Lesbian Couples who love cruising

[NJLadies]

Hi...we're on the Explorer of the Seas to Canada - Oct. 15, 2009. Anyone else going? We can't be the only g/l folks who like cold weather, can we?

[Pussycat]

I think you NJLadies will be pleasantly surprised. It's a myth that Canada only has cold weather! Unless you are cruising to the far, far North, October temps can be quite mild. July/August can be unbelievably hot.

Whatever the weather, Bon Voyage & have a great time in our country..........

[TravelingProf]

Pussycat,

 

I see you are going on the Olivia Azamara trip to Greece & Turkey. You are going to LOVE Azamara!!!!

[Pussycat]

Thanks TravelingProf. We are really looking forward to it. We love the Greek Isles.

We've always preferred smaller ships. What impressed you most about Azamara?

[TravelingProf]

Pussycat,

 

The service was impeccable. Cabins were just OK (we had a veranda cabin) with tiny bathrooms--IMHO the only drawback (and a small one at that). The pool area is small but lovely with teak "beds" instead of standard loungers. Staff brought cold towels, cucumber slices etc. to refresh us in the Med sun. The line is really positioned between the luxury (Crystal etc) and the premium (Celebrity, HAL). Food was good to excellent and specialty restaurants were quite memorable, with no service charge--only a $5.00 suggested gratuity. And we could not imagine only leaving $5.00 as the service was excellent.

 

Excellent service is really the hallmark of the ship, as well as the visibility and accessibility of senior staff and officers. Ship (we were on the Quest) has a great "vibe"--upbeat and positive. Entertainment was lacking (but O will take of that!).

 

The ship also does not do the "hard sell" of many of the premium lines. No one hassles you to take a picture (but photographers are there if you so desire) or annoy you to buy drinks. Whenever we desired something, staff magically appeared but did not hound us.

 

The ship was also very GBLT friendly-staff, crew and fellow passengers. My wife and I were on our honeymoon (we had originally booked the Olivia Rome to Barcelona trip, planned the wedding around the honeymoon, and then O canceled the trip--so we took Azamara's 2 week "Best of Italy" cruise instead) and everyone went out of their way to congratulate us and make us comfortable--so much so that I wrote Azamara a letter complimenting them on their service and their establishing a comfortable GBLT environment on their ship.

 

Other things we appreciated was the decor of the ship--understated and elegant as opposed to "glitzy," more like a country home or inn instead of Las Vegas. We also loved the size and intimacy of the ship and we never waited for anything--not service or tenders. In fact, their tender service was a marvel--the most efficient and smooth we have experienced.

 

We would recommend this line in a heartbeat, and we are probably going to do a Norwegian fjords trip with the line in 2011. We would be on the trip with you in October 2010 but it conflicts with my teaching schedule.

 

All-in-all, the combination of Azamara and Olivia should provide you and your lucky shipmates with a wonderful, memorable experience.

 

I wrote a review of our cruise for CC--you might want to check it out.

Best,

Annie

[dutchjules]

Hi OHIO,

My partner & I can't wait for this cruise!!! She is also bummed out about not being able to bring an iron, and a hairdryer!!! Not me, wrinkly clothes and bedhead, here I come. :) Where are you staying in N.O.? We'll be at the Hotel Monteleone.

Jules

Edited September 19, 2009 by dutchjules

[Pussycat]

Very informative, thanks Annie. I'll also read your review on CC.

Cheers

Julie

[Pussycat]

Bringing this thread back up to the first page...................

[igfan]

Hi...we're on the Explorer of the Seas to Canada - Oct. 15, 2009. Anyone else going? We can't be the only g/l folks who like cold weather, can we?

 

Hi everyone:

 

We just returned from the NCL Dawn Canada/NE cruise Sunday the 20th. We had an AWESOME time. The only raining day was in Halifax and cloudy in St John. Sunny and low 70's in Bar Harbor, Boston and Newport.

 

I'm sure you will have a blast and also fall colors!

 

We are Sandy and Margaret from Maryland.

[95turbogirl]

I have been on several cruise and am taking my girlfriend on her first cruise in October on Carnival. We thought we had local friends that would be going with us but one of them wanted to cruise separately so they could be alone! Anyhow so we are going to have a blast regardless however for future reference we would love to meet new friends :cool:who wanna travel with us in the future!!

[SOSHADEY1]

Hi 95turbogirl,

We are cruising in October on Carnival as well. We are from Maryland. When in October are you all going?

[paddy Anne]

Hi everyone:

 

We just returned from the NCL Dawn Canada/NE cruise Sunday the 20th. We had an AWESOME time. The only raining day was in Halifax and cloudy in St John. Sunny and low 70's in Bar Harbor, Boston and Newport.

 

I'm sure you will have a blast and also fall colors!

 

We are Sandy and Margaret from Maryland.

 

Hi Sandy and Margaret. I will be on the Dawn in March? Was the ship nice? Are there FOD parties? Anything I should know? OMG I am so excited.

cheers

Paddy Anne

[igfan]

Hi Sandy and Margaret. I will be on the Dawn in March? Was the ship nice? Are there FOD parties? Anything I should know? OMG I am so excited.

cheers

Paddy Anne

 

Hey there! Yes the ship is very nice. I think it is suppose to go into dry dock as well soon so it will probably be better when you are on it. We have been on it twice now and I would go again on her in a heartbeat! have fun!

[lboogieinohio]

Hey Jules, We are staying at Marriott New Orleans. I am counting the days now! It will be wonderful!

 

Hi OHIO,

My partner & I can't wait for this cruise!!! She is also bummed out about not being able to bring an iron, and a hairdryer!!! Not me, wrinkly clothes and bedhead, here I come. :) Where are you staying in N.O.? We'll be at the Hotel Monteleone.

Jules

[Pussycat]

Bringing us back up to the first screen.............

[paddy Anne]

Bringing us back up to the first screen.............

 

keeping it real ..... yay you!

[ChapinDog]

Anyone on the 11/29/09 Norwegian Jewel out of Miami? We (Heather and Marsha) have checked the main roll call and the LGBT thread, but wanted to check here as well just in case not everyone was on the other threads.

 

We sailed on the NCL Sun in 2008. There was a group of gay men who were all with a gay tour group. We became friends with some really cool people on the cruise (straight couples and single gay males), but were a little sad that we didn't see / meet any other female couples. We didn't realize that the "friends of dorothy" meeting in the freestyle daily was for OUR friends of dorothy (and not just a funny coincidence) until so long into the sailing that no one was showing up.

[adventuregrrl]

ChapinDog - can't help you with that, but we've met other lesbian couples on our past cruises usually on the excursions.

 

Our next up will be our first cruise with Olivia -- the Western Caribbean in early March. Can't wait!

[igfan]

ChapinDog - can't help you with that, but we've met other lesbian couples on our past cruises usually on the excursions.

 

Our next up will be our first cruise with Olivia -- the Western Caribbean in early March. Can't wait!

 

 

Cool. Ya going on the one with Indigo Girls? I would love to do that one but we are doing HI in April so can't swing that one! We did the Cayamo cruise Feb 08 that had IG and Brandi Carlile and it was AWESOME! Best cruise ever. I highly recommend music cruises if you love music. Have fun on the Olivia cruise. We have never been on Olivia either and feel that they are just too expensive!! You will have to let us know how it went!

[adventuregrrl]

Cool. Ya going on the one with Indigo Girls? I would love to do that one but we are doing HI in April so can't swing that one! We did the Cayamo cruise Feb 08 that had IG and Brandi Carlile and it was AWESOME! Best cruise ever. I highly recommend music cruises if you love music. Have fun on the Olivia cruise. We have never been on Olivia either and feel that they are just too expensive!! You will have to let us know how it went!

 

 

Absolutely -- the fact that the Indigo Girls were added, pushed us over the edge to sign up for this Olivia cruise. Over the last 18 years we've traveled to see them...especially in our younger years...so, we figured why not see them on an Olivia Cruise. Plus, our overall trip costs were cut because we got super cheap airline tix on Southwest ($98 RT).

 

We went to Hawaii earlier this year on Celebrity. It was awesome!!! You can see my pics linked below in my signature. It was my first time to snorkel and I loved it. My wife described it best "She put her face in the water and her world opened up." We took some amazing underwater photos with our Olympus point and shoot. Let me know if you have any questions about Hawaii.

[igfan]

Absolutely -- the fact that the Indigo Girls were added, pushed us over the edge to sign up for this Olivia cruise. Over the last 18 years we've traveled to see them...especially in our younger years...so, we figured why not see them on an Olivia Cruise. Plus, our overall trip costs were cut because we got super cheap airline tix on Southwest ($98 RT).

 

We went to Hawaii earlier this year on Celebrity. It was awesome!!! You can see my pics linked below in my signature. It was my first time to snorkel and I loved it. My wife described it best "She put her face in the water and her world opened up." We took some amazing underwater photos with our Olympus point and shoot. Let me know if you have any questions about Hawaii.

 

Yes we have seen them many times over the same time frame and are still going to see them! I would love to go on that too but HI was planned way before! That is a great deal on the flight.

 

Yes I think I saw you were going as that was the cruise I originally wanted to go on but my family didn't want to do that one so soon to our last cruise. I was watching your cruise's thread. Anyway we actually booked the next one on Celebrity that was like 15 days and included the west coast ports. I think it was HI-Vancouver but it got canceled! We were so disappointed because it was very cheap and had lots of great ports.

 

We decided to just do the NCL cruise so we can see as much as possiable and we get to stay two nights at two different ports in HI. I saw your photos and they look great!

 

If you have any advise on what to do, you can email me at mgsb@aol.com just put Hawaii in the subject so I don't delete. We were planning on renting a car did you do that? I'd appreciate any info that you have!

 

I see you guys are from the DC area. We live in Maryland...small world.

[lhmezzo]

Anyone cruising in Hawaii on NCL's Pride of America 10/31/09?

 

Leslie

[adventuregrrl]

We were planning on renting a car did you do that? I'd appreciate any info that you have!

 

I see you guys are from the DC area. We live in Maryland...small world.

 

Yes - we rented cars at all but one of the ports. I had fun planning what my better half and parents call "Tina's Tours." This simply means that I did a ton of research on this and other Web sites and read through a stack of books from the trusty Fairfax County Library. If you're interested, I posted our Hawaii itinerary at: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=989068&highlight=

 

It is indeed a small world! I travel across the Potomac to Maryland every morning for work and we go to the Maryland women's basketball games when we can.

[SarahVFan]

Hey All,

 

Anyone following this thread going on Constellation's Exotic Southern Caribbean for Xmas and NYE in December? It's the 12/20/09 sailing.

 

I did post a "roll call" on the GLBT forum, but I see this thread seems to have its own mojo going, too, so wanted to drop a line here.

 

Sounds like some great trips coming up for many of you!

 

SarahVFan

[ChicagoGoodTimeGirls]

Bags are about 75% packed...just a few things to pick up from Target and the dry cleaners and we can zip them up. Our Westies Cooper & Magoo are not happy about the sight of suitacases and make the attempt to curl up next to or into them...will leave lots of treats for their dog sitter to dispense throughout the week while we are gone.

 

We leave tomorrow morning for Puerto Rico and will spend 2 days unwinding before boarding on Sunday. I feel I enjo my cruise more with the extra time to make the transition from the hustle of working and long commutes to the umbrella drinks and beach/deck lounge chairs.

 

We will be celebrating our 4th anniversary and it will be the 3rd time doing it with Princess. It is our pre-winter get-a-way before the long cold Chicago winter...yuck. Looking to squeeze in another cruise in Feb/Mar time frame when we need another break from the snow and ice...possibly western caribbean or we may hold off another 2 months and do a longer med-cruise.

 

Will stop back in after our trip to let you know how it went!