Is Carnival Gay Friendly?

My S.O. and I have booked our first cruise, and chose Carnival because we are laid back/casual type guys. Neither of us have any desire to dress up on vacation. But anyway....is Carnival gay friendly? Like I said we've never cruised before, and are both excited and nervous about it. Any advice/info is greatly appreciated!

Yes, I think you will be perfectly comfortable. Just look for the FOD meetings. We met several couples on our last Carnival cruise, although we more frequently do RCL.

Actually, all of the mainstream lines have plenty of venues other than the main dining room, so there's really no need to dress up on any of them (Carnival, RCL, NCL) if you don't want to.

Thanks for the response! What I meant by the "dress up" comment is that we wanted a more laid back vacation-we have no issues dressing up for dinner, etc; but would possibly feel underdressed on a ship with Cunard or Silversea, for example. Guess I was trying to explain our choice for Carnival as opposed to other lines.

My girlfriend and I have always sailed Carnival.. several times now.. and had nothing but the best experience.. and we also love the more casual type approach.. and we have met plenty of other LGBT couples onboard.. and I am happy to say that we are very close with some of them.. we continue to cruise together and visit each other often.. just saw them last month.. The staff is awesome to us.. never a second look. and always treated as a couple and with respect.. and even the passengers are great.. You will have a great time.. and then be addicted like we are.. i cant wait for the Dream in nov.. and the Freedom next year..

As you can see from our profile, my Partner and I have or will cruise on a number of lines. Regarding your question about casual dress; you will be fine.

Enjoy you upcoming cruise!!

Hello,

We just returned off of the Carnival Victory. There were FOD meetings scheduled every night if that is your thing. Though we brought along our "formal" clothes, we never ate in the dining room due to the port intensive itinerary. I must say that the Carnival cabin stewards have been the most friendly of all the cruise lines that we have been on.

Feel free to send me an email if you have questions.

Gary

Thanks for the response! What I meant by the "dress up" comment is that we wanted a more laid back vacation-we have no issues dressing up for dinner, etc; but would possibly feel underdressed on a ship with Cunard or Silversea, for example. Guess I was trying to explain our choice for Carnival as opposed to other lines.

We do Cunard & do like the dressing up part. Cunard is part of Carnival Corp.(kind of their Cadillac division)You'll find all cruiselines to be gay friendly. It's the fellow passengers you might have to watch out for. We've found that those on the really "cheap" short cruises tend to be less "worldly" than on longer cruises. If you ever have any problems(which you shouldn't)immediately see any ship personel & they take care of it.

We LOVE Carnival and find them to be very gay friendly! Have a great cruise and I'm sure that you will love Carnival and that one day, we will be on the same Carnival cruise!

My partner Jerome and I love cruises and always have had a remarkable time! We are looking forward to "Our" Carnival Cruise on the Dream this October 9th!

The onto the EPIC on NCL February 5, 2011! We like NCL and Carnival the best for taking care of us.

Carnival employs a lot of people, so while anything is possible, I find them to be gay friendly... friendly to everyone.

Not only that, cruise passengers on Carnival also tend to be there to have a good time, not judge.

Good luck... I'm sure you will have a great time.

~K

After 8 Carnival cruises (and 2 RCCL) I have nothing bad to say about them. I have never had a single issue with my partner and I. We always join the roll calls for our cruise and have met some really great people. We are cruising again with a bunch of couples (straight) that we met on a cruise last October. Our cruise on the Freedom had a large group of gay guys onboard that we met at the FOD meetings. We had a good time with them. I wouldn't give it a second thought.

Carnival contacted me today regarding our cruise last week. I will say that I feel Carnival has the best cabin stewards of all of the cruise we have sailed on in regards to being gay friendly. We only had an issue on RCCL with our cabin steward who did not want to put our beds together. Our recent cabin steward not only put our beds together, but also put on a mattress pad so that we couldn't feel the seem between the beds. She also made us a heart out of towel the last night.

Carnival contacted me today regarding our cruise last week. I will say that I feel Carnival has the best cabin stewards of all of the cruise we have sailed on in regards to being gay friendly. We only had an issue on RCCL with our cabin steward who did not want to put our beds together. Our recent cabin steward not only put our beds together, but also put on a mattress pad so that we couldn't feel the seem between the beds. She also made us a heart out of towel the last night.

Yes I had the same issue years ago on the Soverign of the Seas Inaugural Sailing and the Steward REFUSED to put the bed together. I always Over Tip on a cruise to a cabin steward, and we were in a Deluxe Ocean (No Balcony's at the time) and he got nada....I raised such a stink that the ship rocked!!!! As a matter of fact, I think that was the very last time I sailed on RCCL.. Not want to spend my money where it was not welcomed.

After all times change, .....people change,..... gay people with money change companies...right?????

Still, I love NCL and Carnival...only because they have SO MANY GAY PEOPLE WORKING ON THE SHIP! Not those temporary floosie (british or russian pretend to be gay for a tip) show people on RCCL, but REAL hard working Homosaxuals.....and Lesbeans! Spelling incorrect for the pun! Okay okay....don't pan me....just a well talked about opinion in the Gay clubs of Florida about RCCL and how Easy the Show People are!!! Just repeating what I heard, not a fact known to me personally.

Still, four months from today we are sailing on the Cream de la Dream of Carnival! Spa suite! Yay! Oh Yay!

Hello! I work at Walt Disney World so I know all about gay friendly and Carnival is probably the friendliest line for the GLBT Crowd. I usually meet great people at the Gym and although I have yet to travel with a partner as I am perpetually single ;) I have only heard derogatory remarks from the comedians on the ship. I usually try to avoid comedy shows at all cost!

Hello! I work at Walt Disney World so I know all about gay friendly and Carnival is probably the friendliest line for the GLBT Crowd. I usually meet great people at the Gym and although I have yet to travel with a partner as I am perpetually single ;) I have only heard derogatory remarks from the comedians on the ship. I usually try to avoid comedy shows at all cost!

So glad you chimed in. We usually travel to WDW and find everyone there so welcoming. Have stayed there 3 times over the past 2 years. Decided to skip the mouse and try something different this time LOL. Would have done Disney cruise...but...well, kinda pricey ya know?

Thanks for the info and the Disney comparison, really helps.

EVERYONE has been so super helpful in easing our minds over this. Really appreciate the input. If the steward does NOT put the beds together in our suite....well.....someone may be swimming LOL. Just kidding, of course. Thanks again for all the information! :D

Hi all

Im a first time cruiser going on Carnival Freedom 6 day western caribbean cruise on 30 oct 2011.

I hoped that as it was out of ft lauderdale it may be ok for a gay passenger, does anyone know what im to expect?

Seen a few reviews and not sure!!!

Is there anybody else on this cruise who is gay??

help :):)

Hello Liverpool Lad,

Thanks for posting, but you may want to check out the roll call section here and find or start a roll call thread for your specific cruise.

Incidentally, we just got back from 9 days on the Carnival Spirit with an annual gay group cruise, and we had nothing but F-U-N!

We danced together... in the Main Dining Room! The staff could not have been nicer... but of course we are all a fun bunch of guys who try to see the good in every situation.

My countdown clock is soon to change... we had such a good time we are already planning another cruise!

Until recently we have been pleased over all with Carnival. Something happened recently which was caused us to have doubts about Carnival in general.

The following maybe off topic but we feel a need to share the following:

One of us was ill on a recent Carnival cruise. In order to prevent liability, Carnival landed us in St. Lucia without any assistance.

We had four upcoming Carnival cruises booked. We canceled all four of these cruises and booked cruises with other lines.

Until recently we have been pleased over all with Carnival. Something happened recently which was caused us to have doubts about Carnival in general.

 

The following maybe off topic but we feel a need to share the following:

 

One of us was ill on a recent Carnival cruise. In order to prevent liability, Carnival landed us in St. Lucia without any assistance.

 

We had four upcoming Carnival cruises booked. We canceled all four of these cruises and booked cruises with other lines.

Wasn't this because you were ill? Somethig had to warrant them for "landing" you in St Lucia.

We were told by the Carnival Miracle that they had contacted our contacted our travel insurance company and arranged a medical evacuation for one of us. We were told he had to go by ambulance to a local hospital in St. Lucia where he would be meet by medical personnel in charge of his medical evacuation.

Once we got to the hospital in St. Lucia, we were given an envelope form the Carnival Miracle. The contents stated the the hospital in St. Lucia was our destination; no medical evacuation was scheduled. We were completed abandoned by Carnival. The Carnival Miracle sailed and we had to arrange our own way back to the United States.

We were told by the Carnival Miracle that they had contacted our contacted our travel insurance company and arranged a medical evacuation for one of us. We were told he had to go by ambulance to a local hospital in St. Lucia where he would be meet by medical personnel in charge of his medical evacuation.

Once we got to the hospital in St. Lucia, we were given an envelope form the Carnival Miracle. The contents stated the the hospital in St. Lucia was our destination; no medical evacuation was scheduled. We were completed abandoned by Carnival. The Carnival Miracle sailed and we had to arrange our own way back to the United States.

Perhaps, if we knew the medical condition, we might be able to better form an opinion.

We were told by the Carnival Miracle that they had contacted our contacted our travel insurance company and arranged a medical evacuation for one of us. We were told he had to go by ambulance to a local hospital in St. Lucia where he would be meet by medical personnel in charge of his medical evacuation.

 

Once we got to the hospital in St. Lucia, we were given an envelope form the Carnival Miracle. The contents stated the the hospital in St. Lucia was our destination; no medical evacuation was scheduled. We were completed abandoned by Carnival. The Carnival Miracle sailed and we had to arrange our own way back to the United States.

 

Since you posted in this particular thread, it leads us to believe it has something to do with the question of Carnival's attitude toward gay passengers. I think, therefore, that you must come forward with the facts of the situation, because right now I don't understand them.

I'm also curious about how your travel insurance worked. If you had it, did it work? Was it Carnival's policy or a private policy? Did it cover your expenses?

Because this involves something medical, it may be personal. If so, that's okay... we'll respect your privacy. But if you feel you were mistreated as a result of being gay, I hope you will pursue the matter with CCL.

I also hope you are happy and well now.

I'm so glad to have found this post. We sail in May on Carnival Glory and I was beginning to worry. I started a Roll-Call and no one has really commented, and I see a lot of family members on RCL. Thanks all for the feedback on this, I really appreciate it.