I recently sailed on a one-week gay cise wh tour operator Vaya. Here are the top thgs I'd want someone nsirg or planng their first gay cise to know.
Contents:
- 12 TOP GAY CIS YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS 2023 AND 2024
- THE 8 TOP GAY CIS FOR 2023
- 11 THGS I LEARNED ON MY 1ST GAY CISE
- KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY
- JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS' KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE COACH TO COME OUT AS GAY MAJOR U.S. SPORTS
- 'GAY SUMMER MP': HOW CIS CREATE SPACE FOR LGBTQ+ TRAVELERS AT SEA
- JAGUARS ASSISTANT KEV MAXEN IS FIRST MALE NFL ACH TO E OUT AS GAY
- THE BT (AND WORST) PORTS AND DTATNS FOR GAY CIS
- I WENT ON A 10-DAY CISE WH 4,000 OTHER GAY MEN. I CRIED FOR DAYS AFTER END, AND I N'T WA TO GO BACK.
- JAGUARS ASSISTANT KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH MAJOR MEN'S PRO SPORTS TO INTIFY AS GAY
- ALL GAY CISE CALENDAR:
- ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GAY CIS
12 TOP GAY CIS YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS 2023 AND 2024
Don’t miss the boat on makg lifelong iends durg an epic vatn. Here are 12 of the bt gay cis g up 2023 and 2024. * cruises for gay men *
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.
THE 8 TOP GAY CIS FOR 2023
The gay cis promise fun activi, excellent entertament and erari to tertg statns around the world. * cruises for gay men *
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.
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.
11 THGS I LEARNED ON MY 1ST GAY CISE
* cruises for gay men *
"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. "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.
" 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. Although all erari are gay-iendly, nsir bookg a Pri Party at Sea sailg (which tak place each June) for an extra special experience.
KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY
Kev Maxen has bee the first male ach a US men’s profsnal sports league to e out as gay. * cruises for gay men *
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. Iterari typilly feature LGBTQ meetups at the begng of each cise for gay travelers to meet likemd passengers.
JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS' KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE COACH TO COME OUT AS GAY MAJOR U.S. SPORTS
Jacksonville Jaguars ach Kev Maxen, who joed the team last year, me out publicly as gay an terview wh Outsports published on Thursday, beg the first ach a U.S. men’s profsnal league to do so" emprop="scriptn * cruises for gay men *
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. ]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 first and the last night we will sample Bodms gay beach bar (Queen) and nightclubs (Murphys the Gumbet area), and durg the cise we even drop anchor ont of Bodms gay nu beach. You know what you don't want: a floatg bathhoe, a large cise ship wh nothg but gay men, and to feel lost or left out—pecially if you're not that outgog.
'GAY SUMMER MP': HOW CIS CREATE SPACE FOR LGBTQ+ TRAVELERS AT SEA
Kev Maxen, Jaguars assistant strength and ndng ach, is the first male ach a major U.S. men’s profsnal sports league to e out as gay. * cruises for gay men *
-- Jaguars assistant strength and ndng ach Kev Maxen has bee the first male ach major Amerin men's profsnal sports to publicly e out as gay, tellg he ma the cisn bee he didn't want to hi who he is any longer and to possibly spire others siar suatns.It's a cisn and move that drew praise and support om owner Shad Khan, who was a vol and emphatic supporter of a cy ordance that expand protectns on the grounds of sexual orientatn, genr inty and genr exprsn."I don't want to feel like I have to thk about anymore," Maxen said the piece published Thursday afternoon. Outsi lebacker Carl Nassib beme the first active NFL player to e out as gay and to play a game 2021.The Associated Prs ntributed to this report. Per Outsports, as of September 2022, there have only ever been 16 players NFL history to publicly e out as gay or bisexual.
Per Outsports, Maxen is the “first publicly out male ach a major Amerin men’s pro sports league, ” wh WNBA ach Curt Miller, who publicly me out to the media as gay 2015, also a publicly out male ach an Amerin profsnal sports league. The NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars strength ach, Kev Maxen, has e out as gay — makg him the first male ach a U. While Maxen is believed to be the first male ach to have e out publicly as gay, there have been a few female ach U.
When to players, there have only been 16 the history of the NFL to e out as gay or bisexual as of September 2022, per Outsports. 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. 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.
JAGUARS ASSISTANT KEV MAXEN IS FIRST MALE NFL ACH TO E OUT AS GAY
Fd the bt gay cis, pani, statns and als g this gui to help you plan the perfect trip. * cruises for gay men *
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.
THE BT (AND WORST) PORTS AND DTATNS FOR GAY CIS
Fd the bt gay iendly cise ports and statns and the list of ports the LGBTQ muny should avoid. * cruises for gay men *
"We have gay, straight, queer iends our real liv, " said Riedlg, who liv Spokane, Washgton, and Palm Sprgs, California. Among those, Atlantis is particularly popular among gay men but wel women, transgenr and nonbary guts, and "even straight parents, " as well, CEO Rich Campbell said an while Olivia Travel's guts primarily intify as cisgenr lbians and queer women, nonbary and transgenr guts have always been wele, acrdg to VP of marketg Autumn Roper's part, he said the kds of sailgs VACAYA aims to offer shift the dynamic LGBTQ+ people experience elsewhere, even if only for a week or two at a time.
No NFL ach had ever publicly e out as gay, so Maxen, an assistant strength and ndng ach for the Jacksonville Jaguars, kept quiet about his sexual that ma him angry — at himself. Former San Francis 49ers offensive assistant Katie Sowers beme the NFL’s first ach to e out as gay 2017. Acrdg to the article, Maxen ma his cisn to do so last year and reached out for advice om Carl Nassib, who 2021 beme the NFL’s first out gay active player as a member of the Las Vegas was Nassib who put Maxen ntact wh Outsports.
Whether you opt for lmer seas on a smaller vsel, or the stormy waters of a bigger party boat, you're guaranteed a good time on a gay cise.
I WENT ON A 10-DAY CISE WH 4,000 OTHER GAY MEN. I CRIED FOR DAYS AFTER END, AND I N'T WA TO GO BACK.
The credible "all-gay" Mederranean Atlantis cise helped me realize how much energy I spend beg myself a heteronormative world. * cruises for gay men *
You'll be surround by like-md LGBTQ+ shipmat, and a crew whose jobs are centered around providg the bt – and gayt – experience possible. Easy to meet new people – one great aspect of takg a gay cise is that most of the guts are iendly and open to meetg new people. Travel alone – most gay cise pani offer a b match program where they will assign you a roommate, so you don’t have to pay for the full price of a two-person room if you’re travelg alone.
JAGUARS ASSISTANT KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH MAJOR MEN'S PRO SPORTS TO INTIFY AS GAY
How about performanc om some of the top gay celebry edians, entertaers and famo drag queens om RuPl’s Drag Race?
The entire ship is full of LGBT guts and all staff has been extensively traed to provi you wh a welg and gay-iendly experience. The ncept of LGBT-specific travel started the ’70s and was pneered by Hans Ebensten, who began takg gay men on tours raftg through the Grand Canyon as well as to Carnival R Janeiro.
The ncept of a gay cise was the perfect environment bee the ship self was isolated on the ocean and all the atten uld be pletely themselv whout fear of judgment or harassment.
ALL GAY CISE CALENDAR:
The first all gay cis were started by RSVP 1987, followed by the other pneers Atlantis Events (1991) and Olivia, who started offerg lbian cis 1990.
Large full-ship gay cis – this is the most mon and popular gay cise where you n expect top-of-the-le cise ships om well-known pani like Royal Caribbean, Virg Voyag, Celebry Cis or Norwegian Cise L.
ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GAY CIS
Small full-ship gay cis – smaller pani like Source Journeys, Brand g, Out Adventur and other LGBT tour operators anize smaller cis. Gay river cis – gay river cis are popular Europe and typilly vis statns like France, Germany, Atria, The Netherlands or Belgium, jt to name a few.
They are siar to small full-ship gay cis, wh the exceptn that they cise on a river as opposed to the open ocean.
Partial-ship gay cis – some LGBT tour operators wh a smaller dience or client base will anize a small group on a mastream cise. Gay sailg trips – there are a number of pani that offer gay sailg trips different statns around the world. It’s important to note that the experience on a small sailg boat of around 10-20 people is que a different experience than a gay cise.