starri

More so than the parties, the thing that's freeing for me about Atlantis is that it's a week where I don't have to apologize for being myself.

A lot of the cruise lines, as they've renovated, have gotten rid of single-sex free dry saunas. At his point, most of them want you to pay to access their thermal suites. I don't know that specifically about the Jade, but in 2024, I'd be more surprised if they had a space that any (male) guest could use for free.

I'm sorry for all the levels of annoyance, but I just had to give you my admiration for how far you are going to make sure your kid is treated the way they want to be treated. If my trans patients all had parents that would do even half as much, I'd have a bunch of happier patients.

Virgin.

Yes. They chartered Valiant Lady (was originally Brilliant Lady but when it was delayed it changed) out of San Juan in March, and then two cruises on Resilient Lady first from Athens to Barcelona and then Barcelona to Southampton in August. This is in addition to the big cruise on Oasis of the Seas and the inevitable Mexican Riviera cruise in the fall in terms of big ships, and then their more exotic Med cruise on Oceania Riviera in July. Right now, I’m booked on Oasis, Valiant Lady, and the Athens-BCN leg.

I mean, Atlantis has at least three VV cruises on offer for next year. It's clearly working for someone.

If you're talking about AirOtic Soiree on Atlantis, I wholeheartedly agree.

Grindr doesn’t work so well with cruise ship Wi-Fi… …I’ve heard.

Not everyone gets to be "immersed" in gay culture. I did my first Atlantis cruise this year. Now, I live in New York City, so I get to more or less be authentically myself 365 days out of the year, but I still found the experience incredibly freeing. Compare that against a guy from Utah that I met while I was on board. One of the last nights, while I was feeling great but ready to get back to my normal life, he told me how much he wished he didn't have to go home. And it took me a minute, but I realized that what his day to day life is like is very different than mine. It was a powerful moment for me.

Depending on your interest level, Atlantis is doing a Southern Caribbean cruise from San Juan on Brilliant Lady next year. Given the ship, it’s likely going to be at least fractionally more sedate than the big party cruise on the Oasis.

Any time you make a statement of "I'm all for....but..." you're basically saying you're not for it. I'm 45, so a generation ahead of you. I wasn't cognizant of the worst of AIDS, but I did manage to be there for Don't Ask, Don't Tell, and the Defense of Marriage Act. Your generation gave us "We're here, we're queer, get used to it!" Being open and unapologetic about who we are is what got us to where we are now. The need for that hasn't changed. No one who's anywhere on the rainbow should be forced to diminish themselves for the comfort of the normies.

I had a PHENOMENAL time on the Harmony cruise last month. I was very anxious going in, because I got very, very sick last summer, had emergency surgery where I was essentially cut in half to remove most of my colon, lost 40 lbs in the span of three weeks, and then turned around and had a second surgery to hook the remaining colon back up in November, so between the scars on my stomach and the way my physique has been wrecked. I didn’t need to worry. I was dancing with my shirt off by the third night. I’ve never felt so free in my life. I don’t know how I’d do a Muggle cruise again.

Got off the Atlantis Harmony cruise last Sunday. They are, in fact, going to be chartering Brilliant Lady for a Southern Caribbean cruise out of San Juan for either later this year or early next. Personally, I’m itching to book the next big party cruise, but they hadn’t finalized the details by the end of the Harmony week.

I mean, I don't have any experience at all with Atlantis, although I'm booked on the Harmony with a group of friends. I'm hoping I enjoy it enough to want to do it again, but I couldn't go with my husband if it was a majority deck party, because he'd hate it. We're doing our first (non-Atlantis) VV next summer. I was hoping if we end up liking the ship, he have wanted to do an Atlantis charter, but I guess not so much now.

I mean, if they're chartering Oceania Vista, they're not wedded to the idea of the Atlantis experience exclusively being huge deck parties.

Prima is a good deal bigger than the Virgin ships, although it's not huge by any stretch of the imagination. It's also a bit bigger than Navigator of the Seas that they used on their most recent Halloween cruise.

Are my husband and I going to have any company?

This is an Atlantis charter. I'm going (my first time) with a group of friends. It's sold out, but there are resale groups on Facebook if someone can't go. I hope to see you aboard.

So, I know we collectively tend towards more sedate activities, but I was wondering about anyone's collective experiences on Atlantis charters. I booked my first one with two of my best friends (one friend and me: mid-40s, other friend mid-30s), because I've always wanted to do it, and at 44, I'm reasonably comfortable in my body as I'm somehow in the best shape of my life. I know it's not a non-stop party even if YouTube videos make it seem that way. So, what's it like when you're not dancing?