Budman

This ought to be interesting. What if a non-gay & lesbian family sign up for a cruise on the Norwegian Dawn not knowing that the cruise is for gays & lesbian families??

Would you feel comfortable? I know there was a lot of outrage by parents taking their children to Disneyland not knowing it was gay & lesbian day.

Does the cruise line have an obligation to tell anyone signing up for this particular cruise that it is a gay & lesbian family cruise??

This should be interesting.

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040108/nyth157_1.html

Rachelle

Yes, I would want to know, and I certainly wouldn't pick that queer cruise!!

curiousx

I believe a cruise line has an obligation to inform other passengers when any large 'special interest' group is going to be aboard. That includes gay and lesbian familes, square dancers, family reunions, sales conventions, political rallies and what have you.

That said, none of the above would affect my decision-making if the ship, the itinerary and the timing were right.

Mazey

I agree with curiousx. It wouldn't change my itinerary that a certain group is on board, whether it be the elderly, gay, politicians, or what have you.

BeachBoi

Budman...when reading the article,the VP Sales for NA at NCL indicates that sailing is a "charter", meaning that R Family Vactions took the whole ship.But if you call NCL, there are cabins available for sale.....if it is in fact a charter,then the point about that particular sailing is mute.If it in fact is not a charter,what would you do? Ask the reservationist if there are any large groups on board? I'm not sure they would know.And I'm not sure they would tell you anyway.What would you do if you booked a cabin,were told by the agent there were no special interest groups on board, and then found out you were the only straight person on board?

coach4448

The entire ship has been chartered for that trip, so the chances of anyone being on that sailing that did not want to be there are slim.

jacketwatch

Can an entire ship be booked privately? Maybe so but I have never heard of that. Just wondering.

esd

I didn't know it, too, but yes it can. We were in a port once and met some folks (German) from another ship that their company had booked 100% as a bonus for their employees and their families.

Patty

Entire cruise ships are frequently chartered. Sometimes even after the cruise line already has individual bookings for that sailing. In that case, they will contact the individual passengers and offer them some incentive to change their dates.

JMM

Why on earth would I care about the sexual orientation of fellow cruisers ?
Why would I feel uncomfortable (especially given that it is a "family" cruise)? After all people are not going to be having sex with each other in full public view - so for that matter how could I even tell for sure which people were gay/lesbian couples.
Basically I fail to see anything in this scenario that should outrage anyone.

jacketwatch

To ESD and Patti: Thanks for the info on chartering cruises. Now I know. To JMM: Should people be outraged about this scenario? I don't think so. Its a big world we are in. Would some be outraged anyway? Sadly, yes. (see the 2nd post). So maybe, to opine on the original question, should the cruise lines inform people of the type of cruise this is? I think so. Why? The last thing anyone wants is to be with people, esp. on a vacation, with whom you have a fundamental disagreement about life style. No fun for either party. No offense, JM2C.

Patty

I'd like to add that I would want to be informed of ANY large group that will be onboard. Large groups often reserve some public rooms for private functions so it does have an affect on other guests' use of the ship's facilities.

BeachBoi

Patty....I agree...BUT...how would you accomplish that? Could you do it online?And I am doubting any cruise line would give you any information like that.As I said above,would you trust their info anyway?They want to fill their ships, any way they can.

Patty

BeachBoi,
I don't know how it could be accomplished, but it's information that I'd like to see the cruise lines disclose. Of course, if it's a themed group, sometimes you'll see ads or hear about it in various publications. Other than that I don't know if cruise lines routinely give out this info or policies may vary by line.

BeachBoi

Patty....The only time I have heard of a cruise or tour company give out info was when I was booking my Mom's group to Europe(small group).The tour company was Trafalgar and they told my TA that there was a "group" from Ohio on the departure date that we had selected.They did not indicate the nature of the "group" and of course it made no difference to my mom and her group.I tought it was very unusual but of course very professional.

Wags

Just heard on CNN that this cruise is booked for July 11, 2004. Didn't say what cruise line but if it's out of NY to the Bahamas it sounds like NCL. Also, they said that all kinds of families are invited to sail so it doesn't look like she has booked the whole ship.