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

Contents:

• 11 THGS I LEARNED ON MY 1ST GAY CISE
• MY ATLANTIS GAY CISE TRIP – WHAT IT WAS LIKE
• THE 8 TOP GAY CIS FOR 2023
• 12 TOP GAY CIS YOU DON’T WANT TO MISS 2023 AND 2024
• 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 WENT ON MY FIRST GAY CISE — HERE'S WHAT IT WAS LIKE
• 'GAY SUMMER MP': HOW CIS CREATE SPACE FOR LGBTQ+ TRAVELERS AT SEA
• OUR GAY CRUISE AND TOUR CALENDAR 2023 AND 2024
• GAY FRIENDLY CIS: OUR ROYAL CARIBBEAN EXPERIENCE
• ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GAY CIS

11 THGS I LEARNED ON MY 1ST GAY CISE

While most of have seen an Atlantis gay cise via social media or advertisements, you’re probably still wonrg…what are the Atlantis gay cis really like? Other trips for ternatnal gay pri events, ski weeks, and events like Gay Days are great, but the Atlantis Gay Cise jt felt granr. I thk ’s important to know that every Atlantis gay cise has so many programmed events happeng, that ’s tly impossible to do everythg.

MY ATLANTIS GAY CISE TRIP – WHAT IT WAS LIKE

It seems most people do on the ternatnal cis, but sounds like the gay cis out of Miami and San Diego are pretty much nstant circu parti. 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. 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.

THE 8 TOP GAY CIS FOR 2023

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.

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.

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

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.

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 popular cise le equently partners wh Atlantis Events to offer all-gay voyag throughout the year, but even the standard sailgs earn praise. 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.

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

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.

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. 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.

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

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. 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.

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. 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.

OUR GAY CRUISE AND TOUR CALENDAR 2023 AND 2024

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.

GAY FRIENDLY CIS: OUR ROYAL CARIBBEAN EXPERIENCE

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. 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 .

ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GAY CIS

"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.

"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.

(S) - An MIM Signature Collectn Cise GroupJULY 202311-Night Cise to Ireland and Iceland, July 13 to 24, 2023 Gay Group CiseJo on the Celebry Silhouette as we part Southampton, England and sail to Cork, Ireland, Kirkwall, Stland, Reykjavik, Iceland (overnight), Akureyri, Iceland, Seydisfjordur, Iceland and endg Southampton, England. 7-Night Basel to Amsterdam Cise, July 29 to Augt 5, 2023All Gay CiseCome along wh as we cise on a private charter of the Avalon Panorama. We start our trip Basel, Swzerland and vis France, Germany and Holland culmatg Amsterdam to vis their yearly Pri, wh s signature Canal Boat Para to experience why this is tly the most extraordary Pri Celebratn the 202312-Night Transatlantic Cise to Greenland & Iceland, Augt 6 to 18, 2023 Gay Group CiseCome along wh on the Celebry Summ as we part Cape Liberty, New Jersey and sail to Halifax, Nova Stia, St.