Admit it, it’s been awhile since you’ve gone on a vacation, hasn’t it? If you haven’t been on a cruise before there’s never been a better time. Whether it’s fun in the sun, European Christmas Markets, glacier encounters or ancient ruins you’re after there’s definitely a cruise for you. Gone are the days when cruises were tailored just for the nuclear family unit or shirtless dancing (don’t worry, there’s still plenty of tea dance options if that’s what you’re after). Book a suite with your best friend, beau, or go stag and meet a ship full of new Judy’s from all over the world. We went through the hundreds of upcoming options to sail to Europe, the Caribbean, Asia and the Arctic circle and found some incredible voyages to new and trusted locations.
Atlantis Events is the world’s largest company specializing in all-gay vacations. Back in 1991 the company held their first all-gay resort event with 300 guests at a Club Med Resort in Playa Blanca, Mexico. Cruising with Atlantis is a unique, all-gay vacation to new places with a variety of opportunities for new adventures and ways to play. Enjoy incredible performances by artists like “Showbiz Spitfire” Paige Turner, Sutton Lee Seymour, Charlie Hides and NYC cabaret sensation Shanna Sharp. atlantisevents.com; Booking
Upcoming Atlantis Events:
Brand g was founded in 2011 as “the next generation in gay travel”, recognizing that LGBT travelers were on the hunt for new and more exotic types of travel opportunities. The brand initially jumped on the river cruising craze offering deluxe river cruise tours, eventually adding deluxe land-only tours to countries like Africa, Ireland, Japan and Scotland. The company has grown to a five-man staff producing and operating eleven trips annually. brandgvacations.com; Booking
Upcoming Brand g trips:
“We’re rewriting the playbook,” states VACAYA CEO Randle Roper. “With only a few notable exceptions, options for our community have been severely limited.” VACAYA, created by award-winning tourism and travel executives with over 100 years of combined experience in entertainment, hospitality, and travel, offers LGBT+ travelers a new choice – one that is exclusively tailored to the desires and needs of our community. VACAYA is the first large-scale full-ship/full-resort LGBT+ vacation company to do a number of things, including offering a full-resort takeover from The Leading Hotels of the World’s UNICO 20°87° Hotel Riviera Maya, offering guests opportunities to give back to the communities they visit, sail on Celebrity Summit following her multi-million-dollar refresh, offering online booking 24/7/365 and more! myVACAYA.com; Booking
Some upcoming VACAYA adventures include:
For the past eighteen years, Source Events has “made dreams come true by taking (their) clients on journeys to the world’s most exceptional destinations, perfectly curated with only the most unique experiences.” Craig Smith, the owner of Source Events left a successful law practice in the Bay area to follow his dream of creating extraordinary travel experiences for the mind, body & spirit with and for like-minded friends. The cruises are more intimate voyages with 150-300 guests so you can connect and meet other guests a bit easier. The company brings hosts, entertainment, DJs and a wellness team to offer yoga, meditation and educational talks at sea. sourceevents.com; Booking: 888-SOURCE-8
Upcoming Source Events include:
RSVP Vacations, established in 1985, was a true pioneer in the gay and lesbian cruise concept. Their first cruise, “A Cruise to Remember” left the New Orleans port just after Valentine’s Day in 1986 with 750 guests ready to live it up and soak up the adventure of a lifetime. Over the years RSVP has welcomed luminaries and legends of the LGBTQ+ community with events like High Tea with Quentin Crisp, a Q&A with Armistead Maupin, a look at Broadway with Harvey Fierstein and Anthony Rapp. RSVP Vacations builds a total community with each and every cruise. They book the entire ship and “run it (their) way”, customizing every aspect to their guests with events like singles dinners, sing-a-longs, pool games and dance parties. rsvpvacations.com
Upcoming RSVP Vacations:Ladies, all the ladies…The story of Olivia goes back to 1973 when Judy Dlugacz teamed up with nine partners after singer/songwriter Cris Williamson recommended she start a women’s record company. In 1990, Olivia hosted its first “concert on a cruise”, which ultimately inspired “Olivia Travel” which has become THE Travel company for lesbians. “Our goal was to create a safe, free, inclusive environment for lesbians on vacation,” stated Dlugacz in a past press release. Their vacations have featured incredible headliners like Melissa Etheridge, k.d. Lang, Heart and the Indigo Girls; social justice pioneers like Billie Jean King and Edie Windsor; comedians like Whoopi Goldberg, Lily Tomlin and Wanda Sykes. While each trip has its own “special flavor” Olivia always charters the whole ship so it’s “all women, all the time.” olivia.com; Reservations: 800-631-6277
Upcoming Olivia Cruises:
R Family Vacations was founded by travel entrepreneur Kelli Carpenter and Gregg Kaminsky in 2003 and featured on HBO’s Emmy-nominated documentary All Aboard. R Family Vacations was the first travel company to create vacations for LGBT families (and their friends). The inaugural cruises set sail in 2004 and since then over 20,000 guests have embarked on trips with Kelli and Gregg. R Family Vacations doesn’t just do family expeditions, they recently expanded to offer some LGBT adult-only options, The Broadway Cruise V and a new partnership with TZELL Travel. rfamilyvacations.com; Bookings: 917-522-0985
Upcoming R Family Vacations Cruises:
When we heard Virgin Group Founder Sir Richard Branson and Virgin Voyages and CEO Tom McAlpin were open for business we immediately leaned in. Virgin Voyages’ first fleet will be known as the “Lady Ships”, with a tip of the hat to Virgin’s British heritage. Four ships are currently on order for 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023. The Scarlet Lady, the first in the fleet, will arrive at the Port of Miami in 2020 for her inaugural sail. This exciting first season will include stops including Havana, Cuba; Maya Sol voyages to Costa Maya, Mexico; and the Dominican Republic. Adult by design, the Scarlet Lady will be a “sanctuary at sea for the 18 plus traveler.” The Scarlet Lady will bring city-like eating to the sea and essentially “throw out the traditional cruise dining rule book, with no buffet, no main dining room, no forced formal wear, no assigned seating, no assigned dining times and enhanced the choice for sailors to grab a bite by keeping doors open until well into the night and in some cases the early hours of the morning.” Razzle Dazzle, designed by Concrete Amsterdam will offer a fabulous Drag Brunch for sailors to live it up with the Scarlet Lady’s resident drag performer and friends. virginvoyages.com; Booking
Some upcoming Virgin Voyages include:
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