rojjodc

Someone on the Atlantis cruise blog just posted a Rome to Venice cruise brochure for Aug 8-17.  Stops include Naples, Sicily, Malta, Mykonos (overnight), Santorini, and Croatia.

I saw that they were planning this cruise from their blog.  Have they formally announced it yet with pricing?  We probably won't hear whether they are planning another cruise until the Oasis returns on Sept 1.

Who's planning to go - booking just opened.  Price seems reasonable for what's included - free wifi, no extra fees for dining, etc.  I'm guessing it should be attract a progressive crowd and be very LGBT friendly.   I'm thinking of the Cuba itinerary.

Yes, I was on the previous cruise and they did claim that they were planning an Alaska cruise. My guess is that they may announce in August for August 2019. Unfortunately, I am losing a little confidence in them to offer new interesting cruises rather than repeating the same cruises every 2-3 years with the same talent and the same ships that are getting old. Rather, I notice Atlantis is busy offering more and more cruises (3 so far from Jan - June 2019 with another one planned) on interesting ships (Oceania, Celebrity Edge...) and I can see where RSVP/Atlantis interests really lie. Probably will be my last year in Feb 2019 with RSVP....

The 2019 RSVP cruise ports have changed. They are now: Punta Cana, San Juan, St Maarten along with Half Moon Cay private island. RSVP said they could not get approval for docking in Curacao so they had to change the itinerary completely. The price remains the same and they are booking now. Here is the website to book in advance (they say the price may go up soon after April 13:

http://rsvpvacations.com/alumni-caribbean-cruise/17?utm_source=exacttarget&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=email

More...lots of photos and videos of parties...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5313639/FBI-probes-gay-cruise-Storm-Chasers-star-died.html

Storm Chaser Joel Thomas was a guest and died in his cabin. They found I'm when they docked in San Juan. Autopsy to be performed.

https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/storm-chaser-joel-taylor-apos-051941150.html

I don't want this to sound like a rant, but it kinda sorta is. Has anyone noticed the influx of unfriendly gay couples on cruises? I mean I can sort of understand why a lot of gay couples are unfriendly or maybe dismissive. Maybe they are on a honeymoon, or just want a vacation together without any other men in the way, but it just sucks when you try to interact with other gay men on a "straight" cruise, and they just put their nose in the air at you.

 

Maybe it has to do with the cruise line? I was on a Carnival cruise about 2 weeks a go out of Jacksonville, FL. I saw very few gay couples, but the ones I did see, they were just all snobbish and dismissive. I just thought to myself "Umm guys this is a Carnival cruise, don't know where the snobbish attitude is coming from". Who knows, maybe I booked the cruise for insecure gay couples? Maybe Carnival specializes in a different type of gay? It was a shame. The LGBT get together, NO ONE showed up except me and one other gay man. Of course we were both single and we chatted for a while, but he turned out to be a weirdo....Im guessing there just isnt a lot of gay men who travel with Carnival....and of course its easy to figure out why.....

 

I went on a Norwegian cruise in 2015 and I met the coolest group of gay people. We had a group of us who got together every night, a couple times for dinner, it was the coolest thing ever. No one felt insecure or stuck up....it was awesome....but idk, this last cruise, just was bad.

 

So I'm probably going to be told its Carnival...and Im sure thats a big reason why.

Well, I've been on all gay cruises, cruises with gay groups, and standard cruises. I do think gays tend to be friendlier on all gay cruises because the whole ship is gay and activities are highly geared to gays. Gay groups can be fun since there are social activities geared towards the gay group so that offers the opportunity to meet gays. Standard cruises are a bit tougher to meet gays since whatever social tends to be a bar event and late at night and you can't just assume that two guys or gals together are gay and want to speak with you. I still have found both friendly and unfriendly guys on all cruises, from all gay to standard. I have had an easier time meeting gays on gay or gay group cruises, but I am more of a group person... I noticed that you decided that the one other gay person that you happen to meet was a "weirdo". Are you perhaps being too dismissive and judgmental, and perhaps projecting the 'unfriendliness' or 'snobbishness' that you complain about?

The first impression article raved about Lincoln Center Stage. On the Koningsdam, the Music Walk did not have many physical barriers between venues or the walkways, so there was a lot of noise distraction, especially for Lincoln center Stage. The noise from people walking by and talking often drowned the classical performance out. Did they fix this issue?

I know I'm a little late to this conversation but I've been on 2 Atlantis and 1 RSVP cruise. I'm 48, 5'6", 215 and a hairy bear. There are bears on both cruises and RSVP has a slightly older crowd. I know you said you weren't a party guy but overall I found the entertainment is always SIGNIFICANTLY better on Atlantis. Entertainers are more current and overall better. On RSVP I found it was entertainers that were even old for me - Broadway singers, Charo from the Love boat? (seriously I'm not even old enough for this and my Mom would struggle to remember her), even the drag on RSVP was so bad people were leaving the theater. Overall I would say Atlantis hands down. Miss Richfield 1981, Bob the Drag Queen were the hosts of many events on Atlantis and they are excellent.

Even on RSVP I felt a little creeped out. The old guys on there were very persistent and aggressively flirtatious. I was in a hot tub and this guy kept trying to put his foot in my crotch and the same for my partner - that wasn't unusual for RSVP but it is for Atlantis. Overall you can have fun anywhere and I did enjoy both but I wouldn't rush back to RSVP and I know I'll do Atlantis again.

The entertainment you cite, Broadway singers and Charo, were the ships regular entertainment, not RSVP's own. And Charo was outstanding and I did not see an empty seat. Yet having been on RSVP and Atlantis, I would tend to agree that Atlantis has the better entertainment overall. It seems that RSVP is more content to have mostly the same entertainment every year with one or two new acts, but Atlantis will try to get special guests and entertainers every year (from reading the posts). For a while, RSVP tried to have special secret guest, but some of their high profile guests flopped. It seems Atlantis really aiming to pull in a younger crowd, although guys say that the both cruise lines tend to have a similar demographic now. I would still suspect that the Atlantis January cruise draws more younger people overall than RSVP's Feb cruise. For one, the Atlantis ship have tended to be much bigger and more 'flashier'.

It has been announced that Harmony of the seas will be the January cruise next year, also a March cruise out of San Juan

It will be interesting to hear about the Allure experience...what ports for Harmony?

Ours can not. They do have some cabins left but we can't switch til we know he has that week. I figured we would bring a twin blowup if it got too crowded in the queen. But yeah we will switch if we find out in time. Thanks for the info. I was hoping no one would care. I figure there will be solo cruisers who will gladly let us officially register him in their room. They get money back and still have the room as a solo.

Also, consider giving the cabin steward a little extra since they would be cleaning and tidying for three persons instead of two (they really are hard workers and accommodating.) I guess you are familiar with the size of cabins but standard cabins including verandahs can be tight with three persons.

HI all,

My husband and I are on this cruise in a Verandah but it only holds 2. We are thinking about bringing a 3rd... but the problem is we won't know until that last minute 2 week deadline.

 

With that said... here is what I am hoping I can do and wanted to see if anyone heard of anyone else doing this OR will this cause problems...

 

My best case scenario...is a few days before the deadline find out if anyone in a room can add a 3rd person for me in name only. I pay all the monies but our friend stays in our room.

Will the cabin steward freak out? we would all share that one bed. hehehe. I will bring a twin blowup i can stow under the bed so the steward doesn't freak if necessary... IS THIS OK? Or will they actually force him out?

 

OR - obviously we get lucky and there are rooms to buy and we just switch over to another room. Our current room is in a highly desirable class and location from what I have been told.

 

 

Finally - We did not get the gay costume Gene... and we desperately want to dress up. we have no one here in our area to help us. What are the chances we send our measurements to someone here and pay them to hook us up for some of the nights? It is a leap of faith but we've met only nice people here so it is worth taking the chance....

 

Thanks for reading.

 

Ken

Ken, I am fairly sure you cannot do what you propose. All travelers must register and provide their passports, which are checked before they board. So your friend cannot just board the ship unless he is already registered before the deadline and he cannot impersonate to be someone else. I am certainly glad for the security, and I would hope you would too. It's best if your friend makes the decision before the deadline and commit to coming.

Wendell, great we'll see you soon.

Bob, I'm hoping to have Internet access. Hopefully, there will be LGBT/'Friends of Dorothy' gathering that will be posted for us to meet up. I'm certainly looking forward to this cruise - new ship for me and more than 7 days. Been to all of the ports except for the private island, but that's okay.

See you then - Wendell :)

Robert and Jerry - I'm going. Booked a balcony with my sister. Hopefully they will have LGBT gatherings or maybe meet up for a meal or show. I'm from the MD suburbs near DC. Wendell

Well, somehow I booked too many cruises even for me. I actually have enough vacation time on the books, but on impulse I booked an extra cruise to Europe in October when I was already going to Europe in December (the price was just too good!), and then I booked a cruise from Buenos Aires to Rio in March. Again, such a good price. So with cruises in September, October, December and March, February just seemed to be one too many.

 

I'm sure everyone will have an awesome time, and I will just have to book a Koningsdam cruise some other time. Cheers.

CruiserBruiser - out of curiosity, did you have a solo cabin that you canceled? Or the cheapest interior category? I'm already booked, but was talking to a friend about calling RSVP to see if any solo or cheap interiors are available and to get on a waiting list.

The cruise is nearly sold out - only two outside cabin categories and one outside obstructed view balcony category is widely available, and there couldn't be that many of those categories. 5 various categories (outside, inside, balcony) are listed as 'limited', which usually means just a few cabins. I don't ever recall this cruise selling this well before.

Discussion about the Divina is just slightly off topic. The title of this thread is 2017 Koningsdam. :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes:

Actually I do not think that is off topic. I believe that RSVP is not wedded to Holland America for life. MSC may very well make another push for RSVP business in the future, as may other lines, so comparing the ships amenities and strengths/weaknesses would be proper. I just spoke with another RSVP cruiser this past weekend who thought the MSC Divina was the best ship RSVP had sailed on recently, and that surprised me.

Exactly our concern. Too bad RSVP can't charter the MSC Divina, just the ship, and staff it with HAL and Princess crew :):). Physically that ship was perfect for RSVP...especially the theatre...it was huge!

Sorry, but it was far from 'perfect'. You must not remember the main restaurant layouts and the pain in getting to one main restaurant when the other was full - a lot of people were unhappy about that. And I could never understand why they did not put urinals in men's public bathrooms but only stalls, which caused excessive bathroom lines. The food was not that great either. But I do agree that the theater was although oddly decorated.

I got this email from a travel agency concerning this cruise:

"And for a limited time Atlantis is offering a three category upgrade on any balcony or better stateroom. This must be a new booking and must book a balcony and the cabin available also*. This offer is valid until March 14, and some restrictions apply..."

I noticed that almost all of the balcony cabins have availability.

I'm very surprised that Rich decided to charter the Oasis size ships again. He must have gotten a very good price, but even so, I'm surprised given the concerns with crowding that were expressed in the past. The Oasis class ships are not really built to have the very large parties and crowds that Atlantis has. Rather, the ships are built to spread passengers around the public spaces throughout the various 'neighborhoods' like the Boardwalk shown in the picture, Central Park, the Solarium, Royal Promenade. I would not want to be on that ship with all of those people crowded in one area.

To be fair, I've only seen it once: on Nieuw Amsterdam and it involved one guy with his face planted close to where another guy might keep his wallet. I'm not normally a prude, and if we had been in a bar on land I wouldn't have cared in the least. But I just kept thinking about the bar servers and the stories they would be telling after work. ;)

 

At least hot tubs offer a little discretion. I take it that was on the RSVP charter? Otherwise I might be tempted to book MSC sometime soon.

Well, I've heard of people getting kicked off of a regular cruise because they were having sex in the hot tub at night. So be careful about that. And since you are obviously an RSVP regular, you have seen the occassional notices and statements by RSVP to refrrain from having sex in public.

Bernardo Albaz falls off Oasis of the Seas, but cruise line claims he jumped

The husband of a man who fell off a Royal Caribbean cruise ship near the Bahamas claims cruise line employees taunted them for being gay, causing the 35-year-old to fall overboard.

http://www.local10.com/news/search-for-missing-cruise-ship-passenger-suspended/36317860

But here's another account:

BSO says passenger jumped off cruise ship after fight with partner

Detectives say man can be heard saying in video that he planned to jump overboard...

http://www.local10.com/news/bso-says-passenger-jumped-off-cruise-ship-after-fight/36344530

10 days cruise from Fort Lauderdale to the Caribbean. First gay cruise for my partner and I ever and first with Pied Piper. Supposed to be a 1000 gay cruisers on a 2000 cruiser ship. Celebrity Constellation. The price is much cheaper than Atlantis but I understand Atlantis provides their own entertainers and other on ship services that Pied Piper does not provide. Carnevale and the Bahamas don't turn me on as destinations as I did them before but with Atlantis, the fun is on the boat and not at the ports.

Enjoy the cruise. Is this the 2015 Post-Thanksgiving cruise? Just remember that you are on a gay group cruise not an all-gay cruise, despite the fact that half the ship will be the gay group. You should have plenty of special activities for the group. I am not sure if the ship will have formal nights with a semi-strict dress code, but you may want to bring a jacket and tie just in case (or you could always eat in the buffet for dinner or not ignore the formal night and dress smart casual). I've been on both gay group and all gay cruises, and have enjoyed both. There are definitely advantages to both, and also disadvantages. I have to admit (this is my personal opinion based on experience), that with a group that large on a regular cruise, the situation felt a bit awkward at times.