Story and photos by Ed Salvato
I've been invited by Out Traveler-award winner Atlantis Events on The Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas to experience the word's largest gay cruise
with 3,500 passengers (nearly sold out, which indicates how we gays are
still traveling!), 1,400 crew, a head-spinning array of optional
activities and three intriguing ports of call: Labadee, Haiti; San
Juan, Puerto Rico; and Philipsburg, St. Maarten.
The Freedom of the Seas, the world's largest cruise
ship, boasts a number of eye-popping features, including outdoor
rock-climbing (starting on deck 13 at around 180 feet about the sea and soaring another 40 feet into the
air), a beautiful outdoor miniature golf course, the Flowrider (a fast,
exciting surfing and body-boarding feature) and--the most unexpected --
an ice-skating rink.
This big slab of frozen H20 with seating for up to 500 was the site of
an ice show by ship entertainers, an open-skating afternoon hosted by
Miss Ritchfield 1981, a signature Atlantis drag entertainer, and, when
covered with floor boards, a concert by Andy Bell of Erasure. For me
the most fun was just a low-key afternoon of open skating that I went
to with Leo (above right), a friend from Moscow. I never thought I'd get to say that I
went ice-skating on a ship in the Caribbean.
One of the big stories of the trip is the huge number of
passengers from outside the U.S., nearly 1,100 or about one third,
including hundreds from Canada, scores from big European countries like
France, the U.K., the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland and surprising
numbers from Brazil, Mexico and even Japan. There were a handful from
Cuba, Turkey and even the United Arab Emirates.
The headline act on Friday was Patti LuPone fresh from her
role as lead in Gypsy on Broadway. Following her two performances was
the White Party, billed as the largest gay party in the Caribbean ever.
It was packed, too, with thousands of white-clad revelers.
Regarding the ports, Labadee is a private area for the
enjoyment of cruise passengers only so the day we arrived
it became a
private gay resort with all sorts of sporting and leisure activities.
San Juan, Puerto Rico, is the most interesting. Established in the
early 1500s, the city has experienced a long, rich history. A good use
of a short visit is to explore the old city, walls and fortress. This
is the only spot in the Caribbean with an established, out, gay
community and a robust gay nightlife.
I enjoy chatting with the crew to find out their impressions of the gay
cruise. The cruise line typically offers the crew the opportunity to
take a leave the week they host the gay and lesbian cruises. Surely
there are those who opt out but for all the men and women I spoke to on
board they unanimously proclaimed the gay cruises their favorite. One
woman told me she wished every week was the Atlantis cruise.
Story and photos by Ed Salvato
I've been invited by Out Traveler-award winner Atlantis Events on The Royal Caribbean's Freedom of the Seas to experience the word's largest gay cruise
with 3,500 passengers (nearly sold out, which indicates how we gays are
still traveling!), 1,400 crew, a head-spinning array of optional
activities and three intriguing ports of call: Labadee, Haiti; San
Juan, Puerto Rico; and Philipsburg, St. Maarten.
The Freedom of the Seas, the world's largest cruise
ship, boasts a number of eye-popping features, including outdoor
rock-climbing (starting on deck 13 at around 180 feet about the sea and soaring another 40 feet into the
air), a beautiful outdoor miniature golf course, the Flowrider (a fast,
exciting surfing and body-boarding feature) and--the most unexpected --
an ice-skating rink.
This big slab of frozen H20 with seating for up to 500 was the site of
an ice show by ship entertainers, an open-skating afternoon hosted by
Miss Ritchfield 1981, a signature Atlantis drag entertainer, and, when
covered with floor boards, a concert by Andy Bell of Erasure. For me
the most fun was just a low-key afternoon of open skating that I went
to with Leo (above right), a friend from Moscow. I never thought I'd get to say that I
went ice-skating on a ship in the Caribbean.
One of the big stories of the trip is the huge number of
passengers from outside the U.S., nearly 1,100 or about one third,
including hundreds from Canada, scores from big European countries like
France, the U.K., the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland and surprising
numbers from Brazil, Mexico and even Japan. There were a handful from
Cuba, Turkey and even the United Arab Emirates.
The headline act on Friday was Patti LuPone fresh from her
role as lead in Gypsy on Broadway. Following her two performances was
the White Party, billed as the largest gay party in the Caribbean ever.
It was packed, too, with thousands of white-clad revelers.
Regarding the ports, Labadee is a private area for the
enjoyment of cruise passengers only so the day we arrived
it became a
private gay resort with all sorts of sporting and leisure activities.
San Juan, Puerto Rico, is the most interesting. Established in the
early 1500s, the city has experienced a long, rich history. A good use
of a short visit is to explore the old city, walls and fortress. This
is the only spot in the Caribbean with an established, out, gay
community and a robust gay nightlife.
I enjoy chatting with the crew to find out their impressions of the gay
cruise. The cruise line typically offers the crew the opportunity to
take a leave the week they host the gay and lesbian cruises. Surely
there are those who opt out but for all the men and women I spoke to on
board they unanimously proclaimed the gay cruises their favorite. One
woman told me she wished every week was the Atlantis cruise.
