What is not to love about cruising? And no, not the type where you meet or, shall I say, “meat” men in the middle of the night at your local park or cruising ground! I have been lucky enough to go on some of the biggest and largest cruise ships in the world. Recently I took my first transatlantic cruise and wanted to tell you just 5 reasons why you SHOULD cruise transatlantic as a gay.
Whilst I have been on a few cruise lines, I have to admit I am loyal to Royal (Royal Caribbean) and love sailing with them as a cruise line. I have cruised from different ports around the world. Cruses from Europe, Asia, The Caribbean and several Atlantis Gay Cruises, but for me, 14 nights across the Atlantic on Royal Caribbeans Wonder of the Seas has to be one of the best so far, and here’s why!
The Crazy Low Prices
Who doesn’t love a bargain! Some of the cheapest cruises that are sailings are transatlantic cruises. Transatlantic sailings are used by cruise operators to reposition their ships for where they need them for winter and summer and usually operate in April/May, heading to Europe and October/November departing Europe.
This April, we paid $799 each, including taxes and port fees, for a balcony cabin for 14 nights on the current largest cruise ship in the world. Cheaper cabins were available if you wanted either an interior room or an ocean view. Why are they so cheap? Well, the ship needs to make the trip regardless for it to be in its new port on the other side of the Atlantic, so why not make some money by allowing passengers on the crossing. In November 2022, a 12-night sailing on Royal Caribbeans Rhapsody of the Seas for an interior room is only $399. That’s $33 a day for your cabin, food and entertainment. What a STEAL!
Onboard Discounts and Cheaper Port Fees.
With fewer people being onboard and being onboard more often due to the number of sea days. You will generally see better prices for the onboard packages. On our sailing, they offered unlimited dining for $370 per person, where you could dine at any speciality dining restaurants on board multiple times for the full 14 days.
Our drinks package was also good value, and because a lot of the sailing is at sea, you really use the drinks package around the ship. We worked out that if we paid per drink, the 2 of us would have paid, DONT JUDGE, over $7,000 in drinks alone! The final part that makes the cruise cheaper is the low port fees. Again because most of the sailing is going across the Atlantic, you’re not in port, so you don’t have to pay the port fees.
Ships Are Not 100% Full
These ships never seem to be full. Well, the bigger ones are not anyway. This could be due to several reasons. Including the duration of the cruises. Most Transatlantic cruises take 12 – 16 days depending on the itinerary, and most people won’t want to use that vacation time.
Other reasons could be families not wanting or being allowed to take children off school and the fact with a transatlantic cruise, you need to find a one-way airfare back across the Atlantic after the cruise does add an additional cost. People usually like to start and end their voyages at the same ports. During our transatlantic crossing this year, the ship was only 60% full. Giving us access to all the onboard activities and dining with minimal waiting time.
Very Few Kids
Most gays can relate that we don’t want screaming kids running around whilst having a refreshing cocktail or two (or in our case, several) by the pool when they go away. Well, this is one of my top reasons why a transatlantic cruise was perfect for us. On our sailing, there were only about 30 children, and the ones onboard were older and well-behaved.
As mentioned above, most families can’t take children out of school for that long, so cruising across the Atlantic then becomes a very adult sailing with minimal children. Which, for me, was 100% perfect.
More Gays, More Friends
The one group of people that do tend to have fewer family commitments and time off. Yes, it’s us gays. Our ship was full of them. Royal Caribbean is excellent at accommodating and hosting LGBTQ+ meet-ups. Previously known as “Friends of Dorothy”, They usually host this in one of the smaller bars onboard the ships. However, due to the number of LGBTQ+ people on our sailing, it had to be moved to the solarium bar after the first night.
These meet-ups are a fantastic way to make new friends from all over the world. We met so many incredible people who are now excellent friends. Onboard we did quizzes, shows, dining and a lot of drinking. Who knows, you might meet that special person on board too!
So Get Booking
These are only my top 5 reasons why you should book a Transatlantic cruise. There are so many more reasons you should cruise and hand on heart. A transatlantic is the best way to meet the best type of people and have a spacious ship with very few screaming kids! Book online with Royal Caribbean.
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