Gay and lesbian cruises soar in popularity

Spud Hilton

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Despite last year's shakeup among gay travel companies, gay and lesbian cruises are gaining in popularity. Here's a sampling of offerings in the next year from the major providers. (Note: All fares are per person, double occupancy. Add $200 to $300 more per person for taxes, fees, fuel surcharge and gratuities.)

R Family Vacations: The Rosie O'Donnell-fronted company, which focuses on gay and lesbian families with kids, is headed for Canada and New England this July, a weeklong round trip out of New York aboard the Norwegian Dawn (2,200 passengers). Stops will include Halifax, Bay of Fundy, Bar Harbor, Maine, Provincetown, Mass., Newport, R.I. The voyage is July 13-20; fares start at $999 per person (double occupancy), including port and government fees and gratuities. Visit www.rfamilyvacations.com.

Olivia: The company is celebrating its 35th anniversary with the "biggest Olivia celebration ever," a weeklong trip on Holland America's Westerdam (1,800 passengers) that leaves Fort Lauderdale on Nov. 23. Stops include: Turks and Caicos Islands; St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands; Philipsburg, St. Maarten; and Half Moon Cay, Bahamas. More importantly, the entertainment includes the Go-Go's, Belinda Carlisle and Sick of Sarah. Available fares start at $1,499. Visit: www.olivia.com.

Atlantis: In January 2009, the company again will hold the world's largest gay cruise (now an annual event), this time on Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas (3,700 passengers), a ship that shares the crown for largest on the planet. The weeklong round-trip voyage out of Miami leaves on Jan. 25 and includes stops in San Juan, P.R.; Philipsburg, St. Maarten; and Labadee, Haiti. The entertainment lineup has not been announced, but performers on previous trips include Joan Rivers, Rosie O'Donnell, Mario Cantone, Margaret Cho, Patti LuPone, Wanda Sykes and Jennifer Hudson. Visit: www.atlantisevents.com.

RSVP Vacations: The next large-ship gay and lesbian cruise will be Feb. 21-28, 2009, in the Eastern Caribbean onboard the Holland America's new Eurodam (2,100 passengers). The round-trip voyage out of Fort Lauderdale stops in Turks and Caicos, San Juan, P.R., St. John and Half Moon Cay, Bahamas. Available fares start at $1,049. Visit: www.rsvpvacations.com.

Cabanas, boy: In the continuing effort by cruise lines to offer more features and services - and, not coincidentally, charge more for them - Holland America plans to equip its newest ship with private cabanas that can be rented for the day.

The tented cabanas on the Eurodam - 14 in an area of the Observation Deck called the Retreat, and eight poolside ones on the Lido Deck - will offer a "private haven," according to the company, that passengers may use for spa treatments (at a discount), private meals or simply relaxing. Each is stocked with bathrobes, plush towels, handheld fans, "an Evian spray mister" and an iPod preloaded with music, as well as bottled water, fruit and an afternoon glass of Champagne.

Privacy, however, isn't free: Retreat cabanas will be $45 on port days and $75 on sea days; Lido cabanas are $30 and $50, respectively. Passengers may rent them for a day or for the entire voyage (around $400 for a typical seven-day trip).

The Eurodam is scheduled to launch this summer and will sail the Baltic, Canada and New England and the Caribbean during 2008.

Encouraging landlubbers: If you've cruised the Caribbean, chances are you've stopped in the U.S. Virgin Islands - and it's a good chance you thought about returning for a longer stay. It turns out you're not the only one hoping you'll do that.

Tourism officials for the U.S. Virgin Islands announced recently a promotion to encourage cruise passengers to consider longer return visits, offering a free sixth night of lodging, a free six-day car rental, a $60 gift card, dining and shopping coupons and, of course, a bottle of rum.

Why? Because one of the busiest cruise destinations on the planet would love to have visitors to be there a little more than the typical six hours, according to recent statement by tourism officials. The "Six to Six" promotion (six hours to six days) will run June 1 through Dec. 31, 2009, and can be booked directly through participating hotels. Also, you don't really have to have been there on a cruise before to get the package, but hey, it's a column about cruises. For more: www.usvitourism.vi.

On the dock of the bay: Large cruise ships expected at San Francisco's Pier 27, 32 and 35 during the next two weeks: Millennium (Celebrity), Monday; Dawn Princess, May 27. For updates, go to www.sfport.com and select the "Cruise" and "Cruise Schedule" links.