Bumped from Oosterdam 10-29-05 for lesbian cruise--anyone else had this happen?!

[HeatherInFlorida]

Ditto for me!!! Lisa had a very real issue and came on for some ideas and help and right away someone posts "Sue the b**#@!s!!" Geez!

 

I know this can happen ... heard it often has, but I think everyone's right: Follow your TAs advice and go another time. But I feel really badly for you.

[Himself]

It is far enou gh out that one would be able to make other plans, in my opinion. I sure would not want to be on a gay or lesbian cruise. I say that because I think my presence would be resented.

Himself

[bepsf]

My thoughts exactly. I'm surprised this lawyer missed the opportunity to call for a class action lawsuit - that always makes the lawyers fat and the individual left with next to nothing. Too many lawyers in this world with nothing better to do than clog our legal system with frivilous lawsuits. Happy Sailing!

 

I wanted to say that - but didn't want to be accussed of slamming someone directly...

[JDee]

Waiting for the next Weight Watchers charter...At least I won't gain that extra baggage. Still haven't gotten rid of that Xmas/NY & 12/14 didn't help either..

 

And am sailing again this Sat...

[cru1s1ng]

I wouldn't want to be on a gay cruise either - and I'm gay :eek:

[Iggipolka]

I wouldn't want to be on a gay cruise either - and I'm gay :eek:

 

ok..now I'm curious. Why not?

[HeatherInFlorida]

Well, I'm not sure was Cru1s1ng's reason is, but I sure wouldn't want to go on an AA cruise and I'm an alcoholic.

 

And I wouldn't want to go on an all-women's cruise either (and I'm a woman). But you might be able to talk me into an all guys cruise:D ... I'm just about at the age where that would be fun for me.

[cru1s1ng]

ok..now I'm curious. Why not?

 

I wouldn't want to limit myself to just one group. (And I'd have to make sure my hair was perfect all the time.) :D

[HeatherInFlorida]

I wouldn't want to limit myself to just one group. (And I'd have to make sure my hair was perfect all the time.) :D

 

Too funny:D ... that was a good one, Cru1s1ng!

[cru1s1ng]

Seriously though, it would just not be the experience I'm looking for. I've seen photos, and it looks like a floating meat market. Not the elegant cruising experience at all (not that there's anything wrong with that.)

 

 

The prices charged are outrageous, also. I looked up an RSVP cruise and it was almost triple :eek:

[tomc]

I like the diversity of the great mix of pax on a general cruise. I fit into several niche categories, but I'd never cruise with them; I get enough as it is. Give me blacks, whites, orientals; women, men; straight, GLBT; old, mid, young; angels, humans, devils; earthlings, aliens; zygotes, centenarians.

 

That's why I like cruising. You learn so much from each other. If I went on a charter full of straight middle-aged Catholic white broadcasters from the USA, I'd probably jump off the Sky Deck. Gimme variety any day.

[Iggipolka]

Ya, the prices are outragous for chartered cruises. The Olivia cruise leaves two weeks before the one I'm on in November and I would have loved to have gone on that cruise. The cost was just prohibitive, espicially for a solo traveler.

I wonder if there's a difference between the cruises for gay men and the cruises for lesbians as the Olivia cruise I was on didn't have that meat market feel to it. It just felt very comfortable. 'course, I'm an old married woman, so I didn't participate in any of the singles activities either. *shrug* I donno..just talking off the top of my head here.

[bepsf]

But you might be able to talk me into an all guys cruise:D ... I'm just about at the age where that would be fun for me.

 

 

Heather -

Why don't you come w/ us to Alaska in September?

It could be fun cruising together!

;)

[xpcdoojk]

Ya, the prices are outragous for chartered cruises. The Olivia cruise leaves two weeks before the one I'm on in November and I would have loved to have gone on that cruise. The cost was just prohibitive, espicially for a solo traveler.

I wonder if there's a difference between the cruises for gay men and the cruises for lesbians as the Olivia cruise I was on didn't have that meat market feel to it. It just felt very comfortable. 'course, I'm an old married woman, so I didn't participate in any of the singles activities either. *shrug* I donno..just talking off the top of my head here.

 

There was a recent Atlantis cruise on a RCI ship, and they have posted pictures in a thread over at the RCI forum here. I would say that it was outlandish, the parties were intense, and I have never seen a picture with so many people around the pool. Honestly there were so many on the top two decks for a party it is pretty amazing the ship didn't top over!;) :D The costumes these people wore were pretty amazing, too. I am talking major efforts. One of my friends in these forums is gay, and he jumped all over the OP about how passe` gratuitous sex was until it was pulled. Personally, I think whatever makes you happy is fine with me as long as nobody gets hurt, but I would not have wanted to be on that ship at that time. :D The women looking at the pictures were all depressed because their significant others don't look as good as the guys on that cruise. They were predominantly buff and fine looking men. :D

 

I prefer a vacation without too much of anything, including diversity!

 

 

jc

[HeatherInFlorida]

Heather -

 

Why don't you come w/ us to Alaska in September?

It could be fun cruising together!

;)

 

I would love to! So sweet of you to ask! But I can't ... we're going on the LA to FLL in October. But we all MUST do a cruise one day. We would have so much fun.

[Globaliser]

There was a recent Atlantis cruise on a RCI ship, and they have posted pictures in a thread over at the RCI forum here.

I posted the links a bit further up this thread, but in case it helps: "For a description of what happened when RCI did this for a similar cruise that's just been and gone, see this thread. (And if you want to see them, here's a thread with photos from that cruise.)"

[Golfgrl1911]

Out of curiosity sake I looked up the prices for the April -7 night- Olivia cruise to the eastern caribbean...$2999.00 PLUS $370.00 additional charges per person for an SS Suite!! I am paying less than a third of that amount pp for the same itinerary, same cabin category!! Who's getting rich from this one.. Olivia or HAL?? Certainly HAL could never expect to ask this amount for an SS Suite and expect to fill the ship..so why not bump existing passengers and charter to a group that can get away with charging these exorbidant inflated prices!! N categories were selling for $1500.00 plus.. still less that my SS!! Now I understand that I will not have Melissa Ethridge performing a concert on my cruise but I still can't justify paying over $2000.00 more for that privilege. Nancy

[Renorita]

Wow I just got back from a non-cruise vacation and read this thread. We also are scheduled for this Cruise. What a bummer! So far no word from anyone about this. And we had a great deal of $795pp for an SS cabin, plus 2 free meals at the pinnacle, 2 bottles of wine and a video of the Cruise. Now what??? :( I have been reading about everyone's recent trip on the "O" and telling them that we will be on her on the 29th of Oct. Guess not.

[kryos]

Waiting for the next Weight Watchers charter...At least I won't gain that extra baggage. Still haven't gotten rid of that Xmas/NY & 12/14 didn't help either..

A Weight Watchers cruise!?!?!?!?

 

Isn't that a bit of a contradiction in terms? :)

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[kryos]

Out of curiosity sake I looked up the prices for the April -7 night- Olivia cruise to the eastern caribbean...$2999.00 PLUS $370.00 additional charges per person for an SS Suite!! I am paying less than a third of that amount pp for the same itinerary, same cabin category!! Who's getting rich from this one.. Olivia or HAL??

In all fairness, though, I will say that the reason you pay more on those group cruises is because they do have a full range of programming for you while onboard. But, then ... you pay for all those suites their staff members get for free. Someone has to absorb them.

 

I did a Maui Writers Conference cruise last March. I paid far more for that cruise, traveling with a cabinmate, than I have paid for any cruise since with single supplement. But, on that cruise every sea day was packed with special classes, workshops, and other group activities. You don't get all that when you just book a cruise on your own.

 

That said, still ... I don't think I would take a group cruise again only because I can't see spending all that extra money. I am going on a 15-day Hawaii cruise in April, have a cabin to myself, and am paying slightly less than I paid for the writer's conference cruise ... a 10-day Panama Canal itinerary where I had to share my cabin with another writer. But, then ... on that writer's cruise, we had a full staff of teachers and workshop leaders, all of which received their cabins (in many cases, suites) absolutely free of charge. It was us, the attendees, who were paying for them ... which naturally drives up the cost of the cruise considerably.

 

I guess it depends on what you are looking for. Some of these group cruises can be a lot of fun, more fun than you can have just going on your own ... but the question is, do you feel it's worth it to pay all that additional?

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[kryos]

Melissa Ethridge will be playing on the cruise. That beats an Elton John impersonator and a juggler.

Oh, now ... I think that juggler ... I believe "Edge" was his name ... was kinda cute. And, Joel Mason was an absolute doll ... and nice too! He was kind enough to let me interrupt him while he was doing his email in the internet center so that I could get a photo with him.

 

Now, who's Melissa Ethridge? :)

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[RedmondCruiser]

Lisa Brooke --- The best advice given on this thread is to wait and see whats offered. Bumping people off a published cruises is unpardonable - I agree, but I know several people who had booked a cruise that was overbooked. They all received great deals in compensation. The best --- Talked to a couple who booked a 3 DAY cruise (Northwest Cruise) on the Oosterdam. It was overbooked. HAL made offeres that they refused (the trick is knowing when to say yes.) What they finally got was an A cabin on a 21 day Panama Canal cruise. (not too bad ). HAL has to do something beyond giving you a total refund ---

[Renorita]

Well since our Cruise on the Oosterdam for 10/29 is going to be taken away from us, we have read on this site that two other HAl ships will be sailing that week. One is the Ryndam, that sails on the 28th (also the Mexican Riviera) and a "Big Band" dance on the Volendam that Sails on the 26th of Oct. ( Not sure where) I may be able to adjust my vacation schedule to accommodate one or the other of these. But which ship would be the best to go on, assuming that both itinerary's sound good? Of course I would hope that HAL would give us the same deal as we would have gotten on the "O". Would HAL compensate us that way do you think?

[dakrewser]

One is the Ryndam, that sails on the 28th (also the Mexican Riviera) and a "Big Band" dance on the Volendam that Sails on the 26th of Oct.

 

The Volendam is doing a 10-day "southern" Caribbean. So the choice is "Caribbean" or "Pacific". My advice? Go west, young lady, go west!

 

:) -dave

[mojodani]

Hi all!

 

Just found out that the 10-29-05 sailing of the Oosterdam has been chartered by a lesbian travel group http://www.olivia.com and the rest of us who are booked are being bumped.

 

My travel agent says to sit tight and see what they offer us in terms of compensation. She said that they would reimburse for airfare (if we cancelled) or the airfare change fee (should we change to another cruise). We actually are using FF miles, so I have no idea if I can even change or not or get the miles put back into our account. We were sailing on this cruise for our anniversary--we were married on the Oosterdam in 2003, we sailed in 2004 for our first anniversary, and this was to be our second anniversary cruise. So, for sentimental reasons, I don't think we will switch to another cruise. Also, it looks like the 11-05-05 Oosterdam cruise might be chartered by another group, because it along with the 10-29-05 cruise has disappeared from the HAL website.

 

Does anyone have any experience in dealing with this? What might HAL do for us? I wouldn't mind traveling with the lesbians, but the TA said that HAL said that NO MALE PASSENGERS will be allowed on this cruise.

 

Any advice?

Thanks!!

 

 

No male pax? Chumley's Bears should be cruising also, according to their website, http://hometown.aol.com/bearcruise/myhomepage/profile.html, which has been posted since last fall. We cruised on the Star Princess over Halloween with these fellas and they were quite a hoot. Maybe, they got bumped?