Problem on theme mariner cruise/holloween?

[pandajune]

I was wondering about the theme cruise for Oce 28. There will be 400 theme cruisers on this ship. I was reading on their web that they will be wearing dog tags and if you dont have on a dog tag you will not bealoud to enter places on the ship. It will only be for them. The rest of us will be shut out. Is this places that we would have goine? Pool? Shows? We booked over a year and a half ago, I love this ship but I do want to have a great time and beable to go to the bars shows and any where elce that I have been before. We are taking 3 other famileys this year as we told them what a great ship but if we cant do the things we have done in the past because they are going to be closed due to a theme cruise I would really like to know now. So we can change things. Any one elce been on mariner in the past 6 years. How was the Aquefest theme for you. Thanks for your input.

[sheilb4]

This is actually a gay themed cruise....I had booked this crusie date and then after I found out the large groups on board, I decided it wasn't for me, so rebooked another date.

It is always a good idea to check first before payng final payment incase there is a large group/theme and you do not want to go....I do this now as I have been in a position, paid a bunch for a relaxing week and then found out I was on a cruise for a whole week with this very large group cruise of loud and rude behaviours I did not care for....

I am sure this halloween cruise will be fun to observe even if you are not gay or involved....I have some gay male friends and they know really know how to party, party, party, and can get very wild..... I am not sure it would be an appropriate "family" environment?

Good luck with your decision...

[MaryZ]

well if it's like some of the fire island parties we've attended it sounds like fun.

But I suppose that all depends on how open minded you and the families are that you are travelling with ;)

Sounds like they will shut down certain venues (disco, etc) for when their times are to have parties.

it's only a group of 400, that's not overwhelming. But if anyone in your group is really against this particular lifestyle and feels the need to faint when they see it, pick another cruise.

I would certainly mention it to them. Let them make the choice as to whether they want to go or not.

[Little Elm]

If you call RCL will they tell you the cruise you have booked is a theme cruise? We had the same problem with Carnival out of San Juan. They had large parties that were on board, and they shut down some of the bar/lounge areas for a few hours each day to accommodate these parties.

[sheilb4]

The cruise lines will not tell you.....you have to either google the ship, cruise date, etc, or go to this link, it helped "save" me a few times!

www.shoretrips.com

and click on the "groups" tab.......good luck.

[cot427]

If you are worried about areas of the ship shutting down, you should be. When I was on the Mariner last Oct. 15, we had a group of males. They did shut some areas of the ship down. The solarium was shut down, and the sports bar in the Viking crown was shut down. I also beleive the Champange lounge was shut down a couple of nights also. And, they do have private shows in the main theater on certain days. I do agree that you pay for the whole cruise, you should get the whole ship, you they should tell you, the solarium and some bars are going to be closed this sailing.

[charlsee]

The cruise lines will not tell you.....you have to either google the ship, cruise date, etc, or go to this link, it helped "save" me a few times!

www.shoretrips.com

and click on the "groups" tab.......good luck.

 

I guess I don't know what I'm looking for when I go into this site. What does it tell you? Also, what is Aquafest? Sorry to seem so ignorant.:confused:

[reallyitsmema]

I guess I don't know what I'm looking for when I go into this site. What does it tell you? Also, what is Aquafest? Sorry to seem so ignorant.:confused:

If you click on groups and then click on date, it will sort all the group cruises by dates of sailing which makes it easier to find if there is a large group on your sailing. Then what I do, is take the name of the group and pop it into either google or alta vista and you will find out information on that group. Large groups can take over venues on the ship making them unaccessable to you. Here is what I found on aquafest ***** It is really up to each person whether or not they want to sail with a large group. Some have had great experiences, others have never noticed a large group and others have had vey bad experiences with groups.

 

There might be an easier way to find out information on the groups on shoretrips directly but I didn't want to subscribe to another website.

[Sue L]

This is actually a gay themed cruise....I had booked this crusie date and then after I found out the large groups on board, I decided it wasn't for me, so rebooked another date.

It is always a good idea to check first before payng final payment incase there is a large group/theme and you do not want to go....I do this now as I have been in a position, paid a bunch for a relaxing week and then found out I was on a cruise for a whole week with this very large group cruise of loud and rude behaviours I did not care for....

I am sure this halloween cruise will be fun to observe even if you are not gay or involved....I have some gay male friends and they know really know how to party, party, party, and can get very wild..... I am not sure it would be an appropriate "family" environment?

Good luck with your decision...

 

 

I think it is very unfortunate that you equate being gay with automatically being huge partiers, just because some of your friends are. That is doing a great disservice to the entire community because "you know someone". I have gay and straight friends who are huge partiers and others that are complete teetotalers. Also just because 1 group was loud and obnoxious does not mean another will be. There are no guarantees on any cruise who you are going to get on board. We sailed with a huge family group that were the most obnoxious people you would have ever wanted to meet. Also why would a gay themed cruise be any different from a regular cruise. I have seen hetero couples "going at it" right on the pool deck also but you won't hear about that here as know one thinks anything about it, but if you see two guys or girls holding hands it gets blown out proportion and gets reported as an orgy. I don't mean to single you out but I have seen several posts on different threads on this subject.

 

For the record here, I am a 48 year old straight women, married for 23 years and it really gets me upset when I see this kind of stereotyping for ANY group.

[sheilb4]

When you click on the group tab at the top of the home page, you will see a run down of many ships/dates...then you can scroll thru and see the various sailings that have groups/themes...."Aquafest" is a gay themed Halloween cruise.....

There's another large group on the mariner coming up called "hogs at Sea" thats a huge group of bikers......hope this helps....

I avoided both by "googling" and searching, as well as seeing it on shoretrips...

Unfortunately another poster was correct in stating that during these group/themed cruises, many activities/bars/areas are closed off for their private functions.....it can really be an huge "inconvenience" !

[charlsee]

When you click on the group tab at the top of the home page, you will see a run down of many ships/dates...then you can scroll thru and see the various sailings that have groups/themes...."Aquafest" is a gay themed Halloween cruise.....

There's another large group on the mariner coming up called "hogs at Sea" thats a huge group of bikers......hope this helps....

I avoided both by "googling" and searching, as well as seeing it on shoretrips...

Unfortunately another poster was correct in stating that during these group/themed cruises, many activities/bars/areas are closed off for their private functions.....it can really be an huge "inconvenience" !

 

Thanks for this information; it's just amazing what you can learn from the CC Community!

[sheilb4]

Wow, you really misunderstood my post!!!

I too am a straight female but was mentioning that some of my male "gay" friends knew how to party...they were a blast! and so much fun.......Some of the most fun times I had....

I was NOT being negative at all......just its not always a "family' environment, depending on the open mindedness/upbringing etc of some families........

....I have travelled worldwide and certainly never "stereotype" having seen many many things in my travels, in many countries.......just stating a fact that some "families" may not feel comfortable......sorry you misunderstood what I was saying....

[Sue L]

Wow, you really misunderstood my post!!!

I too am a straight female but was mentioning that some of my male "gay" friends knew how to party...they were a blast! and so much fun.......Some of the most fun times I had....

I was NOT being negative at all......just its not always a "family' environment, depending on the open mindedness/upbringing etc of some families........

....I have travelled worldwide and certainly never "stereotype" having seen many many things in my travels, in many countries.......just stating a fact that some "families" may not feel comfortable......sorry you misunderstood what I was saying....

 

 

I am sorry if I misconstrued your posting and apologize.

[hawkfish]

The OP's original concern was that it seems sections of the ship that would normally be available to everyone will not be available to non-group members during this sailng. This is a legitimate concern. He/she just says that it is a 'theme' cruise - others brought up what the group is.

 

This has nothing to do with the group, who they are, what they stand for, or what they will be doing. It only has to do with the OP getting to enjoy the entire ship, since he/she has to pay the 'entire' price.

[hcat]

Thanks for two more sources to check for groups--no one likes to sail with groups unless they are in the group--maybe they should group the groups together....even so if 400 members of the group go to the open to everyone solarium you will not be having fun as you are not part of the group--sugest you take another trip I am goingto start a thread to get all the sources to check for groups--so "non-groupies "can check...

[Fam_Cruise]

Someone mentioned that with large groups many activities/bars/areas are closed off. This group is not that large as best I can tell from their web site, so only a few areas should be affected. Below is a list of the private events they will be hosting on board:

 

"We will have two private cocktail parties, a personable host, two private entertainment programs including some fun and games with prizes, group dining, optional private shore excursions in some ports of call, a Gay & Lesbian film festival at sea, special gifts, and much more..."

 

For more detailed information on this group you may see their FAQ here.

 

I hope that helps.

[Mark_K]

I think it is very unfortunate that you equate being gay with automatically being huge partiers, just because some of your friends are. That is doing a great disservice to the entire community because "you know someone". I have gay and straight friends who are huge partiers and others that are complete teetotalers. Also just because 1 group was loud and obnoxious does not mean another will be. There are no guarantees on any cruise who you are going to get on board. We sailed with a huge family group that were the most obnoxious people you would have ever wanted to meet. Also why would a gay themed cruise be any different from a regular cruise. I have seen hetero couples "going at it" right on the pool deck also but you won't hear about that here as know one thinks anything about it, but if you see two guys or girls holding hands it gets blown out proportion and gets reported as an orgy. I don't mean to single you out but I have seen several posts on different threads on this subject.

 

For the record here, I am a 48 year old straight women, married for 23 years and it really gets me upset when I see this kind of stereotyping for ANY group.

Gay, straight or indifferent, I would guess that people specifically signing up for a group cruise that advertises itself to be a "halloween bash" are likely to be partiers.

[pandajune]

Thanks to all for your input. I do feel better tonight about it. But the next time I have learned to do my home work ..Thanks for your ideas on how to do that. And it dont sound like to many things might be closed. I had heard that with theme crusing if you are not part of it you are S.O.L. We booked this 15 months ago so it has been a long time comming. I would have hated it so much to have cancled. And knowing about it ahead of time it wont be a surprise and if they do close something we can have a plan to do something elce.. I do need to let the other partys comming with us but being from Calf. I am sure her 13 year old daughter has seen it all. But they can make up thier minds.. Thanks again Panda