JoeAndMichael

Thanks for the heads up. I hope this isn't too much of a wet-blanket reply, but you'll eventually have to come home, most likely by air (boo!!). Another downer: unless the law and/or the cruise line has changed, there's no gambling onboard. I don't know if that's still true, but I do know that it used to be!

I'm planning my 1st ever cruise and am looking into booking with Pied Piper. It sounds like the after Thanksgiving Caribbean is right up my alley. I'll be cruising solo and tend to enjoy the more mature clientele :) I'm really looking forward to this!!

It's been about 2 years since our last PP cruise. We'd be taking them now except for the fact that they pretty much never have a cruise leaving from the west coast (specifically San Francisco or San Diego). If they DID, we'd be on it! We're an older couple, together for over 30 years, and we love the mix of young, middle and older singles and couples. There's a nice camaraderie within the group usually. If only they'd sponsor more cruises from the west coast. They're located in NYC, so it's somewhat understandable, but they should advertise themselves as "Pied Piper Caribbean and European Gay Group Cruises". You'll have fun on their Post-Thanksgiving cruise. It's their "biggie" and has been known to attract 500+ cruisers on that yearly cruise. If they weren't any good at the "gay group" thing I wouldn't be so miffed that they neglect us west-coasters.

They neglect us, I assume, because they have a great (and undoubtedly lucrative) relationship with Celebrity/Royal Caribbean cruises. That's an excellent decision on their part (Celebrity is hands-down our favorite among Princess, Royal Caribbean, Holland America, Carnival and Azamara) but only Princess and HAL seem to treat both coasts equally. Too bad for us. Have fun: I doubt you'll regret it.

I fear this is far too late for responses, but are any gay brothers or sisters going with us to Alaska on 09/04/14 from San Francisco on the wonderful-but-soon-to-be sold Century? We LOVE this ship and hate to see her retired from the Celebrity fleet.

We're hoping that not ALL the passengers will be old farts like we are, but we'd love to meet even old farts who're gay or lesbian! We're a couple who've been together for 33 years and we don't "fool around" (not that you'd want us to!). We'd just like some nice conversations and jokes with people who won't assume we're just good friends :D

We're Joe & Michael

Regarding all the talk about the PP P-T cruise going to gay-hating countries:

I know PP is based in NYC so they're obviously prejudiced in favor of the east coast, but really guys? EVERY year? ALWAYS the Caribbean? Don't they realize there are many, many, many gays on the west coast? Why not a Post-Thanksgiving cruise from HERE?

We have "done the Caribbean to death" over the years and have enjoyed PP very much, but we're sick of flying clear across the country in a cramped plane, paying extra for cruise luggage and not even getting a tiny bag of peanuts! Isn't it finally you east coasters' turn to go thru that hell?

So, we've been taking cruises out of San Francisco (our home) and San Diego. We go to Alaska, Hawai'i, Mexico and the South Pacific islands on Celebrity and Princess (preferring Celebrity). (We try to avoid going ashore in Alaska because they're so stupid they elected Sarah Palin). We miss the PP comradery, but not the dreadful hell that air travel has become.

Wouldn't some of you guys and gals love an excuse to visit the gay mecca of San Francisco? A PP P-T cruise from here would be a wonderful excuse to visit us don't you think? It's OUR turn, huh? And there's no place on earth you'd be more welcome than here!

....I never understand why people expect the hosts to babysit...

You'll note from my previous quotes that I am a PP fan and not a chronic bitcher, so don't take this as anything but a minor bitch in the midst of my almost always hoorays for PP:

Babysit, no. But they are, by definition, hosts. As such, they make very few mistakes in my eyes, but we've been on a couple of PP cruises (among many other PP cruises) on which ALL the hosts sat at their own table all together! Hosting each other? :confused: That is, fortunately, not the usual case. On the better PP cruises, the host(s) were spread among the various tables and when there was only one host, he ate at the same table each night but made the rounds to the other tables, spending adequate time chatting with the other guests. So much better, and very much appreciated.

Sympathizing with the fellow who had to jump from table-to-table to find empty seats rather than stay stuck at a table for 4, I'll point out that having to jump around like that means you can't develop any rapport with the waiters. We would hate that because most waiters take pride in knowing that, for example, you'll want iced tea every night, a few sprigs of mint and your steak "medium". That's not all that important, but it is a nice enhancement you'll miss if you don't sit at the same table every night.

...I have corresponded frequently with Derek and he has always responded within 24 hours (usually, closer to 2-4 hours) and always with answers to my questions. ....all of my previous cruises have been with Atlantis (starting with the NCL Dawn in January 2003).

Hell, Derek even replies within hours on weekends! You won't find better management.

I hope I'm wrong, but I doubt your cruise from FTL to San Diego will be well populated with PP'ers. It doesn't need to be, so don't worry. I think the only PP cruise that is chock-full of brothers & sisters is the Post-Thanksgiving cruise which can have over 900 PP'ers. I also hope you're not expecting Atlantis-style madness. PP is much less wild and the participants tend to be older. This is perfect for my husband and me, but may not be exciting enough for younger guys who're used to RSVP/Atlantis hysteria. And... it'll cost you much less than the same trip on Atlantis would cost.

We take more straight cruises than we'd prefer, but only because PP rarely sails from the west coast, dammit, and also because we're retired we like to take longer cruises. If you find this first PP cruise of yours too "mild", don't scratch them off your list, though: take their Post-Thanksgiving cruise out of Florida next time and you'll have more fun and activities than on Atlantis! In either case, I doubt you'll be disappointed.

We still love PP and really have only one complaint: They seem to be locked into some arrangement with Celebrity and Cunard which means that they almost never have group cruises leaving from the west coast. We are sick to death of having to fly, knee-to-chin, in cramped airplanes! It's somewhat understandable since PP is located in New York, but Jeez, people! Do you really think there aren't enough gays on the west coast to come aboard a cruise in SAN FRANCISCO? If you ask me, and nobody did, their yearly huge Post-Thanksgiving cruise ought to leave from San Francisco... or at least from San Diego! If we west-coasters can fly to Florida why not ask east-coast PP travelers to embark from the most gay-friendly port in the world: SAN FRANCISCO? Wouldn't some of you east-coasters like to visit US for a change?

One thing sure as hell: you'll be a LOT more welcome here in California than in Florida !

We're so sick of flying that we're planning to take a cruise on the Grand Princess, leaving from San Francisco, and just skip PP this year. Pity... we LOVE their hosting and their management but the Grand is home-ported here. About time!!

Celebrity is obviously giving them a good deal, but Derek... have you even TRIED to bargain with Princess or (shudder!) NCL? HAL is a terrific line and they've been very friendly to this gay couple. Give 'em a call.

I'm just sayin'......:rolleyes:

Finally heard back from Derek, Pied Piper's chief:

"We have just over 30 in our group on the Hawaii cruise. Should be fun. Hope you have a great time. "

That's more than I had dare hope for, and enough to make a nice showing in the disco

every (I hope) night! Especially on "at sea" nights when there's nothing to get up early

in the morning for. Uh... unless, of course... you like breakfast. Me, I'll sleep til noon

if necessary and enjoy lunch around the pool, but that's just me.

Joe

...Derek. And his team were poor hosts and did not speak to me or my partner throughout the whole trip. We were left to dine alone at dinner while two of his 'hosts' sat at the next table and didn't not even come to speak to us....

We, too, have been on a PP cruise where the hosts all sat at the same table with some members of the group. We have also been on PP cruises where they spread out the hosts among the tables.

They apparently have very flexible rules that do not take into account the need for personal hospitality toward their guests. I can understand the absence of a host at table if you've requested to be seated with specific PP friends thru emails to the PP office, filling your table with old friends and leaving no room for a host, but that doesn't appear to be an excuse!

On one Post-Thanksgiving cruise, they held a Pied Piper Idol (or such) karaoke evening but did not allow any rehearsal. Can you imagine the frustration of going into a contest using prerecorded music and finding out the song you chose from a printed catalogue is nowhere NEAR a key you can sing in?

On the other hand, we've been on PP cruises where the entire theatre was reserved for PP-only functions like Sing-along movies (eg. Grease & Sound of Music), and the ship's movie theatre was reserved for members-only screenings of hilarious gay-themed movies. There's always at least one members-only party with some free drinks, and we've met lifelong friends on PP cruises that we would likely not have met elsewhere. And gay-charter cruises like Atlantis and RSVP can be madhouses (or not - we've been on both kinds).

On the Post-Thanksgiving cruises where PP sailors make up over half the whole ship's population, they host a night where the entire pool deck is reserved for us. Terrific!

Truly, they - Pied Pier - should be more consistent. At the very least, however, I've never been on a PP cruise that was MORE expensive than if booked elsewhere. We always do extensive price comparisons before booking any cruise, PP included.

And Derek could definitely use a course in "How to be a More Welcoming, Personable and Extroverted Host".

Hi boys- this is PP most popular cruise- Based on what I heard from previous cruises- I believe there will be about 900-1000 that booked through Pied Piper. .....-- Tommy

Tommy: I'll be VERY surprised (but supremely happy!) if you're correct. PP's most popular cruise, the ONE cruise that has 900+ PPers I'm pretty sure, is the yearly Post-Thanksgiving cruise which is always (to my chagrin!) a Caribbean outing (been there, done that TOO many times) that leaves from Florida. Are you SURE we're talking about the SAME cruise, Tommy? Leaving April 3, 2013, from San Diego, CA, 13 days from now?? I'll be happy if there are just 25 PPers aboard.

I have emailed Derek at PP asking for the count of passengers and have not heard back.

Please check your reservation dates and let me know.

Hoping to find that I'm wrong and that we're on the same cruise!

Joe (and Michael)

Tommy & Ray: couldn't find any posts by Blaze32789 on the Roll Call for Century, 4/3/2013 at:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1624465

When I wrote "Hey, guys... if you haven't visited Cruise Critic's Celebrity Century board for this same cruise, please do." I was referring to 4/3/2013. Are you there under a different name perhaps? If not, you haven't really missed much. I doubt we'll go to the Cruise Critic meeting unless it's very late morning or early afternoon, but... maybe.

Don't tell me PP has 2 Hawai'i cruises soon and we're not on the same one! :eek:

Joe

Hi Joe and Michael! I am on the "roll call board too" Our group is allot of fun- I think we have 12 or so. You bet we will be at the Disco dancing the night away! ...I think most all PP will be in the 2nd seating for dinner- Our group is mostly all on deck 7. So, are you celebrating your 32nd on this cruise? Wow! :D:D

I'm pleased as (spiked) punch that you guys are going, but slightly confused about the total PP group. You're a group of approx. 12 from Orlando if I understand correctly, but not the entire PP population on the cruise, right? Do you, or does anyone else, know the total count of PP'ers for the cruise (by "PP'ers", I mean Pied Pipers, not golden showerers:D).

Years ago for a previous PP cruise, I bought a bunch of flashing-LED light "jewelry" like bracelets and earrings that change colors, tacky-kitschy disco flashy stuff. I've recently ordered replacement batteries and will being passing around some of them in the disco. For anyone interesting in this crap, Google something like "flashing led disco accessories". I can't find the URL I used years ago, but a few similar ones are:

gotparty-dot-com/lightbracelet1.htm , glowsource-dot-com/ ,

justrightlight-dot-com/

This is all dirt-cheap tacky stuff. The postage will cost more than the items.

It's worth buying some of this crap just to read the enclosed instructions in "pigeon" Chinese ("Don't Too Crazy!", "in place the anode to the crust").

Look forward to meeting you and yours,

Joe (& Michael)

Hi Jamey and Marc! This is going to be our first PP cruise- We are a group of about 14 from Orlando, Can't wait! ....Tommy and Ray here. :D:D

Hey, guys... if you haven't visited Cruise Critic's Celebrity Century board for this same cruise, please do. It's a bit frightening in that it suggests that pretty much all the non-PP passengers on "our cruise" are conservatives who're probably older than I, and I'm 68! Thank goodness we're all sitting together in the diningroom. Otherwise, my husband and I might wind up at a table full of str8 Missourians (MY home state, regrettably) who declined to help us eat our (25th?) wedding anniversary cake when the waiters presented it at our table (on the first night of a previous, NON-PP cruise). Although they didn't actually say so, we got the idea they might be afraid they'd "catch gay" from us. We got a different table starting the next night.

May we safely assume that when/if they come to the table with our 32nd anniversary cake, you'll fearlessly join us... please? :) I think we're all together at the second seating (circa 8:30) spread among multiple tables, of course. Michael and I usually go from dinner to the second performance in the theatre, then go to the disco following the show.

Tommy and Ray... I hope your group and all the rest of the Pied Pipers will show up en masse in the disco every night... at least on the nights before sea days when there are no early morning shore excursions. Michael will probably be in the casino at the video poker machines, but I'll be up there just watching the passengers dance. If previous PP cruises are any indication, most of us Pied Pipers will be gathering around the bar laughing and getting to know each other. I almost never dance anymore, but always try to get Michael to dance at least one slow-dance with me every night up in the disco. We have never been hassled... or barely even noticed... dancing together among all the old fogies (like us), so don't be shy!

Here's a little something I've "heard about" but of course would never do because I'm sure it's against cruise ship policy (ahem): There are several brands of grain alcohol for sale in most liquor stores (sadly, not at Safeway - not thatI'D buy it, mind you) which goes by several brand names, most notably EverClear. It is either 75% or 90% grain alcohol, depending which state you live in, which... I've heard... you might sneak onboard a cruise taking up half (or less) the space in your luggage that the same potency of vodka would take. Yes, it's fully intended for drinking, and no, it's not rubbing alcohol!:eek: And no, it won't make you blind...I've heard :cool:. It purportedly has less taste than vodka and no aroma. You'd use half-or-fewer ounce(s) per drink than you'd use of vodka (vodka being usually 80 Proof / 40% alcohol). "A friend" has tried it as a substitute for vodka and swears by it - and AT it when he's had too much OF it. :p

This is not, however, cost effective for everyday use at home since it costs a bit more than twice the price of regular vodka... at least that's what I've "heard"... ahem.

Joe and Michael, I'll also be on the Century cruise to Hawaii from San Diego....I look forward to meeting you

Hobie - Yes, we'd love to meet you. Will you be in the Pied Piper group? If so, meeting will be easy. If not, maybe we'll meet you at the CruiseCritic reception. If it's much before noon, however, we won't be there: we're late-nighters especially on sea-days.

I have now done 6 Pied Piper Cruises. I actually prefer the smaller groups to the Post Thanksgiving.

We, too, have done at least half-a-dozen PP cruises and absolutely love the people who run it, and the cruises they produce. We have also come to prefer the smaller groups over the massive Post-Tgiving PP cruise. If you want a somewhat RSVP/Atlantis-type semi-charter gay cruise, the Post-Tgiving one is for you and will cost you less than the charter companies, but for us it's "been there, done that". We now prefer the smaller group atmosphere but we DO miss the more active hosting that accompanies that yearly biggie. We also prefer the smaller ships, if you can call a capacity of a 'mere' 2,500 or so "smaller".

And speaking of that, we're going to be on the 04/03/2013 PP Celebrity Century cruise r/t out of San Diego to Hawai'i. Are any of you going to be onboard that one?

Bottom line, though: Pied Piper has hijacked this couple away from the RSVP/Atlantis charters. Believe it or not, there's a definite satisfaction derived from mingling with 'breeders' on a mixed cruise and showing them that their ancient prejudices against us are merely examples of ignorance!

We're proud to be ambassadors to their often closed society, disproving those inaccurate portrayals of us. And just as satisfying, we're often surprised at how totally accepted we are among them... indeed appreciated! We've made more than one potentially stodgy cruise a lot more fun for (some of) our straight fellow travelers.

Do THEM a favor! Show them that we don't have horns!:eek:

Wherever you go, and whoever you book with, at least do THIS: make it a point to hold hands walking around the decks, and dance at least one slow romantic number together in the disco before the cruise ends. We have ALWAYS done both of those on every one of our 20+ cruises, most of which were NOT gay chartered or groups.

This may be old news to many of you, but Princess will be home-porting the Grand Princess in San Francisco beginning late 1Q or early 2Q, 2013. They have scheduled multiple 15-day Hawai'i cruises as well as shorter AK and Mexico trips. Sigh:rolleyes:... oh, if only it were a Celebrity ship! Princess' frequent cruiser benefits suck compared to those of Celebrity and RCCL.:mad:

Here's a long shot. Anybody from SF (besides us) going on the 35-day HAL Maasdam cruise, R/T Boston to N. Europe leaving 7/17/10??

If not, do you know anyone from elsewhere, gay or str8, who's going?

Sadly, I predict everybody onboard will be over 60... just like us. Sigh.

JoeAndMichael

We'll be on the Tahitian Princess out of Papeete 2/28/08 thru 3/8/08. From what I read on CC, Papeete is not a great place... unlike the other islands.

We'll be needing an economical place to stay at cruise-end and possibly before it leaves. Does anybody know of a gay Owned-and-Operated small hotel or B&B in Papeete.

If not, how difficult would it be to leave the ship in Papeete and get (return?) to the nearest beautiful location where there IS such an accomodation? We don't care (much) about the bars or nightlife, but would want beach access or at least a pool. Snorkelig would be great!

Wherever we wind up, we'll have to return to Papeete to take the flight back home.

Any suggestions? Help!!

Joe & Michael

UcruiseUschmooze@gmail.com and/or DubyaIsAMoron@Presidency.com

Hi,

Joe and Michael again. We're aching to make a trip to Fiji in 2007. Never been there, but have read good things and found a private home that rents out their pool house to guests.

Also, a friend of ours recommends Blue Lagoon cruises out of Fiji, so we're strongly considering taking a cruise around the islands and then spending a week at the pool house inland. Anyone taken a Blue Lagoon cruise? Been to Fiji?

This would be a considerably 'risky' thing for us... we know little about any of it and would really appreciate any advice from our fellow SFers.

Anyone been to Fiji? Got any recommendations or warnings, any positive or negative remarks/opinions?

thanks,

Joe & Michael

I've read most of the postings re: RSVP, Atlantis, Olivia, etc. but have not seen mention of Pied Piper or other "gay group" cruises. I'm a little reticent to even mention them because they sell out quickly and I don't need more competition for available cabins, but here goes. This is NOT a commercial, and I have no financial interest in the company. In fact, the first thing I'd like to hear from you guys is "Do you know of MORE gay groups besides Pied Piper"!! Let's keep this between us SF-ers, OK?

Here's the deal: Michael and I now prefer gay groups to gay charters because they're just as gay friendly (well, almost), and a lot cheaper. In fact, PP cruises have proven so far to be cheaper than I could find anywhere on the web (Travelocity, CheapTickets, Orbitz, Expedia, as nauseum) except occasionally SkyAuction.com.

I'm making an assumption here, but I think they're cheaper because PP buys up blocks of cabins at a discount (1 cabin free for every 10 purchased perhaps?) and then sells them to us with a smaller markup. They have private parties onboard for group members only, private movie screenings and are just a blast! True, you're sharing the ship with 'breeders', but their groups are always larger than 200 I think. This November's annual "Post Thanksgiving" cruise has over 600 in the group and last year's had about 450! They even schedule a few group shore excursions, and group members all sit together at many tables, usually at the 2nd seating.

We don't hesitate to hold hands all over the ship, dance together in the disco, etc. It was these last two things that made me hesitate at first to do anything less than an all-gay charter. I needn't have worried. Besides, the 3/4 of the ship's travelers who are str8 soon know we're there and we become ambassadors for our community. We've heard so many wonderful comments from str8 cruisers about our group.... what a good time we're having, how they wish they were seated at our dinner table where all the laughter comes from, etc.

We were, truth be told, surprised at how well the group was accepted onboard. I'd suggest you check out their web site (Google it), but PLEASE.. do NOT spread this all over the web. They only book so many cabins and they sometimes go pretty quickly. We've already booked our cabin on the November, 2007, Post-T'giving cruise. I'm considering treating my Nephew and his wife to a cabin on that cruise. PP sometimes has 1 or 2 str8 couples in the group.

Enuf for now. What I'd really like to hear from you guys is whether there are PP competitors. The last time I Googled "gay group cruises" there was really nothing much (a few). I should have looked before I started this treatise. You, too, should look around before committing.

We just thought you should know that you have at least 3 choices: Primarily Str8, Gay Charter and Gay Group.

Cruise on, McDuff!

Joe (of Joe & Michael)

BTW: We've also taken about 5 Str8 cruises and loved them. Best for couples, of course.... not great if you're looking to find a lover!

It's off to the Mexican Riviera for me. Just watched the Mercury leave thru the Golden Gate from Fort Point on this beautifully clear night. Can hardly wait for my turn...

We're on the 4/9/06 Summit Hawaii cruise. Hope to see you at an FOD.