Stressed about Carnival

[ducksoupforme]

My partner and I will be on the Carnival Triumph leaving NYC on Sep. 3. I'm probably being unreasonable, but I feel stressed out about sailing on Carnival during Labor Day weekend. I would prefer to have a quiet weekend with my dog and my books here in NYC, but my partner really wants to go on this cruise. Should I expect a completely child-crazy, loud, boisterous experience? Will we be the only gay people on the boat? Should I just drink throughout the cruise to make it through the experience?

[RMS Olympic]

I would be surprised if the ship was full of kids.....

1. School either just started or getting ready to start

2. Economic hardtimes might keep families with school age kids from taking vacations.

3.Therehas to be some quiet place on board....

If not, turnon your gaydar, find a gay bartender.......sliphim a 20, and ask to be served well to dullen the pain.....if youaredissatisfied.

Now if you were sailing over the Thanksgiving holiday.....I'd say....danger, danger Will Robinson.......

[Bayotter]

Although not knowing how full your ship will be, you should pretty much expect a lot of families and a full ship on a shorter cruise over a holiday weekend on Carnival.

 

There are several things you can do to try to make the best of the situation. First, make sure you post a "roll call" here to see if any other gay cruisers from Cruise Critic on board. Look at the other listings to see how that is done and monitor your post for replies. Make sure someone hasn't already posted one by doing a search.

 

Once on board, check the Carnival Capers (the daily schedule) and look for a "Friends of Dorothy" gathering, which is arranged for LGBT people to meet. Carnival does this on most cruises. If it is not there, ask the Cruise Director who shouldn't have a problem with listing it. It's an informal meet in one of the lounges.

 

Besides reading in your room, a large ship like the Triumph will have areas that are hidden and out of the way places for you to curl up with a book and be out of the noisy areas. Do a walk through of the ship when you are first on board. (Start at the top and work your way down from stem to stern and you will find these places). The library might be a quiet place, unless there are internet terminals in there.

 

I don't know if your schedules only permitted you to travel over a holiday weekend, but if you don't want to travel on an all-gay cruise (which, by the way, are not floating bath houses like some people think) and your time is a little flexible, check out Pied Piper. They arrange gay group travel on regular sailings of ships, and you have the benefit of discounted group rates. You tend to not notice the families with children on board when you are with your own "family".

 

I hope you have a fun time!

[peteranddan]

Our first cruise was on the Triumph during Easter break!!! There were 1100 kids on that sailing and we barely noticed that there were kids onboard. The kids program kept them so busy we didn't really notice them.

 

The only issue we had was the fact that it was next to impossible to get a chair anywhere near the pool area. If that's the worst thing that happens on a cruise....

[CallDOC]

No need to stress! This is a cruise afterall.

I LOVE Carnival and from my signature you can tell I have been on many ships and cruiselines. I enjoy knowing each evening where the piano bar is, karaoke etc. On other ships it changes daily. I hate having that dam schedule with me.

As for kids, there are always kids on every ship especially on holidays. But, the kid's camp keeps em pretty busy. As for young adults college age... (I call kids) for me, eye candy is always good! LOL.

Anyway, a cruise is what you make it. Try to keep expectations down to a minimum and do as YOU want.

DOC :cool:

[ducksoupforme]

Hey, thanks for the encouragement!

I'm sure we'll have fun.

One huge benefit of my agreeing to go on this is that I talked my partner into booking two cruises (4th of July, Queen Mary II to Canada and Boston and Aug. 19, HAL, Amsterdam to NYC)!!

How can I complain?

 

I'll post a roll-call for the upcoming Carnival cruise now...

[RyanMFitz1]

Don't Worry !!

 

You will have a great time. I went on the Triumph with my mom a couple years ago. The ship is truly a gem. The staff is probably one of the most nicest and friendliest in the fleet. I met several other gay couples when on board and remain in contact with them still. You won't have any problems with kids. Camp carnival does a great job at keeping them entertained and its a large ship, you can always "escape'' to a more quiet area. Now i don't know about this time around but not many folks go to the Friends of Dorothy Meetings. Mostly its straight women u see there ( surprise, surprise). But never hurts to just go and have a coctail, or two, three, four..

 

Bottom line, just have fun. Carnival is very gay friendly and never have had any problems or seen any for that matter. You're with your partner adn together you both will have a fantastic time..

 

Much Love,

Ryan

[Schplinky]

My partner and I make a point of traveling on Labor Day weekend because we find it's a holiday weekend that most families do NOT travel, as others have said. They're too busy settling into the routines of autumn. If you want to talk fea, then talk to me about our first carnival cruise, which will be a New Year's cruise on their new ship, the Dream!!!

[tiggerman101]

My partner and I have done 4 Carnival cruises in the past year. One was over Christmas and another was smack in the middle of summer (June). On those two we did see a lot of kids, but it wasn't a big deal. Like any ship you can be out in the public or find a quiet place to go. We have never felt awkward as a gay couple on Carnival either. You will (most likely) be sat at a dinner table with single people travelling together. On our last cruise we had another gay couple at our table.

 

I have never seen a big FOD meeting on any of our cruises, but they have had them on every one of our cruises. I suggest joining the regular roll call for your cruise as well. We have met many wonderful people doing that. My partner was a little concerned before our first cruise, but we met quite a few wonderful straight couples on board.

 

By the way, we were on the Triumph's sister ship the Victory and it is a pretty nice ship. There is an "adults only" pool on the back of the Lido deck. It has a retractable roof over it as well in case it is a bit cold. Just relax and have a fun time.

[Schplinky]

My partner and I have done 4 Carnival cruises in the past year. One was over Christmas and another was smack in the middle of summer (June). On those two we did see a lot of kids, but it wasn't a big deal. Like any ship you can be out in the public or find a quiet place to go. We have never felt awkward as a gay couple on Carnival either. You will (most likely) be sat at a dinner table with single people travelling together. On our last cruise we had another gay couple at our table.

 

I have never seen a big FOD meeting on any of our cruises, but they have had them on every one of our cruises. I suggest joining the regular roll call for your cruise as well. We have met many wonderful people doing that. My partner was a little concerned before our first cruise, but we met quite a few wonderful straight couples on board.

 

By the way, we were on the Triumph's sister ship the Victory and it is a pretty nice ship. There is an "adults only" pool on the back of the Lido deck. It has a retractable roof over it as well in case it is a bit cold. Just relax and have a fun time.

 

Just wanted to tell you that we really are enjoying your review of Victory. What a great read. Looks like you'll be on Oasis before us and we'll be on Dream before you. Let's trade reviews! You can contact us through our web-page, in my signature.

[tiggerman101]

Just wanted to tell you that we really are enjoying your review of Victory. What a great read. Looks like you'll be on Oasis before us and we'll be on Dream before you. Let's trade reviews! You can contact us through our web-page, in my signature.

 

Thanks. I had fun writing it. It was easily my favorite cruise so far. Those islands were astounding. It is kind of funny, but I originally had the Dream booked in February. Then we decided to do Oasis and thought about May. I realized that we would be on the Dream doing the same ports as the Oasis and I would have to look at her everywhere we went. Since I am so curious about that ship I knew it would bug me to have to do that so we switched the Dream to May and the Oasis to February. Kind of crazy I know.

 

 

EDIT: I love your website! What a great idea. I can't wait to look at it in detail. It is late here and I really need to go to sleep. It seems like a good thing to browse over my coffee in the morning.

[Schplinky]

If it's crazy, then we totally get it.

 

Glad you like the web-site. We write crazy long reviews, too, so you might need two cups.

[dad son team]

As a dad, I notice that alot of families from the NE travel around this time so I think you may find that there are alot of kids on the ship. However, since it is a such a large ship it should not be a problem, and the fact that it has a adult area will make it even better. Schools here usually start right during Labor day week, and since there are no camp or child care options towards the end of the summer I find many families take their summer vacations then. At least, that's what we do.

[ottawapuppy]

Thanks. I had fun writing it.

 

EDIT: I love your website! What a great idea. I can't wait to look at it in detail. It is late here and I really need to go to sleep. It seems like a good thing to browse over my coffee in the morning.

 

Thoroughly enjoyed your posts as well. Lee told me about it, great reading.

 

Mike

[PROCRUISE]

Just adding our two-cents worth. We've been on 13 cruises since we started in 2004, 11 on Carnival. Enjoyed every crusie, especially Europe x 3, and really like Carnival over all. We never cruise during holidays or in summer when kids are out of school, but we're willing to bet that you'll have a great time and find quiet places on the ship to enjoy.:) We'll be on The Carnival Dream in December for cruise 14, because once you start cruising you just want to keep going.:D

[ikelmay]

I'll stick my oar in and say too that Carnival sometimes gets a bad rap. We have taken three Carnival cruises, all on the Spirit class and enjoyed them enormously. I wouldn't consider a shorter cruise with them, but I would apply that to all the cruise lines.

 

We've found them to be a lot more fun and generally easy going. I appreciate the dining options in the evening, we do like the availability of their buffet option as an alternative to formal dining.

[JonV]

I have sailed on Carnival about a dozen times and I love them, especially the Carnival Triumph. It is a huge ship and if you want quiet time you will be able to find it. If you want people watching or sunning you can have it too. Whatever you want. I found the Carnival Triumph to be one of my favorite ships but we had a big balcony and I love balconies. But ifyou don't have a balcony there is a great outsided promenade on about deck 3 or 4 right below the lifeboats. You can even walked around the back of the ship too.

 

I hope you relax and enjoy your cruise on Carnival Triumph in any way you want because it is your vacation.

 

And speaking of drinks, try the mojitos.

[ehfl]

I think you're expecting more drama than there will actually be. Relax and enjoy yourself.

[ducksoupforme]

You guys are great!

Now that it has sunk in and I've had a chance to read your responses, I'm feeling very excited!

In fact, I was walking my dog in Riverside Park today and noticed that the Triumph is in port. I felt a strange tingly feeling - so I'm clearly looking forward to the trip (or was it that jogger...).

 

I've actually been on a number of cruises - in fact a couple of them were Carnival. I was most concerned with the "kid factor". But it will be what it will be and we're going to have a great time.

 

We do have a suite booked so will have a nice balcony. I know the suites aren't really suites, but I'm sure it will be a great respite.

 

Looking forward to the mojitos too!

[topguy]

Don't worry friend about the cruise. You will meet so many wonderful people both gay and staight. May I suggest that you also log onto the Carnival roll call for your sail date. You will get to connect with other passengers before meeting them.

I met a gay couple and a gay single through the Triumph roll call last year and we had a great time. The Triumph had a GLBT meeting every night where gay and straight people people that we had met in the Roll Call met and socialized. '

Some of us are going together on the Freedom this October, including a new gay couple that I have met on the Freedom Roll Call.

You will have a great time.

[TheBamBam]

My partner and I will be on the Carnival Triumph leaving NYC on Sep. 3. I'm probably being unreasonable, but I feel stressed out about sailing on Carnival during Labor Day weekend. I would prefer to have a quiet weekend with my dog and my books here in NYC, but my partner really wants to go on this cruise. Should I expect a completely child-crazy, loud, boisterous experience? Will we be the only gay people on the boat? Should I just drink throughout the cruise to make it through the experience?

 

Hello,

I have been on 15 cruises. I have never been on a ship where I didn't meet a small group of gay travellers. Trust me when I say there are going to be Gay people aboard. I prefer a regular cruise to a "Gay Cruise". I always find the Gay Cruises overpriced to be honest. Unless you plan to make out heavily on the deck, I for one am not into PDA, you are not going to have a problem.I have seen Gay Couples hold hands and lookout over the ocean. Just a FYI, most people frown on major PDA, Gay or Straight. The ship is huge, so you will find plenty of quiet spots to read or relax. Since most children have to go back to school after Labor Day, kids will not be a problem. Carnival has a great children's program, so it will keep them busy. If this is your first cruise, be careful with your sign and sail card. Those beverages can really add up. LOL

I always feel that on a cruise, you can be as busy as you want to be or as quiet as you want to be. Just have a great time.

 

Thebambam

Joel

[Gay Cruiser]

We have had very good turnout with GLBT meetings on the two cruises we have done with Carnival. Sometimes gay crew members stopped by to say hello.

 

Our best GLBT gatherings were on Princess, we even had an openly gay asst. cruise director bring bubbly!