NCL EPIC TA Oct. 21st, 2012

[Seadragon555]

I have been on 3 TA's before and each time there has been a very large contingent of LGBT folks. I have also found that the majority of str8 folks on these cruises are very accepting, which makes the comfort level much greater. I hope the same holds true for this cruise!

[PackNPaddle]

Hi All,

 

Booked recently and ready to go! My buddy and I plan to arrive a few days in advance in Barcelona (likely renting an apartment) and spending time on the tail-end of the trip in Florida for a week or so. Very excited about this trip and recently found a FaceBook site for this cruise as well " NCL Epic Transatlantic Barcelona-Miami 21st October 2012 ". See you all on board, saludos a todos, Kevin :cool:

[twotogether7]

Does anyone know what the weather is gonna be like?? Hope it"s nice and warm... Bikini weather:D

[alan june]

Does anyone know what the weather is gonna be like?? Hope it"s nice and warm... Bikini weather:D

last year it was cold till after we passed the Azores but think it was unusual weather for the med

when we got to the virgin isles it was hot

[Seadragon555]

I went to www.weather.com and searched the "average" temp for the Azores for October & November. The average "high" in October is 71 and November is 67. The average "low" for October was 60+ and for November it was 50+. Not sure if that is actually "bikini weather" (one would have to be a hardy soul to bare that much skin...) but it would be warmer than Iowa during those months.

 

Nomadicbacchus (Jon): Do you know if there are any nude beaches in the Azores? :rolleyes:

 

John (& Ben in absentia)

[twotogether7]

Thanks guys....sounds alittle cold but just have to wait till we get closer to miami to pull out the Bikini..

[nomadicbacchus]

I went to www.weather.com and searched the "average" temp for the Azores for October & November. The average "high" in October is 71 and November is 67. The average "low" for October was 60+ and for November it was 50+. Not sure if that is actually "bikini weather" (one would have to be a hardy soul to bare that much skin...) but it would be warmer than Iowa during those months.

 

Nomadicbacchus (Jon): Do you know if there are any nude beaches in the Azores? :rolleyes:

 

John (& Ben in absentia)

 

lol! So i've been officially labeled the nudist on board? :p Maybe Ill bring my baking apron with a naked adonis painted on the front...

[alan june]

lol! So i've been officially labeled the nudist on board? :p Maybe Ill bring my baking apron with a naked adonis painted on the front...

they do have a nude deck on Epic

[aireboy]

Hi everyone, this is aireboy (chuck) who started the thread last September. I haven't checked it in quite sometime. It's great to see newbies onboard. Can't wait to meet everyone. I'm trying to get a gay group going on this sailing with a friend of mine. We actually have several cabins booked. If you're not booked through a travel agent we can add you into our group. If interested, contact Jeffrey Bateman at Crown Cruise Vacations. 877-283-1114

 

If anyone is interested in a post cruise stay in Ft. Lauderdale. Contact me!! I manage a gay guesthouse (Cheston House) You'll receive a 50% discount at Cheston House, if you're booked on this Transatlantic.

 

My contact is aireboy@gmail.com

 

How many of you are booked in T-1 Studios? They're great for single travellers. The Living Room is wonderful. Guaranteed we'll be having FOD/GLBT Happy Hours. :)

[Seadragon555]

Hi everyone, this is aireboy (chuck) who started the thread last September. I haven't checked it in quite sometime. It's great to see newbies onboard. Can't wait to meet everyone. I'm trying to get a gay group going on this sailing with a friend of mine. We actually have several cabins booked. If you're not booked through a travel agent we can add you into our group. If interested, contact Jeffrey Bateman at Crown Cruise Vacations. 877-283-1114

 

If anyone is interested in a post cruise stay in Ft. Lauderdale. Contact me!! I manage a gay guesthouse (Cheston House) You'll receive a 50% discount at Cheston House, if you're booked on this Transatlantic.

 

My contact is aireboy@gmail.com

 

How many of you are booked in T-1 Studios? They're great for single travellers. The Living Room is wonderful. Guaranteed we'll be having FOD/GLBT Happy Hours. :)

 

Chuck: Unfortunately Ben and I are flying back to Iowa the same day that we dock; otherwise, the stay at your guesthouse would be great. I am still trying to get two other friends to go on this cruise...if they ever finally decide then I can refer them to Crown Cruise Vacations. I take it Jeffrey would know how to book them through you?

 

John (& Ben who is still in Michigan)

[Seadragon555]

lol! So i've been officially labeled the nudist on board? :p Maybe Ill bring my baking apron with a naked adonis painted on the front...

 

Jon: OR, you could just walk around with James in front of you!! :D Something tells me that we will eventually "see" you on the nude sun deck...I wonder if they allow smoking on that deck?

 

John

[aireboy]

Yes, Jeffrey will know as soon as they mention my name and or Cheston House.

[aireboy]

If anyone needs a 1 night stay, I found a 'cruise' package on Booking.com for a 1 night stay at Ciutat Del Prat Hotel. It's situated between the airport and the city center, I believe a residential area. It was extremely reasonable @ 115 Euro incl. 8% VAT. Room with breakfast, transfers from airport/hotel/port.

[Stronglad]

Jon: OR, you could just walk around with James in front of you!! :D Something tells me that we will eventually "see" you on the nude sun deck...I wonder if they allow smoking on that deck?

 

John

 

That's a good idea John but I think Jon should stick with the apron option. I have visions of him lying on the freestyle deck wearing it. Just for a joke...wouldn't that be funny??

[Seadragon555]

That's a good idea John but I think Jon should stick with the apron option. I have visions of him lying on the freestyle deck wearing it. Just for a joke...wouldn't that be funny??

 

James: Yes, it would be very funny....but on a 6 ft. 5 inch frame he might have to fold it here, tuck it there, fluff it here, etc. By the time he would be through arranging it he would need a cigarette or another Gin & Tonic or need to turn over!! We should find a Maple leaf so that when Jon falls asleep on the freestyle deck we could put it on one of his appendages!! ;)

 

I just have a feeling this is going to be a very fun cruise! Can't wait to meet everyone at the FOD Party!!

 

John (and Ben in absentia [Michigan])

[hoco]

Hi again everyone. Rather funny reading all of the comments on here and after some homework I decided not to cancel my cruise on the Epic! Nude sunbathing deck ..... oh err .... tell me more lol Seriously though I am looking forward to this sailing and I just got a reminder in the post today from my travel agent telling me to pay the balance early August ! Look forward to meeting with you guys. Is there a FOD meeting every day like on the QM2 ?

[Seadragon555]

Hi again everyone. Rather funny reading all of the comments on here and after some homework I decided not to cancel my cruise on the Epic! Nude sunbathing deck ..... oh err .... tell me more lol Seriously though I am looking forward to this sailing and I just got a reminder in the post today from my travel agent telling me to pay the balance early August ! Look forward to meeting with you guys. Is there a FOD meeting every day like on the QM2 ?

 

Hoco: I don't have a clue if there is one or not as I have not sailed on NCL before. There was on Celebrity and Royal Caribbean and Princess. If there isn't I imagine we could request one from the ship. My last TA was on Celebrity Equinox and there were actually two per day...the "official" one late in the afternoon in the Sky Lounge and the "unofficial" one in the evening near the Ice Bar for before & after dinner cocktails. It was amazing how well everyone got to know each other by the end of the crossing.

 

John

[nomadicbacchus]

Hi again everyone. Rather funny reading all of the comments on here and after some homework I decided not to cancel my cruise on the Epic! Nude sunbathing deck ..... oh err .... tell me more lol Seriously though I am looking forward to this sailing and I just got a reminder in the post today from my travel agent telling me to pay the balance early August ! Look forward to meeting with you guys. Is there a FOD meeting every day like on the QM2 ?

 

From what i've gathered, they do host FOD get-togethers every night. I've been looking over dailies posted on other threads, and it seems they are usually around 5:30 to 7:30. I don't know about the others, but I think an after dinner cocktail hour would be appreciated as well!

 

Side note: Can anyone tell me why FOD is still used? What about those of us who haven't ever met Dorothy, or just don't like her :eek: . I'm of the impression that it should be changed to LGBT(Q?) gathering. At the risk of offending Oz fans, I find flying monkeys outrageously frightening.

[twotogether7]

Hey Everyone,

 

In my experience NCL aways has an FOD meeting every evening at 7:30.

[aireboy]

The term FOD became popular when 'we' still needed to hide our lifestyle. Now, it's a different world. In my past experience, most cruise lines identify using both terms. I know NCL does for sure.

[Seadragon555]

From what i've gathered, they do host FOD get-togethers every night. I've been looking over dailies posted on other threads, and it seems they are usually around 5:30 to 7:30. I don't know about the others, but I think an after dinner cocktail hour would be appreciated as well!

 

Side note: Can anyone tell me why FOD is still used? What about those of us who haven't ever met Dorothy, or just don't like her :eek: . I'm of the impression that it should be changed to LGBT(Q?) gathering. At the risk of offending Oz fans, I find flying monkeys outrageously frightening.

 

Jon: Regarding your side note above, I checked on the origin of the phrase and this is what I found:

 

In gay slang, a "friend of Dorothy" (occasionally abbreviated FOD) is a term for a gay man. The phrase dates back to at least World War II, when homosexual acts were illegal in the United States. Stating that, or asking if, someone was a "friend of Dorothy" was a euphemism used for discussing sexual orientation without others knowing its meaning. A similar term "friend of Mrs. King" (i.e. Queen) was used in England, mostly in the first half of the 20th century.

 

Origins

 

The precise origin of the term is unknown and there are various theories. Most commonly, it is stated that "friend of Dorothy" refers to the film The Wizard of Oz because Judy Garland, who starred as the main character Dorothy, is a gay icon. In the film, Dorothy is accepting of those who are different. For example the "gentle lion" living a lie, "I'm afraid there's no denyin', I'm just a dandy lion." Others claim that the phrase refers to celebrated humorist and critic Dorothy Parker, who included some gay men in her famous social circle.

 

Misunderstanding

 

In the early 1980s, the Naval Investigative Service was investigating homosexuality in the Chicago area. Agents discovered that gay men sometimes referred to themselves as "friends of Dorothy." Unaware of the historical meaning of the term, the NIS believed that there actually was some woman named Dorothy at the center of a massive ring of homosexual military personnel, so they launched an enormous and obviously futile hunt for the elusive "Dorothy", hoping to find her and convince her to reveal the names of gay servicemembers.

 

Current usage

 

Starting in the late 1980s, on several cruise lines, gay passengers began approaching ship staff, asking them to publicise gatherings in the daily cruise activity list. As the cruise lines were hesitant to announce such things so blatantly in their daily publications, they would list the gathering as a "Meeting of the Friends of Dorothy". Such meetings have expanded in popularity and frequency over the years. Now, many cruise lines will have multiple "FOD" events, sometimes as many as one each night.

 

Jon: As for your fear of flying monkeys, that might be related to too many Gin & Tonics...but I digress. Hope this information helps in your understanding; however, I must agree with you that changing it to LGBTQ would be more appropriate.

 

John (& as usual, Ben in absentia)

[nomadicbacchus]

[...]

 

For example the "gentle lion" living a lie, "I'm afraid there's no denyin', I'm just a dandy lion."

 

[...]

 

John (& as usual, Ben in absentia)

 

This made me giggle...New Facebook update for sure.

 

Thanks for the info! I get that it's campy and a throwback to the old days, but I just think we're past that. I guess my experiences are perhaps different than in other places of the world, where people might not be as accepting as Montreal...

 

I had wondered on my last cruise if the "Friends of Bill W." were the Lesbian equivalent of the FOD meetings, so seeing as the FOD meeting was empty, I popped in to check out the scene, and to see if there were any fun ladies. Needless to say, they weren't impressed when I arrived double-fisting my G+Ts....

[Seadragon555]

This made me giggle...New Facebook update for sure.

 

I had wondered on my last cruise if the "Friends of Bill W." were the Lesbian equivalent of the FOD meetings, so seeing as the FOD meeting was empty, I popped in to check out the scene, and to see if there were any fun ladies. Needless to say, they weren't impressed when I arrived double-fisting my G+Ts....

 

Jon: Another one of those "life lessons" that will stick with you for a long time! I am surprised you weren't tackled (which you might have enjoyed thinking "gang therapy") and your drinks taken! It would have definitely been a Kodak moment! Do you have your Adonis apron packed? :rolleyes:

 

John (and Ben)

[Stronglad]

I also love that line about the gentle lion! That could be me! Funnily enough my first girlfriend's mum's name was Dorothy, she was no friend of mine I can tell you...she was more the wicked witch type. That was before I decided to bat for the other team in case you were wondering!

[hoco]

It is interesting all of the terms and names that have and continue to be used about gay people and out life style and here in the UK the term most used to name someone who was gay when I was a teen was "Puff" or "Poof" I have been told that this term goes back to Victorian times when Homosexuals in order to identify to each other would lightly dust their faces with talcum powder and they applied it with yes you got it ..... a powder PUFF hence gays became known as the the "Puffs" I wonder what Queen Victoria thought of it all! If anyone has an other take on the Puff theory I would be glad to hear. HOCO