FRIENDLY GAYS ON CRUISES🤗

[Boytjie]

18 minutes ago, SireDoime said:

Now, about a gay themed cruise, I would love to do, but finding one that is predominately Afro can be challenging, not impossible, I just have to do the work.

 

That may be hard to find. Vacaya has worked hard on making the experience welcoming to all the letters in our alphabet soup. 🙂

[SireDoime]

1 hour ago, Boytjie said:

 

That may be hard to find. Vacaya has worked hard on making the experience welcoming to all the letters in our alphabet soup. 🙂

 Yeah, I have seen their page. I occasionally check this page https://lgbttakeover.com/.

But it heavily leans towards millennials (I really should stop using that term).

[rbtan]

2 hours ago, Boytjie said:

 

Oh, our QM2 cruise was not a gay cruise, it just had lots of gays on it! 😄

QM2 did do a gay charter transatlantic in 2007; we did our first ever cruise in February 2007 and teh transatlantic departed New York (home to us) on the Memorial Day weekend. My husband was not all that keen on cruising to begin with and a transatlantic was a bit too much (at the time, he has changed his mind though we still need to do one).

We remember that charter. It bombed! Less than half full. We had done a QM2 cruise prior to that & laughed at the ridiculous overcharges. I sent our reasons for declining. I hate saying it, but it snowballed and a ton cancelled & booked on regular cruises. I guess we don't like getting screwed over by the gay community simply cause we're gay. In Ogunquit we stopped staying at gay inns as they were over 50% higher than all the others.

[zitsky]

59 minutes ago, SireDoime said:

 Yeah, I have seen their page. I occasionally check this page https://lgbttakeover.com/.

But it heavily leans towards millennials (I really should stop using that term).

 

I don't know what it is but that website doesn't draw me in.

[SireDoime]

2 hours ago, zitsky said:

 

I don't know what it is but that website doesn't draw me in.

It was founded by a group of young people as a way getting Afro gays to travel together. It works, except the pricing is waaaay out on some excursions. They have a South African excursion that's over 5000$ if your traveling single. Their cruises are more popular, but you can only book inside or portal window room. If you want a veranda or suite, you're on your own.

 

But, again it is directed primarily at younger gays, which I find awesome sauce 😆! I wish I could have done something like that when I was in my 20's & 30's!

[Boytjie]

Just back from our third "regular" cruise out of a total of sixteen cruise, the others being gay charters.

 

We were on the Nieuw Amsterdam in Alaska, The first couple of days the daily program listed an LGBT meet in the Gallery Bar. The first day we striated chatting with two other couples while getting drinks at the bar and ended up chatting. Someone traveling single joined us. There were a few other people that gathered in another section and at times other people wandered through but did not stay. It was mostly men but a few women were in the other group.

 

The next two days we tried to draw others into our group which was not really successful. One couple sat with us of for a while; another couple that sat by themselves and my husband went over to char with them and then I joined too. Another couple declined our invite to join the bigger group.

 

Boarding on the first day and walking around the ship one could spot the gay and lesbian couples and I tried my best to say hi but have to say it usually was not successful as I hardly ever got a response back.

 

We met up with the original two couples on other days, just showing up at the Gallery Bar at 5 PM for a cocktail; we had dinner with one couple on the last night.

 

What is interesting was that the six of us have all mostly done gay charters. I don't know if that experience where just about everybody talks to everybody made it easier or us to be open to meeting others.

 

I am puzzled by why some gays and lesbians on regular cruises seems to want to connect with others by are not really open to it.

[zitsky]

I don't know.  I always try to say hello at least.

[rbtan]

3 hours ago, Boytjie said:

Just back from our third "regular" cruise out of a total of sixteen cruise, the others being gay charters.

 

We were on the Nieuw Amsterdam in Alaska, The first couple of days the daily program listed an LGBT meet in the Gallery Bar. The first day we striated chatting with two other couples while getting drinks at the bar and ended up chatting. Someone traveling single joined us. There were a few other people that gathered in another section and at times other people wandered through but did not stay. It was mostly men but a few women were in the other group.

 

The next two days we tried to draw others into our group which was not really successful. One couple sat with us of for a while; another couple that sat by themselves and my husband went over to char with them and then I joined too. Another couple declined our invite to join the bigger group.

 

Boarding on the first day and walking around the ship one could spot the gay and lesbian couples and I tried my best to say hi but have to say it usually was not successful as I hardly ever got a response back.

 

We met up with the original two couples on other days, just showing up at the Gallery Bar at 5 PM for a cocktail; we had dinner with one couple on the last night.

 

What is interesting was that the six of us have all mostly done gay charters. I don't know if that experience where just about everybody talks to everybody made it easier or us to be open to meeting others.

 

I am puzzled by why some gays and lesbians on regular cruises seems to want to connect with others by are not really open to it.

We were never interested in Gay charters or the like of Atlantic/RSVP. Just too "cruisey" for our tastes. Can't really remember the last real gay bar we've been to outside of Ogunquit. I guess we've become pretty mainstream.

[Boytjie]

1 hour ago, rbtan said:

We were never interested in Gay charters or the like of Atlantic/RSVP. Just too "cruisey" for our tastes. Can't really remember the last real gay bar we've been to outside of Ogunquit. I guess we've become pretty mainstream.

 

Yeah, but my comment wasn't really about gay charters. I know many are not interested in doing them.

 

But why are gays on regulars cruises not always that friendly?

[zitsky]

38 minutes ago, Boytjie said:

 

Yeah, but my comment wasn't really about gay charters. I know many are not interested in doing them.

 

But why are gays on regulars cruises not always that friendly?

 

To answer your question, we would need to ask some of those unfriendly gays.  And they wouldn't answer.

[rbtan]

13 hours ago, Boytjie said:

 

Yeah, but my comment wasn't really about gay charters. I know many are not interested in doing them.

 

But why are gays on regulars cruises not always that friendly?

A few reasons: Sometimes language barriers/some snobby/Some are still in the closet(like we can't tell??)some are just cruising for themselves & aren't interested. We cruise for just ourselves, but love to get together & dine out with others. Princess is really good for that

[DenGNNJ]

9 minutes ago, rbtan said:

A few reasons: Sometimes language barriers/some snobby/Some are still in the closet(like we can't tell??)some are just cruising for themselves & aren't interested. We cruise for just ourselves, but love to get together & dine out with others. Princess is really good for that

I’ll add… sometimes people are douchebags.  LOL!!!

Edited August 23, 2021 by DenGNNJ

[zitsky]

Some are worried that you'll hit on their partner.

[rbtan]

4 minutes ago, DenGNNJ said:

I’ll add… some are douchebags.  LOL!!!

Yeah, true! In 2009 we were in a PG suite on the Queen Mary 2. We met a couple from England who were in one of the big suites in the rear of the ship. They toured our room, but never invited us to see theirs. We could always see them waving down to us on the rear deck. After about 3 days, we just ditched them.

[DenGNNJ]

37 minutes ago, DenGNNJ said:

I’ll add… sometimes people are douchebags.  LOL!!!

And I mean this can play out in various ways…

 

The most obvious is you’re nice and the person or couple you’re trying to meet are douchebags.  Plain & simple.

 

The second is this.  One time we wanted to meet people and asked to be seated at a large MDR table with other people (this was an RSVP cruise).  One guy we met was nice enough until he started telling us he liked to visit Thailand and hire 14 y.o. prostitutes.  I’m sure he thought we were unfriendly douchebags for calling him a disgusting pedophile and leaving the table.  
 

Third… We’re super nice and friendly until something happens.  Like finding out through a casual dinner conversation about travel, that someone is a douchebag kid-toucher.

Edited August 23, 2021 by DenGNNJ

[DenGNNJ]

33 minutes ago, zitsky said:

Some are worried that you'll hit on their partner.

Honestly.  Don’t do that @#$& when you’re first trying to make new friends on a cruise.

 

Everyone needs to wait a bit, get comfortable, and have a few drinks first.  LOL!!!

[rbtan]

5 hours ago, zitsky said:

Some are worried that you'll hit on their partner.

I've been hit on plenty of times. Drove my husband nuts. There's a couple we used to know who've since moved to AZ. Age wise we're pretty close. Paul used to hit on me, which was annoying as hell. A few years back he asked to get together for lunch. My husband, wasn't thrilled, but figured it would finally be put to rest. Paul made it quite clear he was still interested. His spouse, Dave, I'm not even sure knew what was going on. I turned him down flat & said Keith & I don't "play" & don't care if you do, but NOT with us. Epitome of a DB.

[bernard530]

I just came off of an MSC cruise last week and it was the gayest straight cruise I’ve ever been on. Lol.  Meet some really nice guys and we hung out at the bars. 

[zitsky]

11 minutes ago, bernard530 said:

I just came off of an MSC cruise last week and it was the gayest straight cruise I’ve ever been on. Lol.  Meet some really nice guys and we hung out at the bars. 

 

gayest straight?  wth?

[MishelleMcc]

18 hours ago, zitsky said:

 

gayest straight?  wth?

I think they meant that there were more gays than expected on a "straight" cruise.

 

[MishelleMcc]

What a fun and enlightening thread this has been!  thank you everyone for being so candid! 

 

My wife & I did an Olivia cruise for our Honeymoon back in 2006 (Her first cruise!) and it was a Blast!!  I can still remember standing on a landing in the terminal looking down at a sea of women and realizing that they were ALL lesbians!!  Ha!  I've never seen so many lesbians in my life!!  We still talk about it today - 16 years later!  The amazing part of it was that it took less than 24 hrs for us to completely be "publicly" OUT!  We didn't have to drop our hand holding just because someone was walking up behind us...  The comradery...  we looked after one another... By the end of the cruise, we were totally immersed in our lesbian bubble!  The day we disembarked and were standing in FLL air terminal with all the passengers from other cruise lines, the heterosexual couples looked “odd” to me…  I recommend that everyone should try a LGBTQ cruise at least once.  The cost is pretty exorbitant which is why we’ve only done one. 

 

I’ve posted elsewhere on this forum that our last cruise on Princess out of San Francisco was the BEST cruise we’ve ever been on!!  The sea days…  the fact that it was 15 days… and the people we met! (Gay & Straight!)  The LGBTQ group was HUGE and we met up every night!  We even had a dinner together on one of the formal nights!  We've stayed in touch with two couples and another Lesbian from that cruise!!!  We live/work in a very conservative, rural community and really miss "Community".  That group was so welcoming and we can't wait until our next cruise in January!  it is also out of San Francisco to Hawaii and we are looking forward to another great experience!!   I think the fact that it sailed out of San Francisco had a lot to do with the increased number of LGBTQ folks on board.

 

 

[bernard530]

20 hours ago, MishelleMcc said:

I think they meant that there were more gays than expected on a "straight" cruise.

 

Yes. Thank you

[Kenito]

I have put together several gay groups of 20 to 40 guys on mainstream cruises.  We always had fun with no problems, a large group encourage a few more to join us at the cocktail mixer.  If I didn't like how the mixer was timed, location, time, or description I politely spoke to the cruise director and I encourage any one of you when you see something 'off,' speak up!  They have always responded favorably.

 

Same with the maitre 'd in the MDR.  The seating was not working for us so I waited until a quiet moment after dinner the first night and provided her with everyone's booking info and suggested how it could be resolved to our liking.  At first she thought I was being a trouble maker, but when she saw I had made it easy for her it was all good.  She came over the next night, ordered champagne for us, and called us her men's bowling league!

 

My point is be ourselves and ask if it can be made better to accommodate our needs.  Perhaps a quiet bar out of the action?  Before dinner instead of 10 pm?

 

One more thing I discovered quite by accident.  There are times when taking a really close look at the floor and deck plans can be beneficial.  Crew and staff quarters are on lower decks and they often have to use the stairs.  Late one night in one of the bars it was just me and the bartender.  I happened to mention the location of my cabin and left the cabin number on a napkin.  The phone rang once and the security latch kept the door ajar.  A little danger is an aphrodisiac.

[zitsky]

5 hours ago, Kenito said:

I have put together several gay groups of 20 to 40 guys on mainstream cruises.  We always had fun with no problems, a large group encourage a few more to join us at the cocktail mixer.  If I didn't like how the mixer was timed, location, time, or description I politely spoke to the cruise director and I encourage any one of you when you see something 'off,' speak up!  They have always responded favorably.

 

Same with the maitre 'd in the MDR.  The seating was not working for us so I waited until a quiet moment after dinner the first night and provided her with everyone's booking info and suggested how it could be resolved to our liking.  At first she thought I was being a trouble maker, but when she saw I had made it easy for her it was all good.  She came over the next night, ordered champagne for us, and called us her men's bowling league!

 

My point is be ourselves and ask if it can be made better to accommodate our needs.  Perhaps a quiet bar out of the action?  Before dinner instead of 10 pm?

 

One more thing I discovered quite by accident.  There are times when taking a really close look at the floor and deck plans can be beneficial.  Crew and staff quarters are on lower decks and they often have to use the stairs.  Late one night in one of the bars it was just me and the bartender.  I happened to mention the location of my cabin and left the cabin number on a napkin.  The phone rang once and the security latch kept the door ajar.  A little danger is an aphrodisiac.

 

You are talking about hooking up with a crew member?  Is that permitted?

[tompeter]

4 hours ago, zitsky said:

 

You are talking about hooking up with a crew member?  Is that permitted?

Only if you both don't get caught.....