VACAYA – Gay & LGBT+ Cis – Vatns Reimaged

Contents:

• THE 8 TOP GAY CIS FOR 2023
• 'GAY SUMMER MP': HOW CIS CREATE SPACE FOR LGBTQ+ TRAVELERS AT SEA
• 12 TOP GAY CIS YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS 2023 AND 2024
• 12 TOP GAY CIS YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS 2023 AND 2024
• 12 TOP GAY CIS YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS 2023 AND 2024
• VACAYA – GAY & LGBT+ CIS & RORT VATNS REIMAGED
• THE GAY CISE OF AGE
• 11 THGS I LEARNED ON MY 1ST GAY CISE
• GAY CISG THE USA

THE 8 TOP GAY CIS FOR 2023

When to gay cisg, gone are the days of discreet "Friends of Dorothy" meetups. The term – a phemism that dat back to the 1950s – was once ed to dite gay social events on daily cise le programs, whout explicly llg out members of the muny on board. As travel on the high seas ntu to bounce back om the COVID-19 panmic, gay and lbian travelers should nsir settg sail on a fun-filled cise vatn as their next planng a cise, vatners should first nsir what their ial sailg looks like.

Some cise operators (thk: Atlantis Events and La Demence) are known for their electrifyg, all-night parti, which may be perfect for gay groups of iends.

'GAY SUMMER MP': HOW CIS CREATE SPACE FOR LGBTQ+ TRAVELERS AT SEA

Cisers should also thk about whether they'd like to travel aboard a gay-iendly mastream le, such as Celebry Cis or Virg Voyag, or opt for an all-gay, full-ship charter wh a third-party vatn pany.

Of VACAYA's all-gay charters, he says, "For one magil week, our muny gets to be the majory and live life out loud the blissful utopia VACAYA creat on a gay cise. "The all-gay cis were liberatg, empowerg, and fun, but limed to a small spectm of people. This le gets the stamp of approval om prev LGBTQ cisers, who praise the ships' genr-ntral bathrooms, onboard shows wh rint drag queens and diverse Voyag offers gay-specific sailgs through travel pani like Atlantis Events, but s more mastream erari still offer a welg, clive atmosphere that attracts LGBTQ cisers year-round.

Atlantis EventsThe world's largt gay and lbian travel brand, Atlantis Events was found 1991 and wel more than 20, 000 travelers annually on LGBTQ vatns. For s all-gay cis, Atlantis charters megaships om popular l like Royal Caribbean Internatnal and Norwegian Cise Le, so cisers will have a fully immersive board, travelers n enjoy all the perks the megaships have to offer (thk: pools, hot tubs, sports urts and plenty of dg choic), pl special events like drag performanc, motivatnal speakers, LGBTQ movi on mand each b and high-energy circu parti across the ship. "As an LGBTQ ciser, you're lookg for a ship wh lots of entertament, cludg dance parti and events, " says Mars Martez, founr of Men Who Bnch, a Black gay liftyle blog.

12 TOP GAY CIS YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS 2023 AND 2024

"One of the bt cise [l] for gay cisg is Atlantis, sce you'll be able to meet hundreds of attractive men and party all day and night on the ship.

12 TOP GAY CIS YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS 2023 AND 2024

" Atlantis hosts primarily gay men; women make up about 5% to 10% of bookgs, acrdg to the Atlantis webse.

Cisers will also enjoy performanc by drag queens, gay Broadway stars and more, pl more typil river cise perks like sightseeg and lavish meals. Celebry Cis(Courty of Celebry Cis)Celebry Cis sets the scene for an excellent vatn for gay travelers, om s extravagant annual Pri parti to s daily LGBTQ programmg throughout the year. After night one, there are other social events for gay cisers to party and hang out together.

Although all erari are gay-iendly, nsir bookg a Pri Party at Sea sailg (which tak place each June) for an extra special experience. Private travel pani like VACAYA also charter Celebry ships for all-gay voyag throughout the (Getty Imag)Specifilly marketed toward lbians and LGBTQ women, Olivia has hosted more than 350, 000 travelers by land and sea over almost five s. The popular cise le equently partners wh Atlantis Events to offer all-gay voyag throughout the year, but even the standard sailgs earn praise.

12 TOP GAY CIS YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS 2023 AND 2024

Iterari typilly feature LGBTQ meetups at the begng of each cise for gay travelers to meet likemd passengers. Outsi of the sailg experience, Royal Caribbean has also publicly mted to support the LGBTQ muny throughout the year, and was the first cise le to earn the tle "Gay Traveler Approved" om GayTravel 2023, nsir a Royal Caribbean voyage that sails to gay-iendly statns.

VACAYA – GAY & LGBT+ CIS & RORT VATNS REIMAGED

"Puerto Vallarta, Mexi, [is] full of gay bars, clubs and gay beach, " says Martez. ]The Cise Wh La Demence(Courty of The Cise wh La Demence)Acrdg to past cisers, if you're lookg for one of the bt party scen on the open seas, nsir an all-gay cise wh La Demence.

Powered by a popular gay nightclub Bssels wh the same name, La Demence – French for "the madns" – primarily ters to a European crowd. Prev cisers had high praise for the erari – which exclively vis gay-iendly lotns – as well as the uy cktails, themed nights (stum strongly enuraged), glamouro entertament, and unique events like drag bgo and high heel Demence sails every summer to statns like Rome; Athens and Mykonos, Greece; Kotor, Montenegro; Dubrovnik, Croatia; and more.

THE GAY CISE OF AGE

Both jumped at a chance for Moss' girliend to be somewhere "culturally entirely queer"bee she had not had as much experience socializg LGBTQ+ more: Bt travel suranceFor some LGBTQ+ travelers, gay cis have offered a kd of haven on the seas.

11 THGS I LEARNED ON MY 1ST GAY CISE

While early cis tered primarily to gay men and lbians, the market has grown recent years, wh more optns aimed at a more diverse array of queer travelers. Cise operators that tered to gay and lbian passengers began sailg the '80s and '90s, acrdg to a timele om IGLTA. Where people uld be together wh members of their muny and get away and be ee om fai or work, you know, be out, bee the world was so different the '80s, " John Tanzella, print and CEO of the Internatnal Gay & Lbian Travel Associatn, sailgs were a tougher sell back then, though.

"It was probably really hard to get a cise le to take a gay group ( the early days), " Tanzella some s, ships rryg LGBTQ+ passengers were turned away om ports, he add. 'I jt want to see more of ':The importance of seeg people like you while travelgJon Fenwick went on his first gay cise 2008 wh Atlantis Events after some iends talked him to . "You fely see a lot of the same fac om trip to trip, and a lot of people would go on the same on every year jt to have a rnn, or sometim we ll gay summer mp, " said Fenwick, a ernment rmatn technology specialist based Arlgton, optns were also more limed and siloed, wh cis aimed primarily at gay men or lbians, he add.

Fenwick has met other gay passengers on mastream cis but said the experience isn't the same, "You fely don't have the (same) eedom to be yourself on a regular cise.

GAY CISG THE USA

The pany's clientele is predomantly gay men, but 20% of the sailg's guts were women.