'All-Gay' Cise Helped Me Realize Thgs About My Life and I Loved It

Contents:

• I WENT ON MY FIRST GAY CISE — HERE'S WHAT IT WAS LIKE
• 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 8 TOP GAY CIS FOR 2023
• MY ATLANTIS GAY CISE TRIP – WHAT IT WAS LIKE
• GAY SHIPS
• 11 THGS I LEARNED ON MY 1ST GAY CISE
• GAYSHIP
• 12 TOP GAY CIS YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS 2023 AND 2024
• WHAT ARE GAY CIS LIKE?
• I WENT ON MY FIRST GAY CISE — HERE'S WHAT IT WAS LIKE
• MY ATLANTIS GAY CISE TRIP – WHAT IT WAS LIKE

I WENT ON MY FIRST GAY CISE — HERE'S WHAT IT WAS LIKE

Nonstop parti, unwarranted ments, and a lack of diversy were a few reasons why I avoid bookg 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.

I've always been secure about my weight, and if the marketg strategy for an LGBTQ+ cise, vatn, or tour pany don't clu me or make me feel seen — as a chubby Black gay man — I avoid .

But when I was offered the opportuny to sail wh Vaya, I asked a few iends about their gay cise experienc — specifilly, about the pany's chartered sailgs and rort vatns. Even before settg sail, some of my prenceived notns about gay cis seemed to fa.

I met several people, cludg Ken, who drove 12 hours om Chattanooga, Tennsee, to go on his first gay cise; Eric and his partner, Jason, om Taa, Washgton, who chatted about how they met, Jason's "g out" story, and his amible divorce om his ex-wife; and Osr, a passenger om L.

THE 8 TOP GAY CIS FOR 2023

I disvered that a gay cise allows to be fully ourselv a rpectful environment, rng wh old iends om prev cis and cultivatg new iendships that go beyond our seven-day journey.

MY ATLANTIS GAY CISE TRIP – WHAT IT WAS LIKE

Celebry's safety protols and Vaya's attentn to tail, transparency, and clive vibe and strategy are all reasons why I was able to enjoy my first gay cise and return home COVID-ee. I had a great time on a 10-day Mederranean cise wh 4, 000 others, the majory beg gay men. As a gay man, I fell love wh beg the majory for once.

At the end of the fal, dis-themed dance on my 10-day "all-gay" cise, I met up wh a man I'd shared a few timate moments wh. When I booked my 'all-gay' cise, I prepared myself to be disappoted.

GAY SHIPS

In 2021, I raid my savgs acunt and spent $3, 059 to book an "all-gay" cise around the dancg troupe nvced me to buy the ticket, which was for 10 days on the Royal Caribbean's Odyssey of the Seas. The special 2022 Atlantis sailg would be filled wh about 4, 000 gay people, the majory of them my life warned me to manage my expectatns. I also received negative reactns om my gay iends — some said they uldn't thk of anythg worse than an "all-gay" cise.

11 THGS I LEARNED ON MY 1ST GAY CISE

Others add a lghg emoji each time they msaged about , as if the choice self was ludicro or exclively beg around gay people was crgeworthy and embarrassg. I now know that, until you've been on one of the cis, you really have no ia what happens on day one, I was havg the time of my life — we'd created our own floatg universe As our ship set sail om Rome, dawned on me that I'd never been around this many gay men before. I met upl, sgl, and other gay dividuals om around the globe.

As a gay man who is Brish-born and liv Atralia, I'm grateful I'm able to be myself.

It mands rtrat to not absorb microaggrsns, but to stead allow them to fuel my day, I mt stand firm and ph agast nventns and benchmarks of the heteronormative world that many gay men like myself choose to reject. 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.

GAYSHIP

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.

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.

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

"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. "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.

WHAT ARE GAY CIS LIKE?

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

I WENT ON MY FIRST GAY CISE — HERE'S WHAT IT WAS LIKE

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.

MY ATLANTIS GAY CISE TRIP – WHAT IT WAS LIKE

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.

"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 Atlantis Gay Cise Experience, First-Hand.