22nd January 2011-Rhapsody of the Seas-Sydney>New Zealand>Sydney

[Dorothy's Friend]

;)My best mate of 30 years, David, and I are booked for this cruise. Also, purely by coincidence, a friend of mine and his partner have booked this cruise so already there are at least 4 FODs aboard;):eek:. I can't find any other threads for this cruise so is there anybody else out there already booked?:D

[Dorothy's Friend]

I have already registered us for the Meet & Mingle for this cruise despite not having yet booked the flights!:eek:

[campingman]

Enjoy Yourselves its a great Itinerary.Antony

[LuvCelebrity]

;)My best mate of 30 years' date=' David, and I are booked for this cruise. Also, purely by coincidence[/font'], a friend of mine and his partner have booked this cruise so already there are at least 4 FODs aboard;):eek:. I can't find any other threads for this cruise so is there anybody else out there already booked?:D

 

Are you booked with Pied Piper? They have a gay group going on that cruise. Hope you enjoy it, it's a great itinerary.

 

David

[Dorothy's Friend]

Are you booked with Pied Piper? They have a gay group going on that cruise. Hope you enjoy it, it's a great itinerary.

 

David

 

Hi Dave!

 

Thanks for the info, we have not booked with Pied Piper but with a regular agency based in the UK http://www.cruisein.co.uk. Never the less, I am looking forward to meeting some of Pied Piper's guests!!!!!;)

 

Kevin

[LuvCelebrity]

Hi Dave!

 

Thanks for the info' date=' we have not booked with Pied Piper but with a regular agency based in the UK http://www.cruisein.co.uk. Never the less, I am looking forward to meeting some of Pied Piper's guests!!!!!;)

 

Kevin[/quote']

 

The good thing when you book with Pied Piper is you get invited to all their private onboard parties and they have their own group dining tables.

[K&JfromPDX]

Hi,

 

Keith and I(Jeff) have just booked this cruise, so the countdown begins. It's great a thread has been started this early, as it will allow for more planning. Our friend Faye will share a Junior Suite with us on this cruise.

 

Jeff

[Dorothy's Friend]

Hi,

 

Keith and I(Jeff) have just booked this cruise, so the countdown begins. It's great a thread has been started this early, as it will allow for more planning. Our friend Faye will share a Junior Suite with us on this cruise.

 

Jeff

 

:DWelcome aboard Keith, Jeff and Faye. If you think it is good that this thread was started so early you should see how many are on the thread for the Norwegian Epic Transatlantic 23rd October 2011:eek:!!

 

Hopefully now a few more will join us on this thread;)!

 

Kevin

[lemursf]

You know you can transfer your reservation to Pied Piper and you will probably save money as they have group discounts you cannot get on your own-call Pied Piper and they can help you. In that way, you can sit with the Pied Piper folks and come to their own gay functions. You will not be allowed to come to those functions or sit with us unless you are part of Pied Piper (not my rule, Pied Pipers and the ships).

 

My partner (husband, we live in CA) Eric and I will be on the cruise to New Zealand on the Celebrity Princess. I look foward to the cruise, but not the plane flight.

[Dorothy's Friend]

You know you can transfer your reservation to Pied Piper and you will probably save money as they have group discounts you cannot get on your own-call Pied Piper and they can help you. In that way, you can sit with the Pied Piper folks and come to their own gay functions. You will not be allowed to come to those functions or sit with us unless you are part of Pied Piper (not my rule, Pied Pipers and the ships).

 

My partner (husband, we live in CA) Eric and I will be on the cruise to New Zealand on the Celebrity Princess. I look foward to the cruise, but not the plane flight.

 

Unfortunately, the rules regarding deposits and reservations made and different in the UK than in the US. So, if I was to transfer my reservation to Pied Piper now I would lose the deposit paid to Cruise-in. That is too much to lose just so that I can sit with and join in the functions of Pied Piper clients

[Dorothy's Friend]

:mad:My final payment is due on 12th November, right in the middle of my next cruise on the Adventure of the Seas. At least it means this cruise is not so far away:D

 

See you all there, closer to the time I will find a bar where we can all meet up for a pre-dinner get together. RCCL are not very good at organising GLBT get togethers.:mad:

[Dorothy's Friend]

Despite the lack of people joining this thread ..... I hope this is not an indication of a lack of guys doing this cruise ...... perhaps we should think of a venue aboard to meet up. Does anyone have experience of this ship and know of a good venue aboard to hold our own GLTB informal get togethers?

 

Unlike NCL, RCCL are terrible at promoting such things so I think we need to do it ourselves. I have been reliably informed that the sauna on the Rhapsody gets active at 18hrs during this cruise but I am not suggesting that we make the sauna our meeting point:);)

[lemursf]

Hi, I will be on the cruise with my partner. I emailed Pied Piper last week to ask how many guys have booked this cruise. They have refused to answer on the guise that reservations are still open, so there is no final number. Considering that there were no more cabins available on the cruise as of mid-Nov and only a few cancellations have opened up on the boat since then (at twice the original price), it is highly unlikely that onebody else would be signing up at this point. It disturbs me that they are skirting an important question. While I can see why they would not want to give out solid numbers 6 months before the cruise, it is now 3 weeks before. I never expected that there would be dozens of guys on the trip, I was certainly hoping for a solid 10-20. All they would tell me is that there will be an assigned Pied Piper rep on the trip, which, in theory, means that there are at least 10 guys booked. But I remain suspicious. I know they have a good reputation, but we will see how they respond to my latest email pressing for more info. On the positive side, we did get an email with the recommended excursions, so that potentially we could all be together and I guess if only 5 guys signed up they wouldnt bother. But we shall see. When they respond, I will let you know what they say. It does seem odd then when you call them directly, all you get is their office manager Frank, who just asks you to email Derek. I never got a live agent there.

[Dorothy's Friend]

Hi, I will be on the cruise with my partner. I emailed Pied Piper last week to ask how many guys have booked this cruise. They have refused to answer on the guise that reservations are still open, so there is no final number. Considering that there were no more cabins available on the cruise as of mid-Nov and only a few cancellations have opened up on the boat since then (at twice the original price), it is highly unlikely that onebody else would be signing up at this point. It disturbs me that they are skirting an important question. While I can see why they would not want to give out solid numbers 6 months before the cruise, it is now 3 weeks before. I never expected that there would be dozens of guys on the trip, I was certainly hoping for a solid 10-20. All they would tell me is that there will be an assigned Pied Piper rep on the trip, which, in theory, means that there are at least 10 guys booked. But I remain suspicious. I know they have a good reputation, but we will see how they respond to my latest email pressing for more info. On the positive side, we did get an email with the recommended excursions, so that potentially we could all be together and I guess if only 5 guys signed up they wouldnt bother. But we shall see. When they respond, I will let you know what they say. It does seem odd then when you call them directly, all you get is their office manager Frank, who just asks you to email Derek. I never got a live agent there.

 

It could be that as far as RCCL are concerned all cabins have been sold for this cruise but that Pied Piper have cabins that they have bought on 'guarantee' or 'allotment' that to date they have not sold. If this is the case, they need to sell them fast or sell them back to RCCL because they stand to lose money.:eek: Anyway, don't worry I am confident that there are a lot of guys who have booked this cruise other than with Pied Piper and have not joined this thread. :rolleyes:

 

Now, as RCCL are so bad at organising FOD/GLBT get togethers have you or anyone got any ideas for the best time and place to meet up ? And don't forget to check the Noticeboard for RCCL's get together if they have one!:rolleyes:

[lemursf]

Pied Piper has not responded yet on exact number on the cruise, but either way, they will organize their own get togethers on board the ship regardless of any FOD announcements by RCCL. I am not sure if "outsiders" will be allowed to attend their events. I don't think so, but I suspect it would easy to sneak in or non-chalantly walk into the meeting area. Either way, if there a gay couples on the ship (in Pied Piper or not), they are usually easy to spot.

 

On my last straight cruise, there were two other gay couples and we spotted them and introduced ourselves to them before the ship even set sail.

[Dorothy's Friend]

Pied Piper has not responded yet on exact number on the cruise, but either way, they will organize their own get togethers on board the ship regardless of any FOD announcements by RCCL. I am not sure if "outsiders" will be allowed to attend their events. I don't think so, but I suspect it would easy to sneak in or non-chalantly walk into the meeting area. Either way, if there a gay couples on the ship (in Pied Piper or not), they are usually easy to spot.

 

On my last straight cruise, there were two other gay couples and we spotted them and introduced ourselves to them before the ship even set sail.

 

Sorry but I never got the chance to say 'Good-bye' at the end of this great cruise. It was nice to have met you!:D