Celebrity | Constellation | November 5, 2014 Transatlantic (16 Days) | LGBT

[vulcan1971]

Hello...

 

After my exhaustive search today, I was unable to locate a thread created for this cruise. My name is Walter and my partner Iain and I will be on this cruise. We will arrive a few days early to spend some time in Rome doing activities we didn't get to do in 2013.

 

November seems far away, but it will get here sooner than we will realize. Looking forward to meeting you on the ship. Take care.

 

 

Walter

[vulcan1971]

Bump

 

Sent from my Samsung Note 2 on the T-Mobile 4G LTE Network

[vulcan1971]

Hoping to hear from other guys (or gals) that have booked, or are thinking about booking, this cruise. There was a wonderful bunch on the Reflection 2013 westbound crossing. It would be great to have a similar experience for this exciting itinerary. Drop by, leave a message, and say "hello".

 

Sent from my Samsung Note 2 on the T-Mobile 4G LTE Network

[shaq]

We are thinking of doing this cruise. this would be our 3rd TA, all have been on Celebrity. We are Ron & Harold, both of us are retired.

[vulcan1971]

We are thinking of doing this cruise. this would be our 3rd TA, all have been on Celebrity. We are Ron & Harold, both of us are retired.

 

Hello and welcome! This is also our 3rd transatlantic. We look forward to meeting both of you should you pull the lever and book this cruise. Keep us posted if you do and thanks for stopping by to say "hi".

 

 

Walter + Iain

 

Sent from my Samsung Note 2 on the T-Mobile 4G LTE Network

Edited April 25, 2014 by vulcan1971

[cruzbynite]

Hoping to hear from other guys (or gals) that have booked, or are thinking about booking, this cruise. There was a wonderful bunch on the Reflection 2013 westbound crossing. It would be great to have a similar experience for this exciting itinerary. Drop by, leave a message, and say "hello".

 

Sent from my Samsung Note 2 on the T-Mobile 4G LTE Network

 

We are thinking of doing this cruise. this would be our 3rd TA, all have been on Celebrity. We are Ron & Harold, both of us are retired.

 

 

 

I know this is very forward thinking and planning, but I ended up booking my first TA last week on the Silhouette for 10/31/15. Since I'm going solo and paying basically double for a 1A, I wanted to book before the prices get crazy. Anyway my question is this, do there tend to be a number of gays on TA sailings? Sounds like your Reflection crossing was well represented and since both of you have done these before, I would be interested in your take on this.

Edited April 25, 2014 by cruzbynite

[shaq]

Cruzbynite, On all 3 of my TA's there were at least 40 family members on board. TA's usually get a large group on them. My last one was on Azamara from Malaga to Rio last year, we had about 25 family members on board. So I would relax and enjoy your trip. Why don't you start a roll call for your cruise.

[cruzbynite]

Cruzbynite, On all 3 of my TA's there were at least 40 family members on board. TA's usually get a large group on them. My last one was on Azamara from Malaga to Rio last year, we had about 25 family members on board. So I would relax and enjoy your trip. Why don't you start a roll call for your cruise.

 

Thanks. Good point, I'll get one started.

[vulcan1971]

We are thinking of doing this cruise. this would be our 3rd TA, all have been on Celebrity. We are Ron & Harold, both of us are retired.

 

Have you made your decision to book this cruise?

[vulcan1971]

I know this is very forward thinking and planning, but I ended up booking my first TA last week on the Silhouette for 10/31/15. Since I'm going solo and paying basically double for a 1A, I wanted to book before the prices get crazy. Anyway my question is this, do there tend to be a number of gays on TA sailings? Sounds like your Reflection crossing was well represented and since both of you have done these before, I would be interested in your take on this.

 

Congratulations on your first Transatlantic voyage! The first time is always so exciting. My first was in 2012 on the Royal Caribbean "Adventure of the Seas". The 15 days from Malaga, Spain to San Juan, Puerto Rico seemed like an eternity when we were planning and even once we got on the ship, but the time did not drag. If nothing else, it felt like it went too quickly. Sea days are so relaxing! My 3rd TA will be NOV 2014 on the Celebrity Constellation. I'm looking forward to this smaller ship with the charm that the M Class ships possess.

 

You may find that there are LGBT cruisers on board that don't know anything about Cruise Critic. Possibly, more LGBT cruisers will sign up much closer to the date of the cruise. Celebrity does a decent job of posting any LGBT gatherings on a board near the guest relations desk.

 

Regarding your comment on traveling solo and paying the single supplement... If having a 1A room category was not critical to your enjoyment of the cruise, it is usually possible to book after final payment and find excellent pricing for inside and standard balcony rooms if the cruise is not selling well. Of course, that is always tough to know in advance. However, if history is any indication, the past two seasons for westbound transatlantic sailings did have major discounting of cruise fares. I even saw balcony guarantee rates after final payment last year on the Reflection under $800 (per person). I attempted to go back back to our cruise thread from last year, but it has been archived by the board, so unable to give you an actual quote from what people were paying.

 

All the best with your cruise planning.

 

 

Walter

[shaq]

We are now booked.

[vulcan1971]

We are now booked.

 

That is great news! Welcome and looking forward to meeting on the ship.

[Waltbeth]

Have just gotten off our 5th TA - all East bound in the last 5 years. This year we took the Silhoutte from FL to Rome. On board we booked this cruise. Had a great time and hope the weather and the seas are as wonderful as they were on the past 5 cruises. We also like the fact that we will be gaining hours on this cruise and not have a 9 hour difference in time to make up at end of cruise. We are Walt and Beth Angilly from Gilbert, AZ

[vulcan1971]

Have just gotten off our 5th TA - all East bound in the last 5 years. This year we took the Silhoutte from FL to Rome. On board we booked this cruise. Had a great time and hope the weather and the seas are as wonderful as they were on the past 5 cruises. We also like the fact that we will be gaining hours on this cruise and not have a 9 hour difference in time to make up at end of cruise. We are Walt and Beth Angilly from Gilbert, AZ

 

Hello Walt and Beth... Welcome to the 2014 westbound Constellation TA and to the LGBT cruise thread.

 

Just in case you are looking for the main cruise thread so you can introduce yourselves to other passengers, add yourself to the roll call, and sign up for various port excursions, I have included the link below:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1819054

 

See you on the ship!

[vulcan1971]

bump

[vulcan1971]

shameless bump! ;)

[vulcan1971]

one more bump for the road...

[Talldkny]

A friend and I booked this cruise two months ago. It will be my 23 cruise, 3 TA and 3 with Celebrity. Thought I would see more FOD on this blog since I have been following it for a couple of months. I have been also following the main CC blog for this cruise. There is going to be a lot of fellow CC passengers on board.

 

The last two cruises I was on were with Pied Piper.

 

Look forward to meeting everyone on board.

 

Frank

[vulcan1971]

A friend and I booked this cruise two months ago. It will be my 23 cruise, 3 TA and 3 with Celebrity. Thought I would see more FOD on this blog since I have been following it for a couple of months. I have been also following the main CC blog for this cruise. There is going to be a lot of fellow CC passengers on board.

 

The last two cruises I was on were with Pied Piper.

 

Look forward to meeting everyone on board.

 

Frank

 

Frank -

 

Thanks so much for coming out of the shadows and joining the thread. :)

 

I also hoped that more "friends and family" would have joined by now. I was on the Reflection westbound transatlantic last year and we had a fun and very active thread. I'm guessing that folks are either slow to join or hadn't thought to look for this thread. I am aware of at least one other gay couple on the main thread.

 

I need to jet off to work but wanted to say hello and look forward to chatting further. Are you doing any pre-cruise time in Rome?

 

 

Walter

 

Sent from my Samsung Note 2 on the T-Mobile 4G LTE Network

[Talldkny]

Hi Walter,

 

We will be arriving in Rome on 10/31. This gives us plenty of time to see the sights. We had such a great TA last year on the Infinity with Pied Piper. The TA's seem to get a well traveled, fun group of passengers. It seems the cruise of choice with many our fellow FOD colleagues is the 11/1 sailing on the Sihlouette. Their blog is very active.

 

I had not planned on a cruise this year as my travelling companion had already been on a TA in the Spring and was not interested in going on another one this year. Most of my other friends are still working and cant get the time off. Well how things change. I was watching TCM. They were featuing films with Suzanne Phleshette. After watching Rome Adventure & If it is Tuesday, This most be Belguim, I checked prices on TAs called my friend and he said book it and here we are! ;)

[vulcan1971]

Hi Walter,

 

We will be arriving in Rome on 10/31. This gives us plenty of time to see the sights. We had such a great TA last year on the Infinity with Pied Piper. The TA's seem to get a well traveled, fun group of passengers. It seems the cruise of choice with many our fellow FOD colleagues is the 11/1 sailing on the Sihlouette. Their blog is very active.

 

I had not planned on a cruise this year as my travelling companion had already been on a TA in the Spring and was not interested in going on another one this year. Most of my other friends are still working and cant get the time off. Well how things change. I was watching TCM. They were featuing films with Suzanne Phleshette. After watching Rome Adventure & If it is Tuesday, This most be Belguim, I checked prices on TAs called my friend and he said book it and here we are! ;)

 

Frank -

 

At some point I look forward to make your acquaintance. We (my partner Iain and me) arrive to Rome on 01-November around 12:30 PM. Hopefully a smoother transition to our hotel on this trip. Last year my baggage came reasonably smooth (about 25 minutes after arrival), but Iain's baggage took more than an hour.

 

We are staying at Hotel San Anselmo. Where (what part of Rome) are you staying? Any specific plans you have made to enjoy your time in Rome? With as many cruises as you have been on, I am guessing this is not your first trip to Rome. My first trip was last year and it was so wonderful that we knew we wanted to go back in 2014 to attempt to do some of the things we couldn't do the first time around.

 

Funny you should mention the LGBT cruise thread for the Silhouette TA departing on 01-November. In fact, I have been subscribed and am following it as we both know fellow cruisers on the ship. I think the Solstice class ships attract more of the gays, but I am quite happy sailing on the M class ships as they are so striking and beautiful in their own way.

 

Maybe your plans in Rome will intersect with ours and we can meet up for a pre-cruise meal.

 

 

Walter

Edited September 2, 2014 by vulcan1971

[vulcan1971]

We are now booked.

 

Hi Ron & Harold -

 

I realize this thread has been terribly quiet, but hope all is well with the two of you. I assume that you are full steam forward for the Constellation westbound TA? Are you arriving early to Rome? If not, we will definitely say hello once on the ship. Otherwise, feel free to comment here on any of your travel plans pre/post cruise. Take care.

 

 

Walter

[Talldkny]

Walter,

We are staying at the Hotel Trastevere (same district) in Rome. My friend Robert who I am travelling with stayed there three years ago and liked it very much. I have been to Rome twice the last time in 1988. It has been awhile and I am looking forward to traveling around this beautiful city. We plan to take in as much sights as possible. We are both walkers.

 

I have been looking over the excursions on our cruise. I just booked the tour while we are in Agadir to the "Market & Medina of Ancient Tasroudant. Do you plan on taking any of the tours?

 

We are in Cabin 3025. I look forward to meeting you and Iain.

 

Frank

Edited September 2, 2014 by Talldkny

[vulcan1971]

Walter,

We are staying at the Hotel Trastevere (same district) in Rome. My friend Robert who I am travelling with stayed there three years ago and liked it very much. I have been to Rome twice the last time in 1988. It has been awhile and I am looking forward to traveling around this beautiful city. We plan to take in as much sights as possible. We are both walkers.

 

I have been looking over the excursions on our cruise. I just booked the tour while we are in Agadir to the "Market & Medina of Ancient Tasroudant. Do you plan on taking any of the tours?

 

We are in Cabin 3025. I look forward to meeting you and Iain.

 

Wow, Frank.... that was a quick reply post!!

 

I have an app on my phone that signals to me when someone has responded to a thread I am following. Sometimes I am on Cruise Critic every day and other times, it is a couple times a week or on weekends. With the upcoming trip arriving soon, I am finalizing the last minute plans for our trip.

 

Iain and I stayed in Trastevere last year. We rented a private apartment through Airbnb.com and had a wonderful property in a great location! I would do that again if I was staying a week in Rome, but this time is just 4 nights and the break-even cost tipped to the hotel and the convenience, so we are doing the hotel this time around.

 

Both Iain and I are walkers (Iain even moreso than me). However, it is really the best way to get around the city, it's great exercise, and you really learn a lot and find some interesting places and eateries along the way. We are quite close to each other and could easily meet somewhere to have a meal or drinks, etc.

 

As far as tours go, we are booked for private (non-ship) tours in Livorno, Cartagena, Agadir, and Lanzarote. No tours planned so far for Gran Canaria or Tenerife. Iain and I have been to the Canary Islands the past two years of cruising. Tenerife is easy to do on your own by foot, or HOHO bus, or you can take the tram up to La Laguna. On Gran Canaria, there is a wonderful gem of a town on the far side of the island (Maspalomas) that is a mecca for gays traveling to a beautiful beach area from all over the world. I would personally like to go back there and see more of the city or do the beach again.

 

For the ship, we are located in 9112 (aqua stateroom) with dinner in Blu. We have some specialty dinners purchased through a dining package as well. Certainly, we can chat further on the ship about all things cruise related. I look forward to bending your ear about Pied Piper as well.

 

 

Walter

[Talldkny]

Walter,

 

This thread looked so lonely, compared to the main board for this cruise and the Nov 1st sailing. I finally needed to jump on board! I also recognize a couple of people on the Nov 1st sailing. It is very small world!

 

I noticed you were on the Epic. I was on the Epic last year. Even though I was not in Haven I look forward on getting your opinion of the ship.

 

Best regards,

 

Frank