'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
• 'GAY SUMMER MP': HOW CIS CREATE SPACE FOR LGBTQ+ TRAVELERS AT SEA
• 11 THGS I LEARNED ON MY 1ST 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 8 TOP GAY CIS FOR 2023
• ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GAY CIS
• 12 TOP GAY CIS YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS 2023 AND 2024
• CAN A GAY CISE KEEP 4,700 PEOPLE SAFE AMID COVID?
• THE ATLANTIS GAY CISE: REVIEW AND ESSENTIAL GUI

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'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.

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

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.

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. 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. 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.

11 THGS I LEARNED ON MY 1ST GAY CISE

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 .

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.

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

Whether you jo onboard for a vatn, your honeymoon, or even your weddg, you'll see why we're the bt cise le for gay, lbian and all LGBTQ+ guts. Celebry has been a major sponsor for Miami Beach Gay Pri two years a row. I had a great time on a 10-day Mederranean cise wh 4, 000 others, the majory beg gay men.

THE 8 TOP GAY CIS FOR 2023

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. I'd fallen love wh beg the I booked my 'all-gay' cise, I prepared myself to be disappoted.

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.

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GAY CIS

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.

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

I also received negative reactns om my gay iends — some said they uldn't thk of anythg worse than an "all-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.

CAN A GAY CISE KEEP 4,700 PEOPLE SAFE AMID COVID?

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.

THE ATLANTIS GAY CISE: REVIEW AND ESSENTIAL GUI

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.