety, quality, nor quantity of food and beverage selections on Serenity. It is all rather overwhelming, in fact. We have already special ordered several of our favorite off-menu items in the dining room, which were prepared perfectly and without hesitation. The quantity and quality of fresh fish and fresh fruits exceeds our expectations. I understand from several friends that there were provisioning issues during the Symphony's recent season in and around South Africa. It's unfortunate that your cruise may have been negatively impacted, but I assure you and others reading, that is definitely not the case here on Serenity.

 

Crystal discontinued the automatic delivery of fruits, chocolates and wines to the cabins several years ago. They are all still available, you just need to ask your cabin attendant and your selection(s), as well as any assortment of liquor, will be delivered on request. The shift from automatic to on-request was in response to eliminating waste. The amenities are still there, you just have to ask rather than having them in the cabin automatically.

 

We have a single orchid stem in our cabin. It will be replaced once it starts to wilt. That has been the standard flower for quite some time. On this extended voyage, we may eventually opt out of even this vase because it occupies valuable flat surface in the cabin.

 

Again, sorry to hear that your cruise missed its mark with you. From what I have heard from others, it was likely a combination of a not-quite-completed drydock renovation and logistical issues receiving supplies in South African ports. I hope your next adventure exceeds your expectations.

 

Rob

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"Crystal has not automatically scheduled LGBT get togethers for several years. Any passenger needs to specifically request a get together with the cruise director, and it will be scheduled and posted in Reflections in several places. We've personally asked the cruise director on several recent Crystal cruises, and it happens within 48-72 hours. But you have to ask; it is no longer automatic."

 

 

 

Rob is correct! I've been to 3 FOD or LGBT gatherings on the Serenity. Someone has to ask for the event to be put in Reflections. It's that simple.

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