jimnbillnpa

To read about Cuba's abuse of gays, read Armando Valladares book, Against All Hope: A Memoir of Life in Castro's Gulag. Also watch the movie Before Night Falls which also depitcs the human rights abuses of gays by the Cuban government.

Before Night Falls-based on the memoir of Reinaldo Arenas.

We are booked, but only for the first part. Both of my parent's birthdays are during the second week and they are in their 90s, so we want to be around to celebrate with them. We just never know...

Unfortunately, we have had to cancel. My dad's health steadily declined after a hospital stay in January and subsequent care in a skilled nursing unit. He passed last month at 91. We have since shifted our attention over to my mother who, at 93, is going strong but has chronic ailments that require full time attention. Sorry that we're going to miss this cruise, but there are many more in the days ahead.

Peace

We are booked, but only for the first part. Both of my parent's birthdays are during the second week and they are in their 90s, so we want to be around to celebrate with them. We just never know...

Well, we were this close || to booking and then, just like the Med cruise a couple of years back, we got into a real estate deal. So alas, we won't be on board. Didn't want to post that we were going because we hadn't put down deposit. In fact, I was going to call Nick with credit cards last week before I came down to Florida. Then Bill found out about an awesome condo in our complex and by Sunday night we were under contract. So much for a peaceful weekend in St. Pete. Nick was even holding an aft balcony for us.

Having said that, we were looking forward to seeing the gang on board- Mark and Donny, Peter and Richard, Guy, Max and Bob, my birthday buddy Jim and partner Terry. Reuel, if you're on board? I've missed a few, I'm sure, and will miss all the NEW friends. You all have yourselves an AWESOME week in the sun. We'll be on another RSVP very soon, I'm sure.

Jim & Bill

Culture wise for us there is also not such a big need to be for a fortnight on a boat in a bubble with 2000 gay guys as in general the gay population is far more accepted and integrated into society.

HAHAHAHA! Oh Honey! I did not see this stop you on RSVP-TWICE!

Love you and miss you! We are both well!

Jeff is no longer working at RSVP.

Details? A better offer? Another gay company?

Do this mean there is a gay group on a gay charter? aqua fest cruises dot com /details/?sailid=30.

Generally speaking, Aquafest, Pied Piper, and other gay tour groups offer charters on larger straight cruises. They don't have enough people to fill the ship. Pied Piper's Post Thanksgiving cruise is probably the largest gay charter on a straight cruise, filling almost half the ship, depending on capacity.

Atlantis and RSVP are all gay, all the time:)

RSVPcruisers.com is a alumni site for people that have cruised on RSVP before. It is similar to the Atlantis alumni site.

I didn't even know I was a member on the website until you posted the link and checked it out. Did this evolve from the RSVP facebook page?

We have done 10 Atlantis cruises and thinking of trying RSVP. For you guys that have done RSVP, is it as casual as Atlantis as far as dress goes. Main Dining is shorts and shirt. Specialty restaurants in nice jeans. We like to be nicely dressed casual...no formal or anything. Also in main dining does RSVP have open seating and if we want, can we sit alone for Dining like at Atlantis. How is crusing with RSVP? Don't care about the night parties anymore, so that's not important. All about relaxed and casual atmosphere. Thanks.

This is from RSVP's Traveler Information for this summer's Alaska cruise:

"How should I dress?

For daytime activities on board we suggest comfortable, casual clothes. Depending on the temperatures, shorts or workout clothing would be appropriate attire. If you’re planning adventurous shore excursions pack sturdy, comfortable shoes and lightweight rain gear. Dressing in layers will help keep you warm on chilly mornings and you can always strip down to avoid overheating.

For evening activities, dress ranges from casual and club wear to more formal. Comfortable, relaxed clothing including blue jeans is fine for most evenings on an RSVP cruise. However, swimwear and tank tops are not allowed in the main dining room, and please no shorts in the Pinnacle Grill. We will offer one optional formal night on this sailing and this is your opportunity to dress up or not, whatever suits your mood. Also check our website closer to your departure date so you can attend our signature parties dressed to the theme!"

IMHO While it IS Alaska, I believe even on a Caribbean cruise you'll see few shorts in the dining room. I mean, come on, we don't bother with tuxes anymore, but a pair of pants? How much does it kill someone to wear pants to dinner? I don't care how someone classifies their Dolce & Gabana shorts. That's just sloppy.

I have been entertained by both and as nice as Brother Malcolm is (he remembered me from an Atlantis land vacation many years prior), he aint a match to Sister Helen Holy. Can I have an "amen"?

Amen

And when comparing, keep in mind that the rates shown on Pied Piper don't include port fees like almost every other site does including the major cruiseline sites. But Pied Piper does show the extra port fees in the words on the left side. Just add them together before comparing as its not always obvious. But I agree that in certain categories they do offer a good discount.

That's what I was saying in a rather confusing, roundabout way. :)

Having done both, I have to agree with most of the posts although PP experience is only based on the 2012 Post Thanksgiving cruise. Communication was not what we're used to with RSVP. We tried to talk to Derek several times before booking, only to be told he prefers email. Since we were newbies to Pied Piper, and skeptical about what the cruise would be like, would a brief chat on the phone have killed anyone's day? That said, PP staff redeemed themselves on board.

I would also question whether the PP rates are all that much better than the cruise line's published rates. After a little research, we found our fare to be about the same as Celebrity's. The difference? Celebrity rates included tax and port fees. PP did not.

Only sharing OUR experience. Different companies provide different experiences. We're booked for RSVP Alaska in July, primarily because we have frequent cruise points that dropped the price considerably.

Bottom line: would we book PP again? You betcha!

I wish you the best of luck with what ever decision you make on your upcoming cruise. But don't give up on cruising. I have had a lot of great cruises with RSVP.

We have also had many excellent experiences with RSVP.

I should of also pointed out that: This ship is to big and the PP group has a hard time meeting up with everyone. The smaller ship are best.

Our reason for not booking.

Apologies for hijacking the thread. I see now that the topic is Al & Chuck Cruises. I got side-tracked by the Pied Piper conversation.

Thats why I like the pied piper gay group cruises, they actually run about 5% less than the advertised cruise rate of whatever line they sail (RCL,Cunard,Celebrity, Etc). True they don't provide entertainment, but never been on ANY cruise (gay, gay group or straight) where entertainment was all that memorable a week or two after I returned.

We did 2011 Pied Piper Post Thanksgiving. It was an EXCELLENT experience. Having a few done a few RSVPs we weren't sure what to expect. We will do BOTH again at some point in the future.

As to Pied Piper fares, we found them exactly the same. That 5% may be because they did not include port charges and taxes in their rates. Celebrity did.

We will be on our 6th RSVP cruise in two weeks time with Wingtips n(we'll make sure you are comfortable on the cruise!) and one 4 night cruise on QM with Pied Piper.

 

Gay cruises are more expensive but they are not anything like a regular cruise (I am sure, since I have not technically been on a regular cruise with no gay group) Very different experiences. And there is very little attitude, everyone is out to have a good time and the crew love it when we take over a ship because there is a lot less negativity, monotony and everyone is fun, happy and out to have a good time.

 

I told my SO that some day we need to go on a regular cruse so we can just relax and enjoy the ship and cruise - there are too much happening on a gay cruise that you need a vacation afterwards! You can do as much or as little as you want on the gay cruise but we are always busy with events, excursions and hanging out with the many friends we have made, sometimes it feels like going to gay camp.

I just KNEW Boytjie (aka Peter, aka SALie [self-appointed leader] of our merry band) would be on this thread, but he is right. We are getting excited about our RSVP Hawaii cruise in two weeks. But let me give you a little background:

My previous experience with cruises was back in the 80s on the now defunct Windjammer Barefoot Cruises. (three-all funky, laid back and lots of alcohol). Then several years ago, my partner talked me into a Princess cruise, and all I could think is I'm going to run into Gavin MacLeod around every corner. Well, it ended up being a wonderful trip, even more so because we found another gay couple right here in Cruise Critic going on the same cruise. We had new friends before we even boarded. (This actually happened on BOTH straight cruises we went on.) I would have to agree though, that the mainstream cruises were definitely more relaxing, because the activities are more mainstream. (Nightclubs DO NOT stay jam-packed until 4:00am. Ironically, the biggest crowd I saw in the nightclubs were the AA meetings.)

What ultimately made us try a gay cruise was the destination-Panama Canal, and we were hooked. Yes, more expensive. But over the past few years, we have made a close circle of friends from all over the world that we have seen every year on the RSVP Caribbean cruise. Some will also be on the Hawaiian crusie in two weeks. We have also decided to forgo the winter Caribbean cruise for another RSVP in July-again, because of destination (Spain), but also camaraderie.

That said, we have talked many times about going back to mainstream cruises, and they absolutely will not be ruled out in the future. It will just have to be something really exciting OR just an inexpensive easy getaway. Also hoping we can get to know Wingtips a little bit. He sounds like our kind of laid back gay traveler.