mithryl

Just stoppin in to wish Mithryl a safe trip :) Have a great time ladies Hawaii that should be awesome! I would like to do that cruise one day. Can't wait to hear all about it.

 

Maybe I'll do it for our 10 year anniversary which will be in 3 years since my partner doesn't want to reset the clock when we get married lol :D We've been together for 7 yrs and we're getting married in 16 days wow time sure flew by. Everything is coming along together just fine thank God :) We're cruising in 4 weeks :eek: Not soon enough LOL

 

Take care all and Bon Voyage Mithryl...

Hi Stormloca777,

Thanks for the good wishes. We're all packed and ready to fly out tomorrow morning. This is our 10th amnniversary (3/4/08) and our 4th since we were married in Oregon. We call it our "10/4"...but we're not over and out! Hope your up comingt cruise is fantastic as well.

Vicki

Well we leave in just 6 days for our R/T to Hawaii. I know not many of you have done this cruise, but if anyone has questions they'd like me to answer, I'll be glad to get the information for you. We leave Saturday to fly to LA and then we embark on Sunday. If you're curious about the Diamond Princess, Hawaii (we do 5 ports of call) or the whole R/T experience, just let me know and I'll do what I can to answer your questions. I may do a live post or two since we'll have our laptop with us.

The crowd is a bit older, but still fun. I haven't heard of any "family" sailing with us so far, but there always seems to be a least a few Lesbian couples aboard and some gay guys as well. We've got a decent thread going on the regular boards, so I know we'll meet some wonderful people on our adventure.

When in June are you going to Alaska? My partner and I will also be sailing on Princess to Alaska in June.

We're planning on sailing 7/20/08 on HAL's Westerdam. The last time we sailed to Alaska, it was also with HAL (and Olivia!!) It was Olivia's first sailing contract with HAL.

Welcome to Tiffany, Nicole, Annie and Cath,

Nice to see so many new folks joining the thread. Maybe one day they'll split us out from the guys, but for now, this works.

Cath,

We've not done the cruise your planning (although it sounds great), but we are going to be on the Diamond in three weeks, so any shipboard questions you have, I'll be gald to answer when we return.

Annie,

We've sailed the Vision to Mexico in the past. I know you'll have a great time. Sounds like you'll have wonderful companions to sail with on this one.

Tiffany & Nicole,

Where are you sailing to on 2/29/08? We'll be right behind you on 3/2/08 on the Diamond to Hawaii.

We love RCCL as well as Princess. (Actually we didn't care much for our first Princess sailing to Mexico on the Dawn, but loved last years sailing to Hawaii on the Island.)

All three of your upcoming sailings sound awesome!

If I had the money to sail all the time, I'd join as many of you as possible on your adventures. Once the Lottery is mine, I'll be meeting many of you!! (Wishful thinking can't hurt!)

Just wanted to thank you and say we were so happy to hear of your experience on the Olivia Cruise last week! Jill

Hi Jill,

Thanks for joining the thread! My only experience with Olivia was great. It's actaully the cruise that got me hooked!

Do you know if Olivia is considering booking some longer cruises? My partner and I love sea days. We've done a 10 day west coast cruise and a 16 day circle Hawaii cruise (and have our next 16 day cruise...another circle Hawaii out of LA coming up in less than a month).

Seven days just doesn't seem like enough for us any more, unless we're sailing out of Seattle (which is drivable for us.)

I'd love to see Olivia expand a little out of the 7 day cruise venue. Any info would be appreciated.

Vicki & Bonnie

Pussycat - Okay, thanks for the microphone.

Mithryl - Here's the scoop from our point of view.

 

We are true Olivia cheerleaders and though I've typed in all this stuff the only way to really know what it's like is to sail with Olivia. You won't regret it. Really.

 

Sorry to be back, but we had a great time. Love to all of you,

 

Carol and Linda.

Hi Guys!

Great Review! Glad you had such a wonderful time. Our only Oliva experience was also excellent (Alaska 2001). I do believe it is an extraordinary experience to be surrounded by "US" on a cruise.:D I also agree that HAL does a great job of partnering with Olivia to make the whole cruise a delight. I would definitely do it again, if the budget permits.

One of my deterents at this point is that we've been spoiled with longer cruises.;) I'd love to see Olivia breakout of the 7 day cruises (I know it fits most peoples lifestyles) and offer longer cruises, maybe once a year at least, to anywhere. I keep looking at longer and longer cruises (would love to gradually work up to 30+ days), with lots of sea days.

Anyway, does this mean you won't be considering the short fall Celebrity cruise?:)

Vicki & Bonnie

I'm anxious to hear from those of you that just went on the Olivia Cruise. How was it?

My better half and I leave soon on a 13 day NCL cruise from LA to Miami via Panama Canal. Can't wait! Then we're headed off to Disney World for 5 nights, staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Here's my question for any of you that have visited Disney World...........What's the 1 place, thing, ride, etc. that you've done there that you are soooo happy you did???? Please include Epcot, Magic Kingdom, etc. We may not get back there again and I want to be sure we don't miss something really special.

Have fun on your upcoming cruise!

Since your staying at Animal Kingdom, I'd say don't miss "Expedition Everest" there. I also enjoyed "It's a Bugs Life" inside the Tree of Life. It's a 3-D thing and really cute. The Safari Ride is good too.

Epcot has "Soaring" and the "Mars Space Expedition" (two levels to choose from)...go for the "Orange". If you're going to be at Epcot at night, get a seat early at the Mexican resturant right by the lake (great time for chips and Margaritas!) and hold your spot for the spectacular fireworks show over the lake. It's probably the best view available where you can actually sit down, have a drink and enjoy the view! MGM has the "Tower of Terror" if you like that sort of thing. There night time fireworks show is also amazing, but you do need to get a good seat early...it's worth the wait. The Magic Kingdom is fun. If you've never been, make sure you do Privates of the Caribbean, Space Mountain, Haunted Mansion and there are some new ones in the Tomorrowland area that I don't remember the names of. There are some rides at each park that I'm sure are really fun, but you're sure to get very wet, so I usually avoid those (like Splash Mountain), but if you're game...go for it!:)

I haven't posted in here in forever! Hope everyone is doing well. My gf and I are in the process of booking another cruise, so exciting! We're currently trying to decide between Olivia and RCI. I've cruised with Carnival and RCI and will never take another Carnival so its between RCI and O. I'm anxious to hear from couples who have sailed with Olivia as well.

 

Sarah

Hey Sarah,

Glad you're back! I've never sailed Carnival. I know others on this board have and many enjoy them. I'd be interested in why you say you'd never sail them again. I've sailed both RCI and with Olivia (which uses HAL exculsively). I enjoyed both of my RCI cruises (Caribbean and Mexico), although I found the Enchantment of the Seas a superior experience over Vision of the Seas (better service, quality, etc.).

My only Olivia experience was my first cruise. It was to Alaska and I loved it. It was actually Olivia's very first sailing with HAL back in 2001, and it was great.

Now, as a more experienced cruiser, I do look at price and find that I have just as much fun on a regular cruise and pay less than sailing with Olivia. But if being surrounded by all lesbians and having the specialized entertainment is important to you...then Olivia is can't be beat. Either way, you'll have a great time. Let us know what you decide. And, again, I'd love to hear why you won't sail with Carnival in the future.

I hear you load and clear OC Ladies. I feel the same way...but I'm still anxious to hear from all those sailing this month with Olivia to the Caribbean. Sounds like a special cruise with wonderful entertainment. Whether we go on Gay or Straight cruises...we're still "Cruise Crazy"! I love hearing about all the different places and experiences!

Hello all

 

We are starting to plan a Med cruise for June 09. We actually like the 12 day itin that Carnival has primarily as it does alot of italy , especially with 1 1/2 days in Venice..( a city I have dreamed about..)..this leads me to my worry,I mentioned to a friend our plans and she said that we should be very careful in Italy as it is not very gay friendly..This was news to me? Has anyone else had this problem. I mean we are not overly affectionate in public, but I also dont want to be kicked off my gondola!!! lol..

 

Any thoughts or input would be welcomed!!

 

Happy cruises

 

Mel

Hi Mel,

I've not been yet, but am also looking at a Greek Isles and Italy cruise for '09 or '10. I'd be interested in the same input from those who have gone before. Also considering a HAL 24 day repositioning cruise that I think starts in Rome, does Italy, Greece (with the Isles), Portugal and I think Spain, then does a transatlantic crossing and ends up in Ft. Lauderdale.

My partner and I, who have been together for 11 years come February, just booked the Olivia cruise in January. I am 35 and she is going to be 52 (but will beat on me for writing that). Normally we wouldn't pay the extra for Olivia compared to the cruises we have done before, but Olivia sent me an amazing deal via e-mail that really helped make this more reasonable (I hate to say it, but it was a 2 for 1 off the early bird pricing). I am almost afraid we will get hooked and have to pay the full price when/if we cruise with them again. We love to cruise and did 3 mainstream cruises in 06 but for various reasons didn't cruise in 07 so this is a great way for us to start the new year. We are really excited.

Jenna

Welcome Jenna,

Have fun on your January Oliva Cruise. Others from this thread will be aboard with you!:) We look forward to hearing all about it when you return,,,and we promise not to tell your DP that you exposed her age on CruiseCritic!:rolleyes:

Mithryl

 

Thanks so much for your input on this matter. As suggested and being new to the site we have a lot of reading to do. And yes, the best way to alleviate any fears the gals may have about cruising is to introduce them to this site also. Especially if reading your response to our question. Thanks again.

Your welcome. Hope you can talk them into joining our thread!!

Happy New Year everyone!!

We are a gay male couple who have two wonderful gay gals as friends and neighbours. We ourselves cruise considerably but when we try to get our female friends to join us on a cruise they decline. From their questions we think one of their concerns may be dress code. Perhaps they would not like to be put into a position of having to dress up for formal nights. Apart from passing up formal nights, we would like to give them some idea as to how other gay women cruisers handle the situation or what you might wear for the occasion. But quite frankly we really do not know. Anyone like to comment on this?

Hi Ron & Jon,

Welcome! If you read back through several pages, I think you'll get the answers you need. There has been lots of discussion on this thread about formal night attire. There are even some pictures posted.

Basically, tell your Les friends they have nothing to fear.:rolleyes:

They can choose to skip formal night and go to the buffet, or they can choose outfits that are dressy yet "them" depending on their preferences. The only folks that seem to have issues are those that choose, for whatever their personal reasons, to not "put on the Ritz" and strut their stuff. (Not an issue I've ever heard from any of our wonderful brothers!!) Some of my "sisters" seem reluctant to assume any kind of formal "persona".

To me it's like Halloween... be a queen, a king or anything in between! It's fun to play the game and to take pride in being the very best you that you can be!:D

You might invite your friends to check out this thread. We'd all be glad to tell them all the great benefits of cruising...and to advise on anything that makes them uncomfortable.

Several years ago, my image of cruising made me afraid to try it.:( My current partner, Bonnie encouraged me to try an Olivia cruise and I've been hooked ever since!:) (She had worked for Robin Tyler on some of her cruises).

I got over my fears very quickly and now love to "strut my stuff" on straight and gay cruises alike! I love it when the two of us pose for pictures on formal nights. I think the photographers enjoy it too! (many of them are gay.)

Even if they choose to avoid formal night, there's still plenty to enjoy...food (24/7), night life, pools, spa treatments, shore excursions, bars. etc.

Hope you can talk them into giving it a try!:)

"I may make my wife go on one for our 25th anniversary, which will be 15 years down the road...so hopefully Olivia will still be around!"

 

Has anyone heard anything further regarding the lawsuit and counter suit between Olivia and the ex-employees? I haven't been able to find anything further talking about this situation. I'm curious as to what happened/will happen.

 

Carol and Linda.

Hi Carol & Linda!

I can't believe your '09 cruise was cancelled again!:mad: Are they just planning on keeping the ship "downunder" for another year?:confused:

Why don't you hop onto the RT Hawaii cruise we're taking on 3/2/08? :D It could be alot of fun to sail together when we'd have time to get to know each other more. I think there are still a few mini-suites and outsides (with or without balconies) available. It's not as grand a cruise as you had planned, but there are still a lot of sea days to enjoy and I'm sure it's less expensive than the 30+ day trip you had planned (especially the airfare to LA versus Sydney!). Just a thought.

We haven't planned ahead yet to 2009. I'm looking into the possibility of a Greek Isles & Med. cruise. I'm not use to putting out so much in airfare (about $1,500 ea.) as well as the price of the cruise. If we end up doing it, we'll probably fly over a few days in advance and stay a few days after the cruise as well. I'm also still considering the Panama Canal for 2009. I'll just need to wait a while and see what the finances are like in 2008.

Hope I can talk you two into Hawaii !! Aloha!;)

My girlfriend is not the girly type. Me, on the other hand, OMG, I cannot wait for formal night to throw on my hot little number. However, I'm getting kind of worried that we won't be able to go to formal night because she doesn't get dressed up and certainly will not put on a dress. So what do we do? Will a pair of dress pants and a button down shirt suffice? I mean, I'm talking about the kind from NY and Co? How have you no-so-lipstick-pantyhose-and-dress type of girls worked it?

 

- Lisa (preparing to tantrum on the floor if I can't go to formal night)

 

Also I'm new here so any help on how I add my favorite threads will be helpful.

Hi Lisa,

Back several pages you'll find other discussion about formal nights, but basically, your GF would be fine with black slacks and either a dressy (somewhat girly) top (like sequenes, shawls, etc. or a tux or tux look. The button down shirt by itself sounds a bit too casual. Would she be willing to do the button down shirt with tie and jacket? That's what many men do in lieu of a tux. I think a tux is a great formal look for women who prefer not to wear more feminine clothing. I think you would need to bring it with you, as the ship board rentals are sized only for men.

Hope this helps. Enjoy your cruise!

Who's cruise is up next? CaptLaura is 12/8/07...anyone sailing before that?

Yes the cruise will be great especially since we have 4 of our close friends joining us it will be a party every night LOL

I know what you mean. We had three of our close friends on our last cruise and it was really to experience it with them, especially since they were all "virgin" cruisers. Some things that we thought were just average (based on previous cruises), they thought were fabulous as first timers! Really gave us a fresh perspective. I hope your upcoming cruise is awesome.

We're getting excited about our next one in March '08. We now have our air booked (great deal) and our pre-cruise hotel (which is now sold out) so we're feeling fantastic.:)

Hi All,

We would love also to do Rosie's cruise.

Does anyone know if there is a time when the rates are lower?

;)

Hi Candliesx2,

I've never seen rate decreases for Rosie's cruises. Others that have gone on them might have some info. The best I've seen for Olivia is a few two for one offers, but it's still like paying full catelog price for a straight cruise (just not double). It's not nearly as good a deal as many of the offers on regular cruises.

So I am going to expose myself on this one, but what is FOD:eek: . Sorry it's new to me.

Thanks,

Erica

Hi Erica,

FOD stands for Friends of Dorothy (as in Wizard of OZ). It's kind of a code for Gay/Lesbian gatherings on several cruiselines.;) Like the Friends of Bill gatherings with are AA meetings.

I was actually very please to see a recent posting of a Princess Patter from the Diamond Princess that listed "our" gatherings as GLBT rather than FOD. Much more straight (excuse the phrase) forward.:)

Thank you so much! I do agree with you that in the end it will be all worth it :D And I am very happy that we are doing it for all those reason ;)

 

Thanks again I will keep you all posted on our progress.

We'll be back from our R/T Hawaii cruise that starts on 3/2/08 before your sail away. It's our 10th anniversary of being together on 3/4/08 and our 4th year of being married (even though Oregon decided to not honor our license and ceremony). I've listed our anniversary on the "special celebrations" area on Princess, so it will be interesting to see what they do to help us celebrate. Our anniversary happens to fall on the first formal night of our cruise, so it will be special for us no matter what else happens.

Best wishes.

I just wanted to stop in and say hello. Sorry I've been MIA but my partner & I are getting married :D A lot to do in such short time ~ we're getting married in March right before the cruise. We live in NJ so we are able to have a civil union.

 

Hope you all are doing well...

 

Happy Sailings to you all ;)

Congratulations Jess! So your cruise is now your honeymoon...that's terrific! Carol & Linda (Wannabcrusin) cruised right after their wedding too!

(What else would you expect from cruisers.)

Check in every so often and let us know how your plans are going!:)

Hey ladies,

 

I have not read the many pages here but reading these last few pages I have a question. I hope this is not against any forum rules.

 

How many of you would be interested in an annual/semi-annual group cruise featuring lesbian entertainment (knowns and unknowns) with a small mark-up to cover the extra cost of the entertainment? I am not talking about chartering an entire ship just creating a group cruise of women only. This is something I have been considering for some time but I am not sure of the interest. If anyone is familiar with things such as SeaTrek and the SlayerCruise then that is similar to what I am talking about. It would be a “lesbian convention” of sorts. I was thinking Olivia meets Dinah Shore on a Midwest salary. Entertainment would be across the board.

 

Anyway just thought I would throw that out there.

 

Any feedback would be appreciated.

 

S-

Hi Travelkeys,

It does sound interesting, but if you're not booking the entire ship (like Olivia), where would the special entertainment be held? (Since the cruise ship entertainment would still be in all the main theatres and lounges for the "regular passengers".) Just something to consider. It's not quite the same concept as large groups with sea day meetings (speakers, workshops, etc.) unless you plan to have the entertainment during the day instead of the evening.

If you work out all of the details, I'd be interested in hearing more about it. I'd love to travel with more lesbians on board linking dinner tables, shore excursions, etc. That's one of the reasons I started this thread, so we could connect and see if any of us might be traveling on the same cruises (as well as hearing about everyone's experiences from our unique perspectives).;)

We go out of Miami. The other half doesn't want to do the western Carribbean-ever. It would be cheaper to go out of Galveston or New Oreans but cruises the only cruises that sail out of their ports go to the Eastern Carribbean.

 

I think we'll like the Dawn. The Jewel is a sister ship to the Dawn and we LOVE the Dawn.

 

Candue- That's the truth. We want to cruise at least twice a year not once every 3 years.

I'm with you, we want to sail at least twice a year. This year was our first time actually doing two. We are planning two for next year as well. (Three or more would be my ultimate goal!)

Only 19 days left for you before you sail...have fun...and let us all know all about it when you return!:)

I think the idea of an Olivia cruise is interesting, as well, but the price is wayyyyy more than we can swing. We're going on a 7 day t the Eastern Carribbean and we got a balcony on NCL for $649 pp. and that was booking 5 months out. I'm not sure you can sleep in the kitchen of an Olivia for that.

Let us know how you like the Dawn. Do you usually sail out of Galveston? NCL certainly does have good pricing. I've never sailed them as it looks like their rooms are a bit smaller, but I'd certainly consider it. We saw the Pride of Aloha while we were in Hawaii earlier this year, and it looked like she had very few balcony cabins...is that typical of NCL?