No Friends of Dorothy Party on this boat…or is there?
Hello cruisers.
I just completed a cruise.
CTMA Vacancier Cruise Ferry, photo courtesy CTMA
It was not a luxury cruise, nor was it a cheap cruise. For the same price, about $1,200/person for an inside cabin, there are much nicer ships…especially in the current economy.
But the cruise I took, aboard the MV CTMA Vacancier, is unusual, and I’m curious if any of you have taken a similar “regional speciality” cruise.
The 12,000-ton, 500-passenger Vacancier (French for “holiday maker) sails entirely within Quebec, Canada, traveling a weekly route from Montreal (a glorious destination), up the St. Lawrence River, to its home port of Les Iles de le Madeleine. After a 2-night stop on the islands, the ship returns to Montreal, with day stops on the Gaspe Peninsula and in Quebec City. Most of the passengers are French Canadians, and they happily pay the hefty cruise price to see a tiny group of islands that are legendary in the Quebec culture.
The ship itself is old (circa 1972), and is really just a ferry with upgraded passenger facilities, including a couple of bars, a cafeteria, an evening dining room, and small rooms with exercise equipment and children’s activities. Music is provided by an island singer, or by the ship’s staff crooning to their guitars. The food is sub-par, but the passengers don’t seem to mind. They are quite content to sail within their own waters–a regional staycation, perhaps–viewing shore features they’ve only heard of, such as the giant windmills near Cap Chat or the hole-in-the-rock at Roche Percé.
On board, I met a gay couple, around 30 years old, who live in the Montreal suburbs. When I asked them why they chose this cruise, they shrugged “we’ve always wanted to experience Les Iles de la Madeleine.” It seemed to be the answer of everyone on the boat–gay or straight.
I became table-mates with the couple, and the maitre d’ added a fourth person–a single older woman–to our table. She was straight, but turned out to be the perfect fit. For the two nights we cruised together, we became the ship’s sole “Friends of Dorothy” party. I taught them English words like “shenanigans;” they explained many facets of French Canadian culture to me.
My cruise ended on the Islands where I’m now spending four-nights in a splendid gay-owned B&B, La Butte Ronde. I’ve been treated to dinner by the hosts–one of them, Guy, made his version of the idlands’ signature seafood pie called “pot en pot.” It was crammed full of lobster and scallops, and divinely delicious.
But back to the cruise–I enjoyed sailing to these mysterious islands rather than flying (although I’ll fly back), and I did have a “meet me on board” experience–even if it wasn’t arranged through our site.
Have you ever taken a specialty or regional cruise such as this one? What was your experience? Did you meet fellow gays on board? Share your thoughts!
Jerry C is discussing. 
Ken 2:40 pm on October 1, 2009 Permalink |
I think the key comment was that “they don’t know us.” Here in Baja where I live, I have experienced a recent phenomena of straight party organizers trying to put together a gay party. The adds all look just like a regular gay party… but since I live here and know most of the gay bar owners and party organizers, I tend to check things out if I don’t recognize someone.
What I find is that if your are not gay, you just don’t know how to put all the pieces together. Same thing with a “gay” bar. We have seen straights come in and try to have a “gay night” but all they want is our money.
If the cruise lines want to do this, they need to break free of their “corporate suit” and hire gay people to run the show. That also means hiring gay cruise directors on mainstream cruises and letting them be out! There are gay CD’s and other staff, but you have to draw them out to get them to admit to being gay!
If you look on cruiscritic or cruisemates you see many straight and gay cruisers mingling and the straight cruisers universally think that gay cruisers add something to their experience. They love us! But we can’t even get the cruise lines to universally list FOD gatherings… even hiding behind the acronym!
The corporate types are hidden away in their offices… the ship’s officers, crew and staff are the ones who interact with us. The decision to hold a gay cruise will not come from the ship because they don’t have the power or input. And the corporate offices are too straight.
Have we ever seen a cruiseline at a Gay Pride festival? Do they advertise in your gay publications? The Pride program? Gay agents do… very few corporate ads supporting our community.
So really… I don’t see the cruise line sponsored gay cruise anytime soon. And that’s okay… I have no problem supporting the gay groups and agents that put together the all-gay cruises or gay groups on mainstream cruises.
Ken in Rosarito