Gay cruise holidays, the basics

If you don’t fancy a ‘specialist’ holiday with one of the agencies that books entire charters for gay or lesbian (or both) holiday cruise groups, here are some things to bear in mind when looking at the major cruise lines and destinations.

There are sadly frequent reports of objections to, or actual refusal of, gay passengers and charters on several Caribbean islands, such as Jamaica and Bermuda. Sometimes people have found themselves being hassled and refused service in the ports of highly conservative countries like Turkey and Egypt too. These can be minor concerns although for those involved it can be a humiliating and shocking experience.

A rule of thumb is that behaviour should be low key in much of the Caribbean, simply to avoid attracting too much attention, and that in conservative ports of call it’s wise to take the advice of a specialist travel agent or at least the on-ship information service, about what will generally be considered acceptable. If you prefer not to moderate your clothing, signs of affection or other ‘gaydar’ triggering behaviours, then consider Northern or Western Europe, or the North

It’s really a good idea to talk to an agent – often they’ll have booked hundreds of trips for LGBT clients and can give you solid feedback on how each cruise line deals with issues like seating people next to their partners at dinner.