Same sex partners taking formal pictures and misc other pictures?

[mcboo]

My partner is 74 and I am 42. We have been together for 15 years.

We get is that your father? The response is "no he is my partner".

Then they ask us what business we own together. (Guess they figure we are business partners) Eventually they figure it out.

When we are on Seabourn it is never an issue. We are never the only gay couple on board.

Thats one of the many reasons we love Seabourn.

mcboo:):):)

[etoile]

Malaisha, that is a great response!

 

I have not scanned in the formal pictures but I do have at least one of the two of us together. I can e-mail it to you if you like. I think I have e-mail enabled for my profile, so you can contact me that way!

[etoile]

Wow, mcboo, it is great that you've been together so long! My partner is 12 years older than me, and my family had some concerns about that when she and I started dating. Did your family or friends have any similar issues?

[mcboo]

Etoile,

Yes they did on both sides. My parents thought he was taking advantage of me. His children thought I was the one that broke up his marriage and was after his money.(I had my own. Now everything is joint). Now things are totally different.

My mother loves him. His kids and grandkids love me.

When the kids go away I am the one they call to fly up north to watch the kids while they go away for a well deserved vacation. The kids and grandkids can only tolerate there grandmother for 3 days max (so sad).

The one son just retired from military intelligence after 20 years of service and we went up for the retirement party. I was introduced to everyone as "this is my father's partner" never the so called friend.

Life is good.

mcboo:):):)

[etoile]

That is awesome, mcboo - you put a smile on my face for the night! :D

[Tess2mommies]

Mcboo,

 

It's awesome that you two have been together so long. Congrats! There's only a year difference between my partner and I, so going after each other's money wasn't an issue! Good job standing up for yourselves.

 

Business partners, that's a new one!

[Kevbear]

We had 'em snapping our pics every chance we got and found it a great way to meet other gay couples onboard... there we were on the pics boards for all to see, made some great pals that way during our cruise. And if anyone had a problem with it we never heard about it. Just enjoy...:D

 

Kevin

[ljcroker]

We posed for all of them on the QM2 Royal Med. cruise we just returned from. Bought only 3. At first they posed us as friends (always asked whether we wanted to be photographed separately), but they learned.

 

Some of the female photographers looked like "family members," and never asked us whether we were mother/daughter or sisters.

 

It's nice to have the photos to remember the cruise by. Also nice to have gotten my partner into evening gown!

 

;-)

 

Joyce in Atwater Village

[Brennivan]

We have been on two Princess cruises and had great photos taken. My partner Brian and I are going to be on the Golden Princess/Southern Caribbean on December 12.

 

I see you are on the same cruise. Glad to see family will be aboard!

[Blazerboy]

Hey, Malaisha- Fellow Walnut Creek'er!

 

Never had an issue with Princess, Celebrity, Crystal, or Cunard (no experiences with other lines) In fact, the photographer is usually the one to suggest we move in closer! :D But it may well be that because many straight women travel together, but few straight men do, that "assumptions" abound for women more than for us.

 

Enjoy your first cruise,

 

Andrew

[Tess2mommies]

Thank you all for sharing your positive experiences with the ships photpographer. My partner and I look forward to dressing up and taking pictures.

 

Malaisha

[GW Phoenix]

We had been looking for a long time to get a good portrait of ourselves taken as the nice one taken 12 years ago has failed to age, leaving that to us!

 

When we went on out first cruise (Millennium 2001) we were just not very happy with the outcomes of any of the pics taken and figured we would just have to go to a studio for a good portrait.

 

Well, that never happened and when we were on the Century last Winter we posed a few times in front of the Titanic Staircase drop and thought nothing like it until our tablemates (3 str8 couples) came into dinner one night all excited about how "Everyone is looking at your formal portraits! You guys came out looking better than ANYONE!!"

 

It was indeed a very fine portrait that we are proud to show. But then, two guys in kilts....

[West Coast]

It was indeed a very fine portrait that we are proud to show. But then, two guys in kilts....

Great story... thanks for sharing!

And by-the-way, welcome to Cruise Critic.

[etoile]

Hey GW Phoenix, I just noticed you're in Arlington! Howdy from Vienna. :)

[Morley]

My partner and I are about to take our 12th cruise (NCL Star) and have never had a problem with either formal pictures or our own casual ones.....we often volunteer to take pics of straight couples and they often return the favor. An after dinner passtime is checking out the commercial Photo Galleries and looking for other same sex couples on board. Don't be afraid to ask the Cruise Director for Friends of Dorothy gatherings (ask immediately on boarding) and you will often meet more experienced folks to help you find your comfort level. Enjoy. You'll find cruising addictive....unless your are on Carnival! Celebrity and NCL are our favorite lines.

[CaseyT]

Now, after several cruises we opt to not have our picture taken! It is great fun the first time and I would certainly encourage you, as this is a special time in your lives, to have yours taken.

 

On one of the cruises that we did pose for formal shots, the photographer turned out to be family. The issue was not whether we were discreet, but rather the need for him to be discreet.

 

My point! Sometimes cruiselines present to the public as being open and tolerant, but this may not extend to hiring and benefit pratices. Photographers and many other personnel are on contracts, therefore benefits and protections are limited.

 

CaseyT

[kelii]

Aloha,

 

My spouse of 36 years and I always get our photo taken. On our first cruise in 1970, we got slightly separated and the CD told my other half, "When your Father gets here we'll get your picture together." (We are only 9 months apart but nature has been kinder to him.) On our 27th cruise in October, Celebrity Infinity added what was a new concept for us. For about $100 they transfer your photo to canvass. It turned out marvelous and now hangs framed in our living room. It's only about $75 if you've already purchased the glossy.

 

Keli`i

[etoile]

Your FATHER? Oh, that is too funny!

[CruiseAholic]

There should be no problem at all. My 'ex' of 11-years and I only had one issue with our picture being taken. It was on Celebrity's Mercury and the photographer was coming around to the table taking picture pictures of individuals at the table. We asked to have one together and she refused stating that 'tonight is individual pictures, not couples' however she took a picture of sisters later. We complained to the photographer who tried to circle around the issue. However, never had an issue since.

[jodyrick]

Never had any problems on Royal Caribbean or Carnival. Doing Celebrity in May 2005 and don't expect to have any issues or concerns. We enjoy having our photos taken in whatever format the photographer is taking a photo. Sometimes, I will voice a request for a specific pose or singles or couples or what have you. No problems ever! Enjoy the photos - although the prices are a bit steep but remember, you are paying for all those photos you see slammed into the garbage every night that folks don't buy!

[DavidLloyd]

On the February 22, 2004 sailing of the Infinity my partner and I felt quite slighted by the photographers. The seemed to gush a more over str8 couples, looking nervous and rushing the shots when they arrived at our two-top. But this we took with a grain of salt - we've found Celebrity to be fully open and accepting on each of three cruises we've done.

 

Cruising the photo walls is tremendously entertaining after dinner - you can spot other "family" members and we like to play "ewwww - she spent all her money on implants and had to buy a $79 silver lamay dress!"

[Steve & Stephen]

Me and my better half felt that we were the only gay couple on our ship -- RCCL Majesty of the Seas, December 20-24 -- but we didn't care anyway! We had NO PROBLEMS with other guests or staff. The onboard ship photographers acted as if it was no big deal as we had our "couples only" pictures taken on Formal Night. Too bad the photographers SUCKED--their pictures came out terrible. We found a FOD cocktail waiter in the Viking Crown Lounge (Deck 14, circles the rear smokestack) to take a few pictures of us together in our suites. These pictures with my $199 Kodak Digital camera came out 1000% better than any professional pictures taken. And we didn't have to pay for the pictures (except for our regular cost to print the digital pics). I can even crop and enhance them in my computer before printing out the wallet photos and 8X10 portraits.

[Rotterdam]

This is a side to the topic - but one of my favorite things to do is people watch....so usually while others are lined up for pictures I sit with cocktail in hand....the laughs & ooohs & aaahs & cat calls are great fun. On QE2 you can sit in the Chart Room Couch/forward (you know it well Miss Charlotte)& see it all proceed by. I met some great guys & we 7 took up the entire couch & had so much fun one nite ...one woman cam over & said "well if it isn't the seven dwarfs". Several people said "look at all those handsome men in tuxedos" we just laughed at it all.

 

This past January the boyfriend & I did the watching & it provided more entertainment than what was on the showroom stage!

[Lipz]

I haven't been on the boards since Sept and it's always great to come back and see what ever one is sharing info on.

My sweetheart and I went on our very 1st cruise this past August and had a wonderfully romantic time. On formal night when it was our turn to pose, we had no problem with having our 'couple poses' taken. In fact one of the photographers seemed more excited than we did as he placed us in romantic poses that actually turned out to be our BEST photos!

Enjoy your time, and your photo oppts!

Lipz* :D

[voyagerfl]

Hey......We are another couple with an age difference..He's 81 and I'm 47.

We are going on 10 years together. Our familes are wonderful about it.

Here is a favorite shipboard pic of ours..