Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Best Gay Cruise

On the deck of the Wind Spirit. Travelpride's Caribbean New Year's Gay CruiseThe Travelpride cruise we did over New Year’s was a blast.

Travelpride’s mission is to give gay and lesbian couples and singles an alternative to large ship all-gay cruises. This contrasts with Atlantis/RSVP cruises. Atlantis tends to charter ships in the 2,000-3,000+ passengers range. We have not yet been on one of the big cruises. Someday we will try it.

Ready to board the Wind SpiritTravelpride focuses on offering smaller, more personalized all-gay cruises that sail to new and exciting destinations that the big cruise ships can’t do or reach. Besides the New Year’s cruise, we did their Costa Rica/Panama Pacific cruise in 2006. Both cruises were charted on Windstar Cruise Line. We sailed on Wind Spirit in the Caribbean and on the Wind Star in Costa Rica. Both ships hold 148 guests and a crew of 90.

On both trips we have met new friends that we have stayed in contact with. In fact, it appears that over 25% of this year’s Caribbean cruise is returning next year for another New Year’s cruise with a different itinerary. We already signed up for next year.

Four masted Wind SpiritThe average age on the cruises has been round 45. On the Caribbean cruise the ages ranged from 21 to 80. Majority of the travelers were couples but not all. Steve Champion, the president of Travelpride, said the passenger makeup of the Caribbean cruise was 1/3 returning customers, and another 1/3 of customers that have never been on a cruise before. That speaks well of their niche in the market.

The Travelpride’s staff scrutinizes everything. From the itinerary to entertainment to shore excursions to dinning and bar menus nothing is left untouched. They make sure everything is customized and designed to be a unique and distinctive cruise experience.

Travelpride also makes sure that the destinations are gay-welcoming as well as safe. The Caribbean itinerary started in St. Thomas, US Virgin Islands. We then went to Iles de Saintes, Guadeloupe and the lava covered Montserrat, British West Indies and the ritzy St. Barth’s, French West Indies. We also visited the inviting beaches at Jost van Dyke, BVI and Virgin Gorda, BVI.

GuyDads with Cashetta, the world’s only drag magician, and Miss Coco PeruEntertainment on board featured Cashetta, the world’s only drag magician, and Miss Coco Peru. There was also a cabaret singing duo. There were theme parties every night: Sailor & Seaman Tea Dance, New Year’s Grand Masquerade Ball, Flashback ‘70’s tea dance, Tropical Toga dance on the beach and a Farewell Tea Dance. Everyone had a great time.
You can also see photos posted to Flickr; look for the link on the right.

3 comments:

cruise ship jobs said...

Cruising is always fun as people are friendly and there are lots of activities to do and facilities to enjoy on board. Aside from being able to relax while viewing good scenery off shore, there are also lots of exotic foods to taste and places to go to while the ship is on port. Great blog

Caribbean Cruise said...

Two my friends were in this cruise via ECT. They told me they enjoyed every moment, it was fantastic atmosphere there. They showed me the photos - unbelievable!

maria said...

it is true there have been incidents of homophobia in the Bahamas, I suspect that whatever town you live in it happens there, too," Cindy Brown, Miami Beach Gay Pride operations director, said in a phone interview. "There are pluses and minuses to anywhere one could possibly visit. I believe that if we want to make a difference in the way people view us, we can only do that if we allow them to see who we really are.
gay cruise

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