unseemlygamer

15 minutes ago, Vibe said:

There have been safety warnings about Nassau in general, not necessarily for LGBTQ+  We have been staying on and enjoying a less full ship when the cruise stops there.

 

Coco Cay is awesome, run by Royal Caribbean.  It's our favorite place.

 

Cozumel is fun; we usually hang out in populated areas. 

I’ve never had issues when visiting Nassau, but it’s one of those ports worth getting off the ship three times at most and that’s it.

On 6/23/2022 at 9:29 AM, cruiseny4life said:

Vibe does bring up a good point. Apparently Bermuda can qualify as an unfriendly place for our kind as well. My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed Bermuda and the friendliness of the people. Finding out that Bermuda was potentially not a friendly place after the cruise made me sweat a little.

...What do you mean?

On 6/22/2022 at 10:13 PM, Vibe said:

If you cruise out of Florida, cruises leaving from South Florida (Fort Lauderdale and Miami) usually attract a hipper and more open-minded crowd.

 

The only caution is some Caribbean islands are not known to be welcoming to the LGBTQ+ community. If you plan to go there, I think that the better choice would be the eastern Caribbean (San Juan, St. Thomas, St Maarten) over the western Caribbean (Jamacia, Belize, Roatan)

What about Nassau and Coco Cay, or Cozumel?

I am a 24y/o transgender woman, but I was a male when I took my last cruise in 2018. While I don't know when I would like to take my next one, I'm kind of curious about what it's like to cruise when trans. I don't hear about the concept a lot compared to gay cruising. 

Assuming I don't get around to legally changing my name by the time I'm on my next cruise, I believe it would still be present on my room key, documents etc. and I'd still have to use it when going through customs and stuff like that.

Whatever the case may be, what about the experience onboard the ship and in ports of call? (I consider myself Loyal to Royal so I'll most likely be cruising with Royal Caribbean next)

I would like to be able to safely present as female without subjecting myself to discrimination, harassment or making anybody uncomfortable. I'm a bit worried that might happen if my cruise goes out of a state where a number of people tend not to accept us, let alone mind their business. I have zero tolerance for transphobic behavior. 

I'm not flashy or loud or anything. I just sometimes unintentionally get in the way of other people when I take pictures and stuff during these cruises. Other than that, I'm a very chill, fun-loving person. I keep to myself a lot, but there are times when I'm sociable and fun to be around. 

When I say I don't hear much about the concept of trans cruising, I'm mainly talking about those meetups. Do we have those of our own, or are we included in the typical LGBTQ+ gatherings? 

Final words

What can I say? Right from the beginning, to go on this adventure was one of the best decisions I have made in my entire life. Appropriately enough, I cruised independently on the Independence of the Seas, which little did I know since day one would be Amplified. 

Why I did it solo in the first place, I really don't know. Norway is so incredible that next time, I ought to go there with my parents and show it to them. I will 100% return there, not only to get a chance to revisit places like Bergen and Geiranger, but to explore other areas that I've yet to be in, such as hidden gems that may be off the beaten track.

Everybody that I met was excellent, especially those in the Facebook group I was in.

For those who have a Norwegian fjords cruise planned in the future, whether solo or with the family, you are absolutely going to love it, and I am so glad to have convinced quite a few of you to take it. Haven't booked it yet? Please do!

...

You'll remember it for the rest of your life.

That wraps it up for my report on such a fantastic cruise. Thank you so much for following along, and I hope to see you again in the near future!

Day 8 - Sea day

Second of two sea days. Our eighth and final day onboard. Not only did I pack up tonight, but throughout the day I went around the ship again to gather YouTube footage, went back to the pools and slides for one final time, and here are some pictures from the farewell show.

This one's a jazz performance of On A Clear Day You Can See Forever.

After cruise director Joff gathered all the cast and crew onstage, the Washy Washy singer treated us to one more little song. ☺️

The clock goes back again overnight, I'm off the ship before 7am, and my flight's not until later in the afternoon, so I have about 8 hours to spend in Heathrow before flying back to America.

But as I said, this doesn't end here.

4pm departure. And that's it for Norway. 

Dinnertime! The couple next to me were among those that actually climbed Pulpit Rock today. Tonight's recommendation was a halibut dish, with a fondant potato and vegetables.

For dessert I got a lava cake. Yet again, the ice cream tasted like cake batter.

What I can say about Norway overall, I'll save for the very end of this review. As for Stavanger, would I go there again? The rain really hindered sightseeing here. On a clear day, I would give the Lysefjord cruise another go, and try finding some other sights that I missed. Let me know what I did miss, and I'll be sure to write it down for next time. Unlike a lot of other Norwegian destinations, I think Stavanger is more meant for cruise passengers than those land vacationing. Otherwise, it's very much a day well spent.  

Tomorrow is our second and final sea day. Thanks everyone for following along, and I'll see you tomorrow!

This would be a side of it.

City Park.

From there, I went along the cobblestone streets and got a little lost trying to find other sights. The rain here was too much for me, and I eventually decided it was time to get back onboard.

Let's take a look around other parts of Stavanger. The Seven Seas Navigator was also in port today.

Skagenkaien.

Not at the level of Bryggen, but still pretty. 

I also came across this cathedral. 

The ship had to have been one of the biggest structures in town.

I wind up where the buildings start to look different. 

This one's my favorite. Cute little bike, flowers, and I'm just now seeing a window open. 

I like this backyard too. 

Mellomstraen. What could straen mean in this part of Norway?

Clausegaten. This had to have been named after somebody named Claus, or Klaus.

Enough of the signs, let's keep strolling!

Very open backyards here, I must say.

Litlegata. My biggest guess is this means  "little street." Which all the streets here are.

I think some Norwegian houses, like this one on the left, resemble Cape Cods a bit. 

Gamle Stavanger is right across from where we were docked. Cruise ships may dock on two different sides of the port.

Some industrial shots. Stavanger is said to be the oil capital of Norway.

And there's the ship. 

My day doesn't end here. I also planned on strolling through Gamle Stavanger (Old Stavanger), and then I explored the city center a bit. Stay tuned for that, and as always, thanks everyone!

Another ferry.

And another one.

I wonder what this boat was.

Lysefjord Bridge?

Goats!

It looked like this was Pulpit Rock, seen from down here. I don't know if anybody was up there yet at this time.

They played Grieg's "In the Hall of the Mountain King" during this ride. That's why I used it in my Stavanger video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_ipHhNSOqA