Mainstream or Gay Cruise?

[BrianTom]

re Bear cruise:

 

As a bear who isnt attracted to other bears, but is attracted by other bears I think I would hate a bear cruise... I have never really understood the sort of guys who are attracted to their body doubles... especially if it means they have to spend the same amount of time in the gym or cake shop to maintain .. :D

 

I don't consider my self a bear but I was looking for a gay group cruise that fit my schedule and the bear cruise was perfect timing. As with all groups, there were fit,not so fit, handsome, not so handsome, smooth, hairy, young, old etc...but almost all had facial hair. I did not do the bear cruise to be attracted to others, but rather have a fun vacation and it worked. It was a very friendly group.

 

tom

[BrianTom]

Thanks all for the info on RSVP, Atlantis, Pied Piper and Aquafest. Will look into those a little more -- likely we'll try one of these at some point.

 

Additional questions:

1) Which returning cruiser program is in effect during a gay cruise? (For instance, if it's an Atlantis Cruise on the Liberty of the Seas, does Atlantis' Alumni program or RC's Crown & Anchor or both?)

2) The ads that are posted by Atlantis seem to focus on buff, young guys. Is there a good mix of guys on a gay cruise?

 

In the past, if you were a crown and anchor member you got credit for the cruise. I am not sure about now but I don't know why they would change it.

 

On the Atlantis cruise there are ALOT of buff young guys. But then there are TONS of old, young, average, hairy, smooth, skinny, portly, handsome, not so handsome, tall short, etc... I am 45 and I would agree with the other poster that I should be at the gym more often and I don't feel intimidated at all on an Atlantis cruise.

 

 

Tom

[bbenson]

Going to throw my $0.02 in here even though I'm going to run a little counter to the prevailing senitment.

 

I've done... 2 "bear" group cruises, 1 RSVP, and about half a dozen non-gay cruises.

 

I'll be honest I love the bear cruises....last year's was a total blast and had my deposit for this years cruise put down before I left the ship. Great group of guys, never heard a negative comment from other cruisers and even have had several straight passengers join our group in the disco every night or by the pool in the afternoons. There was one in particular last year that was a 70 something year old grandmother that was on the cruise for the week with 3 of her friends for a "girls getaway" and she danced her butt off everynight in the disco with us always in her large red hat. (Ok so we sort of monopolized the disco every night but, it wasn't reserved or anything everyone was welcome and usually we made up 50-70% of the crowd. The cruise that had the issues on the Mariner was a different group and I haven't tried them so can't comment.

 

Again the ages and body types run the gambit, though obviously the spectrum does lean more towards larger hairy fellas. Last year's cruise ran from a 20 yr old well into the 60's maybe even 70's though the average age was probably early to late 40's the only unifying feature does seem to be the presence of facial hair of some sort but, not always. I guess it depends what you're cruising for....if your purpose is to go and relax and be with "family" its a great group no matter what your attractions you'll have a good time as everyone is welcoming and friendly. Oh, and never forget that each bear cruise DOES seem to have a nice handful of non-bear type bear loving "chasers" though they do tend to be muscle boys but we welcome them too and there are invariably a few women with the group, mothers/sisters/best friends, etc.

 

The bear group usually has 2-3 private dance parties during the cruise and 1-2 pool parties depending on the itinerary. The great part is that for the welcome party and farewell pool party the drinks are usually free. They also arrange group only shore excursions, 1-2 at each port 1 of which is almost always water oriented either snorkeling or beach excursion or sailing or the like. And we always get a section of the dining room to ourselves where you can table hop till your heart's content though it does have a set time. One night of the cruise a large party goes to the speciality resturaunt though like any cruise you can go on your own at any time.

 

If you're just not into bears etc, try one of the other gay charters...there are several that are well known and well reputed.

 

The RSVP cruise was...good.... The entertainment was definitely ramped up to cater to the cruisers and the nightly parties on deck were pretty awesome. But it was a west coast cruise and the ship was only about 2/3 full. I wasn't as overwhelmed with how great it is as I expected to be from talking to friends that had gone before and reading here. In the end I think the problems with this cruise for me were 1) I only knew about 4 people on the whole ship at the start and can be a bit shy until I get comfortable so by the time I was comfortable and having fun and meeting people it was 3-4 days into the cruise. 2) I did not enjoy the cold Pacific waters after having been in the caribbean hundreds of times over the years. 3) NCL is not my favorite cruise line.

 

All of these are NOT RSVP's issues (except for choosing the ship) so, I've decided to give them a second try and may book their caribbean cruise for next february. The premium for these cruises IS a stumbling block......and when I compare the two, group cruise vs charter I do have a hard time swallowing Double to Triple the price just to get a few extra parties when I can take the money saved and do a different trip to Southern Decadence or somewhere else if I want to just party a few days.

 

Ultimately you have to decide for yourself what you enjoy and what you want. My suggestion is to try both and then pick one because what's right for me or one of the other posters may not be right for you.

[bulldogwrst]

My partner and I have cruised only mainstream cruises so far. Have started to look at Atlantis or RSVP cruises as well as the partial charters that are available? Is it worth it to pay the "gay premium" for these cruises?

 

I recognize that part of it is not having to worry about whether I will be accepted for who I am. (Haven't really found a problem with that in mainstream cruises), but I guess what activities/events are different from the mainstream ones? What can I expect by going on a gay only cruise?

 

I will be taking my first RSVP cruise in October. RSVP is sailing around the Hawaiian Islands on NCL's Pride of America. I compared the prices of going on a mainstream NCL cruise on Pride of America or sailing with RSVP. The cost is not much different and the extras offered by RSVP are worth it.