We charter entire ships, resorts, and excursions so you can feel completely free to be you. Along with this increasing openness of cruise lines, the options for gay and lesbian cruisers have never been better. Since this was Olivia's 40th anniversary cruise, the company worked especially hard to bring in the best entertainment, with an emphasis on classic entertainers who've been around since the record label's earliest days. Cris Williamson and Meg Christian are essentially the two faces of Olivia Records, having joined the label in its infancy. Both of their performances on the final night were completely packed, with new and longtime fans. The finale included an audience-wide sing-along of Cris Williamson's 1975 classic Song of the Soul.
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For the most part, however, the cruise experience for passengers opting to go with a group and not a full-ship charter is similar to that of the any other commercially-available sailing. This is why the price of these gay-group tours are only slightly higher -- or in some cases slightly less -- than standard cruise pricing. Gay group cruises are a popular alternative to the full-ship charter cruises. For these cruises, tour operators will organize LGBTQ-specific groups on standard cruises available to other passengers. The size of these groups can range from a few couples to hundreds of passengers per sailing.
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The Equality Ship hosts several special events and occasions throughout the year. She looks back on those days with pride, remembering fearless moves such as the release of a 1977 “Lesbian Concentrate” compilation, in response to an anti-gay campaign by the singer Anita Bryant. (Bryant was also an ambassador for Florida’s citrus industty.) “We were just so bold about it,” she says.
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As you meander along beautiful rivers taking in the amazing scenery, you'll also get the opportunity to visit a variety of towns and cities along the way. While there are companies which charter cruise ships for gay only cruises, members of the LGBTQ+ community can also enjoy celebrating who they are at sea on a unique voyage. One thing that makes Olivia cruises unique -- and the 40th anniversary cruise in particular -- is the entertainment.
Similar to the all-gay charter cruises, participants on these gay group sailings are ensured they will be among at least some fellow LGBTQ cruisers. In addition, the tour operator will usually include some specialized amenities, such as private "welcome aboard" cocktail parties, group dining arrangements and special shore excursions that are not open to the general passenger base. The tour operator might even include an onboard host to accompany the sailing to help facilitate group activities and socializing. You're less likely to find the broad range of activities, dining options or dance parties that are more common on the large ocean liners on these smaller river ships.
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Initially, the word “lesbian” wasn’t even used in Olivia’s branding. “We had an understanding of how careful we needed to be to protect the women that were part of us,” says Dlugacz. She advertised a four-night cruise to the Bahamas and needed six hundred women to do it. “There was so much discrimination against women, and lesbians in particular, that we wanted women to feel free to come out and be themselves,” says Dlugacz. As Cris Williamson, a founding member who still performs with Olivia, remembers, at the time “lesbians were losing their jobs, their children, their incomes”.
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Royal Caribbean is one of the largest cruise lines in the world, boasting an ever-expanding fleet of 26 vessels. The line puts a great deal of focus on onboard activities with such innovations as indoor skydiving and surf simulators. The line is also very tech-savvy, offering some of the best internet service at sea, along with robot bartenders on some newer ships.
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And they don’t just do that by organising regular LGBT meet-ups and events tailored to the community, it goes for the destinations they visit too. Even the amount of marketing towards these communities have been on the up and up lately. Vacaya is the first large-scale adults-only vacation company on earth built for the entire lgbtqiapk community and their straight ally friends.
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The boat had a section in front that was like a wide, flat lounge chair -- essentially a thick piece of mesh separating us from the water -- where we could relax and sunbathe on the trip. After we anchored, everyone was doled out flippers, masks, snorkels and life vests. It was a little disappointing to have to wear a life vest the whole time, but we still got a great, up-close look at coral and rainbow-colored tropical fish. Many visitors rave about the snorkeling there, and kayaking, horseback-riding and glass-bottom boat tours are also popular.
Cruise Critic is not a booking agent and does not charge any service fees to users of our site. When you book with one of our partners, please be sure to check their site for a full disclosure of all applicable fees as required by the U.S. ◾ Atlantis is offering a voyage from Los Angeles to Mexico from Oct. 23 through 30, with stops in Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta and others.
Maebh and I wowed the crowd, or ourselves at least, with a duet of Cyndi Lauper's "Time After Time" and joined forces with friends for Destiny's Child's "Stronger." Our first stop was on Half Moon Cay, a small island owned by Holland America. It's a private retreat exclusively for cruise ship passengers, so it was quite a thrill to transform it into our own private lesbian island. To step onto land with only women as far we could see was exciting; it was the first time that I could really feel Olivia's motto of "Feel Free." Dress how you like, do what you like, kiss whom you like, without a second thought. With grand overtures of drag queens and bottomless-brunch, Sir Richard Branson built Virgin Voyages with the LGBTQ+ community in mind.
The company offers a range of all-inclusive vacations, from cruises carrying as many as 1,400 guests to small riverboats, alongside resorts and safaris. The entire ship or resort is hired out for each trip, a strategy intended to ensure guests feel free to be themselves. “The most important thing Olivia does is create an environment where women come and feel stronger when they leave,” says Judy Dlugacz, president of Olivia Travel, who’s been there since the beginning. Last year, Olivia Travel ran more than 30 trips, including to a resort on Providenciales, in the Turks and Caicos archipelago, and from Berlin to Budapest on a riverboat cruise. Everyone should be able to enjoy a cruise holiday, and in order to make cruise ships a more accessible way to travel, many cruise lines go all out to provide LGBTQ holidays. Whether you're travelling as a single, on a romantic getaway or sailing with the whole family, keep reading to find out the top gay friendly cruise lines which are at the forefront of LGBT holidays.
The cruise will take place on Royal Caribbean International's Navigator of the Seas ship, and available cabins start at $899 per person based on double occupancy, the company said on its website. For Roper's part, he said the kinds of sailings VACAYA aims to offer shift the dynamic LGBTQ+ people experience elsewhere, even if only for a week or two at a time. Jon Fenwick went on his first gay cruise in 2008 with Atlantis Events after some friends talked him into it. The 46-year-old enjoyed the trip so much that he made it a tradition of it, taking at least one LGBTQ+ cruise annually most years since. Cruise operators that catered to gay and lesbian passengers began sailing in the '80s and '90s, according to a timeline from IGLTA. From beautiful Caribbean islands to historic European cities, cruise lines specifically pick their ports of call because they are generally safe and welcoming places that cruise passengers want to explore.
If you're based in the US and want to travel overseas, consider going on The Cruise. Based on trip reviews by LGBTQ travelers, Vacay is one of the most welcoming environments for the LGBTQ community. Seabourn delivers an intimate, luxury cruise on a small fleet of beautifully designed ships. The line is highly praised for its outstanding customer service, quality dining and inclusive extras such as complimentary cocktails and fitness classes. The fleet is made up of three 450-passenger ships – Seabourn Odyssey, Seabourn Sojourn and Seabourn Quest – and two, newer 600-passenger ships, Seabourn Encore and Seabourn Ovation.
These cruises will get your heart pumping from deck parties to late-night revelry! The trip may seem like an enjoyable experience, but planning a trip can be time-consuming and frustrating. Whether or not it will be your first time on a gay cruise, this guide will help guide you ongoing on a gay cruise. In early 2013, Olivia celebrated its 40-year anniversary with two weeklong Caribbean cruises, honoring the company's legacy with performances by some of the record label's original artists. We were booked on one of these celebratory cruises -- along with mainly women who have been fans of the record label and cruise company since the beginning. (Alas, my girlfriend Maebh and I were 6 and 4, respectively, when that first cruise set sail.) This wasn't just any ladies-only sailing -- it was a tribute to a history we hadn't lived.
LGBTQ+ travelers face more than taunts or outright discrimination when they travel — violence is always a possibility, especially for women, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming folks. Singles, couples, and small groups are at more risk than a ship full of queer women. There is safety in numbers and in the way Olivia vets every port and excursion operator before partnering with them. That kind of power and security can be intoxicating and it’s one of the reasons that Olivia cruises can feel so life changing. An all-gay cruise differs from a standard cruise on a few important fronts. Obviously, the fact that nearly all of the passengers are gay is the most significant factor.
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