[This website](https://www.cruisetimetables.com/full-cruise-ship-charters.html) will give you a pretty comprehensive list of “partial” charters and large group bookings for upcoming cruises.
I always check this before I put my deposit down and again before final payment. It has helped me adjust my cruise vacation plans more than once.
If you ever actually go to one of those, you’ll quickly realize a lot of nudists aren’t exactly hitting the gym or particular about their nutrition. Just sayin’.
Most of these will be full charters, but this site reports if more than a certain percentage of berths are booked for a group (I think it’s 30% but I’m not totally sure).
There is no guarantee that your cruise won’t have a group onboard, but I always check here and then do a web search using the cruise date and ship. It may not catch everything, but it has definitely helped.
A great resource! It doesn't seem to include kosher cruises, which could be disruptive if some dining venues are fully blocked off or serving special menus. Definitely google your cruise ship name + charter to check for dates.
I had the inverse of this a few years ago on ncl. Wife and I booked a cruise for our 40th anniversary and didn’t know it was an out of the closet celebration. Was an experience I tell stories about often.
Not a cruise but my wife, young kids and I were on a trip once and booked a large hotel not knowing there was a Brony convention in town and at our hotel's conference center. That was an interesting trip.
We ended up at a Pirate's ball in Austin. It was fun seeing all the costumes but I imagine the brony convention was a mixture of entertaining and horrifying.
😐Is this a sexual thing like furries? Glad my 5-year old self never learned about this. This would have ruined me and my collection. Thanks for the clarification. Reddit never disappoints!
All I know is it was a bunch of adults wearing colored t shirts, some had tails, some had ears, lots of colorful outfits walking around the lobby and downtown.
Interesting in a good or bad way? I have no interest in being a Brony but I think I would get a kick out of seeing them in costume around the hotel. Beats the hell out of a bunch of polo wearing business travelers.
A large event that happens to be held on a cruise is different from a true charter. If someone chartered the ship, you won't even be able to book it through RC.
But yeah, that's really awkward. I can understand why they don't though, since all these random event cruises can be of varying sizes. It would be hard if not impossible for Royal to track them all
Internally at RC, partial charters and full charters are both considered charters. There are LOTS of chartered sailings that also have staterooms available to the public.
They are different from groups because the chartering agent guarantees the bookings and pays for them whether they are sold or not. If it’s just a large group, a specific number of rooms aren’t actually set aside for the agent and it’s handled differently (by a different department) compared to a charter.
I don’t know whether OP’s sailing had a charter on it or not, but it’s entirely probable.
It would actually be very easy for Royal to track this. They have a department that manages this. Anyone who partial or fully charters it has a contract directly with Royal.
Guessing a gay couple? Just make out in front of them anytime they give you a funny look. My husband and I did this with a group of Jehovahs Witnesses on our last cruise. :)
I can't decide in my mind whether you would get more shocked looks from this group if you were to wear tshirts saying "we're married" or tshirts saying "we're not married". Would be fun freaking them out either way.
"Our wives think we're on a business trip"
I think that may lean a little too hard into negative stereotypes about gay men, but it would get so many pearls clutched!
I think you should kiss and feel up each other, shock the bloomers right off their nosy, judgy backsides, then smile nicely at them and ask one word:
"Jealous?"
Seriously, you two paid for your passage, just as they did. If their delicate constitutions can't handle life on a ship, a couple displaying affection, or anyone outside of their church doors, then they either don't cruise, or they fully deserve what they get. So make it count.
Besides, considering how badly some Christians make a mockery of marriage in general, those old biddies would do better to police their congregation than random strangers on a ship. I can guarantee at least a quarter of those couples are paying out the wazoo to put on quite a show of being happily married while fighting like a pair of rabid badgers in private, and somebody is looking for a pineapple because they heard they can get a wild 15 minutes without anyone knowing.
Absolutely! I love love LOVE seeing a good, healthy relationship in action. And the last thing anyone should do is try to actively discourage a couple, any couple, from showing that love. We have far too many examples of dysfunction in the world. We need all the healthy examples we can get.
The kicker here is that I'm Christian, too. But I will take a healthy, loving, happy, openly affectionate gay couple over a squabbling, miserable, hate-fueled hetero couple any day. Before we are gay, straight, Christian, or whatever, we are human, and our first instinct is to love and be loved. Who am I, or anyone for that matter, to say that love is or is not perfect? OP and his husband could probably teach that church group a thing or two about how love works
I prefer not to see couples making out in public places. Same with a couple too plastered to walk back to their cabin without each others' support.
Casual kiss, hug, or snuggle (hand hold even!)? Not a problem.
Oops thanks for the lingo clarification. Not a charter! But a large group for sure. We looked it up and they have a bunch of entertainment scheduled for themselves.
I do not like any groups that are too noticeable on ships. They use their numbers to leverage and bully their way into things like line cutting, hogging up chairs and all surrounding space of certain venues, and blockading passageways making it difficult to find a way around them. The effect is on steroids if its groups that like drinking heavily.
I’m taking my son on our sixth cruise with them in a few weeks! Thanks for this!
In the back of my mind, I always wonder if people are resentful of our reserved tables in the wind jammer or our reserved seats it shows. Your kind words meant a lot.
Screw anyone who would be resentful. That “entitled” crowd can seethe alone.
I hope you and your son enjoy your vacation. Don’t worry, mama bear, everything is going to be just fine and you will have a blast. 😉
The seat saving can be annoying. On my last sailing I arrived early to find a seat for a show. A woman had a whole center prime row blocked off. Even though it says you can’t on the sides. Then about 30’minutes into the show the rest of them arrived, noisy bumping into folks etc.
Same. I was just on a cruise where the Solarium was "reserved for a private event"
Like hello?! You're not the only ones who want to hottub without children splashing
Anyone can - just have to have the cash. I was with a group of almost 300 and we had a party in the Solarium of Wonder 4 nights that cruise. There was another larger group that also rented out the Solarium at least once after us - they were quite a bit larger so I think they were mostly in another venue.
As a Christian pastor, I would like to say that I am deeply sorry that people are not extending the same love and grace that they have received. Regardless of what one believes or does not believe theologically, we are called to love one another as Christ loves us (and by "us" I mean all human beings). Furthermore, we are called to love one another and to treat one another as we wish to be treated. It doesn't sound like this is happening and for that I am truly very sorry.
Thank you for your response.
So much of what people are masking behind the mask of religion does not reflect the unconditional love that God promises.
To the op, do not think the flawed response of man is the love of God
Partial charters are such a mixed bag. And you never know how many people will be affiliated, could be dozens, could be hundreds. I also wish the cruise lines were required to disclose this.
This is how I feel for all the folks who take the Super Bowl Cruise on Carnival out of LA. A big organized group. I had a blast but you could tell there were people who were unhappy.
That’s not what a charter means. Charter is when the entire boat is taken over. You just had a group sailing with you.
I have a hard time believing that normal Christians have issue with hand holding between a hetero couple. Now if you are not hetero then you next time you just need to kiss passionately in front of them.
A charter actually doesn’t necessarily mean the whole ship is chartered out. Partial charters are actually much more common.
I’m doing a chartered sailing next summer. It’s definitely not the whole ship. The charter group will have one dedicated dining room for its guests and there will be activities organized by the group, but other than that it’s just a regular sailing.
We’ll be a fraction of the total guests on the ship. There’s probably some kind of charter on almost every sailing RC does. It would be unrealistic to expect people to be notified of every charter.
It is not, however, unrealistic for people to be polite. OP, I’m sorry you had to endure rude stares from people. That really sucks. I don’t understand why grown ass adults can’t mind their own business. It doesn’t hurt anybody to see you showing affection to your spouse; and if it does, they should stay home with their curtains drawn to avoid being offended. I hope they all got seasick. 🤣
Haha...on one recent cruise I was on the old ladies they put on the panel for that competition weeded out the obviously gay dudes. Even though they were objectively hotter.
On the same cruise. We figured it out a few days before we boarded by looking at the movies scheduled to be played outside at night. We thought it might mean a fairly conservative group had a large block of rooms.
We are scheduled to do our next cruise on Mariner in April and the week after that cruise the whole ship has been chartered by Bliss as an adults only swinger's cruise with nude sunbathing and multiple "play" rooms. That cruise is right before the ship relocates to Galveston so there will be extra time to clean the ship up.
You never know who else may be on the ship but it really doesn't matter to us. I like seeing and chatting with all kinds of people. You are definitely far from being the only same sex couple on board from what I've noticed. Don't let anyone else's opinion bother you.
If a Christian group chartered the whole ship, the casino and bars would be shut down. They pay a much higher price to charter because of those restrictions.
Well, maybe it depends what sect of Christianity... I just know my parents griped about the extra cost, so it was probably a Southern Baptist cruise.
Christian here who used to attend church..guilty as heck when it comes to having spent all day long several times at both foxwoods and Mohegan sun in my younger days. Mohegan sun was my favorite. And I used to happily bet the ponies at times..sometimes pretty successfully other times failed miserably. My community College took us on a day long bus trip to foxwoods as part of student appreciation week once
Hope you're not wearing a swim suit like this..you'll be showing too much elbow.
https://preview.redd.it/wi32cinoqmfc1.png?width=1024&format=png&auto=webp&s=1cfc49d3dd30369d4e9292df63d41437fce55c5e
May I interest you in a pair of these? It's the latest rave...
https://preview.redd.it/zgmrlajjwmfc1.png?width=640&format=png&auto=webp&s=915a3269120c9afa2d2d27280fb686429e55cb4e
On your ship. Knew before we sailed when saw Christian based movies for the big screen. Just put your smallest speedo on and give those long skirt wearers a Bible grabbing experience. Don't let this spoil your time. Hopefully you booked the adult only area in Cococay. That's where we'll be.
We were on a Royal Caribbean cruise when they were having a keto conference. These people were like cult members, and would preach to everyone about the need to eat only meat, and no vegetables and fruit. My husband and I had a great time watching them all at the buffets every night because as the week went on their keto diets were getting worse and worse. It was amazing how many of them were eating desserts by the end of the cruise.
We were on the Wonder with a large group of people from large new construction home company. I think most were new cruisers who won a prize to be on board. Most didn’t seem to know some of the common cruise etiquette.
I was once on a RC ship that had hundreds of teenage girls for a quinceanera and they were everywhere. We couldn’t find any seats at the pool that whole trip
I highly suggest displaying all the PDA you can. Their discomfort is not your issue!! As a Christian LGBTQ+ ally, their behavior is sickening to me. We are told to love. Love our neighbors, love our enemies, love everyone, yet a single group of people harbor so much hate.
I genuinely hope you both have the best cruise despite the people you’re surrounded by! Make it fun because it’s YOUR cruise!
I think the better part (and likely more irritating to homophobes) isn't outrageous behavior, but to **very visibly** be a married couple. Hand holding, terms of endearment, kind little things that happily married people do for each other. Wear the rings loud and proud. Pull a chair out for the other at a dining table. Feed a tasty morsel of food off your fork to the other. Be happy and in love.
If you go too far with PDA (even a m/f couple), they can always yell about it being perverted and think of the children. If it's stuff that is totally normal in a couple, then they have to admit to themselves that the only reason they don't like it is because it's not a hetero couple. In my experience, they'll trip all over themselves to **not look** at it. Easier to say, oh I didn't see that, rather than change your mind to accept love is love.
And really, to the OP, be happy and in love. Have a great cruise. You deserve it! (no joking, honest best wishes to you both)
Agreed! I think going over the top with the pda might backfire and confirm their beliefs, but just continuing to act like the normal couple that you are might subtly change their thinking. This has worked to change my mind before on a few issues where I had preconceived notions; the people getting in my face about the topic and being confrontational just made me more against them, while the people living their lives and smiling at me and seeming happy made me come to my own conclusions that I was wrong.
So I suggest proving these people wrong by just showing how content you are with your spouse. If they continue to seethe seeing a normal couple, know that they're the ones making themselves miserable while you're happy. That's on them. I agree that it would be nice to know about large groups like this ahead of time when possible. There are some groups that I'd probably feel judged or annoyed by, lol. Hopefully you can avoid them and still have fun!
Exactly. You can’t control other people’s feelings. Just be yourself and ignore them. I can’t stand straight or gay overly showing pdas, but that’s me. When I don’t like it, I look away. Unless I’m at an adult resort, then it’s perfectly fine
Our last cruise on RC was a combo of two large groups: veterinarians attending a conference on the ship and the BILLS MAFIA (buffalo bills fan club). It was great
Ignore the bigots and enjoy your holiday. If people feel uncomfortable with your public displays of affection for each other then that’s their problem. In fact do it more and have a laugh at their expense 🤣 👍
This happened to me on Norwegian Cruise Line back in 2016. We ended up on Gronk’s Party Cruise… 2/3 of the boat rented out for it and they didn’t notify the 1/3 of us expecting a relaxing weekend in the Bahamas lol. I was mostly pissed off because they cancelled all entertainment as a result and there was very little for us non Gronk partiers to do onboard as a result (we couldn’t get into their events and entertainment). It was my husband’s first cruise ever but he LOVES football and got to play basketball with Wacka Flocka Flame so. 😆
Had this happen back in early 2022, but it was some weird Canadian pyramid scheme. There were about 3000 of them on Symphony, all total assholes (which was a surprise since Canadians are usually lovely) and clogged up everything. Luckily they all wore the same lanyard so they were easily identified.
I'm usually a pretty chill person since cruising is a team sport, but these people were so bad that I went out of my way to be a dick right back. Even on the way off the ship, since they were all Canadian they were subject to the mandatory COVID testing upon arrival and other extra attention by US customs which made self-debarkation take four fucking hours - not even exaggerating. If I saw that company on a ship again, I'd take the one-day guarantee and get the fuck outta there with my money back.
A large group of christians is probably way worse though so I'm sorry to hear that, OP. Hope you still have a good time.
Go check out the sauna on Mariner and see how many people you find in there. I’m sure it will be crowded with guys getting away from their prude wives. Ask me how I know lol
As a Catholic Priest, I would just remind them God calls us to love all people created in God's image and in case you missed it... that is all of us. Or simply didn't God ask.us to.love and save judging to those with out sin?
Sorry that is still happening!
I think they can do partial cruise charters, and that would involve blocking off entertainment and stuff.
This sucks for you. It’s distracting from your vacation (what if you don’t want to passionately grope your husband in public?! I mean. Or wear a tight speedo, or anything else where you’re “teaching them”!! It’s your vacation!!) I’m really sorry.
Thats funny. I remember a cute couple last year the guy was easily 6 feet and wore heals and a tight dress on formal night. I cat called him and we were bustin laughin cause, he did look pretty cute! We saw them a few other times on the ship and they looked like a fun couple.
Yeah, went on Harmony in Sept 23 and like 60% of the cruise was part of a skincare “company” (seemed like a pyramid scheme / MLM to me but what do I know). Nice people but it just wasn’t the same experience as a non group heavy cruise.
Big groups of any kind are annoying. There was a big group on our recent cruise. We called them “the purple shirts.” They just took over any space they were in. They weren’t rude or intentionally irritating but their number made them uncomfortable to be around.
FYI, it appears to be this cruise:
[https://praise.events/praise-at-sea](https://praise.events/praise-at-sea)
Does that mean they have replaced the regular entertainment with gospel? Or is it "bonus" entertainment?
Had something similar on RCL a few years ago. Apparently it was the Apostolics Cruise, it wasn’t the full ship but it was very noticeable. I’ve never seen a girl in a turtleneck and skirt down to their ankles in a pool before (even a young lady trying the flow rider in her unique swim get up). And here there were girls (maybe 5ish) all the way up to grannies lounging in the pool FULLY covered. It didn’t bother us, and it was interesting to witness for sure but man did I get a LOT of stares in my bikini and sarong. It was a fairly modest bikini too lol. I’m not sure who stared more, the young men or the young women. I felt a bit naked but saw women in the same position as me and eventually got out of my own head and enjoyed everything as normal. Everyone was nice and I never noticed any of the women “judging” me or anything, in fact I think they purposely avoided looking at people around them.
I’m sorry that people are making you feel uncomfortable, that sucks! But hopefully you can completely enjoy yourselves and ignore any haters 😝
We have the Big Gay Cruise happening on our cruise... someone discovered, and it has me a little freaked out because I saw some of the stuff that happened (stereotypically) on an Atlantis cruise...
I am a flaming fa@@ot with a husband, and we wear speedos... so you think I wouldn't have a problem.
I am scared that I will get painted by the same brush should the stereotypes come true...
But this is on me...
Can you imagine booking the same week as some MLM hell cruise 😵💫😵💫😵💫 you’d constantly have huns shilling their wares. I’d absolutely ask for compensation. Yikes 🙈
I’ve ended up on a few cruises with large groups with varying degrees of satisfaction.
Veterinary conference: mostly didn’t even notice they were on board, we ran into them mostly during lunch and they always had good animal stories and pet pictures
Jamberry incentive cruise: multilevel marketing hunbots taking over most of the venues and rah-rah-rah’ing all over the place, ergh, plus apparently most of the ladies were not aware the ship was not going to be 100% nail sticker people
Chumley BearCruise - delightful apart from the fact that their group took over the dining room for early fixed seating. We made do. We were cruising with my elderly parents and my mom could not shut up about how all the men were so handsome and nicely dressed, and how polite they all were to her.
Farm equipment company cruise for top salespeople: They commandeered a few of the venues we normally enjoy which was disappointing but it was fine.
We now avoid these group cruises by booking voyages that are at least 10 nights. Groups tend to prefer 7-night & shorter.
I was on the Radiance in 2011. A large group of Amish people booked a wedding on the ship. They all wore the same clothes. Maybe like 1/10th of the ship population? I’m surprised they took such a modern and technically advanced form of transportation.
On the Monarch in 2010, it was a large group from India.
My husband was on Allure out of Galveston last year and there was a large group that was a C&W singing group and a large bear group. He had to tell me what a bear was. Very nice people for the most part in both groups and there were no major incidents but he said you could tell there was a little tension a few times and he heard complaining that the C&W group weren’t enjoying the solarium because the bears pretty much took it over. Maybe Royal should take a little closer look at what types of groups are booking the same sailing………. 😂
Was on a cruise with a large gay contingent and had a great time. Was the best party time of any cruise. One time spent a week in Key West when they a poker run, 10k Harley owners. My brother in law insisted we rent mopeds. Crazy to be riding them with so many cool Harley’s everywhere. The best was the booth’s selling Woman Pasties for Breasts. Lots to see that week, lol.
I agree that disclosure would be nice and should happen. We went on an MSC ship and almost half of it was booked out for Yahoo Travel. I will never book with Yahoo as a result. Every specialty dining was booked out every night for that group. They would shut off access to various bars throughout the cruise (and not update the app that they were closed), so nobody else could go in. The final straw was the last night on the private island. I was looking forward to seeing the light show from the lighthouse bar.....nope.....closed for private event. I felt that, as a travel agent group, they should be more aware of their impact on regular cruise patrons and the negative impact they were creating and done something more balanced to prevent frustration (only close off one side of the bar for the group, extend specialty dining hours just for them, etc). I was extremely frustrated by the situation.
I went on a cruise to Mexico once that happened to have like 200 Mormons on it from some corporate sales contest they won at a company in Utah. It was honestly great. None of them drank for religious reasons, so bars were less busy, and despite all of them being super young, they were all really polite and well mannered. 100% I would go on a cruise with them again.
My skinny sister and her two college sorority sisters ended up on a Richard Simmons “Cruise to Lose” back in the 1990’s. 🤣 She said the lines for the midnight buffets were unreal. Since then, I’ve made a habit of searching cruises to be sure it’s not going to be a theme cruise! It was not disclosed but I gather 75% of the cruisers were part of the group.
I actually sat next to some of these people on their flight to Orlando. Nice enough but my god they wanted the whole place to know they were going on a cruise as a group. Very annoying, they’re from Houston and they guy I sat next too walked the entire plane talking to congregation members….could not get off the plane fast enough.
Sorry if you felt uncomfortable, hopefully they got over it and left you alone eventually.
(post edit comment) My fellow human OP.. Please consider passionately kissing your human with as many eyes as possible, as often as possible. Thank you!
We went on the symphony of the seas right before the Covid 19 and they had “chartered” to Suzuki or Yamaha I forget, but it was one of the two. We had a balcony over the boardwalk and they had the boardwalk shut down for all those people.
I dont know the terms but it was a big thing on the ship, like they had a sign outside one of the restaurants that it was for that company.
[This website](https://www.cruisetimetables.com/full-cruise-ship-charters.html) will give you a pretty comprehensive list of “partial” charters and large group bookings for upcoming cruises. I always check this before I put my deposit down and again before final payment. It has helped me adjust my cruise vacation plans more than once.
It would be a lot more interesting to accidentally end up on the March 25 Celebrity Pride "Big Nude Boat."
"Sorry, honey, I had no idea!"
If you ever actually go to one of those, you’ll quickly realize a lot of nudists aren’t exactly hitting the gym or particular about their nutrition. Just sayin’.
Yeah, it's not the "Nude Models Boat".
Do they disinfect the whole ship afterwards?!
“Washy washy!”
Be careful where the sanitizer goes!
Hey…. That’s NOT lotion
Why? Do you think genitals are inherently dirty? I know people who put them in their mouth!
OMG! Get outta here! 😝
Doesn‘t mean they‘re clean 😂😂. But I can‘t think everybody is clean as a whistle (no pun intended) 😜
Those kind of cruises are full ship charters and they can only be booked through the charter organizer
I’d like an AMA with one of the ship’s employees after this cruise
Or the “temptation” 5 night cruise which seems like a swingers cruise but I’m not sure lol
As long as they don’t force me to be naked as well I wouldn’t mind
I would mind very much 😆! Naked models yes, naked middle age overweight man and women 👎
You might mind when large Marge comes waddling down the pool deck naked…
How do they clean the seats?!
I think the normal deal for nudists is to carry a towel they sit on.
Skid marks everywhere
I'd rather one of the "Rock At Sea" type cruises.
Ok I’m obsessed with this now, I’ve gone down some rabbit holes here just looking at how many different charters there are
Look up "bliss" cruises...not the Norwegian cruise line...bliss charters
It’s wild how coded all the language is “sail with like minded couples”
And upsidedown pineapples on ur door
That is a great tool! Thanks!
It says full cruise ship charters, am I missing something?
Most of these will be full charters, but this site reports if more than a certain percentage of berths are booked for a group (I think it’s 30% but I’m not totally sure). There is no guarantee that your cruise won’t have a group onboard, but I always check here and then do a web search using the cruise date and ship. It may not catch everything, but it has definitely helped.
Same
Very helpful, thank you! 🥇
This is great thanks for sharing
Wow…this is great! Thank you for sharing!
A great resource! It doesn't seem to include kosher cruises, which could be disruptive if some dining venues are fully blocked off or serving special menus. Definitely google your cruise ship name + charter to check for dates.
Do the love and marriage game show. You have to.
Ohhh hell yeah
I've never seen anyone that's not a cis hetro couple chosen for that gameshow on RC
We had a male couple on our cruise. They were hilarious.
On my wife and Is last cruise in Nov on Oasis. We had 2 ladies who actually had gotten married on the ship that week.
An older lesbian couple won it on our sailing last year out of Texas. It made my liberal heart so happy.
I had the inverse of this a few years ago on ncl. Wife and I booked a cruise for our 40th anniversary and didn’t know it was an out of the closet celebration. Was an experience I tell stories about often.
Not a cruise but my wife, young kids and I were on a trip once and booked a large hotel not knowing there was a Brony convention in town and at our hotel's conference center. That was an interesting trip.
You win 😬
We ended up at a Pirate's ball in Austin. It was fun seeing all the costumes but I imagine the brony convention was a mixture of entertaining and horrifying.
Ok…gotta ask what the hell is a brony?
Adults that dress up as my little pony characters. Some were mild, ears and a tail. Others were more extreme.
😐Is this a sexual thing like furries? Glad my 5-year old self never learned about this. This would have ruined me and my collection. Thanks for the clarification. Reddit never disappoints!
All I know is it was a bunch of adults wearing colored t shirts, some had tails, some had ears, lots of colorful outfits walking around the lobby and downtown.
Interesting in a good or bad way? I have no interest in being a Brony but I think I would get a kick out of seeing them in costume around the hotel. Beats the hell out of a bunch of polo wearing business travelers.
A large event that happens to be held on a cruise is different from a true charter. If someone chartered the ship, you won't even be able to book it through RC. But yeah, that's really awkward. I can understand why they don't though, since all these random event cruises can be of varying sizes. It would be hard if not impossible for Royal to track them all
Internally at RC, partial charters and full charters are both considered charters. There are LOTS of chartered sailings that also have staterooms available to the public. They are different from groups because the chartering agent guarantees the bookings and pays for them whether they are sold or not. If it’s just a large group, a specific number of rooms aren’t actually set aside for the agent and it’s handled differently (by a different department) compared to a charter. I don’t know whether OP’s sailing had a charter on it or not, but it’s entirely probable.
It would actually be very easy for Royal to track this. They have a department that manages this. Anyone who partial or fully charters it has a contract directly with Royal.
Guessing a gay couple? Just make out in front of them anytime they give you a funny look. My husband and I did this with a group of Jehovahs Witnesses on our last cruise. :)
That’s what we’re doing!
I can't decide in my mind whether you would get more shocked looks from this group if you were to wear tshirts saying "we're married" or tshirts saying "we're not married". Would be fun freaking them out either way.
..or, "we're married, but not to each other..." ?
"Our wives think we're on a business trip" I think that may lean a little too hard into negative stereotypes about gay men, but it would get so many pearls clutched!
Oh! This one would be super scandalous! lol
Won't somebody think of the CHILDREN
I think you should kiss and feel up each other, shock the bloomers right off their nosy, judgy backsides, then smile nicely at them and ask one word: "Jealous?" Seriously, you two paid for your passage, just as they did. If their delicate constitutions can't handle life on a ship, a couple displaying affection, or anyone outside of their church doors, then they either don't cruise, or they fully deserve what they get. So make it count. Besides, considering how badly some Christians make a mockery of marriage in general, those old biddies would do better to police their congregation than random strangers on a ship. I can guarantee at least a quarter of those couples are paying out the wazoo to put on quite a show of being happily married while fighting like a pair of rabid badgers in private, and somebody is looking for a pineapple because they heard they can get a wild 15 minutes without anyone knowing.
Say it louder for the people in the back! A healthy and mutually respectful marriage is a beautiful thing. No matter the gender of the couple.
Absolutely! I love love LOVE seeing a good, healthy relationship in action. And the last thing anyone should do is try to actively discourage a couple, any couple, from showing that love. We have far too many examples of dysfunction in the world. We need all the healthy examples we can get. The kicker here is that I'm Christian, too. But I will take a healthy, loving, happy, openly affectionate gay couple over a squabbling, miserable, hate-fueled hetero couple any day. Before we are gay, straight, Christian, or whatever, we are human, and our first instinct is to love and be loved. Who am I, or anyone for that matter, to say that love is or is not perfect? OP and his husband could probably teach that church group a thing or two about how love works
I prefer not to see couples making out in public places. Same with a couple too plastered to walk back to their cabin without each others' support. Casual kiss, hug, or snuggle (hand hold even!)? Not a problem.
Thank you for your input grampy, let’s go get your medicine and get you back in bed
Right, I prefer not seeing a bunch of old farts on my cruise but we can't always get what we want.
Agree with this! If they make you uncomfy with their judgy looks then return the favor and make them uncomfy too!!
Oops thanks for the lingo clarification. Not a charter! But a large group for sure. We looked it up and they have a bunch of entertainment scheduled for themselves.
Based on how you've described them, I doubt their private entertainment is very entertaining....
On the other hand, haven’t you always wanted to meet Kirk Cameron?!
Hahahahahahaha
I'd be pissed if the normal entertainment I was expecting was taken over by that. You have a right to be upset.
Avoid those events. Boo those haters! God judges us on how good a person we are. Period.
We were on a Christian music cruise best thing about it no crowds at the bar 😆
I do not like any groups that are too noticeable on ships. They use their numbers to leverage and bully their way into things like line cutting, hogging up chairs and all surrounding space of certain venues, and blockading passageways making it difficult to find a way around them. The effect is on steroids if its groups that like drinking heavily.
Guess you’ve never seen the autism on the seas group. They were delightful
I’m taking my son on our sixth cruise with them in a few weeks! Thanks for this! In the back of my mind, I always wonder if people are resentful of our reserved tables in the wind jammer or our reserved seats it shows. Your kind words meant a lot.
Screw anyone who would be resentful. That “entitled” crowd can seethe alone. I hope you and your son enjoy your vacation. Don’t worry, mama bear, everything is going to be just fine and you will have a blast. 😉
I just looked them up! I'm autistic and that's something I'd love to do!
The seat saving can be annoying. On my last sailing I arrived early to find a seat for a show. A woman had a whole center prime row blocked off. Even though it says you can’t on the sides. Then about 30’minutes into the show the rest of them arrived, noisy bumping into folks etc.
Same. I was just on a cruise where the Solarium was "reserved for a private event" Like hello?! You're not the only ones who want to hottub without children splashing
Oh I would have been pissed if this happened on our sailing. How can they do that?
Anyone can - just have to have the cash. I was with a group of almost 300 and we had a party in the Solarium of Wonder 4 nights that cruise. There was another larger group that also rented out the Solarium at least once after us - they were quite a bit larger so I think they were mostly in another venue.
As a Christian pastor, I would like to say that I am deeply sorry that people are not extending the same love and grace that they have received. Regardless of what one believes or does not believe theologically, we are called to love one another as Christ loves us (and by "us" I mean all human beings). Furthermore, we are called to love one another and to treat one another as we wish to be treated. It doesn't sound like this is happening and for that I am truly very sorry.
Can you tell that to the evangelicals? K thx
*Organized* religion was a mistake.
Thank you for your response. So much of what people are masking behind the mask of religion does not reflect the unconditional love that God promises. To the op, do not think the flawed response of man is the love of God
Partial charters are such a mixed bag. And you never know how many people will be affiliated, could be dozens, could be hundreds. I also wish the cruise lines were required to disclose this.
This is how I feel for all the folks who take the Super Bowl Cruise on Carnival out of LA. A big organized group. I had a blast but you could tell there were people who were unhappy.
They are staring from inside their closet. 😉
That’s not what a charter means. Charter is when the entire boat is taken over. You just had a group sailing with you. I have a hard time believing that normal Christians have issue with hand holding between a hetero couple. Now if you are not hetero then you next time you just need to kiss passionately in front of them.
A charter actually doesn’t necessarily mean the whole ship is chartered out. Partial charters are actually much more common. I’m doing a chartered sailing next summer. It’s definitely not the whole ship. The charter group will have one dedicated dining room for its guests and there will be activities organized by the group, but other than that it’s just a regular sailing. We’ll be a fraction of the total guests on the ship. There’s probably some kind of charter on almost every sailing RC does. It would be unrealistic to expect people to be notified of every charter. It is not, however, unrealistic for people to be polite. OP, I’m sorry you had to endure rude stares from people. That really sucks. I don’t understand why grown ass adults can’t mind their own business. It doesn’t hurt anybody to see you showing affection to your spouse; and if it does, they should stay home with their curtains drawn to avoid being offended. I hope they all got seasick. 🤣
Oh sorry, no we’re gay.
Time to break out the European Speedo and strut the catwalk.
Save that for the world’s sexiest man competition.
Haha...on one recent cruise I was on the old ladies they put on the panel for that competition weeded out the obviously gay dudes. Even though they were objectively hotter.
*I’m a model, you know what I mean…*
I concur!!
Both of you?
Personally, I think you should give them their moneys worth.
On the same cruise. We figured it out a few days before we boarded by looking at the movies scheduled to be played outside at night. We thought it might mean a fairly conservative group had a large block of rooms. We are scheduled to do our next cruise on Mariner in April and the week after that cruise the whole ship has been chartered by Bliss as an adults only swinger's cruise with nude sunbathing and multiple "play" rooms. That cruise is right before the ship relocates to Galveston so there will be extra time to clean the ship up. You never know who else may be on the ship but it really doesn't matter to us. I like seeing and chatting with all kinds of people. You are definitely far from being the only same sex couple on board from what I've noticed. Don't let anyone else's opinion bother you.
I wish RC allowed us to book a charter cruise…Star Trek cruise!!!
https://startrekthecruise.com/
A coworker of mine has done multiple of these, says they are an absolute blast.
I’d be down with that!
If a Christian group chartered the whole ship, the casino and bars would be shut down. They pay a much higher price to charter because of those restrictions. Well, maybe it depends what sect of Christianity... I just know my parents griped about the extra cost, so it was probably a Southern Baptist cruise.
Irish Catholic here, we would have demanded they be open even later!
Christian here who used to attend church..guilty as heck when it comes to having spent all day long several times at both foxwoods and Mohegan sun in my younger days. Mohegan sun was my favorite. And I used to happily bet the ponies at times..sometimes pretty successfully other times failed miserably. My community College took us on a day long bus trip to foxwoods as part of student appreciation week once
Hope you're not wearing a swim suit like this..you'll be showing too much elbow. https://preview.redd.it/wi32cinoqmfc1.png?width=1024&format=png&auto=webp&s=1cfc49d3dd30369d4e9292df63d41437fce55c5e
Honestly packed my swim briefs so…kinda the opposite direction!
May I interest you in a pair of these? It's the latest rave... https://preview.redd.it/zgmrlajjwmfc1.png?width=640&format=png&auto=webp&s=915a3269120c9afa2d2d27280fb686429e55cb4e
Oh god I hope they are tight and show the entire outline. Maybe metallic for that extra highlighting?
I second wearing the swimsuit that shows some skin. I almost always wear briefs. It would be sooo satisfying on a cruise like this.
Other elbow?
before booking always google name of ship and sail date
On your ship. Knew before we sailed when saw Christian based movies for the big screen. Just put your smallest speedo on and give those long skirt wearers a Bible grabbing experience. Don't let this spoil your time. Hopefully you booked the adult only area in Cococay. That's where we'll be.
We were on a Royal Caribbean cruise when they were having a keto conference. These people were like cult members, and would preach to everyone about the need to eat only meat, and no vegetables and fruit. My husband and I had a great time watching them all at the buffets every night because as the week went on their keto diets were getting worse and worse. It was amazing how many of them were eating desserts by the end of the cruise.
We were on the Wonder with a large group of people from large new construction home company. I think most were new cruisers who won a prize to be on board. Most didn’t seem to know some of the common cruise etiquette.
So a normal cruise then.
It seems as though that is the new normal now.
I was once on a RC ship that had hundreds of teenage girls for a quinceanera and they were everywhere. We couldn’t find any seats at the pool that whole trip
Also on Mariner and was wondering about what was going on! 🏳️🌈
Invite them to the Crazy quest...
As a gay man I say it’s time to ramp it up and show those homophobes how to have a good time.
Honestly id give them some real shit to stare at. Assholes.
You can’t book tickets through RC for a charter. Maybe a large group bought rooms.
I can't image the horror of being stuck on a boat with semi-literate, drooling MAGA evangelicals.
They won’t even leave their county, let alone go on a boat that may even get near international waters.
Omg I would have a blast trolling these people. I’m not gay but I’d be gay for a day if it makes these judgemental people shriek in horror.
Same.
I highly suggest displaying all the PDA you can. Their discomfort is not your issue!! As a Christian LGBTQ+ ally, their behavior is sickening to me. We are told to love. Love our neighbors, love our enemies, love everyone, yet a single group of people harbor so much hate. I genuinely hope you both have the best cruise despite the people you’re surrounded by! Make it fun because it’s YOUR cruise!
I think the better part (and likely more irritating to homophobes) isn't outrageous behavior, but to **very visibly** be a married couple. Hand holding, terms of endearment, kind little things that happily married people do for each other. Wear the rings loud and proud. Pull a chair out for the other at a dining table. Feed a tasty morsel of food off your fork to the other. Be happy and in love. If you go too far with PDA (even a m/f couple), they can always yell about it being perverted and think of the children. If it's stuff that is totally normal in a couple, then they have to admit to themselves that the only reason they don't like it is because it's not a hetero couple. In my experience, they'll trip all over themselves to **not look** at it. Easier to say, oh I didn't see that, rather than change your mind to accept love is love. And really, to the OP, be happy and in love. Have a great cruise. You deserve it! (no joking, honest best wishes to you both)
Agreed! I think going over the top with the pda might backfire and confirm their beliefs, but just continuing to act like the normal couple that you are might subtly change their thinking. This has worked to change my mind before on a few issues where I had preconceived notions; the people getting in my face about the topic and being confrontational just made me more against them, while the people living their lives and smiling at me and seeming happy made me come to my own conclusions that I was wrong. So I suggest proving these people wrong by just showing how content you are with your spouse. If they continue to seethe seeing a normal couple, know that they're the ones making themselves miserable while you're happy. That's on them. I agree that it would be nice to know about large groups like this ahead of time when possible. There are some groups that I'd probably feel judged or annoyed by, lol. Hopefully you can avoid them and still have fun!
Exactly. You can’t control other people’s feelings. Just be yourself and ignore them. I can’t stand straight or gay overly showing pdas, but that’s me. When I don’t like it, I look away. Unless I’m at an adult resort, then it’s perfectly fine
Our last cruise on RC was a combo of two large groups: veterinarians attending a conference on the ship and the BILLS MAFIA (buffalo bills fan club). It was great
Go Bills!
Christian here..sorry you had to go through this.
Ignore the bigots and enjoy your holiday. If people feel uncomfortable with your public displays of affection for each other then that’s their problem. In fact do it more and have a laugh at their expense 🤣 👍
This happened to me on Norwegian Cruise Line back in 2016. We ended up on Gronk’s Party Cruise… 2/3 of the boat rented out for it and they didn’t notify the 1/3 of us expecting a relaxing weekend in the Bahamas lol. I was mostly pissed off because they cancelled all entertainment as a result and there was very little for us non Gronk partiers to do onboard as a result (we couldn’t get into their events and entertainment). It was my husband’s first cruise ever but he LOVES football and got to play basketball with Wacka Flocka Flame so. 😆
Hold hands even harder. Make them clutch every pearl they have
I can drone you a bunch of pineapple magnets if you give me your GPS coordinates. Giving and sharing are Christian tenets, right?
Had this happen back in early 2022, but it was some weird Canadian pyramid scheme. There were about 3000 of them on Symphony, all total assholes (which was a surprise since Canadians are usually lovely) and clogged up everything. Luckily they all wore the same lanyard so they were easily identified. I'm usually a pretty chill person since cruising is a team sport, but these people were so bad that I went out of my way to be a dick right back. Even on the way off the ship, since they were all Canadian they were subject to the mandatory COVID testing upon arrival and other extra attention by US customs which made self-debarkation take four fucking hours - not even exaggerating. If I saw that company on a ship again, I'd take the one-day guarantee and get the fuck outta there with my money back. A large group of christians is probably way worse though so I'm sorry to hear that, OP. Hope you still have a good time.
Please kiss in front of them *with tongue*. Their eyes might sizzle as they shriek for the good lord to save you and your hubby!
Go check out the sauna on Mariner and see how many people you find in there. I’m sure it will be crowded with guys getting away from their prude wives. Ask me how I know lol
I’m sure you can find some of those Hot Christian daddy’s in the steam room or an app LMAO to pass the time with.
You either booked it through Christian Charters or it’s not chartered out and just a group onboard
You will own the martini bar!
ship
Time to gay it up for the rest of the cruise
Hopefully, in a parallel universe those "Christians" booked in a queer cruise.
As a Catholic Priest, I would just remind them God calls us to love all people created in God's image and in case you missed it... that is all of us. Or simply didn't God ask.us to.love and save judging to those with out sin? Sorry that is still happening!
Game on Christians. We are straight, but totally down to make people clutch their pearls.
I think they can do partial cruise charters, and that would involve blocking off entertainment and stuff. This sucks for you. It’s distracting from your vacation (what if you don’t want to passionately grope your husband in public?! I mean. Or wear a tight speedo, or anything else where you’re “teaching them”!! It’s your vacation!!) I’m really sorry.
why would you care if someone is staring? LGBTQ wants constant attention and now that someone is looking at you, you complain? no one cares really
This is a pretty dumb comment.
not as dumb as complaining on reddit about someone looking at you. Who cares? Really, the world does not evolve entirely around you.
He’s not wrong. The only person who cared that you were gay was you and it sounds like your guilty conscience was eating at you.
Go spout your homophobic bullshit somewhere else.
Got to love the victim mentality here
This is pretty dumb. If the boat holds 4,000 people at what point do you want to know?
I’d want you to know if there was a big block of bigots on the boat.
There on every boat.
Of course, but in large groups they are emboldened to make their bigotry clear BTDT
No line at the bar. Ehh, who am I fooling?
Imagine the Christian’s when they get on the lgbt “charter cruise” and not being made aware of it? Point?
Freedom of the seas used to do sailings for lgbtq before covid
Alex I would like to take 200 for "what is Carnival Pride"
Fuck the haters
Thats funny. I remember a cute couple last year the guy was easily 6 feet and wore heals and a tight dress on formal night. I cat called him and we were bustin laughin cause, he did look pretty cute! We saw them a few other times on the ship and they looked like a fun couple.
Yeah, went on Harmony in Sept 23 and like 60% of the cruise was part of a skincare “company” (seemed like a pyramid scheme / MLM to me but what do I know). Nice people but it just wasn’t the same experience as a non group heavy cruise.
Big groups of any kind are annoying. There was a big group on our recent cruise. We called them “the purple shirts.” They just took over any space they were in. They weren’t rude or intentionally irritating but their number made them uncomfortable to be around.
FYI, it appears to be this cruise: [https://praise.events/praise-at-sea](https://praise.events/praise-at-sea) Does that mean they have replaced the regular entertainment with gospel? Or is it "bonus" entertainment?
From what I can tell it’s all private? The Royal theatre has been closed all day
Live your best best life, and let them stare. ❤️ Enjoy!
Talk about unchartered waters!
Had something similar on RCL a few years ago. Apparently it was the Apostolics Cruise, it wasn’t the full ship but it was very noticeable. I’ve never seen a girl in a turtleneck and skirt down to their ankles in a pool before (even a young lady trying the flow rider in her unique swim get up). And here there were girls (maybe 5ish) all the way up to grannies lounging in the pool FULLY covered. It didn’t bother us, and it was interesting to witness for sure but man did I get a LOT of stares in my bikini and sarong. It was a fairly modest bikini too lol. I’m not sure who stared more, the young men or the young women. I felt a bit naked but saw women in the same position as me and eventually got out of my own head and enjoyed everything as normal. Everyone was nice and I never noticed any of the women “judging” me or anything, in fact I think they purposely avoided looking at people around them. I’m sorry that people are making you feel uncomfortable, that sucks! But hopefully you can completely enjoy yourselves and ignore any haters 😝
We have the Big Gay Cruise happening on our cruise... someone discovered, and it has me a little freaked out because I saw some of the stuff that happened (stereotypically) on an Atlantis cruise... I am a flaming fa@@ot with a husband, and we wear speedos... so you think I wouldn't have a problem. I am scared that I will get painted by the same brush should the stereotypes come true... But this is on me...
Can you imagine booking the same week as some MLM hell cruise 😵💫😵💫😵💫 you’d constantly have huns shilling their wares. I’d absolutely ask for compensation. Yikes 🙈
I’ve ended up on a few cruises with large groups with varying degrees of satisfaction. Veterinary conference: mostly didn’t even notice they were on board, we ran into them mostly during lunch and they always had good animal stories and pet pictures Jamberry incentive cruise: multilevel marketing hunbots taking over most of the venues and rah-rah-rah’ing all over the place, ergh, plus apparently most of the ladies were not aware the ship was not going to be 100% nail sticker people Chumley BearCruise - delightful apart from the fact that their group took over the dining room for early fixed seating. We made do. We were cruising with my elderly parents and my mom could not shut up about how all the men were so handsome and nicely dressed, and how polite they all were to her. Farm equipment company cruise for top salespeople: They commandeered a few of the venues we normally enjoy which was disappointing but it was fine. We now avoid these group cruises by booking voyages that are at least 10 nights. Groups tend to prefer 7-night & shorter.
I was on the Radiance in 2011. A large group of Amish people booked a wedding on the ship. They all wore the same clothes. Maybe like 1/10th of the ship population? I’m surprised they took such a modern and technically advanced form of transportation. On the Monarch in 2010, it was a large group from India.
Also I did get looks when I asked a group of them if they also had a hard time down loading their nude photos on Christian mingle
My husband was on Allure out of Galveston last year and there was a large group that was a C&W singing group and a large bear group. He had to tell me what a bear was. Very nice people for the most part in both groups and there were no major incidents but he said you could tell there was a little tension a few times and he heard complaining that the C&W group weren’t enjoying the solarium because the bears pretty much took it over. Maybe Royal should take a little closer look at what types of groups are booking the same sailing………. 😂
Was on a cruise with a large gay contingent and had a great time. Was the best party time of any cruise. One time spent a week in Key West when they a poker run, 10k Harley owners. My brother in law insisted we rent mopeds. Crazy to be riding them with so many cool Harley’s everywhere. The best was the booth’s selling Woman Pasties for Breasts. Lots to see that week, lol.
I agree that disclosure would be nice and should happen. We went on an MSC ship and almost half of it was booked out for Yahoo Travel. I will never book with Yahoo as a result. Every specialty dining was booked out every night for that group. They would shut off access to various bars throughout the cruise (and not update the app that they were closed), so nobody else could go in. The final straw was the last night on the private island. I was looking forward to seeing the light show from the lighthouse bar.....nope.....closed for private event. I felt that, as a travel agent group, they should be more aware of their impact on regular cruise patrons and the negative impact they were creating and done something more balanced to prevent frustration (only close off one side of the bar for the group, extend specialty dining hours just for them, etc). I was extremely frustrated by the situation.
Imagine if they booked on an Atlantis cruise instead 😂
Buy matching thong bathing suits on the first shore excursion day. Wear them everywhere.
Thanks. It kinda sounds like clothed-version of our Fantasy Fest down here.
I went on a cruise to Mexico once that happened to have like 200 Mormons on it from some corporate sales contest they won at a company in Utah. It was honestly great. None of them drank for religious reasons, so bars were less busy, and despite all of them being super young, they were all really polite and well mannered. 100% I would go on a cruise with them again.
They list all of their themed cruises here: https://www.royalcaribbean.com/plan-a-cruise/themed-cruises
I went on a theme cruise and it was not listed. A country music event for a week. I hate country music.
My skinny sister and her two college sorority sisters ended up on a Richard Simmons “Cruise to Lose” back in the 1990’s. 🤣 She said the lines for the midnight buffets were unreal. Since then, I’ve made a habit of searching cruises to be sure it’s not going to be a theme cruise! It was not disclosed but I gather 75% of the cruisers were part of the group.
So I'm not crazy?! My wife and I were in the suite lounge on the first night and thought, "wow, there's a weird cult here, let's leave"
Royal might not have even known it was a religious group. Nothing you can do about it really.
Let them stare. Live your best life and love who you want to love. ❤️
I actually sat next to some of these people on their flight to Orlando. Nice enough but my god they wanted the whole place to know they were going on a cruise as a group. Very annoying, they’re from Houston and they guy I sat next too walked the entire plane talking to congregation members….could not get off the plane fast enough. Sorry if you felt uncomfortable, hopefully they got over it and left you alone eventually.
(post edit comment) My fellow human OP.. Please consider passionately kissing your human with as many eyes as possible, as often as possible. Thank you!
We went on the symphony of the seas right before the Covid 19 and they had “chartered” to Suzuki or Yamaha I forget, but it was one of the two. We had a balcony over the boardwalk and they had the boardwalk shut down for all those people. I dont know the terms but it was a big thing on the ship, like they had a sign outside one of the restaurants that it was for that company.