Why we don't go on "all gay cruises" anymore

[Ithocles]

I might like to try a gay cruise one day, but it would be on a ship like the r family cruises or maybe I'd see if the women would let us on one of the Olivia cruises. <grin> While on the men's cruises, I'd probably enjoy being able to hold hands down the promenade, of some of the campy games or shows, the bath house environment would be a put off for me. I wouldn't want to go out of my way just to avoid where that stuff goes on, and seeing it would just be too uncomfortable for me. It just isn't me.

 

I'm perfectly happy on the mainstream cruise lines.

 

-Danny

[Schplinky]

I might like to try a gay cruise one day, but it would be on a ship like the r family cruises or maybe I'd see if the women would let us on one of the Olivia cruises. <grin> While on the men's cruises, I'd probably enjoy being able to hold hands down the promenade, of some of the campy games or shows, the bath house environment would be a put off for me. I wouldn't want to go out of my way just to avoid where that stuff goes on, and seeing it would just be too uncomfortable for me. It just isn't me.

 

I'm perfectly happy on the mainstream cruise lines.

 

-Danny

 

Olivia WILL NOT let you on. We've tried. The extra entertainment over there appeals to us way more than what Atlantis brings and I have emailed several times to Oilivia. It's always a no. RFamily also has good entertainment that appeals to us so perhaps we'll give that a try.

 

Gayest show we've ever seen was Charo on a mainstream sailing. A total campy hoot.

[Georgie562]

I havent done a gay cruise but one would think that its more of a meat market?

 

Therefore go solo!

[jame_g]

We've never done an all gay cruise because of the cost. In many cases it's double what it would be otherwise, and almost always at least 50% more. We can get a lot more for our money on other cruises.

 

The other thing is that we've really never had a negative experience on any of our cruises. Other than a couple of strange looks or something. Most people we encounter tend to be welcoming and friendly. And a couple of times, we've had really good experiences meeting others from the GLBT community on board. (Although one thing that bothered us on our Cunard cruise was that most of the other gay men on board were not very friendly and had real attitude problems. This was rare on other lines.)

 

That said, we might do an all gay cruise at some point. If the timing of the cruise fits into our schedule and the price is right. I know my partner would like to do one at some point, but when I show him the prices of the all gay cruise and what type of cabin we'll end up in, versus a regular cruise and the fact that we can get a suite for the price of balcony, he usually agrees to go for the regular cruise.

[sfgoguy]

I enjoyed some of the early RSVP cruises that I went on in the 80s and 90s (feeling dated as I say that)....provides some great stories like the time the ship ran out of liquor on the 2nd day of cruising--quite a scene.....all-gay are less appealing for now, but that might be a factor of age in late 50s...However, comfort and safety are the most important thing for my husband and I. We went on a Princess cruise to Alaska where the emcee couldn't deal with us as an non-traditional family in the game venue; it was publicly a little embarrassing (we were there with my parents). Then we went on a Carnival cruise (HUGE mistake) which was overtly and completely homophobic and we had nasty remarks made towards us by travellers, ignored by staff, and people who would not sit with us at the dinner table.

 

Question:

We are looking into a 14 to 24 day Mediterranean cruise in 2011....any suggestions for cruise lines that are gay-friendly but not exclusively gay?

How have folks experience Holland America or NCL? Both have departures that are appealing for us.

 

Despite the recent "differences" Rich Campbell has had with Celebrity, I still like the line very much. Their Solstice/Equinox/et al. class of ship is wonderful and does some great MED itineraries. ( For a cruise of the length you're looking for, consider back-to-back itineraries.)

 

Because Celebrity courts gay business (as witnessed by the all-gay charters they welcome), you won't find the staff a problem at all. And, because of the size of the Solstice class ship, you will be just another happy couple among the throng. Also, I expect that passengers on Med cruises might be a little more "worldly" than US-based cruises and not likely to be unaccepting of gays.

 

Check Celebrity out - and, no, this is not a paid commerical! ;)

 

P.S. You might also check out Pied Piper's website for their gay group itineraries on "regular" cruises. At least you're assured of other gays onboard and, if the group is large enough, special parties, excursions, etc. Certainly worth a few minutes on the internet.

 

Enjoy.

[Darrell6t]

I might like to try a gay cruise one day, ...the bath house environment would be a put off for me. I wouldn't want to go out of my way just to avoid where that stuff goes on, and seeing it would just be too uncomfortable for me. It just isn't me.

 

I'm perfectly happy on the mainstream cruise lines.

 

-Danny

 

You have it all wrong. You have to go out of your way to find any "bath house environment" on an all-gay cruise. 99% of the ship would be fine even for your maiden aunt to enjoy, as long as she likes to have fun. Even the probably upper, upper deck nude sunbathing area isn't like a bath house, at least during the day. You need to lose your misconceptions and come along on one of the best vacations you will ever have.

[Darrell6t]

I'm surprised no one has mentioned this yet, so I will.

 

One of the reasons I prefer conventional cruises is because it gives the straight folks a chance to meet more gay couples. If we shut ourselves off in an Atlantis/RSVP ghetto, they don't get to see how many of us there are -- and how much like them we actually are.

 

One of my memories is of our RSVP cruise being docked across the pier from an ordinary cruise both in St. Maarten and Turks & Caicos. The reaction of the passengers to a ship mostly filled with men is amusing. And when they see how happy and gay we are, they are certainly jealous. Especially the women.

 

Another memory is going through the Panama Canal with one of those stuffy little yacht cruise lines nearby. Our drag queens where putting on a show and the ordinary people far below were looking stunned. Wonderful!

[Darrell6t]

I havent done a gay cruise but one would think that its more of a meat market?

 

Therefore go solo!

 

Absolutely not so. Though if you put yourself out there, I am sure you will find some interesting temporary partners. There are always lots of couples. And some of them stay couples the entire cruise. You need to adjust your thinking.

[mistereks]

I see your point but I am amongst straight folks most of the times and sometimes it is nice to get away from it all and not be the after-school special and having a fun vacation, which should be all about me and not them. :)

Totally understand. One of the most fun things about going to Palm Springs, for instance, is that it is WE who are in the majority. Go to almost any restaurant in town, and probably half or more of the tables are filled with gay people.

 

That said, I think it's good for our fight for equality for people who don't have gay neighbors (or don't KNOW they have gay neighbors) to get a chance to see and meet us. My husband and I had a great experience on a recent Transatlantic cruise. We'd been playing poker most nights, and making friends with the other players. Then one day, while exploring one of the ports we ran into one of the other players and his wife. The husband asked where I lived and I told them. Then he asked my husband and he told him. "Oh, so you guys live near each other," he said. His wife kind of rolled her eyes and said, "WITH each other, honey. They live WITH each other." This fellow from Tennessee had just assumed that two guys who looked like we do and played poker and golf couldn't possibly be gay. Now he knows. We ended up having dinner with them later in the cruise, and I think we changed their opinion of what it means to be a gay family.

[RMorningglory]

Take the Straight Cruise, 1/2 the price and the pent up closet case husbands in the steam room are always so much more appreciative. LOL ;)

 

Seriously, Every cruise we go on is a gay cruise when we show up. That's the way I look at life all together. My partner was all nerved up about us going on a straight NCL cruse several years ago. It was his Birthday. When we arrived at the ship the woman checking us in just happened to be a Lesbian. She literally walked us onto the ship. When we arrived at our mini suite it was totally decked out in rainbow Happy Bithday stuff. He was at ease from then on. We hung out on the Freestyle sundeck the whole cruise, no kids there. We made friends up there with the whole dance troupe who we deemed the "Itty Bitty Titty Committee" and their conversatons were bawdier than any I have ever heard in P-town, I swear. I actually think I blushed a couple times... and that's saying a lot!

 

We also bought into the Thermal Suite for the whole 10 days. Once again, no kids, all guys, straight and gay, not really anything going on but completely comfortable naked area. We actually played Scrabble in there a couple late afternoons as the sun set. I'm sure there could have been more going on if we wanted... The headliner from the show as in there and was looking to perform his special act by the looks of things. By the time we got off that ship the BF was ready to hop on another one any time. We made some great aquaintances (All straight) and had a great time.

 

Since then we have stuck to princess because we like sailing out of San Juan and again have found the ships MORE than accepting and fun. We've met Raul and Juan from San Juan who Cruise on Princess more than they stay on dry land. They literally take off on B2B trips for 6 and 8 weeks at a time getting on in San Juan to go home, check the mail, water the plants and hop back on the boat. We literally met them in the steam room.

 

All in all I think we have a tendancy to find one another wherever we may be. Have fun no matter where you go or no matter waht you do!! :D

[slackey26]

And did I mentioned: NO CHILDREN on board.

 

Ok didn't think of this but that is a great perk right there. While most of the times kids aren't really that bad, but they are even better when they aren't around. lol

[jame_g]

We generally cruise while schools are in session, so we don't usually have a lot of kids on board.

[Boytjie]

We'd been playing poker most nights, and making friends with the other players. Then one day, while exploring one of the ports we ran into one of the other players and his wife. The husband asked where I lived and I told them. Then he asked my husband and he told him. "Oh, so you guys live near each other," he said. His wife kind of rolled her eyes and said, "WITH each other, honey. They live WITH each other." This fellow from Tennessee had just assumed that two guys who looked like we do and played poker and golf couldn't possibly be gay. Now he knows. We ended up having dinner with them later in the cruise, and I think we changed their opinion of what it means to be a gay family.

 

Funny story. :)

 

A year or so ago we were at a Food and Wine Festival party and met some people from Target headquarters. The wife worked for Target and husband came along to see what New York was all about. So there we sitting on a roof deck overlooking the Hudson river chatting when he asked similar questions and we then said we were a couple. He could not believe that he met an actual gay couple for the first time in his life. :D I wonder how he told the story back home to the family and friends.

[mistereks]

Funny story. :)

 

A year or so ago we were at a Food and Wine Festival party and met some people from Target headquarters. The wife worked for Target and husband came along to see what New York was all about. So there we sitting on a roof deck overlooking the Hudson river chatting when he asked similar questions and we then said we were a couple. He could not believe that he met an actual gay couple for the first time in his life. :D I wonder how he told the story back home to the family and friends.

Wouldn't you love to be a fly on the wall?

 

My favorite story like that was playing golf with some friends in Palm Springs. One of our foursome cancelled, so the course put a guy in our group. On the way up the first fairway, he and my two friends got into an esoteric discussion about college football and which assistant offensive coordinator was going to make the biggest change to his team's system...blah blah blah. (My one friend has his favorite NFL team's logo tattooed on his calf.)

 

On the first green, the other guy left a putt way short and muttered, "I'm such a fag!" Then he quickly turned and said, "Sorry. I hope I didn't offend any of you." My other buddy said "Only all three of us." We all laughed and went on with our round. And from that point on, much of the joking from the three of us was how our gayness affected our golf game. And like much male athletic conversation, most of it was pretty rude. "I would have gotten out of the bunker if it wasn't for all the BLANK that I've BLANKED."

 

Finally, heading down the 18th fairway, the guy asked me, "So...what are you and your wife up to tonight?" I told him, "Remember on the first green? About being gay? We weren't kidding."

 

And I watched the blood drain from his face. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" he spluttered. "If I offended you guys, I'm totally sorry."

 

We told him not to worry about it, we all shared in the joke. And it was we who had done all the joking. But I've always wondered how HE tells the story. I wonder if he includes the fact that the three gay guys consistently outdrove him.

[Boytjie]

We were in St. Criox staying at a gay hotel (now mixed) and they arranged a snorkeling excursion for us on a sail boat. When six of us from the hotel showed up there was another guy joining us. Once underway everyone was chatting, asking about what each did etc and it was hairdresser, florist and some other non-stereotypically gay jobs. He was a med student on the island, youngest and cute. It took him a little while to figure out that were were all gay and he seemed OK with it after a while. We all had a good time. :)

 

On another tangent... re gays and sports and things butch. There have been times when we were out on the boat and some big, butch muscle guy get all freaked out while the nelly queens throw on their gear and jump overboard without hesitation. :D

Edited October 17, 2010 by Boytjie

[mcd1411]

We have never been on a all gay cruise and have been on 20 plus cruises. We have never encountered any problems on straight cruise. We dont go out of our way to tell everyone that we are together, or change the way we act either. We have never had any problems with other guests and people have always been very nice at the dinner table in the evenings, only once we asked to change tables as we didnt feel we had anything in common with the other guests and it was our vacation and didnt feel we would enjoy sitting on the table for a week. So glad we did as our new table mates were a blast and still keep in contact with them.

 

I would like to try a all gay cruise at least once, however the costs do put me off as we can have 3 cruises a year compared to either 1 or 2 , and i do enjoy meeting different people. One day we will get round to trying it.

[apollobeach]

As one can see from our profile, we haave traveled (or plan to travel) on a number of cruise lines. Yes, we have had occassions of homophobic

bigotry but it can occur on all lines. The worst we have experienced were by both passengers and a African-American comedian on Holland-America, and by

bigoted American Jews on Azamara.

[eliget]

As one can see from our profile, we haave traveled (or plan to travel) on a number of cruise lines. Yes, we have had occassions of homophobic

bigotry but it can occur on all lines. The worst we have experienced were by both passengers and a African-American comedian on Holland-America, and by

bigoted American Jews on Azamara.

I hope that was an isolated incident on HAL, my partner and I are sailing next month and are very excited about getting away from it all. Obviously, just the fact we chose HAL means we are looking for a relaxing experience. We live in Sacramento and it is a very diverse and accepting town, we're around gays/lesbians all the time and she is not too big on PDA, however I hope to not feel the stares if we walk around the ship holding hands.....

Perhaps someday we would do an Olivia cruise, however once again, at this time price is keeping us away. Several years ago she did two of the Rosie O'Donnell (sp?) cruises, but that is so not me, way too many kids. Her son was younger then, but I would pay more to be on a cruise with NO children.

I hope that your HAL experience was an isolated one.

[amusea]

My partner and I have been on 63 cruises - 5 of which were Atlantis. We are now less likely to sail Atlantis again. The same performers and dances with ultra loud music drumming through the ship night and day. At first it was fun but we have had so many great straight cruises. in the earlier years it was a much more closeted experience but in the 60's and 70's the crew was allowed to mingle with the passengers and that presented some great opportunites. I especially remember the old Oriana in 1970. Mostly young rosy cheeked British and Australian boys who were happy to meet new people during the ship's very long world cruise.

We have found that the longer cruises have a more sophisticated group of passengers and it is easier to assimilate. Two years ago we sailed on HAL Amsterdam to the Orient, Australia and South Pacific for 64 days and met wonderful folks with whom we still correspond. Also, long cruises very seldom have any children at all. If you enroll on the CC Roll Call board of your cruise as a couple it won't take long for most people to figure out the relationship.

[CruisinMaterial]

amusea - You are right about the Atlantis experience. It gets stale quickly. From the itineraries which are the same (usually) to the experience onboard. It does get boring after a while. It's fun the first few times but then you are like, ok so I'm paying all this money to party the night away and sleep all day. Wait, if I did it right, I could do this at home and spend so much less money! Plus, I find afterward that you need a vacation from the vacation with Atlantis.

 

RSVP has recently piqued my interest because of their vibe. It doesn't seem to be party focused but that's a few years down the road.

 

I agree longer straight cruises do weed out the kids. I'm sailing a 10 day out of NYC on January 2nd. I'm sure they'll be some kids onboard but with it being 10 days most of the kids should be back in school. It's not a holiday sailing so here's hoping it's the case. SpongeBob be damned! :eek::D

[jmwinatlanta]

This is an interesting thread. I am doing research for a customer couple of mine who is gay and that's how I ended here up.

 

I remember a cruise when a couple of guys were trying to take pictures of themselves. You know - hold the camera with one hand, stick heads together and click.

 

When I see people doing that I usually offer to take pictures. I of course offered for those two to take a picture as well.

 

Here they were standing at the railing like two friends. I asked them if they are just friends or more. The answer was "we are a couple'. So I asked them to stand like a couple. It took about 5 Minutes to have them finally stand at the railing, arm in arm, as a couple. I took the picture (and many more), and they thanked me and walked away giggling.

 

Cruisewithus64: I wish more people in the world were like you! I just wanted to let you know that you made me smile this morning. :)

 

Although many of our gay couple friends have been on all gay cruises (and loved them), my partner and I never have. We've become accustomed in our everyday life to "downplay" our relationship and we usually tend to mirror that when on vacation. We certainly do not deny our lifestyle in public, but nor do we promote it.

 

I admit that it would be great to walk around hand-in-hand or show PDA on a cruise -- any cruise. But, sadly and honestly, that may even seem awkward to me because of what we've become acustomed to in our every day lives (I even felt a little funny walking hand-in-hand when we visited Castro Street in SF, CA!). Sad - but true.

 

We've been together for 15 years and I can't tell you the number of vacations that we have taken (cruise or otherwise) that we come away with pictures or videos that we have taken of ourselves in just the way that you described.

 

Anyway -- probably too much info -- but i wanted to let you know that you made me smile on this Monday morning. And it is refreshing that there are people out there like you. Maybe I'll loosen up a bit on the cruise that we've just booked for January!

 

Peace to all!

John

[Boytjie]

Anyway -- probably too much info -- but i wanted to let you know that you made me smile on this Monday morning. And it is refreshing that there are people out there like you. Maybe I'll loosen up a bit on the cruise that we've just booked for January!

 

One way to get others to take your picture is to spot people that seem to want someone to take their picture - and then offer to do that. My experience is that they will in turn offer to take your picture. When I see peopel tarying to get a couple's picture I offer to take it and don't expect any in return - we have so many pictures over the almost 20 years we have been together. :) But if we want both to be in a picture somewhere I wont hesitate asking someone else to take it.

[Schplinky]

One way to get others to take your picture is to spot people that seem to want someone to take their picture - and then offer to do that. My experience is that they will in turn offer to take your picture. When I see peopel tarying to get a couple's picture I offer to take it and don't expect any in return - we have so many pictures over the almost 20 years we have been together. :) But if we want both to be in a picture somewhere I wont hesitate asking someone else to take it.

 

I'm always surprised how many people offer. It's very nice and we try to remember to return the favor when we see a couple or a group. People are always really appreciative of this.

[Boytjie]

I'm always surprised how many people offer. It's very nice and we try to remember to return the favor when we see a couple or a group. People are always really appreciative of this.

 

Funny episode in Times Square at Christmas a few years ago: I took a turist couple's pictures for them and told them to make sure the pictuers were good. They hit 'review' and had some good pictures of the city - and then the next one showed the husband naked in the shower, so they farntically hit 'next' and it was more of the same. LOL

[Trickie Dickie]

One way to get others to take your picture is to spot people that seem to want someone to take their picture - and then offer to do that. My experience is that they will in turn offer to take your picture. When I see peopel tarying to get a couple's picture I offer to take it and don't expect any in return - we have so many pictures over the almost 20 years we have been together. :) But if we want both to be in a picture somewhere I wont hesitate asking someone else to take it.

 

I'm always scared someone will run away with my expensive camera. :eek: