Cruises - Gay-friendly cruise recommendations needed (Feb/March 2012)

My partner and I are looking at booking a cruise (7 to 10 nights) for late February/early March 2012 . Having not been on a cruise, I'm seeking some advice.

*How about Celebrity Cruises? A number of friends recommend Celebrity.
*Other gay-friendly cruise lines we should look into?
*How do we get the best prices? (Book through the cruise line directly or via a third party? Discount codes?
*Good idea to book a beverage package?

Thanks in advance for the tips!

Also check out Atlantis Events and RSVP cruises.

I've seen Friends of Dorothy events on HAL so they may be worth looking into also.

Most cruises are gay friendly. I have been on probably 8 cruises & have never really felt incomfortable. Have cruised Celebrity twice & they are a much more upscale line, than say, Carnival. I did cruise Carnival once & it is a younger party straight drinking crowd. The last cruise we took was on Holland America to Alaska. I chose that line because they cater to an older crowd and I figured there would be less families with alot of children and I was correct. It was a more refined atmosphere but not alot of late night nightlife. I highly reccomend either Celebrity or Holland America. You can get some good deals on vacationstogo.com or thru alot of the cruise websites. I have had the best luck pricewise with a website called cruisecompete.com. If you know the cruise you would like to do, yougo to this site and enter the info for that particular cruise Then you will receive bids or offers from various online travel sites for that specific cruise. The prices vary greatly from bid to bid. I just give it a day or so & then book the lowest price offered as it is all for the same cruise. If you need any more info feel free to message me directly.


http://vacationstogo.com/
http://www.cruisecompete.com/

Also try
www.aquafestcruises.com/

or
http://www.piedpipertravel.com/gaygroupcruises/

Outsiders view. Myself and three of my friends went on a NCL cruise out of NYC for 10 days through the Caribbean. As this was during Spring Break & Madris Gras we had a great time. Three cabins down from us was a gay couple. They were awesome. We met in the hallway and got a look that would enrage any homophobic idiot but for 3 guys in our early 20s that could care less we felt pretty damn good about ourselves to get the compliment. Later, as NCL is "Freestyle" we'd run into them at the Pub, club, dinner and such. The final night of Mardi Gras on our cruise it was 4 staff members, my group, the gay couple, a group of 6 super senior citizens and maybe 4 others partying until 5 A.M. Needless to say I think it is more about the people you interact with and how you interact with them. I'd say as a cruise line NCL seemed very accommodating.

Check out Cunard. All voyages have FOD gatherings and there's a reason they're called the Queens;-)

My partner and I went on a NCL 7-day cruise from NYC to the Bahamas last February and had an amazing time.

We're used to spending a lot of time together so we didn't have any expectations about meeting too many new friends on the ship, but we ended up going to a "Friends of Dorothy" meeting the first night and met a good group of gays that we would see around the ship and ports. It's good to have familiar faces to talk to and have breakfast with.

We were far from uncomfortable at any point.

Also, look for Black Friday deals on cruises, last year is when I scored great prices on our cruise. I bought a soda package, and we ended up sharing most of the time, but my boyfriend doesn't drink soda much, so he didn't find it necessary.

This may seem like a strange suggestion, but have you considered Disney? Disney is one of the gay-friendliest companies out there, both for employees and customers. I recently took a Disney cruise and there was quite an active gay contingent (actually, many of them were Disney employees from resorts who were taking the cruise and partying with their friends who worked on the ship).

Check out cruisecritic.com. On their discussion boards there is a gay and lesbian section and its mostly all roll calls (who is going and when). Plus, the site itself is a gold mine of information for just about everything cruise related. Have fun!

Also check out Atlantis Events and RSVP cruises.

If you want a gay only cruise... Which would be my idea of a worst nightmare.

I think most cruise lines are "gay friendly" these days. They can not afford not to be.

There was a recent question asked on one of the curisecritc forums, asking about two men dancing together... And the general consensus was that no one would bat an eyelid...

If you want a gay only cruise... Which would be my idea of a worst nightmare.

I think most cruise lines are "gay friendly" these days. They can not afford not to be.

There was a recent question asked on one of the curisecritc forums, asking about two men dancing together... And the general consensus was that no one would bat an eyelid...

Agreed on the nightmare front.

I can tell you from personal experience that on NCL it was no big deal. The people who are generally out later and going to the dance parties are generally a younger crowd anyway, so it's a pretty accepting environment.

"My partner and I are looking at booking a cruise (7 to 10 nights) for late February/early March 2012 . Having not been on a cruise, I'm seeking some advice.

*How about Celebrity Cruises? A number of friends recommend Celebrity.
*Other gay-friendly cruise lines we should look into?
*How do we get the best prices? (Book through the cruise line directly or via a third party? Discount codes?
*Good idea to book a beverage package?

Thanks in advance for the tips"
I like the Pied Piper escorted gay group cruises. Usually get a group from about 30-80 onboard, unlike RSVP or Alantis, price is much more resonable, and never had a bad experience. Usually cheaperthan booking direct with cruise line.
Heading to New Zealand/Australia on one in January 2012 onboard the Celebrity Century
I've tried the all gay cruises as well, and just too much for me. It was like being trapped in a gay bar for a week, too much concentration on club scene/drinking/partying rather than relaxing and just having fun.

Most cruises are gay friendly. I have been on probably 8 cruises & have never really felt incomfortable. Have cruised Celebrity twice & they are a much more upscale line, than say, Carnival. I did cruise Carnival once & it is a younger party straight drinking crowd. The last cruise we took was on Holland America to Alaska. I chose that line because they cater to an older crowd and I figured there would be less families with alot of children and I was correct. It was a more refined atmosphere but not alot of late night nightlife. I highly reccomend either Celebrity or Holland America. You can get some good deals on vacationstogo.com or thru alot of the cruise websites. I have had the best luck pricewise with a website called cruisecompete.com. If you know the cruise you would like to do, yougo to this site and enter the info for that particular cruise Then you will receive bids or offers from various online travel sites for that specific cruise. The prices vary greatly from bid to bid. I just give it a day or so & then book the lowest price offered as it is all for the same cruise. If you need any more info feel free to message me directly.

Thank you for great info, especially about finding cruises! ^


http://vacationstogo.com/
http://www.cruisecompete.com/

I am also looking into a ten-day cruise (Miami to Lisbon) on Crystal. We are a gay couple in our early thirties. While Crystal gets fantastic reviews, my concern is that perhaps there isn't much of an age mix on Crystal.

Also, it appears that the dress code is VERY STRICT, meaning on "formal' or "informal" nights (re: tuxedos or suits) this dress code is enforced in ALL public spaces. (My partners is cringing at having to dress up almost every night with no options on the ship for casual wear in the evening.) Maybe I should just go w/ Celebrity and be done w/ it? (But I'm tempted to go Crystal b/c I found a very reasonable fare.)

If you have been on Crystal, please advise.

Thanks for all the helpful tips!

I am also looking into a ten-day cruise (Miami to Lisbon) on Crystal. We are a gay couple in our early thirties. While Crystal gets fantastic reviews, my concern is that perhaps there isn't much of an age mix on Crystal.

Also, it appears that the dress code is VERY STRICT, meaning on "formal' or "informal" nights (re: tuxedos or suits) this dress code is enforced in ALL public spaces. (My partners is cringing at having to dress up almost every night with no options on the ship for casual wear in the evening.) Maybe I should just go w/ Celebrity and be done w/ it? (But I'm tempted to go Crystal b/c I found a very reasonable fare.)

If you have been on Crystal, please advise.

Thanks for all the helpful tips!

I went on a Crystal Cruise with my mom (she 74, me 43) a couple of years ago. I was virtually the youngest passenger. But the single older women love the gay boys. I had so many great interactions with people. I never wore a tie the whole time, but many men did. It is the polar opposite of an Atlantis or RSVP cruise (I've done Atlantis). Those are just floating discos. Also many 50 something gay men trying to re-live their glory days. I hated most of the stuff on Atlantis...especially at the nearly 100% "gay premium." The exact same cruise the next week, but not gay, was half the price.

Do check the Crystal forum on CruiseCritic.com. Also, there is a forum for GLBT cruising as well.