Jan.12-26 14 night Riviera cruise

[Mura]

4 hours ago, keithm said:

As long as they're not rude, you just roll with it. We do prefer a table for 2, simply because we know some pax are like that & we don't want to impinge on their enjoyment, as much as we don't want them to impinge on ours. that way everyone's happy.

Let me add my commiserations.  We're a hetero couple but for 40 years our best friends were a gay couple. (The survivor of the two still is.)  Maybe it helped that I was a professional singer and so had may gay friends.  But there's no excuse for rudeness like you experienced.  I can understand why you choose to dine alone considering these possible problems ...

 

BUT ...

 

On our first Oceania cruise in 2004 (when gay couples were far less obvious or numerous) we met friends who "adopted" a gay couple.  Turned out their son was gay (as I recall, I could be wrong) but they became great friends.  We had dinner with all of them all one night and enjoyed their company very much.

 

This reminds me of a "Gypsy Feet" trip we took to Rio in 1974.  NOT a cruise.

 

We had no idea until we boarded the flight that Gypsy Feet was a gay outfit,  part of a Boston group -- I forget the name and maybe they no longer exist.  Anyway ...

 

It was clear when we boarded that there were many gay people on the flight.  We were in 3x3 seating on I guess a 707.  The woman sitting with us was one of three sisters on the trip but her two sisters were sitting elsewhere.  She was really surprised at "these strange people" (her words).  We explained to her the situation.  As I recall the flight was composed of three different tour groups.

 

A week later we are on the return flight home.  We had the bulkhead seats with extra room and one of these guys was sitting at her feet the entire flight home.  They'd become fast friends.  I guess her attitude changed.  Remember this was 1974. But I've never forgotten.

 

Since then there are many gay couples on cruises and I wouldn't have thought this would still be a problem.  I guess I was wrong.  My apologies!

 

Just try to bear in mind that -- especially these days -- not everyone is so intolerant.

 

Mura

 

[keithm]

20 hours ago, Cruzin Terri said:

First of all, Keith, Jim and I would have been very happy to share a table with you and Richard. Sorry you had that experience with the sharing table.

As for the food, we were on the Riviera in the Summer and found the food selections in the GDR much better than on this cruise.  We are not fans of Red Ginger or Polo but did enjoy Jacques but really like Tuscana.  We were in a PH and luckily our butler was able to get us a few extra reservations there.

We really enjoyed the cruise and meeting at the M&G,

Terri

Actually, we didn't mind at all that they decided not to sit with us. A possibility of 4 pax being uncomfortable with each other was totally avoided.

  We thought the food in the GD was more akin to Celebrity of several years ago. It was what we considered very good overall. Of course food tastes are quite subjective. We really loved Red Ginger this time around. Seeing you're not too fond of it shows how tastes vary. Then again I could sit at a table & eating a bowl of fried bugs & enjoying it. I guess I'd have too good a time on that old "Fear Factor" show from years ago. Then again what IS a Lobster anyway?! Again, thanks for organizing the M&G.

[keithm]

17 hours ago, Mura said:

Let me add my commiserations.  We're a hetero couple but for 40 years our best friends were a gay couple. (The survivor of the two still is.)  Maybe it helped that I was a professional singer and so had may gay friends.  But there's no excuse for rudeness like you experienced.  I can understand why you choose to dine alone considering these possible problems ...

 

BUT ...

 

On our first Oceania cruise in 2004 (when gay couples were far less obvious or numerous) we met friends who "adopted" a gay couple.  Turned out their son was gay (as I recall, I could be wrong) but they became great friends.  We had dinner with all of them all one night and enjoyed their company very much.

 

This reminds me of a "Gypsy Feet" trip we took to Rio in 1974.  NOT a cruise.

 

We had no idea until we boarded the flight that Gypsy Feet was a gay outfit,  part of a Boston group -- I forget the name and maybe they no longer exist.  Anyway ...

 

It was clear when we boarded that there were many gay people on the flight.  We were in 3x3 seating on I guess a 707.  The woman sitting with us was one of three sisters on the trip but her two sisters were sitting elsewhere.  She was really surprised at "these strange people" (her words).  We explained to her the situation.  As I recall the flight was composed of three different tour groups.

 

A week later we are on the return flight home.  We had the bulkhead seats with extra room and one of these guys was sitting at her feet the entire flight home.  They'd become fast friends.  I guess her attitude changed.  Remember this was 1974. But I've never forgotten.

 

Since then there are many gay couples on cruises and I wouldn't have thought this would still be a problem.  I guess I was wrong.  My apologies!

 

Just try to bear in mind that -- especially these days -- not everyone is so intolerant.

 

Mura

 

There was no real rudeness. Last year, the couple seated with us in Polo was obviously uncomfortable with sitting with us. No nastiness ever ensued, just the obvious uncomfortable feeling. Our last meal in Jacques was with a table of 8. We ALL had an absolute blast! Now this year, we were seated first in Jacques & this other couple was shown to our table. The wife's response was "Oh, this table is too close to the door" (nearly 10 ft. away)I certainly can understand cold drafts(like up here)from outside, but their reaction was quite obvious. Like I said, our meal was outstanding & no one was made to feel ill at ease. We do have to admit that the most pax we've encountered who are not comfortable with gay couples, we find, seem to come from what is referred to as the "Bible Belt".

Edited January 31, 2019 by keithm
additions

[Mura]

I do agree that no one feeling uncomfortable was the best end result.  But I regret that so many people continue to feel uncomfortable around "others".  You may well be right about the Bible Belt effect.

 

 

[WNcruiser]

Luckily we have not experienced any of that on this cruise (so far at least). Everyone has been friendly and open towards us. Now, we are getting some stares but I am sure it’s becasue we are 20-30 years younger than almost everyone else on board. This cruise has quite an older demographic which even the crew says is much older than usual for a Caribbean cruise. 

 

Several passengers in their 90’s as well. As long as there are no kids we are happy 🙂

 

Steve

[Mura]

What a great attitude!  Continue to enjoy your cruise.

 

Wish I were with you , and I'm not a fan of the Caribbean ... it's just awfully cold in NYC right now!

 

Mura

[keithm]

On ‎1‎/‎31‎/‎2019 at 7:02 PM, WNcruiser said:

Luckily we have not experienced any of that on this cruise (so far at least). Everyone has been friendly and open towards us. Now, we are getting some stares but I am sure it’s becasue we are 20-30 years younger than almost everyone else on board. This cruise has quite an older demographic which even the crew says is much older than usual for a Caribbean cruise. 

 

Several passengers in their 90’s as well. As long as there are no kids we are happy 🙂

 

Steve

We were surprised to see an infant(about a year old)with a European couple. The child was pretty well behaved & the mother would take him outside if he started crying(the proper thing to do!)I thought there was a no under "14" rule on Oceania(maybe I'm incorrect here?)

[LHT28]

18 minutes ago, keithm said:

We were surprised to see an infant(about a year old)with a European couple. The child was pretty well behaved & the mother would take him outside if he started crying(the proper thing to do!)I thought there was a no under "14" rule on Oceania(maybe I'm incorrect here?)

no rule on children except I think they have to be 1 yr old to sail O

[oceaniacruiserri]

Aw now don't give us southerners a bad rap. When traveling internationally or on a cruise such as this one, I hesitate to say we're from South Carolina because of preconceived notions like this!  We would have been happy to share a table with you! If you didn't hold it over us for being southern that is 

 

[keithm]

12 hours ago, oceaniacruiserri said:

Aw now don't give us southerners a bad rap. When traveling internationally or on a cruise such as this one, I hesitate to say we're from South Carolina because of preconceived notions like this!  We would have been happy to share a table with you! If you didn't hold it over us for being southern that is 

 

Not holding it over you, but if there's one area where folks like us are not too well liked....News stories seem to abound from the area..Kim Davis/North Carolina bathroom bill/ basically NO civil rights for us at any state level. Much refusal to even follow federal laws in respect to our rights. Sorry, but that's the picture. That being said, yes, of course by no means are all like that, but unfortunately too many are. Let's not turn this into a social issue here on CC.

[Cruzin Terri]

2 hours ago, keithm said:

Not holding it over you, but if there's one area where folks like us are not too well liked....News stories seem to abound from the area..Kim Davis/North Carolina bathroom bill/ basically NO civil rights for us at any state level. Much refusal to even follow federal laws in respect to our rights. Sorry, but that's the picture. That being said, yes, of course by no means are all like that, but unfortunately too many are. Let's not turn this into a social issue here on CC.

Keith,

we,  too, live in South Carolina, BUT we’re actually transplanted New Yorkers. I feel that we were very inclusive and just accept everyone as a new friend. As I said before, if the opportunity presented itself we would have been delighted to share a meal with you.

 

Terri