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The World's Leading Large Ship Specialist!
-- More about Tom Baker
via The Muster Stations
When gay men think of the uses for flickering mirrored objects, it tends to be the 70′s era disco ball. But recently, three men just 12 miles off the coast of Cuba used a flickering mirror as their distress signal to a Carnival Cruise ship.
Read the entire article about the rescue.
Is the Caribbean is losing its appeal as a cruise destination? Four major cruise lines recently announced that they are pulling ALL ships out of the Florida-Caribbean market in the Spring/Summer 2011 Season. The lines are Norwegian, Princess, Celebrity and Holland America. All are moving their ships to Europe and other areas.
Royal Caribbean and Carnival are keeping a handful of big ships and older ships in the Florida-Caribbean area during the summer months.
Famed travel writer Arthur Frommer wrote a big piece on this for Canada’s Toronto Star newspaper, where he lays out possibilities for the change:
“It is entirely possible…[Americans have tired] of Caribbean ports (like Charlotte Amalie in St. Thomas) that have been converted into giant shopping malls. They have wearied of being dumped on artificial private beaches in which the only local residents are employees of the cruise line; there’s consumer fatigue with fake villages.” Arthur Frommer in the Toronto Star.
Frommer further asserts that cruise company executives “have removed cruising from the experience of travel [by replacing] authentic foreign countries with fake replicas of foreign countries.”
Personally I think it’s simply that these destinations were never really sexy to start with. With few exceptions, the islands all seem very similar, and few of them has done a good job of making me believe there’s much to do if I even get off the ship there. I’ll never forget RSVP’s legendary comedian and host Danny Williams joke in the bingo hall as our ship sailed away from Guadaloupe; he called it Gaudapoop. 1,500 gays had not been terribly impressed with the place. (In all fairness, I realize that we are talking about 3rd world islands, and that few are equipped to actually provide thevacation experience most Americans want).
Since my first Caribbean cruise in 1988, island cruising for me has never been much about the destinations (notable exceptions being Puerto Rico and Curacao…I do also quite like the Caribbean’s mainland destinations including Mexico, Costa Rica, and Venezuela). It has been more about the ships themselves, and my experience with my partner or whomever else I travel with. If the Caribbean islands want American cruisers to keep coming, I think they need to do a better job of differentiating their cultures, highlighting their natural resources, and dropping the shopping altogether.
What do you think?
In our first ship review by cruise expert Tom Baker, we go onboard Royal Caribbean’s new Oasis of the Seas. –Ed.
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Size Queens: Oasis of the Seas is five times larger than the Titanic, and the original Love Boat Pacific Princess could fit comfortably in the Oasis’ Opus Dining Room–amazing!
Overall I rate the ship a 10 for innovative features. I would choose to vacation on this ship.
Mark your calendar, there are currently two gay group and charters on sister ship
Allure of the Seas.
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Tom Baker aboard Oasis of the Seas
It’s great for couples, honeymooners, and singles!After sailing on some 250 cruise ships worldwide, I am in absolute amazement after disembarking the new Oasis of the Seas. For gay cruisers looking for something totally unique, Oasis of the Seas and her sister ship coming late in 2010 are here just for you…
Stats. As the largest cruise ship ever built, Oasis is 1,187 feet long, 208 feet wide, with 18 decks above the sea. There wow factor everywhere. I am overwhelmed by its architecture, array of cabins, entertainment venues, dining options, and massive size-again WOW!
Unique. Oasis and her to-come sister-ship are in a class of their own, There has never been anything like them and may not be anything to top them for many years to come. There are no plans to rival them by any other cruise line and even Royal Caribbean has no plans to top this incredible outing. It would be ten years before a ship could be drawn up, financed and built.
Pricing. These ships are so unique that they are collecting a premium price by guests willing to pay for something they cannot find on anywhere else. Deal seekers…sorry, this one isn’t for you. Prices start at a low of $1099 per-person for interior cabins. The cabins ands suites are bigger and better than any other ship in the company’s fleet. Smallest cabins start at 149 square feet; the largest suite is 1,524 square feet plus a balcony of 843 square feet.
Embarkation. The new terminal at Port Everglades (Fort Lauderdale) built exclusively for Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas is the best designed and flowing terminal anywhere. Check-in took less than two minutes and boarding was within 20 minutes of arrival at the pier. Cabins are not open for embarkation until 1:00 p.m. but you can enjoy a welcome aboard meal, make spa appointments, and tour the ship to get a feel for your exciting cruise!
http://cruisecenter.smugmug.com/Travel/Oasis-of-the-Seas-November-22/10432846_KxtNC#723302813_f3Sbw" href="http://cruisecenter.smugmug.com/Travel/Oasis-of-the-Seas-November-22/10432846_KxtNC#723302813_f3Sbw">Cabins
Overview. I visited many cabins and suites, and felt all were above cruise industry standards, well decorated, and
A stateroom on Oasis of the Seas
ample for a cruise for 7-days.
Most of the cabins on this ship consist of balcony staterooms, standard at 182 square feet and balconies that range in size from 50-82 additional square feet depending on your location. Since 90% of the ships accommodations are this type of cabin, I will focus on this specifically. These are spacious rooms with twin or queen sized beds, a full sized couch, vanity, 32 inch flat screen television with internet connectivity and plenty of channels .
Public Spaces
Oasis of the Seas has more dedicated space to passengers than any other in history.
I was particularly taken with two areas.
glass enclosed stairwells and elevator shafts that transverses from top to bottom of this massive luxury liner. The gorgeously landscaped Central Park is filled with tropical trees, plants, and flowers-nearly 12,000 and lined with elegant boutiques, bars, and fee-based alternative restaurants that offer gourmet international cosine. There is a really awesome dining venue that is like a bistro market called the Park Cafe which is open for breakfast and lunch and was popular.These are only two of 7 neighborhoods–I could go on and on but you get the picture.
Dining Venues
There are dozens of dining venues on this ship ranging from the casual Windjammer Cafe on Deck 16 to the massive and most popular Opus dining room spanning decks 3-5, Sorrento’s Italian Cafe on the Royal Promenade, and the gorgeous gourmet fee based 150 Central Park. I tried a number of venues and found the food to be above Royal Caribbean standard (impressive as I was on a travel agent/press junket as guinea pigs for this massive start up ship). The quality was good to excellent and the variety would give the most sophisticated palate a run for their money. A week onboard would not even allow one to try everything this ship has t offer unless you spent your entire time running from venue to venue…
Service
Was friendly from stem to stern. While the ship is ramping up and half the staff has never worked on a ship before, a pleasant hello was always in order from the staff met throughout the ship. I think this will be a very friendly ship. All staff that I spoke with was very proud and happy to be a part of this one-of-a-kind exciting cruise ship.
Entertainment If you ever thought you would be bored on a cruise ship, Oasis will prove you wrong. It has seven unique neighborhoods–each with a theme and unique style giving the ship a kaleidoscope of style and decor.
Ziplining on board Oasis of the Seas
My Top 10 Favorite Things
10 Things I Did Not Like
Conclusion: The pros far outweigh the cons in the big scheme of things. A colleague asked me if I would vacation on this ship and I was very quick to say YES!!!
Thanks for the review, I am booked on the Allure for the Feb cruise and I can’t wait.
An excellent review with the plus and minus sides well covered. I, too, have booked the February cruise and am really looking forward to it. And, we can count on Atlantis to do things right, also.
I just came off of this ship Saturday and yes sinks are small in bathroom and Windjammer is smaller, But that is about the only negative we found. Awesome ship and first rate entertainment. The Rising Tide bar is not a wine bar as we had a group of 8 with different tastes that were all satisfied. Vintages on Central Park is a wine bar. We are booked on Allure in September 2011.
I quite liked the review of this cruise. Specially knowing that it has good accessibility for the disabled one’s. I am a person with disability and feel this should be a good deal for me.
Cruise Ship Reviews
I was actually surprised by what a nice breeze there was in Central Park. On our sailing, there were ALWAYS plenty of seats at EVERY show for last-minute arrivals… but reservations allow you to ENSURE a seat for the performances you prefer. I think there were LOTS of deck chairs (unlike many ships where they are at a real premium). I think there should always be plenty available.
I’m surprised nobody mentioned the VERY cool mirror-finish control panels over the public men’s room urinals, which give you a PERFECT view of your “equipment”. 
That is the most unexpectedly delightful thing I loved about Oasis. )
I have over 2000 pics from our 12 days onboard which are online at Snapfish, which I’ll be glad to share with anybody interested.
St. Thomas is among the most-frequent Caribbean cruise stops. Long-popular for shopping, gorgeous beaches, and its proximity to tiny St. John’s snorkeling diving, the U.S. island-territory undoubtedly has a substantial gay population, even if they’re transient. Alas, gay options on the island seem to be few.
For cruise passengers, that’s not a big deal, although it can be fun to visit a gay watering hole or beach during a shore day. And some cruise passengers using Puerto Rico as a beginning/ending spot might be keen to fly back to St. Thomas for a few days…in which case there is a B&B, The Caribbean Countess, gay-owned since 1989.
Traveler Rick Smith recently spent a week on the island, and here’s his report:
“Just got back from St. Thomas…and after checking the web for gay friends bars or places ended up finding that they had all closed. Talked to a few people at the resort we stayed at for a week, Marriott Frenchman’s Reef, and they said that there are a lot of gays on the island but they tend to all get together mostly by word of mouth. If you can find a gay person at a local resort they are more than happy to direct you in the right direction… The “locals” tend to be a bit more uptight but if you can find others that are from the main land and they seem to be much more approachable when you ask them outright about gay friendly spots.”
Nearby St. Croix is a more-gay port; we’ll look more closely at it in the future.
Posting by Randall Shirley
The web site for the The Caribbean Countess is no longer on-line 1/22/10
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James Ascher, 
mas and 3 others are discussing. 
parag, 
Marc and 2 others are discussing. 
Ron Cullember is discussing.
Thomas Waters 11:37 am on October 19, 2010 Permalink |
For me the real pull back to the Caribbean, is the water and the ease of snorkeling. Especially a gay cruise, the caribbean is a perfect trip to snorkel by day, and dance and party by night.
Alfred Dolge 11:39 am on October 19, 2010 Permalink |
Well also, I think it’s a case of both over capacity in the market, as well as the economy. Vacationers may now be less inclined to lay out a lot of money for a cruise. Passengers may be indeed choosing other itineraries, and as a result, the lines are going where the demand is; also , as pointed out, the big Caribbean destinations may have become “lowest Common Denominator” locations, which is why interestingly, Carnival and RCL still may be in the market, although I have noticed that the “Bahamas run” as I call it now has fallen on older ships..
Paul 1:44 pm on October 19, 2010 Permalink |
They’re going where the money is! Shore excursion prices and first time visitor’s sense of security comes plays in for Europe cruises. Airlift will be up next summer to Europe, though I doubt fares will go down. Also there is untapped demand from the Europeans.
mas 2:25 pm on October 19, 2010 Permalink |
I know full well when traveling to the Caribbean that I’m there for the incredible water, water sports, sun, sand and relaxation.
When I feel I need a bit more culture–cruise to Mexico and central America and sight see on the excursions.
Escape cruise? Bahamas or something short, here out of Tampa (generally Cozumel, Cayman…). Cheap, quick fix. Drink a lot.
I’d be happy to see more pull out quite honestly. Quiet it down a bit.
James Ascher 5:43 pm on October 19, 2010 Permalink |
Cruise lines may be pulling back in the Caribbean due to over saturation of ships. Just look at all the new builds being home-ported and primarily based in Florida! Other than next year’s Carnival Magic which will sail from Galveston, TX the vast majority of new ships are on the East Coast.
There’s also an increasing amount of crime in the region, not just notable hot spots like Jamaica and The Bahamas.
Lesbian Cruises 12:41 am on February 22, 2011 Permalink |
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