Aquafest gay cruise review-legend

[theOSU1]

Part 1- Just returned home from the Carnival Legend on the AQUAFEST halloween gay cruise. Since reviews are scant for Aquafest, I thought I would share my views. Having been on an Atlantis cruise, I will try not to compare the two brands directly. Both cruises are different products, appeal to different travelers and have different price points.

Overall, I was quite pleased with the Aquafest experience and the advantages of cruising with this group. Please do not try to be flaming in your responses, as these views are in my humble opinion. First, Aquafest President Tom Baker presents himself very well, is a good speaker and has found a nitche for a partial gay cruise, while offering a group experience and their many benefits. I found the entire staff to be very professional, affable and respectful to all of its customers throughout the week. I believe Aquafest is on the right track in many areas, but need to improve in some areas to better compete with the many cruise options out there for the gay traveler. Aquafest offers a package of private themed parties and events. The themed parties are well attended and are held in a private room, nightly, to insure the "integrity" to only those in the Aquafest group. Many of those attending the parties (2 a night-1 at 7 PM and 1 at 11:30 PM) dress up in costumes and dance the night away. Over half of our 300 member group were returning Aquafest passengers and were well equipped for the themed parties. While the parties were fun, the 2 hour parties were often off to a slow start (like everything gay) and tended to dissolve after 1 hour of heavy dancing. I think 1 1/2 hour parties would be better. The entertainers were hit and miss. Hedda Lettuce in full drag was very good. Ms Lettuce is full of quick witt, speaks well and has a passion for her audience. I often found myself laughing at her comments and she relates well to passengers. Some other guests thought she would be even better if she would travel the room to better involve many seated not directly in front of the stage. Aquafest will do well to keep Hedda Lettuce returning on their cruises.

[WDBGUY]

We did the Aquafest Mardi Gras caribbean cruise this past February, it was 10 days on the MSC Lirica, there was about 100 of us, probably half had been on other Aquafest cruises. It was alot of fun, we had about two events each day, one in the afternoon and one at night, most were held in one of the bars that was closed to others for that event. I would go on another Aquafest cruise if the itinerary appealed to me. The prices cannot be beat for what you get. keep in mind, this is a gay group cruise, not an entire ship charter. Tom Baker is very friendly, likeable and knowledgeable....we enjoyed his company along with Mark, Tom and Tom. We especially enjoyed Hedda Lettuce, her jokes were very funny, some are still stuck in my head and makes me smile each time I think of them. We have seen her in Provincetown this past summer, really enjoyed that too..

Appears they are not having the Mardi Gras cruise in 2010 so we booked a straight cruise. If anyone wants to see what goes on, check out their web site, they posts hundreds of pictures of each cruise they do.

[gmhohio]

Thanks for the review OSU1. I've been on four Aquafest Cruises and have enjoyed all four of them. It sounds like things have pretty much remained the same. The comedians, emcees and the parties are a lot of fun and the musicians are not so hot. On one of the cruises there was one male vocal artist, who was great to look at, but started the week off key musically and got progressively worse as time progressed.

 

It's good to know that the things Aquafest does well have not slipped. One other thing I enjoyed when on an Aquafest Cruise was the sense of comraderie amongst the participants. There is no feeling of ever being 'lost' when traveling alone on an Aquafest Cruise.

 

Thanks again for the review.

[WDBGUY]

Thanks for the review OSU1. I've been on four Aquafest Cruises and have enjoyed all four of them. It sounds like things have pretty much remained the same. The comedians, emcees and the parties are a lot of fun and the musicians are not so hot. On one of the cruises there was one male vocal artist, who was great to look at, but started the week off key musically and got progressively worse as time progressed.

 

 

Thanks again for the review.

 

I think this was the same cruise where the guy lost his voice during one of the numbers. I do give him credit for trying.

[CruisinMaterial]

Thanks for the review OSU1. I have seen Aquafest vacations online before but they usually don't tend to sail the lines I prefer so I haven't given them a good hard look. However, I may give them a try once school is out in 2011 based on your positive comments of their product. Thanks for the review!

[dchang]

We recently returned from the Aquafest Alaska cruise. Our cruise was 9/25 thru 10/2. We had a great cruise on the Holland America Zaandam. The entertainers on our cruise were Hedda Lettuce and a last minute replacement singer by the name of Jacinta Jacinta was absolutely fantastic and a great singer and very entertaining. The original singer was Jenna Drey. Her music and equipment were never loaded onto the ship in Seattle and could not be found. We were amazed how commuted Tom Baker is to the product he delivers to his guests. He arranged to have Jacinta flown in to Sitka, Alaska so we would still have the musical events which had been scheduled for our cruise. Hedda performed during the first part of the cruise and Jacinta did two shows on two consecutive nights before having to disembark in Victoria on the last night. Tom, Marc and Tom were excellent hosts and were constantly checking to make sure we were having an enjoyable cruise. Because we were on Holland America the late evening parties in the Crows Nest were shared with the other cruise guests. Many of them seemed to enjoy joining our late night events. We had such a great cruise we are planning to try the 2010 Halloween Cruise to the Mexico. Can't wait to enjoy another Aquafest Cruise. We had about 125 in our group and almost half were repeat guests.

[benny2971]

Thanks for your input on the cruise Mr osu1. I enjoyed the cruise very much. and agree with most of your findings. Had a great time ziplining with you!?