Lesbian Couples who love cruising

[Pussycat]

Hi Paddy Anne. We think Holland America is terrific but I should say that we haven't sailed with any other of the companies such as RCL, Princess etc so our opinions are strictly subjective.

 

The cabins are roomy. The ships are clean. The service from the Indonesian crew is exceptional. The food is good although we've noticed a very slight decline on the last 2 cruises.

We have always been treated with great respect by the officers & crew whether on a regular cruise or with Olivia.

 

Glad you enjoyed Pride. We missed it this year. It's always such an exciting event. Like a great big love-in!!!

[paddy Anne]

Hi Paddy Anne. We think Holland America is terrific but I should say that we haven't sailed with any other of the companies such as RCL, Princess etc so our opinions are strictly subjective.

 

The cabins are roomy. The ships are clean. The service from the Indonesian crew is exceptional. The food is good although we've noticed a very slight decline on the last 2 cruises.

We have always been treated with great respect by the officers & crew whether on a regular cruise or with Olivia.

 

Glad you enjoyed Pride. We missed it this year. It's always such an exciting event. Like a great big love-in!!!

 

Hi Julie,

Thanks for the info. Now just trying to find when holland will release thier 2009 prices.

Yah Pride was awesome. We agree with you, it's like one big love in.

I noticed you are from Canada. Where you from. We are in Toronto.

cheers,

PA

[Pussycat]

We are in SW Ontario. Just a little West of London.

Moved here from Toronto when I retired in 1994.

 

We lived in the Bayview/Eglinton area for 25 years. Loved it there.

[shan9700]

Hey Ladies,

 

Has anyone ever cruise trans-Atlantic from Barcelona back to the States?? I was wondering what the seas would be like in December. Also has anyone ever cruised on the Norwegian Gem?? I saw a great deal on a 9 day cruise December 3 From Barcelona to Boston anyone else thinking about this cruise??

 

Any information on tran-atlantic cruises would be great.

Thanks,

shan9700:)

[etoile]

I believe the Gem is brand-new Shan, it won't be delivered until October 2007! ;)

 

I have sailed on the Pearl though, which is the Gem's sister ship. It was very nice, I loved all the places there were to hang out...the bowling alley was fun! It would be nice if there was more seating at the buffet though, it was often very crowded for lunch.

[shan9700]

etoile,

 

Thanks for the information. Did they have a indoor pool?? My main concern is that the seas would be really rough coming acrossed the atlantic in the winter and the outside deck areas would be really windy. I would hate to take a cruise and be at sea five days and not be able to enjoy hanging out on deck.

 

shan9700:)

[mlleach]

etoile,

 

Thanks for the information. Did they have a indoor pool?? My main concern is that the seas would be really rough coming acrossed the atlantic in the winter and the outside deck areas would be really windy. I would hate to take a cruise and be at sea five days and not be able to enjoy hanging out on deck.

 

shan9700:)

 

 

The weather on the TAs is different. We went over Thanksgiving last year. Only the last day was a pool day. One day we were not allowed on deck. Still a great voyage and we are doing it again this year, just a little earlier.

ML

[etoile]

etoile,

 

Thanks for the information. Did they have a indoor pool?? My main concern is that the seas would be really rough coming acrossed the atlantic in the winter and the outside deck areas would be really windy. I would hate to take a cruise and be at sea five days and not be able to enjoy hanging out on deck.

 

shan9700:)

They did not have an indoor pool, there were covered hot tubs but that was it. We were on the Pearl in Alaska (mid May) and the pools went almost completely unused. I saw a few brave kids in there but that was it. The hot tubs occasionally had adults in them.

[shan9700]

etoile & mlleach,

 

Well thanks for the information I'm not sure if this will be the cruise for me then. I really like to relax by the pool and sit outside on deck. So I just might need to stick to the Carribean.

 

Thanks again,

shan9700:)

[Pussycat]

To all of our US friends, have a great Independance Day

 

To our Canadians friends, happy Canada Day

[Mo-n-CJ]

Aloha ladies,

 

So glad to have finally found all of you. Took me way tooo long.:confused:

My GF and myself are in our 40's and going on our 1st cruise in Sept. to Alaska on the Pearl. We are sooooo excited. Any info on Alaska or the Pearl would be awesome. Etoile, have any good tidbits?

We live in Maui. So, if you all want so info on the islands....I will do my best.:cool:

 

Looking forward to reading the posts in here. I see they go back for a couple years...wooohooooo

 

Aloha Uhane, Mo&CJ

[shan9700]

Mo-n-CJ,

 

Hey ladies and welcome to the thread. I have never been on an Alaska cruise. I'm sure you'll have a great time though. I'll be looking forward to hearing about your cruise when you get back.

 

shan9700:)

[mithryl]

Aloha Mo-n-CJ !

 

We were just on your wonderful Island in March and will be back again in March next year. Any local advice on "must see and/or do" would be greatly appreciated. We'll be on the Diamond Princess and will be visiting Honolulu on Oahu, Kona and Hilo on the Big Island as well as Maui and Kauai. Loved whale watching in Maui.

We've done Alaska on HAL and loved it. Be aware that it will be cool (if not cold) in September, so if you're planning shore excursions, you'll need to pack appropriate clothing.

Enjoy your cruise. We'll look forward to hearing your impressions when you return.

[waunabcruizin]

Good Morning Everyone -

Just checking in to say hello. Like everyone else I'm sure, we are busy as summer gets into full swing here in the Pacific Northwest (finally). We're going to spend the Fourth in our RV at Fort Worden State Park in Port Townsend, WA overlooking the Straits of Juan de Fuca and, incredibly for this neck of the woods, the weather is supposed to be spectacular for a change. While there we are going to attend, for the first time, the Festival of American Fiddle Tunes :eek: . Not sure what this will entail but it sounded interesting.

 

Our wedding plans are continuing with no glitches so far. Lots of family has come out of the woodwork to attend our wedding in Victoria, much to our surprise (rather, Shock!) and we're now working on getting a group rate at a hotel and trying to find a venue for an after-wedding dinner, preferably at a fun pub.

 

IMPORTANT -

What has become of the earlier idea on this thread for a cruise where we can all meet up? Since we are all from different areas of the country, how about a cruise out of New Orleans or Texas? That should please nobody :D and be fair to everybody. We'll most likely all have to travel (shorter though for you ladies from Austin).

 

We've been wanting to do the itinerary that NCL has out of New Orleans to the Costa Maya, Belize, Cozumel, etc. I want to go cave tubing in Belize and explore Maya ruins and visit that great park in Cozumel, etc. What about February of '08? There's a cruise February 24 (Sunday) for one week (after Thanksgiving) that looks reasonably priced (found it for $849 apiece for a balcony, $499 for an inside).

 

What say you to this NCL cruise February 24, 2008 on the Norwegian Spirit out of New Orleans?? This might be a lot of fun.

 

Carol (and Linda).

[xProfessor MA]

our traveling plans have just gotten mucn more complicated....we booked an October Transatlantic on the NCL Jewel, conviced two of our friends to join us...set up three extra days in Barcelona on the front end....within a week of booking at was attending graduation (I'm a professor in Cambridge) and one of my graduating master's students came up to me to remind me of his wedding in New Delhi...his parents offered to pay for our hotel for a week if we can get ourselves there...the wedding is in January...seems like a once in a live time kind of opportunity....and my partner (a lawyer) does not have any trials that cannot be continued during the first two weeks and January, it's semester break....we call that "ment to be". So we will be off to Barcelona October and into November, and then December 30th off to India...New Years in New Delhi at a prepaid five star hotel...hard to beat....

 

Regarding the cruise, there are at least four gay couples that have outed themselves on the NCL roll call...price is right...I think including airfare for a balcony minisuite we are paying a total of $6K...looks like a great trip...still trying to intice others to join us.

[shan9700]

Wooohooo!

 

We just booked our summer family cruise. We're going to be on the carnival facination 4 day cruise Sept. 10,2007. We're going down a day earlier to relax before the cruise. I got a great rate at the Hyatt downtown Miami so everything is falling together.

 

Professor MA,

 

Sounds like your vacation plans are also coming together. I can only imagine you'll have the time of your lives in New Delhi. You'll have to let me know about your Transatlantic cruise when you get back.

 

waunabcruizin,

 

Good luck with your wedding plans. Looks like your in for a wonderful time. Sounds like you also have a great Fourth of July planned. Have a wonderful weekend!

 

shan9700:)

[etoile]

Aloha ladies,

 

So glad to have finally found all of you. Took me way tooo long.:confused:

My GF and myself are in our 40's and going on our 1st cruise in Sept. to Alaska on the Pearl. We are sooooo excited. Any info on Alaska or the Pearl would be awesome. Etoile, have any good tidbits?

We live in Maui. So, if you all want so info on the islands....I will do my best.:cool:

 

Looking forward to reading the posts in here. I see they go back for a couple years...wooohooooo

 

Aloha Uhane, Mo&CJ

Hi, Mo and CJ! I have been to Alaska twice, and on the Pearl for one of them. She is very pretty, my favorite room was the Bliss nightclub, so gorgeous! If you want to use the bowling alley in there, I recommend going early. Find out what time it opens and be there for that. If you go later in the day, there will be a long wait, and there's nowhere comfortable to sit that is also within earshot of the guy who calls your name when it's your turn. But if you like bowling at all, I do recommend it - it's fun to bowl on a ship!

 

Also, seating is pretty limited in the buffet. If you can't find anything, you can sit in the kids section. The chairs are lower, but I never saw any kids around so it wasn't like we were taking seating away from them. There's also the back deck area, where the grill is, but you can bring buffet food out there too.

 

They will insist you use hand sanitizer every time you board the boat and every time you enter a dining area. If you are not comfortable with this, you don't have to do it, but they will try to convince you to do it anyway. Personally I have a skin condition that makes the hand sanitizer a bad idea, so I spent a lot of time telling them "no, I will not use it!" Sometimes I just pretended to use it so they would leave me alone. ;)

 

OH, and the really big tip is about the Summer Palace restaurant! It is very hard to find, all week long people were trying to find it. It is BETWEEN the 6th and 7th decks. If you are in a wheelchair, take the aft elevator to deck 6. If you are not, you can take the aft elevator/stairs to deck 7. From there you will see the restaurant, it is down HALF a flight of stairs.

 

As for Alaska, it is such a beautiful state! I definitely recommend the Mendenhall Glacier in Juneau, but it's hard to do that check out the downtown because you will get in so late. (I assume you will be getting in at 2pm like we did.) In Skagway you will have a nice long day, we did two excursions! I recommend the White Pass Railway, I have done it twice now and my wife once, and we really liked it. There is lots of unique shopping in Skagway. Ketchikan is a little more touristy in terms of shop type but it has a nice big area to walk around in, the stop in Ketchikan is so short - and you get in at 6am! - that I would recommend doing only a short excursion there or none at all so you have time to look around downtown.

[paddy Anne]

Well we finally decided. Back and forth and back and forth and we are going on the CRown Princess Jan 2009 for Mary's 50th. This is the first time I have been booked for 2 cruises at the same time. woohoo.

 

Welcome to all newbies.

 

cheers,

Paddy Anne

[mithryl]

Hi Carol and Linda,

We leave March 2nd '08 for Hawaii, so we won't be able to make the NCL trip in February '08. However we also want to sail out of New Orleans at some point and visit those same ports.

 

Prefessor MA,

 

What a trip! Have a great time and fill us in on the details when you return!

 

Paddy Anne,

 

Where are you going for Mary's 50th?

[paddy Anne]

Paddy Anne,

 

Where are you going for Mary's 50th?

 

We are going out of Fort Lauderdale to princess cays, ST. Thomas, St. Martins and Grand Turks. It's not the most exotic itinerary but we have a mini suite and the ship is supposed to be lovely. We decided to downsize the trip slightly and save some money to go to P Town for womans week October 08. A pre birthday trip.

Has anyone sailed Princess and done the private balcony dining. It looks like a wonder way to dine on Mary's birthday.

 

cheers,

PA

[Mo-n-CJ]

Thanks Shan, mythrl, etoile,

Etoile, thanks for the good info about the Pearl. We are staying way forward on the 8th floor in 8022. We also plan on using the spa, daily. Did you use the spa?

 

Mythryl,

 

There is plenty to do on Maui. What kind of things do you gals like? I think the best swimming beaches are on the West side over past Lahaina. The best helicopter ride in March is to Molokai...great for whale sightings. The best boat trip in a snorkel trip to Lanai. All of these are best in the morning. Kayaking is awesome, too. Especially when the whales are out there. I could go on and on...Food, hotel for a night, massages, drives, .....

 

Aloha...and happy planning!

[etoile]

Mo n CJ,

 

We didn't use the spa at all! We were going to but they didn't have an appointment when I needed it and we never made it back. Sorry I don't have info for you about that!

[Waimea'sMom]

Hi all, I just wanted to introduce myself. I just joined the Cruise Critic boards today and I'm thrilled to see this thread. I was wondering: how out are all of you on the general threads? I hate mentioning my partner as my spouse or friend or having to play the pronoun game but I've seen so much flaming on other message boards and forums that I'm gun shy.

 

Here, amongst family, though...let me introduce myself. I'm Staci, a 33 year old former attorney/aspiring travel agent. My partner is Shannon, a 36 year old police sergeant. We live in Southern California with our three cats (Dakota, Kahlua and Creampuff). In fact, my screen name comes from our kitten Waimea who passed away when only one year old.:(

 

I've been cruising with my family since I was a kid (see list below in my sig) and Shannon took her first cruise with me, and our moms, to Europe last year. We are currently booked on a cruise to Alaska this August with my Mom, her parents, and her aunt.

 

We would love to do an Olivia cruise but I just can't bring myself to justify the extra cost. Still, it would be nice to be amongst "family." This trip to Alaska should be interesting since her father refused to go to our commitment ceremony, and her mother always introduces me to everyone as her "friend." My mom, though is practically PFLAG material. :D

 

We are also planning on going to the Caribbean just the two of us next spring (before or immediately after Red Sox and Dodgers Spring Training games-- how lesbian is that?!) and I'm nervous about our dining options. On cruises I have taken with my Mom, people have been rather forthcoming about extreme right wing views in just casual dinner conversation -- something they would never guess affects me since I'm femme. My partner, though is very butch and Hellen Keller would have known she is gay. (Except apparently her supervisors in the U.S. Navy -- don't get me started...they sent her to Iraq for a year but would discharge her now if they knew about her).

 

So aside from the gay issue, we also have to be careful because of the don't ask/don't tell issue. How have most of you handled your dining? Traditional? Anytime/freestyle? And did your dining companions on hetero cruises know you were gay or care?

 

This has never been an issue for us before since her only other two cruises were with a set group (4 and now 6 of us), and when I'm with my Mom, I certainly "pass" inspection with homophobes.

 

Anyway, I'm thrilled to see you gals here and I hope to talk to you again soon...

[Texas_Diver]

Welcome to our thread.

 

I need to get our roll call updated!!!

 

As far as the boards, we don't "flaunt" it but don't hide it either. We do not play the pronoun game. We both post on this user name so we use our name or initial at the bottom of every post and we refer to each other as partner.

 

We have never experienced any problems...not on these boards or on any of our 5 cruises. For dining, we eat in the main dining room almost every night and we always request a large table to meet new people.

 

Annette

[Texas_Diver]

Texas_Divers: Annette 43 Phys. Ed. Teacher, Donna 38 Registered nurse live in Austin

 

funlady: Carra 61 retired teacher,Vicki post office 54 live in San Antonio

 

shan9700: Shannon 37 airline customer service supervisor, Missy 40 blood moblie supervisor live in Indiana

 

Sunnyshine: 27 & 22, Sarah and Savanna

 

mithryl: 54 & 55

 

cruisinJ&C: both 45

 

BlondyX: Juli (paralegal) and Marianne(paramedic) both 43, Phoenix and Toronto

 

etoile: Meredith (26, sign language interpreter) and Anne (38, IT specialist)

 

Pussycat: Phyl & Julie 64 & 68 yrs young, Retired servants to pussy Chloe.

Living in Ontario, Canada 40 yrs together!!!!!

 

Bubski: Bub 54, wife 59 live in British Columbia, Canada

 

RVMamas: Winnie, 57, retired Army Supply Sergeant (92Y E7), and Connie, 57, retired civil service, based out of Broken Arrow (Tulsa), OK, but living where ever the motor home is parked (at a lovely Parish Lake in Ruston, LA this week).

 

paddy Anne: Paddy Anne & Mary 43 & 48, Toronto Ontario

 

mlleach: ML 57 and Andrea 54, Gainesville Fl. One Gator and one Hurricane.

 

derlas: 48 and partner 39

 

KL&KR: Kathy, 62, retired, "disabled"; Kristen, 57, librarian. 4 cats and 25 yrs together in Northern California.

 

postalgrrl: Stacie (43), Jennifer (38). We have been together 11 years and we both work for the post office. Jennifer is a mail carrier and I am a clerk.

 

Jen & Kim: Jen 33 and Kim 39 live in Austin

 

jroth31: Jennifer 35, Marketing for Credit Union and Melinda, 44, Project manager/Certified Fabricator for remodeling company. Roseburg, Oregon

 

Professor MA: professor 57, lawyer 55 live in western mass, grown children 28 and 31, together 25+ years, married yea MA

 

waunabcruizin: Carol 65 Retired IT and Linda 59 Nurse from Gig Harbor, WA. We have been together for 20 years so far with many more to come, we hope.

 

OCLadies: I'm Diane (57 & Insurance Agency owner/agent) and my DW Lori (47 & Recovery Rm. RN). We've been together 5 short years and LOVE to Cruise!!

 

JandT314: My name is Jay (35, Paramedic) and my partner is T (32, Respiratory Therapist)

 

Seasickblues: I (Tea) am 47 and my lovely partner "L" is 55. We've been together 15 years

 

dcikon2:

 

tiggr33: Stacey

 

Mo-n-CJ: in our 40's, going on 1st cruise in Sept.

 

Waimea'sMom: I'm Staci, a 33 year old former attorney/aspiring travel agent. My partner is Shannon, a 36 year old police sergeant. We live in Southern California with our three cats (Dakota, Kahlua and Creampuff). In fact, my screen name comes from our kitten Waimea who passed away when only one year old.:(