sphsjags

I just noticed that on the notification (notification of you telling me). It won't let me change the title. But, I guess since we're so close to sailing that it doesn't really matter much anymore.

We sailed the Ruby Princess (same ship) last year to the Mexican Riviera, Sea of Cortez from Los Angeles. Really enjoyed it and think Princess will be my new line of choice.

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Hi Austrcruiser - I find your comment interesting. Did they "refuse" to attend the meetings? or did they just choose not to? I ask because I don't think just because they are gay that they have to attend the meetings , maybe they had their own reasons for not attending...

My boyfriend refuses to even entertain the idea of going, but I like to go. I like to have familiar faces to see when on the ship or out at port. People to wave to, share information about food, places, etc. Nothing says we have to hang out with them all the time.

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Stefan, what did you not like about MSC? It was my first cruise, so I had nothing to compare to at the time, but looking back I still enjoyed it.

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We are booked for the Western Europe Passage from Fort Lauderdale, FL to Southampton, UK. April 8-22, 2017.

This will be my second Princess cruise, and first 14 day cruise. I really enjoy sea days because of the rest and relaxation. This voyage couples plenty of sea days with a brief tour of Europe, a place I've always wanted to go. This is also a birthday cruise for us as our birthdays are back-to-back in April (during the trip).

Below are links to the "regular" Roll Call and the Google Sheets document where you can list your info and sign up for group events.

Roll Call:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2335034

Roll Call Info Sheet:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1jl5n-WColftMaZk7Idr0Ug8ikHClqnIv2rx41CQ1LEI/edit#gid=0

We went on the MSC Divina out of Miami back in 2013. There were several other gay couples who I met at the meet and greet. It was hosted by a male LGBT staff member. We didn't experience any issues. Probably because they're European, and the Europeans tend to be pretty chill about that kind of stuff. We were basically the only people who ever ate at the steakhouse. The food was amazing, and it just being us made it kind of romantic, too.

We sailed the Mexican Riviera on the Ruby Princess last April for our birthdays (his is the day after mine).

We had the joined bed and our room steward always spoke with/to us and called us by name. No issues. We also ate at the steak house every night and had a private table (2-top) in the regular dining room. No issues with either.

We met a (straight) couple on board who we ended up doing a lot of trivia with. He told us about his gay brother, but never asked any questions about us (if we were, how long, etc.). For the game shows, two older/elderly couples asked to join us to make a team. We all had a good time.

Our next cruise is this April on the Crown Princess from Ft. Lauderdale, FL to Southampton, UK. I don't expect any issues.

I've only been on one Carnival cruise and we had a good time. I tried to go to the LGBT Meet but it was not hosted. I'm not good at walking up to random people and asking "is this the gay meet?" so I just left.

I did the "Thriller" dance class and on the way out the cruise director said, "chanté, you stay!" He later watched a little bit of RuPaul's Drag Race with us that we downloaded in port.

Extra Info: Our trivia team, us and a straight couple, had the team name Big Boss. The trivia girl had an accent and it sounded like she was always saying Big Balls. We laughed every time she said it but she didn't know why.

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I (27) am from Alabama and my boyfriend (30) is from Louisiana.

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We are set to go on the Crown Princess' "Western European Passage", a 14-day transatlantic from Ft. Lauderdale, FL to Southampton, UK.

http://www.princess.com/find/cruiseDetails.do?voyageCode=3710N

According to the Roll Call it seems there might be another gay couple or two (officially). I'm sure there will be more, but it would be nice to know ahead of time that we aren't going about it alone. Hope to see more people at the LGBT meet than in the past.

It just so happens that all of the LGBT events are scheduled when we have dinner. Maybe I'll get a chance to catch one.

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Some kind person posted all of the schedules from the itinerary we're going on this next week (Ruby Princess, Sea of Cortez). I see that Princess specifies when events are not hosted. Their LGBT gatherings are not hosted.

If only Carnival had been so nice as to specify.

The Carnival ship I was on last year had an LGBT gathering. It was listed on the daily brochure they give out. However, it did not appear to be structured at all. It seemed like more of a "show up at this bar and it's likely everyone else is LGBT, too." I arrived just a few minutes late and it didn't seem like a group/structured event. Not like it was on MSC.

My first cruise was in 2014 on the MSC Divina from Miami to the Caribbean. I attended the LGBT Meet, which was hosted by a crew member, and met several couples. We didn't hang out afterwards but it was nice to have someone to say hello to when you passed each other on the ship. MSC, being Italian/European, was very friendly in my opinion. My boyfriend and I were always together and we didn't notice any glares or comments.

My second cruise was 2015 on the Carnival Liberty from Puerto Rico to the Caribbean. I tried to attend the LGBT event but I'm not sure if it even happened. I arrived a minute or two late and all I arrived to were some people drinking at a bar. There was no leader, no big group talking, etc. It made me uncomfortable and deterred me from asking anyone if I was in the right spot.

Great news! I'll probably need two cards for myself. I love gelato and flavored coffees.

No shame. Vacation is when you're supposed to splurge!

I am cruising on the Ruby Princess (first Princess cruise) Apr 8-18 as well!

My boyfriend and I love doing trivia. Hopefully we will see you there!

We are cruising Apr 8-18, 2016 on the Ruby Princess. This will be my first time aboard this line. My boyfriend mentioned the coffee cards to me last night and I've been researching all day on how they work and what's available.

I was a little disappointed to find out that the Ruby does not have gelato (if indeed a true statement). However, if all of the ships have the same coffee menu I've seen here and on Google then I'll be just fine.

Thank you everyone for your posts.