Chumley's Bears ???

[keithm]

We had the Bears on our Emerald cruise a couple of years ago.

Over 800 and as noted above they took over the aft pool and several other venues everyday throughout the cruise. Yes it does impact the cruise. Not to mention there were g-string swimsuits on and where they should not have been. :(

If you do a search there are several threads on groups.

 

here is one.....

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2270207&highlight=bears+cruise

I guess it still beats being on a ship with a bunch of narrow minded fundamentalists.

[keithm]

You are exaggerating. The group has never been that big, it averages 400-500 guys.

 

On 3000+ passenger ships.

deleted

Edited February 6, 2016 by keithm

[keithm]

It's no different than when there are 400 people who are not together in a group at the Princess theater. There are 400 people there and you can't find a seat. Which happens on every sailing.

 

And he wasn't talking about crowds, he used the term "demographic" and being annoyed and uncomfortable. There is an elephant in the room lurking on this thread

Obviously some subtle antigay sentiment out there. The ones who are more obvious will let themselves be known by their.."Why some of my best friends are...." statements.

[kendon]

You are exaggerating. The group has never been that big, it averages 400-500 guys.

 

On 3000+ passenger ships.

 

Okay Cranky, I was exaggerating...or just forgot the exact number. But it was a lot...and it felt like 800. 400-500 is still a very large number. Whatever, it felt like I crashed a themed party. Wish I knew in advance. My feelings on my choice of vacation is not meant to be taken personally by you and any others...please understand that.

Edited February 6, 2016 by kendon

[MommaBear55]

But have you sailed with Texans? That is an experience. I've woke up in a cold sweat worried about sailing with a group of Texan Travel Agents.............. Once I even dreamt about a group of Texan Travel agents that were holding an Amway convention while on spring break.

 

I have sailed with Texans, and although I have not managed big hair, but now own several sequined shirts.

 

And instead of O Solo Mio, the waiters sang Yellow Rose of Texas

[SlyOldLady]

A few years ago we were on a cruise with a smallish group that partied very hard in the main pool area rendering usless for most. Security was called up when it started getting out of hand, but we had fun watching the well lubricated men diving from atop the hottubs to the pool a few yards away, drink in hand. All week we had lounges reserved, areas closed etc. Didn't bother us a bit.

I met one of the gentlmen on another cruise a year later and asked him what the group was all about and how they got away with being so roudy...It was a cop convention...

[cclvr]

You are exaggerating. The group has never been that big, it averages 400-500 guys.

 

On 3000+ passenger ships.

 

Not an exaggeration...we sailed on Caribbean Princess fall of 2012 with Chumley's Bears on board...we realized right away there was a large group...they had some sort of tags around their neck..we asked a few men as we were exploring the ship and they told us about their group and said there were 800-900 of them.

[biker1972]

I once did a cruise in SA over a holiday where the ship was full of extended families and NO supervision of the kids. Think I would take 400 of the Bears any day. And if the 400 gathered in one spot I could be somewhere else that would now be less crowded.

[kendon]

If anyone has any questions about this topic, refer to bearcruises.com

[golfb4cruzing]

Yes, large bearded gay men. The problem was I fit that large and bearded mold and I kept my wife next to me the entire cruise. A couple of winks and balcony to balcony waves. I ask my planner from now on if there are any large groups.

[stoneharborlady]

The group of Bears that sailed on my cruise were perfectly well behaved. I never once witnessed anything that should have been private. But I will admit, it would annoy me no end if lounges or bars were closed to the rest of the passengers because of the group activities. We did not see this on our cruise, but I know it happens. I think every passenger should have access to all the public venues on board.

[FritzG]

I don't care who or what the group is, when there is a large group they often take over public areas or have public areas booked for them. Unless I'm informed in advance that certain areas that I expect to be open to me as part of my fare will be closed I don't like it.

 

I know there will be a certain number of passengers on the ship, but they're not all going to be in the same place all of the time like a closed group would be.

[Colo Cruiser]

Not an exaggeration...we sailed on Caribbean Princess fall of 2012 with Chumley's Bears on board...we realized right away there was a large group...they had some sort of tags around their neck..we asked a few men as we were exploring the ship and they told us about their group and said there were 800-900 of them.

 

 

I agree. On our Emerald cruise we were told by several of the group that the tags were color coded and gave the wearers availability single etc and various other levels.

Our cruise there were 800 as well. Its amazing how those naysayers that did not experience the same cruise could act as though they know everything about experience. :rolleyes:

[cruisequeen4ever]

We stayed at a hotel years ago that had a large group of the Bears staying there. They were very loud and had PDA that made us uncomfortable. Also, we would try to avoid any cruise with a huge group onboard. Some venues are taken over for private events, and groups seem to take over venues in general, too. Thank goodness Princess has notified you; I know DH and I would cancel, but that's just our personal opinion.

Edited February 8, 2016 by cruisequeen4ever

[MrMan]

As a bear I can tell you if you have an opportunity to join their private shows in the theatre (typically during the day) or a tea dance in the afternoon you will have a great time. Just ask there is no secret code. Also the crew does very well on these cruises as tipping is quite high and little old lady griping is quite low.

[shredie]

As a bear I can tell you if you have an opportunity to join their private shows in the theatre (typically during the day) or a tea dance in the afternoon you will have a great time. Just ask there is no secret code. Also the crew does very well on these cruises as tipping is quite high and little old lady griping is quite low.

 

So if I want to go in to see the show, all I need do is ask? I think I'll try that if I find myself on a Bear cruise.

[floridalover5623]

Why not check first to see which ones are Bear cruises (or similar). They're easy enough to avoid if you look around a little before booking. ;)

[FawnRiver]

Hmmm...I wonder if there are any Bears from Texas who are both travel agents and Amway salesmen? :D

 

 

And undertakers too. Don't forget undertakers, we were on a cruise with a bunch of them. A Real lively bunch ;)

[crd27]

Our last Princess cruise was dominated with Bears. While not loud, boisterous or unruly, they did take over the Aft Pool area the entire cruise. I found a small pool and hot tub two decks up and relaxed as planned.

 

That was my experience as well on our last cruise. They were very nice and polite and they did take over the aft pool. I did not feel comfortable trying to squeeze in so I generally avoided the area.

[S&M in Pgh]

Well, at least you are forewarned. We only found out the night before the cruise.

 

They were nice guys, however, there were just too many of them. Given their size, elevator capacity was cut in half. Seriously, a lot of these guys were NFL linemen sized.

 

They had the steak house reserved for them every night along with one of the night clubs. They also pretty much overran the Solarium and retreat pool everyday. Like I said, they were polite, friendly and good humored, but they did prevent others from using venues on the ship that we had paid to use also.

 

Any group of this size would have the same impact, not just this one.

 

Frankly, with any group of a significant size, I would rebook. But that's just me,

 

Mike

Edited February 9, 2016 by S&M in Pgh

[callmedeb]

I just got off the regal (on the 31st) and she had two groups. One entertainer based who I did not notice at all and one very large group of singles (300+).

 

I did notice some venues closed and I believe they took over one of the dining rooms, but it didn't impact my life.

 

There are a surprisingly large number of places you can be on a ship with 3000+ passengers.

 

=)

[ILAndersonville12]

I agree. On our Emerald cruise we were told by several of the group that the tags were color coded and gave the wearers availability single etc and various other levels.

Our cruise there were 800 as well. Its amazing how those naysayers that did not experience the same cruise could act as though they know everything about experience. :rolleyes:

 

Well I just have to jump in here. As a member of the team that has work with Chumley cruises for the last 10 years. We have never had 800 people on any of our cruises. The most we’ve ever had was 450. Also we never have had exclusive access to the Terrace pool. . And as for closing venues, the only venues that were closed or venues that generally are not used after 12 midnight. The only venue I can see over the last 10 years that is impacted is usually something for our welcome cocktail party for two hours on the first day in the afternoon.

[ILAndersonville12]

Well, at least you are forewarned. We only found out the night before the cruise.

 

They were nice guys, however, there were just too many of them. Given their size, elevator capacity was cut in half. Seriously, a lot of these guys were NFL linemen sized.

 

They had the steak house reserved for them every night along with one of the night clubs. They also pretty much overran the Solarium and retreat pool everyday. Like I said, they were polite, friendly and good humored, but they did prevent others from using venues on the ship that we had paid to use also.

 

Any group of this size would have the same impact, not just this one.

 

Frankly, with any group of a significant size, I would rebook. But that's just me,

 

Mike

 

I agree sometimes with a larger group. We all must make some accommodations. But I will say this as a member of the Chumley organization. We have never taken over any of the steak houses or specialty restaurants. Princess and Holland America Line would never allow us to do that. If there were a large amount of bears in there they were just like everybody else. They made a reservation

[Liz54]

Last year on our HAL cruise there was a group of 1100 Christian singers. They took over the traditional dining room. There was no traditional dining after 5.45 PM. We were on a 14 day cruise and were ejected from our dinner table mid cruise. It was miserable for all those who wanted late traditional. Staff just tried to send people to the buffet! As a consequence Anytime was also very busy. I felt that it was completely out of line. HAL did nothing to support the half of the passengers impacted.

[Nan_Sea]

We were on a Princess cruise with the Bears last year and there was no problem at all. On the other hand, we were part of a Dixieland music group on HAL years ago and several venues were closed to anyone who was not part of that group. Lots of angry passengers and for good reason.