RCI Adventure of the Seas transatlantic November 3, 2012 (Spain to Puerto Rico)

[Trickie Dickie]

Hello Boys - this is Eelko and Bernd from Amsterdam! We' ll be already te cruise before onboard, since that is a spanish gay charter cruise!!! So if you want some party before come and join us!!! Plenty of time to relax on the TA, love the seadays!!! Some of the guys from the charter stay also on the TA!!! See yo all there!

 

Hi Guys! We sailed with you both on Independence of the Seas TA in 2009! It will be nice to see you again! :D

[cruiselovers21]

YES!!! That was a fun cruise!!! Great to have a Reunion on the AD!!! Trying to get some other folks on aswell ...

[LtDang]

Hi everyone,

 

After several months since starting this thread, I can now say, barring severe illness or end of world events, that the husband and I are officially on this cruise!

 

The stateroom was booked a while back, and now the airfare purchase and vacation approvals are done.

 

We will be arriving and staying in Torremolinos on Monday. We plan on visiting places such as Gibraltar, Grenada, Malaga and perhaps Morrocco.

 

We will most likely stay at the Hotel Melia Costa de Sol, which is on the Sea and close to the El Dorato lounge in Torremolinos!

 

I know we all have things to do in the summer, but it's time to start getting this thread a bit more active!

 

ciao for now!

Dan

[I Fly]

Hi everyone,

 

After several months since starting this thread, I can now say, barring severe illness or end of world events, that the husband and I are officially on this cruise!

 

The stateroom was booked a while back, and now the airfare purchase and vacation approvals are done.

 

We will be arriving and staying in Torremolinos on Monday. We plan on visiting places such as Gibraltar, Grenada, Malaga and perhaps Morrocco.

 

We will most likely stay at the Hotel Melia Costa de Sol, which is on the Sea and close to the El Dorato lounge in Torremolinos!

 

I know we all have things to do in the summer, but it's time to start getting this thread a bit more active!

 

ciao for now!

Dan

 

Dan, that's great news! Our airfare has been set for a while now, but we had issues of booking the airfare too early. We had originally booked a flight with Lufthansa across the Atlantic to Frankfurt, making a double connection with the last flight into Malaga on Spanair. Once they went out of business we had to change our plans and are now flying into Madrid, still through Frankfurt and taking the train from Madrid to Malaga the day before the cruise. We had planned on spending a couple of days in Malaga before the cruise, but now we'll spend sometime in Madrid with only the day before the cruise in Malaga.

 

Looking forward to meeting everyone.

 

Steve

[Scotsguy31]

Hi all

 

I am booked on this trip too. Kris (31) from Scotland.

 

Very much looking forward to it! I've been to Gran Canaria quite a few times so can help with any queries for there.

 

Kris

[I Fly]

Hi all

 

I am booked on this trip too. Kris (31) from Scotland.

 

Very much looking forward to it! I've been to Gran Canaria quite a few times so can help with any queries for there.

 

Kris

 

Welcome Kris!

 

I saw your posts on the main Roll Call board too. It's nice you will be traveling with family and friends. I'm sure I'll have some questions for you about the Canary Islands, or at least Gran Canaria.

 

While we still have time before the cruise, it's never too soon to get excited about the cruise.

 

Steve

[LtDang]

Hi all

 

I am booked on this trip too. Kris (31) from Scotland.

 

Very much looking forward to it! I've been to Gran Canaria quite a few times so can help with any queries for there.

 

Kris

 

Hi Kris, we want to go to the gay beach at the sand dunes in Gran Canaria. What's the best way to get there from cruise port? Taxi, bus or perhaps a large van taxi because there surely many of us who would go.

 

Also I would like to experience walking through the dunes from the Riu hotel. Is that time consuming if we get dropped off and picked up at the Riu instead of the Marsolopas lighthouse?

 

Welcome to the cruise btw. Are you traveling alone or with a friend or boyfriend or spouse ?

[LtDang]

Hi everyone, time to get this thread active! If you have a smartphone, I would suggest using the tapatalk app for these forums. You get the updates and can resopond via smartphone!!

 

Are you all getting excited yet?

[Trickie Dickie]

Hi everyone, time to get this thread active! If you have a smartphone, I would suggest using the tapatalk app for these forums. You get the updates and can resopond via smartphone!!

 

Are you all getting excited yet?

 

Sorry I was sleeping...zzzzzzzzzzzzzz ;)

[Scotsguy31]

Hi Kris, we want to go to the gay beach at the sand dunes in Gran Canaria. What's the best way to get there from cruise port? Taxi, bus or perhaps a large van taxi because there surely many of us who would go.

 

Also I would like to experience walking through the dunes from the Riu hotel. Is that time consuming if we get dropped off and picked up at the Riu instead of the Marsolopas lighthouse?

 

Welcome to the cruise btw. Are you traveling alone or with a friend or boyfriend or spouse ?

 

Hi Dan

 

Thanks. I am travelling alone (happily single) but will be joining family on board.

 

The port in Las Palmas is at the north end of the island and the gay beach at Maspalomas is at the far south. When I was last there in September I was staying in Playa del Ingles next to Maspalomas and the bus to Las Palmas was regular and cheap. But you have to be careful which bus you get as some stop frequently on the way and others are direct with limited stopping. It did seem quite far about 30-40min on the direct bus so not sure how much a taxi would cost. The other thing is that the port terminal where the ship will dock is not walking distance from the bus terminal in Las Palmas but would probably be a 5min taxi ride or thereabouts.

 

I went to the gay beach both ways either by walking along the front from Maspalomas or across the dunes from the Riu hotel. The second is an experience. The sand burns so wear trainers and not flip flops like me! Also be sure to stick to the right path otherwise you will quite easily get lost. There are wooden posts that guide you. Again it's quite a long walk in the heat but if you get there early it might not be too bad before the midday sun. The beach itself never really got busy till around lunch, most of the guys recovering from late nights in the Yumbo!

 

Not sure if I will go there on our stop in GC. Not especially a beach person myself and might take advantage of the empty ship that day!

 

Kris

[vulcan1971]

Hello all...

 

It's been a really long time since I have been on the boards or have been reading and keeping up. I obviously have a lot of catching up to do. Hope you all here are doing well. I will make my return to the str8 board soon. I'm sure there is 50x more to read over there.

 

My partner Iain and I have been very busy this Spring / Summer so far. I have traveled 3 times to Toronto to see him and spend time in our home there as well as celebrate his mother's 75th birthday. I was just in Toronto for Canada Day and Gay Pride on 01-July. That was a lot of fun and the weather cooperated nicely with not too much direct sun or humidity.

 

We also had a 5 day cruise we went on back in April on the Celebrity Millennium. It was the sailing of that ship going into a 21 day dry dock re-hab. She is now cruising in Alaska and I look forward to sailing on her again sometime soon.

 

Okay, well at least this thread moves back to the top for a little bit. I look forward to chatting with more of you here so maybe we can plan some excursions and other fun times while on the ship. Take care for now.

 

 

Walter

[LtDang]

Last time we had a shuttle bus from Ambientravel to te Beach - but you can take a taxi or bus! Only the distance is like 30 min by direct bus... So I guess sharing a taxi or renting a car is the best option .... We go deffenetly as well - so lets share transportation! I will see if we can rent a car close to the port n LPA! It wont be expensive! the beach is lots of un :) especially the dunes!!! A must on a gay visit to Gran Canaria!!!

 

Well I have done more research on this. I guess the best and cheapest method would be to rent/hire a car. However we don't do this on vacation!

 

The second cheapest would be to take public bus from Global company, the bus company. It cost 6 euro each way. But the trip could take about 60 to 80 minutes each way.

 

Taxis would be fast, but expensive, a lot more than bus per person.

 

Another option would be to hire a shuttle bus. I bet we could fill a bus or van with 12 people. The problem is I can't seem to find a company who does this service. Would anyone know of a company that would do this, or which shuttle company did Ambient travel use for the gay chartered group?

 

Anyone know? BTW Royal Caribbean has a transfer to Maspalomas but it is ridiculous. It would be cheaper using the public bus and we would have another 1 or 2 hours more time in the beach area.

[LtDang]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GxgS-1u2RvM

[GermanBoy86]

Hey Guys!

 

Here is Sascha (36) and Markus (26) from germany!

 

We booked this cruise right now.

 

Say "hello" on Skype.

 

Skype: fitforfun86

 

Cheers!

Markus

[LtDang]

Welcome to the group guys! It will be a great cruise!

 

Dan

[LtDang]

Hi everyone,

 

 

 

We will be arriving and staying in Torremolinos on Monday. We plan on visiting places such as Gibraltar, Grenada, Malaga and perhaps Morrocco.

 

We will most likely stay at the Hotel Melia Costa de Sol, which is on the Sea and close to the El Dorato lounge in Torremolinos!

 

 

ciao for now!

Dan

 

A little change for us. We are now staying at a hotel near the port in Malaga. We still arrive on Monday October 29th. We still plan on visiting the Allahambra in Grenada, Tangier, Morocco and Gibraltar. But now since we are staying in Malaga, we will also visit Torremolinos, most likely on October 29th.

 

Anyone else arriving early?

[LtDang]

Here is a list of glbt folk on our cruise. These people are either participating in this forum or the straight roll call. If you know of any other glbt people on this cruise, let me know so I can add them!

 

I hope this list will produce some discussion! We are only a little more than three months away.

 

Dan (LtDang) & Dickie (Tricky Dickie) - Canada

Kathy & Amanda (kmolinx) - Scotland

Rob and Karl (Nado44) - United States

Walter & Iain (Vulcan1971) - United States & Canada

Steve & Steve (I_Fly) - United States

Eelko and Bernd (Cruiselovers21) Holland

Kris (Scotsguy31) - Scotland

Markus & Sascha (Germanboy86) - Germany

Thomas & Rob (thomom24) -Scotland

Anders & Anders (ruffe) - Sweden

Steve & Scott (steevsf) -United States

Jonathan & Randy (rfc_yvr) - Canada

Russell - Canada

[Oliver2309]

Hi Dan and Richard...J & R's friend here...I joined, but it was a challenge to find you guys!! haha....

[Trickie Dickie]

Hi Dan and Richard...J & R's friend here...I joined, but it was a challenge to find you guys!! haha....

 

Welcome!!!! Yee Haw! :D

[Oliver2309]

....i guess i found you :)

[Trickie Dickie]

....i guess i found you :)

 

Yup!

[rfc_yvr]

HI.. we are Randy & Jonathan from Vancouver. We are the J & R that Oliver2309 knows and we are friends of LtDang and Trickie Dickie. We are both looking forward to the cruise and meeting everyone.

[LtDang]

Hi everyone!

 

Anyone interested in a day at Maspalomas or at the Maspalomas sand dunes/beaches. There is a gay/clothing optional beach there.

 

For your information, Maspalomas and Playa Del Ingles are resort cities about a fifty minute drive from our cruise port in Las Palmas. The area of Playa del Ingles and Maspalomas is a large gay destination for Europeans.

 

I have received a quote from a bus company in Las Palmas, Grand Canaria.

 

The quote is return transportation -

Las Palmas 8h15 to Maspalomas

Maspalomas 15h00 to Las Palmas (leave from beach to bus at 14h30)

 

140 euros for up to 13 people - 13 seats available on bus.

 

Here is a link to some nice photos of the sand dunes.

http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=all&q=Maspalomas+sand+dunes&m=text

 

Please let me know if you want a spot on the bus.

Please remember you have a few options. Beach day, Maspalomas sightseeing, or both!

 

1) Dan

2) Dickie

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I have asked the company what happens if we cancel due to weather or due to ship not docking. I will let you knew their response!

[LtDang]

Does someone in this group understand/speak spanish?

[geminitraveler2]

YES!!! That was a fun cruise!!! Great to have a Reunion on the AD!!! Trying to get some other folks on aswell ...

 

Stephen, Kevin, David and I are taking the Celebrity Constellation 11/30/12 to 12/15/12 London to Miami. Check it out. It would be so much fun to be all together again.:);)