Royal Caribbean FOD's

[twoontheisle]

For anyone who has sailed on the Adventure of the Seas, where do they hold the daily LGBT gatherings.....or do they? Someone has mentioned that there is a posting near guest services, rather than a listing in the daily newsletters delivered to the staterooms. In all of my cruises, I can honestly say that the only time I went to guest services was once when there was an unknown charge. It's not a destination for me, so I am wondering how well attended the gatherings are. We are on the Trans Atlantic crossing this April, and as of yet we have not found more than a handful of FOD's on the cruise.

[Wingtips56]

We did the T-A on Mariner OTS last November and found that Royal does nothing to support any FOD gathering...no participation whatsoever. No time or place provided by the line for any activities. We had expected that from previous CC posters. Royal will not post any private gathering notices in the daily Compass.

 

They do have a general guest info/contact board available for guests to post 3x5 cards for their own gatherings. Some people on our cruise did post an FOD gathering at one of the bars out on deck, but the weather did it in most days, and lack of participation did it in for the rest. We tried, but the cigarette smoke drove us away, and the timing didn't usually work for us anyway, especially on the port days.

 

On our ship, which is similar in layout to yours, the guest info board was on the Royal Promenade at the far opposite end from the Reception and Tour desks.

[twoontheisle]

That was an excellent response, however it was not one that I was pleased about. I know they are not the most gay friendly cruise-line, but I have hopes that we will find several other "family members" as it is a Trans Atlantic after all, which will probably have less of the traditional "family" and more of ours. We have found 5 other couples through MMOB that are on the cruise, but none through this site. As in all of our other cruises, a small amount of people actually know about cruise critic, so we are pleasantly surprised to find additional FOD's on board. Plus the ever important liberal straights that L-O-V-E the homo's.

[Wingtips56]

We had a few "family members" in our CC roll-calls (very, very, very active mainstream roll-call plus a slightly active G&L roll-call), and met some of them. Many more of us folks were on-board, as the T-As do tend to be popular, and we met some of them too, but we didn't all pal around much. (Too old and not pretty, I guess.) A big group from Seattle pretty much stuck together, and they tried to get the FOD gatherings going. But without the ship participating, groups don't know where they could have a gathering or at what times they might be able to "commandeer" a lounge mostly to themselves.

 

We did find Royal to be very welcoming, and never felt there was a problem with "two gentlemen, sharing" ....they just don't do private on-board group gatherings.....I don't even think they published the Bill W meetings, which did seem odd. Quite a contrast to our experiences with Princess and Norwegian.

 

They did do a big Cruise Critic Meet & Mingle, but there were so many of us (400), that you couldn't meet or mingle....it was down in the ice arena to allow for the crowd, but that's all bleachers, so no getting around. They (the ship) did botch getting half the invitations out, despite signing-up with them, so a lot of people didn't know about the time and place.

[IMNiles]

On both rccl and celebrity, they won't print the gathering in the compass but they will post a card on the events board near guest services. Lately it's always been a preprinted card that's essentially permanent, and not a random guest card. On voyager class, it's usually in the disco/dungeon or the champagne bar. We frequently end up meeting a few guys there and moving the time/place to something more convenient.

[Rstlnd]

On arrival i went to the guest services desk to inquire about FOD gatherings. The clerk was very helpful and said that she was unaware if one was planned. The next day I saw that Royal had posted an invite complete with Rainbow flag. Was held each evening in the Champagne Bar which is non-smoking. Attenedance was off and on a bit, but was also the designated meeting place for Red Hat Society, so it was hard to tell at first.

 

My partner of 28 years and I have sailed Royal, Princess, Holland American on numerous occaisions and have always felt welcome. I think the Gay and Lesbian Community has gained greater acceptance in most places, so I expect it to improve as time goes by. GL on your journey.

[Boblid]

My partner and I are booked on the April 21 cruise to Barcelona. It's my first cruise, so I'm just getting oriented.

[twoontheisle]

[quote=Rstlnd;37477099. Attenedance was off and on a bit, but was also the designated meeting place for Red Hat Society, so it was hard to tell at first.

 

That statement was from the heart.....and so DAMN FUNNY! I got such a great visual from it!

 

Thanks for the reply, and we too are looking forward to new discoveries....on board.

[gw2fll]

We post a card on the community board at Guest Services for a nightly FOD meeting on the first day of the cruise. (In fact, I have several blank cards so I fill one out before leaving for the ship so I can post it as we board.) We have the time around 9:45 so that second seating can participate (and early enough to catch those that turn-in early).

 

Usually the first night or two participation has been light. However about the 3rd night into the cruise the participants grow. (Our last two cruises have grown to 30+ participants from ~10 the first night.) One thing that we have enjoyed is the diversity of the participants, gay & straight. By the end of the cruise, we usually have the entire bar (we normally schedule it for the Champagne Bar).

[MiamiSpartan]

What we do when we take RCI, is to explore the ship at the start, figure out where the best venue would be, and then post it by guest services....Usually, the Viking Crown Lounge (or Olive or Twist, etc) at the top of the ship is a nice place due to the views, and the lack of loud music...

[twoontheisle]

So how many people did you manage to start/finish with? We find that many LGBT people don't even know about CruiseCritic, so the numbers may be small to start with, but as the cruise progresses we should surely spot others, and invite them to join.

[MiamiSpartan]

On our most recent cruise, on the Liberty, we ended up with 15-20 each night, which wasn't bad considering the Atlantis Indy ship left from the same day ours did....

[declanbyrne]

On both rccl and celebrity, they won't print the gathering in the compass but they will post a card on the events board near guest services. Lately it's always been a preprinted card that's essentially permanent, and not a random guest card. On voyager class, it's usually in the disco/dungeon or the champagne bar. We frequently end up meeting a few guys there and moving the time/place to something more convenient.

 

On my Adventure of the Seas cruises in 2011, the FOD meetings were in the Compass. But they also had the preprinted (and laminated) card on Adventure and Independence. I find RCL are not the greatest at facilitating these meetings other than providing a venue. no host and usually in a rather public area which may put the less gregarious off. The best organised FOD I've been to was on NCL tho the rest of the cruise left a lot to be desired. They had a good bar, a host on the first couple of nights, some catering etc. All very convivial. That said the last cruise on IOS was a great crowd of both gay and straight. We met a great woman on the first night and renamed the event "Friends of Beverley" in her honour. Confused the hell out of people who tried working out who Beverley and Bill W were.

 

I never fancied an Atlantis cruise and generally don't go on "gay" themed holidays but it's always fun to meet others. Just worry that it can all become a little too gay? Does any one else have experience of these cruises?

[56clipper]

I never fancied an Atlantis cruise and generally don't go on "gay" themed holidays but it's always fun to meet others. Just worry that it can all become a little too gay? Does any one else have experience of these cruises?

 

While I have never done a gay cruise, a friend that I worked with about 15 years ago, went on an RSVP cruise with his then boyfriend and a couple of other friends. The stories they told upon returning, convinced me that that type of traveling wasn't for me. Think the most cliquish gay bar and then multiply the attitude twenty times.

[Trickie Dickie]

What we do when we take RCI, is to explore the ship at the start, figure out where the best venue would be, and then post it by guest services....Usually, the Viking Crown Lounge (or Olive or Twist, etc) at the top of the ship is a nice place due to the views, and the lack of loud music...

 

Lack of Loud Music....until 10pm! :D

[Volunton]

Is anybody going to be on this cruise? The only POC is Cozumel, but that's okay. I'll be fine with swimming and tanning and maybe using the solarium. :D

 

Never done a short one like this before so it will be interesting. I'll be wondering what happened to the last three nights. :)

[Sailorboy1]

On large ships there are many special interest groups and the daily info sheets are only so big so RCI lets groups and individuals post on a large board near Guest Reception. It works well - you just ahve to use it! I find that the gay groups that gather are not all that large but primarily because a lot of men don't seek the group out. There are lots of gay couples and groups with their own ready-made group of friends and they are not inclined to join the FOD. On the last T A usually 15 to 30 guys met nightly and the individuals changed.

[necruiser215]

That was an excellent response, however it was not one that I was pleased about. I know they are not the most gay friendly cruise-line, but I have hopes that we will find several other "family members" as it is a Trans Atlantic after all, which will probably have less of the traditional "family" and more of ours. We have found 5 other couples through MMOB that are on the cruise, but none through this site. As in all of our other cruises, a small amount of people actually know about cruise critic, so we are pleasantly surprised to find additional FOD's on board. Plus the ever important liberal straights that L-O-V-E the homo's.

 

Will be interstign to see how big of a crownd we might get on the TA. Only a few more days now!

[Gilbo]

Thanks to all for the informations. I will be on the look out for a meeting aboard our cruise. We are going to be on the Legend of the Seas dec 23. This will be our first cruise

 

One of you mentioned MMBO. Can anyone tell me what it's stand for ?

 

Thx

[victoriatiger]

I was disappointed that the FOD/Rainbow Drinks had to be posted on a file card and posted on the community board near the coffee bar. Someone DID post "Rainbow Drinks/FOD: every night, 8-11, 6th level wine bar" but between photo opportunities and concerts/noise coming from the Centrum (and an 8:30 supper), there was seldom an opportunity to sit and wait for fellow Rainbow Drinkers... I did make eye contact with one fellow once but that was on the way to supper... I believe I observed two sets of couples having wine one night too, but who knows if they were Rainbow Drinking.

 

on other cruises: QE2 transatlantic (c.2007??) - one designated meetup which was fun until rough seas caused an early end (hosted by the ship's florist!)

 

Celebrity Alaska (c.2009), there was a meetup EVERY night and a different bar, in between the dinner seatings so early eaters could have an after dinner drink or late seatings could have a pre-dinner cocktail (or not)... I still keep in facebook touch with some of those guys... (day one: on the way, walking through the casino and spotted four guys - I said "I'm not going to assume ANYTHING but I think I'll follow you!" and we laughed and laughed...) (no host)

 

QM2 transatlantic (2012), there was a meetup in a specific bar every day (unfortunately, the smoking lounge was right next door) and it was semi-hosted - by day 3 (after norovirus scares lifted), they provided hors d'oervres and at least one dedicated server!...

 

I am slightly annoyed that groups (even AA/Friends of Bill W) have to self-organize on RCL - it's easy enough for them to 'administer' and a service to customers.

 

[on this cruise, there even was an "unofficial knitters group" and my new best friend from Minneapolis and I met at the appointed time to knit - we were listed twice (sea days) and then were abandonned for other sea days - this felt inconsistent... fortunately, my nbf and I found each other to exchange contact information on the last day of the cruise.]

 

I know that I wasn't the only gay in the village on this cruise, but you wouldn't know that from RCL!

[declanbyrne]

RCL Independence always "arrange" a FOD venue and time. It's up to relevant people to show up. That said I do think they could have a host on hand to get the ball rolling the first night or two.

 

 

Send from device_name using Cruise Critic your_app_name App

[ehfl]

Most people on RCL know to look at the bulletin board, so that's the best place to check. If you don't see anything posted, they have cards and pencils and you can post your own....same if you don't find the time convenient, you can always post another meeting with times that work out for you.