Is HAL gay friendly?

[beachluvr65]

Partner and I are booked on HAL for a Baltic cruise. Does anyone know if HAL is gay friendly?

 

Rick

[Willem Ruys]

YES. My partner and I spend up to 8 months a year in HAL ships, everyone knows us as a couple...

[Doonan]

Partner and I are booked on HAL for a Baltic cruise. Does anyone know if HAL is gay friendly?

 

Rick

 

HAL are great and Gay friendly. They organise FOD some evenings ... have met some great people and the staff are always nice and a laugh when we meet.

 

Neil

[Boytjie]

HAL is the cruise line most frequently used by RSVP for gay charters, so they have to be gay friendly.

[2DesertGuys]

My partner and I just came off our first HAL cruise on the Oosterdam, down the Mexican Riveria and we thought it was very gay friendly compared to RCL. The LGBT socials were always posted in their daily newsletter, "Explorer", always at 5PM and always in the Crows Nest. After the first night we commandeered the chairs around the bar. The staff was very friendly and accomodating and couldn't do enough for you and they were aware you were with a "friend" or partner and aware enough to advise you that your "friends" had just left. It was a very good experience.

[ikelmay]

The replies here are maybe encouraging me to try HAL once more - in our 14 cruises, the one HAL experience was our least accepting. Our steward was somewhat distant and our table companions beyond frosty and into sub-arctic.

 

I accept that you can't judge a line by one sailing, but it has put me off trying them again in comparison to all the other majors that we have tried and enjoyed.

[MiamiSpartan]

HAL is the cruise line most frequently used by RSVP for gay charters, so they have to be gay friendly.

 

Pretty much ALL lines are gay friendly, but HAL a little more....

[Schplinky]

In general, HAL seems to be gay Positive but the only cruise we have ever taken where the CD made a homophobic joke FROM THE STAGE was on HAL. It got only some awkward laughs and more than a few boos and he said "obviously, I am joking." Besides being rude, the joke showed poor judgement since there were over 100 gay men on board in group we were not a part of. I complained on the cruise and afterward and my complaint was never even acknowledged.

 

The slur might have been an isolated incident but the silence to our complaints has gone a very long way to shaping our view of the line.

[Darrell6t]

"the one HAL experience was our least accepting. Our steward was somewhat distant and our table companions beyond frosty and into sub-arctic."

 

You can't really blame HAL for the attitudes of your tablemates, but these days HAL has as-you-wish dining where you can pick your time and table companions. Or at least sit with someone different every night.

[MiamiSpartan]

Our tablemates on our one and only HAL cruise were two born-again Christian couples from the rural west, and we could not have had a better time with them!!

They were totally accepting, and we ended up hanging out with them several times during our trip....I agree, tho, that it could've been an uncomfortable experience....

[apollobeach]

We will NEVER travel on this line again!!!

[MiamiSpartan]

We will NEVER travel on this line again!!!

 

hmmm....you seem to be on the fence about this.....

:p

[flag fan]

I found the Eurodam to be very gay-friendly. Holland America is one of my favorite cruise lines.

[soldham]

We have been on many HAL cruises and have never experienced any unpleasantness from the staff. The worst experience may be when the quite obviously gay show staff strut around like everyone wants them and they think (quite mistakenly) that they really are stars and VIP's.......:rolleyes:

 

And we have had tablemates who were Mormons, ultra-religious, and just plain bigotted but they all seemed to come around once they realized we were just like everybody else (that and our unending charm and wit of course :))

[COMBOY]

Partner and I are booked on HAL for a Baltic cruise. Does anyone know if HAL is gay friendly?

 

Rick

 

RSVP, Atlantis, Olivia all-gay charter companies used HAL extensively. I did RSVP Zuiderdam back in 2004. All cruise line are people friendly and welcoming of GLBT. That's their business. I've never heard of any cruise lines openly hostile towards gay. Most lines will host a GLBT gatherings. So to answer your question; Yes.

[shepp]

And we have had tablemates who were Mormons, ultra-religious, and just plain bigotted but they all seemed to come around once they realized we were just like everybody else (that and our unending charm and wit of course :))

 

Sorry, but I am NOT "just like" ultra-religious Mormons...and all the times I've ridden "It's a Small World" will not convince me otherwise.

 

Like a couple of other posters, I did experience ve anti-gay stuff on one of my two HAL cruises. And while most of the staff was gay-friendly, the CD did nothing to defuse at least one quite audible situation in the showroom - in fact, his shtick contributed to the Us vs. Them Gays vibe. That being said, it seems to me that the length, season, and departure port of a cruise has a lot to do with the makeup of the passenger load....and thier attitudes. Still, HAL is known for the senior-skewing of their clientele, and as we all know, the older generation is in general less accepting than the young 'uns. See also: John McCain vs. Lady Gaga.

[apollobeach]

The demographics which a cruise line caters to is extremely important. If the demographics is over age 70; need I say more....

[MarylandBob]

We love HAL and have over 100 days with them. You will not have a problem!

[soldham]

Still, HAL is known for the senior-skewing of their clientele, and as we all know, the older generation is in general less accepting than the young 'uns. See also: John McCain vs. Lady Gaga.

 

Sorry I cannot say I agree with that statement nor has it been my experience. I think those who are older tend to have more of a 'live and let live' attitude and realize just how non-important sexual orientation actually is.

[SakeDad]

In general, HAL seems to be gay Positive but the only cruise we have ever taken where the CD made a homophobic joke FROM THE STAGE was on HAL. It got only some awkward laughs and more than a few boos and he said "obviously, I am joking." Besides being rude, the joke showed poor judgement since there were over 100 gay men on board in group we were not a part of. I complained on the cruise and afterward and my complaint was never even acknowledged.

 

The slur might have been an isolated incident but the silence to our complaints has gone a very long way to shaping our view of the line.

 

I can name that CD in ONE NOTE! :rolleyes:

[rwbinnyc]

I took a Baltic cruise with HAL onboard the Eurodam this year and had a great time. Also cruised HAL on the Oosterdam to the Mexican Riviera, both trips were good, gay couples danced alongside straight couples in the Northern Lights club with no problems.

[beachluvr65]

SakeDad

 

I wont ask you the CD's name, just where you sailed to and hope the CD is not the same one.

 

Rick

[cirman52]

We were on the Westerdamn for a Black Sea cruise this fall, & had no problems, nor did we expect any. Stan wore his StoneWall Democrat T-shirt 2 days & got positive comments, not 1 negative.

When I did ask the front desk about the Friends of Dorothy meeting, I was told that on board, it's called the GBLT ( not abb). That was good to hear. You may have to push them to get a meeting listed in the daily paper, it was in ours only twice in 12 days.

[Bramcruiser]

HAL is gay friendly enough but defining that term is often a matter of interpretation. Whether an entertainer or a CD is a dork or a Friends of Dorothy meeting is listed in the daily programme or not are important to some people while not to others - gay or not. What matters more to me if a line is downright unfriendly to gays and lesbians and I can't think of any that are outright nasty.

 

HAL is the only line to actually recognize us as a couple in their marketing department. We always get one flyer - not two - in the mail addressed to the (His Last Name) & (My Last Name) Family. We never get anything individually addressed anymore. Even the very gay friendly Cunard still sends up marketing materials separately. Now I know its easy to say HAL is saving money by shipping one item to the same address but its nice to know they realize we are a same-sex couple living together. We never have to ask to have the beds put together either.

 

We've only had two HAL cruises to date - our third is next summer - and we haven't had a problem in the dining room either. I think this is where it would matter to me the most on any cruise. I think most travellers are tolerant and worldly enough (or at least smart enough not to make a spectacle) but you're always going to get someone who should never have walked out their front door into the public domain. That is life. Thankfully these people tend to be one-offs and never the norm on HAL from what I see.

 

Never had problems with crew either. If anything our first cabin steward was a little too chatty! :D

 

David

[shepp]

Sorry I cannot say I agree with that statement nor has it been my experience. I think those who are older tend to have more of a 'live and let live' attitude and realize just how non-important sexual orientation actually is.

 

Well, sorry...maybe things are different north of the border, but every U.S. poll and election result - wheteher on gays in the military, same-sex marriage, or just general attitudes - shows that older demographics are less accepting than younger. Anecdotal evidence aside, it's just a fact.