Why not LGBTQ or Friends of Bill W meetups on Fred Olsen

[ace2542]

I am just off the borealis. Not that I am of either eilk but I am just curious as to why these where both absent from the daily programme especially when they have been every other line I have ever been on

[Coravel]

They used to call it "Friends of Dorothy" but they don't seem to advertise it since Covid.  But we have seen lots of gay couples on board.  

[ace2542]

2 hours ago, Coravel said:

They used to call it "Friends of Dorothy" but they don't seem to advertise it since Covid.  But we have seen lots of gay couples on board.  

As in Dorothy Gayle the wizard of Oz? I never understood that reference. I always thought it should have been one of the icon like Ellen DeGeneris. These days on most other line it is referred to now as the LGBTQIA meetup.

 

Perhaps on Olsen they don't have venues with bars in them as well and the time to dedicate to it. They do dancing in the evenings and piano as well with breaks for the performers. On QM2 it has gone 90 minutes or more in the commoedore club on 9 deck nine.

[Coravel]

Yes, aka Wizard of Oz.  I've also seen Friends of Bill W which refers to Alcoholics Anonymous.  All these specialist gatherings may be under the radar but might still be available if you enquire at Reception.  The Freemasons gatherings are not mentioned in the Daily Times anymore yet on my last cruise a table companion told us he had attended one that afternoon.

[sleepingcat]

I m ready to be corrected on this, but I think that on Fred its for a passenger or passengers to request with the cruise director team and set up a specific meet up which then gets advertised in the daily news.  our first time on Fred, my oh who is a Rotarian, attended a meet of Rotarians which had been organised by a fellow Rotarian passenger.

 

And if you've taken part in the roll call for your cruise you can also organise a meet up that way.  some people did that last year when we were on Saga S of A. 

[Britboys]

On 7/28/2023 at 9:27 AM, ace2542 said:

I am just off the borealis. Not that I am of either eilk but I am just curious as to why these where both absent from the daily programme especially when they have been every other line I have ever been on

British cruise lines in general have been slow to offer/advertise LGBT+ meetings. P&O has only been doing it consistently in recent years and there seem to be fewer of them on the smaller ships that attract a more 'mature' passenger. I can't speak about Friends of Bill W but would guess that the take up at an LGBT+ meeting on Fred Olsen would be pretty low.

[Britboys]

On 7/28/2023 at 1:14 PM, ace2542 said:

As in Dorothy Gayle the wizard of Oz? I never understood that reference. I always thought it should have been one of the icon like Ellen DeGeneris. These days on most other line it is referred to now as the LGBTQIA meetup.

 

Perhaps on Olsen they don't have venues with bars in them as well and the time to dedicate to it. They do dancing in the evenings and piano as well with breaks for the performers. On QM2 it has gone 90 minutes or more in the commoedore club on 9 deck nine.

The link to Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz is one possibility. Probably on one of two fronts - the the film is pretty camp and thus may have been popular amongst gay men in particular and also that Dorothy was played by Judy Garland who became a gay icon. The other possibility is that it came from Dorothy Parker, an American poet/writer/satirist who was also a socialite with a very bohemian set of friends, including gay men and lesbians.

[besberry]

1 hour ago, Britboys said:

British cruise lines in general have been slow to offer/advertise LGBT+ meetings. P&O has only been doing it consistently in recent years and there seem to be fewer of them on the smaller ships that attract a more 'mature' passenger. I can't speak about Friends of Bill W but would guess that the take up at an LGBT+ meeting on Fred Olsen would be pretty low.

Some of us more 'mature passengers' are also LGBT+!  On the Arvia maiden, the four defiinite LGBT+ people who were at the meeting were over 50 and three of us 70 or over.  The venue was quite full at the time of the first meeting, so I'm sure sure if some of the younger folk sat near us were of the same ilk, or not!

[Britboys]

41 minutes ago, besberry said:

Some of us more 'mature passengers' are also LGBT+!  On the Arvia maiden, the four defiinite LGBT+ people who were at the meeting were over 50 and three of us 70 or over.  The venue was quite full at the time of the first meeting, so I'm sure sure if some of the younger folk sat near us were of the same ilk, or not!

Indeed, as someone who is approaching my mid-sixties, I put myself in the same boat, if you'll pardon the pun.

I've only experienced LGBT+ meets on two P&O cruises, the last two I've done and they were on Aurora. The meets were held in the Uganda Room adjacent to the Crows Nest. This seemed to work well but there were still only 8 - 10 of us attended.

Prior to that I did a Round-Britain cruise aboard Queen Elizabeth and my cruise buddy and I seemed to be the only two who turned up for the advertised meets in the Commodore Club.

Tbh, I think these meets are probably much more successful on the large, American ships.

I may be completely wrong but I have a feeling that Fred Olsen is generally not very attractive to LGBT+ cruisers. Many of my LGBT+ friends seem to prefer Celebrity or NCL - whatever their age.

[ace2542]

18 hours ago, Britboys said:

The link to Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz is one possibility. Probably on one of two fronts - the the film is pretty camp and thus may have been popular amongst gay men in particular and also that Dorothy was played by Judy Garland who became a gay icon. The other possibility is that it came from Dorothy Parker, an American poet/writer/satirist who was also a socialite with a very bohemian set of friends, including gay men and lesbians.

Also one Once Upon A Time the tv show Dorothy was gay and in love with little red riding hood.

[ace2542]

18 hours ago, besberry said:

Some of us more 'mature passengers' are also LGBT+!  On the Arvia maiden, the four defiinite LGBT+ people who were at the meeting were over 50 and three of us 70 or over.  The venue was quite full at the time of the first meeting, so I'm sure sure if some of the younger folk sat near us were of the same ilk, or not!

I think a big problem is they jus don't have th venue with bar access spare. Olsen does a lot of group event bookings they had least 4 different booked groups on my cruise who took a private section in the observation deck on deck 9 and they also did their own things. They simply don't have the space to give a nightly meetup.

[Britboys]

4 hours ago, ace2542 said:

Also one Once Upon A Time the tv show Dorothy was gay and in love with little red riding hood.

Thank you. I don't have any knowledge of that show and the only one I can find on searching is from 2011...

[besberry]

1 hour ago, Britboys said:

Thank you. I don't have any knowledge of that show and the only one I can find on searching is from 2011...

It's old show.  I got bored with it eventually.  I think I saw it on Netfix.

[tring]

On 7/30/2023 at 2:04 PM, Britboys said:

British cruise lines in general have been slow to offer/advertise LGBT+ meetings. P&O has only been doing it consistently in recent years and there seem to be fewer of them on the smaller ships that attract a more 'mature' passenger. I can't speak about Friends of Bill W but would guess that the take up at an LGBT+ meeting on Fred Olsen would be pretty low.

 

I think it is true that there are not a lot of LGBT+ on Fred, but we have had some good company from some we have cruised with.  One particular Texan couple on one of Fred's more unusual itineraries come to mind a lot, we had been chatting with them a fair bit during the Boudicca cruise.  One night we were sitting to the side of the Secret Garden and they went into there for the late night snacks.  As they were wearing sandles and no socks, they were refused entry.  They duly went back to their cabin and returned, both wearing ten gallon hats and really chunky boots.  They were allowed in - no rules broken.  We were in pleats of laughter that night.  They had such a great sense of humour, but it did make a point and it was only late night snacks.

 

Edited July 31, 2023 by tring

[ace2542]

17 hours ago, besberry said:

It's old show.  I got bored with it eventually.  I think I saw it on Netfix.

It aired on channel 5 but then they axed it. My mum thought the yanks had ruined the kids fairytales because they had no history but Davey Crockett 🤣

 

Was quite big in America though I think despite beng up against the football and the walking dead on Sunday nights

Edited August 1, 2023 by ace2542

[Eurovisionfan]

As someone "of that ilk", we've only been on one other Fred Olsen cruise and as far as we were aware, we were the only paying LGBT couple onboard - the rep from Titan and his husband were onboard too. On a small ship, it's fairly easy to spot other same sex couples.

 

On our last CMV cruise, one of the passengers requested an LGBT meetup and from then it was always in the daily newspaper, but we didn't see one on the Ambience, but could have asked. As on every cruise we've ever been on, there was a Queen night - but with a twist. The music was set around a women's football team and there was a same sex storyline involved, I won't give too much away, I'll just say that the show got the biggest applause I've ever heard. It was genius and I bet you can all imagine the song they sing at the end.

 

Last week, we disembarked the Saga Spirit of Discovery (for our 35th anniversary) and there was a smattering of LGBT guests. I'm surprised they didn't put on some sort of reception for us (instead of just having a little space in the bar, with Saga I'm fairly positive it would have included some fizz and food). Funnily enough, one of the LGBT guests was travelling with her mum - who just happened to be called Dorothy, so we did have our own Friends of Dorothy group by the end of the cruise!!

 

An LGBT/Friends of Dorothy meeting is a lovely addition, but not a deal breaker for us. Not really sure what to expect on our forthcoming Fred Cruise in this respect. 

[paulad39uk]

Since you are of "neither eilk" why worry? I am not a recovering alcoholic but I am gay and I wouldn't be going to a LGBTQ+ meeting on any ship they aren't very well attended in the main

[jeanlyon]

On 10/14/2023 at 1:01 PM, paulad39uk said:

Since you are of "neither eilk" why worry? I am not a recovering alcoholic but I am gay and I wouldn't be going to a LGBTQ+ meeting on any ship they aren't very well attended in the main

I was just about to ask why this is necessary?  We are all people, whether straight gay or alcoholic.  I take as I find.  Seems unnecessary.