My definition of ‘being gay’ has to do with how comfortable my partner of 23 years and myself can be on a mainstream cruise. We don’t need to be flamboyant but we do need to feel comfortable as gay men who have been in a long-term relationship. This was our first sailing with Carnival and our feelings were generally very positive.
First, the positive:
The pool deck on the Carnival Spirit
The Carnival Spirit employees were superb! The staff on the Spirit were some of the kindest we have ever had. When we asked our steward to join our twin beds, he never blinked an eye. The waiters in the main restaurant were all first-class no matter if they were serving Dale and I or a table of six to ten gay men. We felt comfortable embracing on the deck watching the sunset and also dancing with our friends in the disco. Never did the staff or the passengers on board make us feel uncomfortable.
Now, the negative:
The friendliness of the staff did not carry over to the hospitality of Carnival. Even though they held a nightly Friends of Dorothy gathering, Carnival did nothing to make it unique. Since this was a Halloween cruise, there were a large number of gays and lesbians on this sailing. They held
Ken from the BajaGay group at one of the nightly FOD events
the first FOD meeting in the Deco Lounge which was next to the entrance of the main dining room. Due to this, the lounge was full of people having a pre-dinner cocktails which left no room for our group. Stu, the Cruise Director walked by and a few of us stopped him to explain the situation. He specifically mentioned that there were was a large group of G&L cruisers on this sailing and he was going to change the time of the FOD meeting so it wound not interfere with the dinner crowd and we would have more space to socialize. This was kind of him to make the time change but he never went out of his way to welcome us on board and didn’t take a few minutes to introduce himself to the group. I don’t believe this would have happened on many other cruise lines especially with this large of a group. A little hospitality from the Cruise Director goes a long way and says a lot about the cruise line and ship.
To summarize:
The ship’s amenities were fine, the wait staff and cabin staff superb, and the food excellent without exception. We just feel that Carnival could have been more welcoming to the large G&L contingent on board. Would I sail Carnival again? Absolutely. When do we leave?
