1

Marketing the Rainbow: The other kind of Cruising

Travel

There is plenty of cruising by LGBT people: welcome aboard!

By Alfred Verhoeven

Earlier I showed that the LGBT traveler can be an interesting customer: they travel more often, longer, more luxuriously and usually outside the high season. Read “Fly Fly Away” for the actions that airlines have taken over the years, and “Hotels” for the interest of hotels for this target group. An interesting market is also that of cruising – but on ships.

The beginning

Gay cruising began three decades ago when 750 revelers set out from New Orleans on the Bermuda Star Line’s “SS Brenda Starr,” one of the few companies then willing to host an all-gay cruise. It was chartered by RSVP Vacations who kick-started what Wikipedia describes as a “cultural phenomenon.” Times have changed.

Queer travelers are three times more likely to choose a cruise than our straight counterparts: in the US resp. 12% and 4% of the population. Today, more than half a dozen queer cruise operators offer itineraries in and around all seven continents on ships chartered from companies like Celebrity Cruises and Uniworld – but the mainstream lines themselves have their say too.

The players

Now there are a few tour operators and cruise companies that focus exclusively on the gay market: these are themselves often ‘gay owned and operated’ (what I call G2G, in line with B2B and B2C) and they mainly offer ‘all-gay’ cruises on: main player is Atlantis, which has also acquired competitor RSVP. But there are more players in the field targeting these travelers, both G2G and mainstreamers, which I have called B2G. I will analyze the success of Atlantis later, but it is striking that such an all-gay cruise is often twice as expensive as a ‘regular’ cruise from Carnival, Norwegian or HAL. That is the price of ‘community feeling’, but also because it often has its own team of up to 25 people. Most costs (or rather: risks) arise from the fact that the supplier buys out the entire ship, and then has to hope for an occupancy rate above the break-even point.

For the ladies

Olivia was originally founded as a women’s record label (!) in 1973, but the San Francisco-based Olivia Companies has grown into the largest promoter of lesbian travel and services in the world, chartering entire ships, resorts and tours. True to her audience, Olivia has featured headliners like Melissa Etheridge, kd lang, Heart and The Indigo Girls, while lesbian sports stars (Sheryl Swoops, Martina Navratilova, Billie Jean King) and comedians (Margaret Cho, Lily Tomlin) are no stranger to Olivia either.

Over the years, Olivia has taken nearly 350,000 women on cruise, resort, adventure and riverboat vacations around the world, including Antarctica.

While lesbians are welcome to participate in the Atlantis or RSVP holidays (they normally make up 1% of the crowd there), they often prefer to be “among each other,” hence Olivia’s appeal. Surprisingly, Olivia felt the need to segment the market even further by introducing “Sisters at Sea” and “Sisters at Play” programs, both of which are set up “for colored lesbians and their friends.” Olivia also issued a co-branded credit card for a while.

In addition to Olivia, the travel company Sweet organized trips especially for lesbian travelers: cruises, resorts and adventure – but these are no longer active.

R Family vacations

R Family focuses on LGBT families with children and their friends. Since its inception in 2003, more than 20,000 guests have traveled with R Family. Rosie O’Donnell, the famous lesbian TV personality (if only because of her “relationship” with Donald Trump) who is a foster parent and co-parent of 4 children, co-founded R Family, but after her split from co-founder Kelli Carpenter in 2007 she left the company.

R Family developed several specific concepts, for example gay family groups on ‘regular’ cruises, and for some time also for LGBT adults only, including fully chartered river cruises on Uniworld, a trip to Thailand or a ‘Broadway’ cruise.

Amsterdam is also on the program, where it is a shame – or at least strange – that Kelli Carpenter has a photo of herself at her blog “Amsterdam Awaits!” places with a huge umbrella. She runs the company now with business partner Gregg Kaminsky.

La Demence Cruise

Since 2011, annual cruises have been offered by La Demence, the team behind the successful club in Brussels (est. 1990), first under the label La Demence Cruise, now simply abbreviated to “the Cruise” with the footnote “Powered by La Demence”. It started as pure dance party trips (short, without many interesting stops)‚ ”with a variety of DJs‚ and an impressive exciting pool deck light and sound system” and two parties a day. Departing from the ‘secondary’ cruise port of Marseille on a ship over 20 years old, there was little luxury or quality. The audience is much more diverse than with the trips US-organized: 60 nationalities were soon counted among 2,000 guests. Over the years, they evolved into a broader experience, where more luxury ships were chartered and interesting ports were added to the party fun.

Royal Caribbean

But the big boys also wanted to play along. A first German-language gay cruise was announced for the end of 2017 by Royal Caribbean, in partnership with blu Media Group, under the new mCruise brand. The launch was prompted by the fact that “alternatives” (read: Atlantis) mainly targeted the American market. They proudly announced that the ship Jewel of the Seas was built in Germany (as many cruise ships are, by the way). The promise of “famous artists from the LGBT community”, DJs and big shows attracted 2,100 passengers to take the cruise. This set course for the western Mediterranean, outside of school holidays. Partners of the organization were dating site Planet Romeo, gay travel agency Dertour and Aegean Airlines.

TUI needs some getting used to

However, TUI was too quick for them: at the beginning of May 2017 they organized a German cruise, the Rainbow Cruise on “Mein Schiff 2”. Special guest star was Eurovision winner Conchita Wurst, while the hostess was Berlin drag queen Gloria Viagra. TUI reported that 1,350 gays and 350 lesbians (a much higher percentage than on Atlantis cruises) were joined by 150 straight couples and 10 children, and everyone had a good time. One couple could win a wedding plus honeymoon worth €4,000.

The number of single occupancies was remarkably high: 200 cabins had only 1 passenger. TUI also found that more than 500 bottles of spirits were sold in the first three days, as well as 400 bottles of champagne (3x more than usual), while in Barcelona they had to stock up on extra tonic for all-time gay favorite G&T. The German TV channel ZDF thought it was interesting enough to sail along and report on the cruise, and to follow the wedding winners Ken and Peter.

Brand g

There have also been all-gay river cruises: these target the wealthier (and often older) group, where parties are less important than interesting destinations. Brand g has offered both European tours and cruises to the Mekong in Vietnam, Central America, the Amazon and Ganges. Prices are steep: around 5,000 euros for a 10-day European river cruise. That costs less than 2,000 euros with, for example, ‘normal’ provider Destin.

Special cruises

Special cruises have been set up for more specific target groups, such as ‘bears’: for example the Adventure Bears Southern Caribbean Gay Group Cruise, but also cruises organized by BearCruise.com, Cruise4Bears and Arno’s Bear Cruises. These are not always exclusively gay, but are sometimes organized as a group trip on board a ‘normal’ cruise. This often to the cheerful (or not) surprise of the other guests.

ROmanCE VOYAGES, which partnered with American Express, was born in the early 2000s “when their LGBT family told them they were looking for a more in-depth travel experience rather than just another dance party.” Their trips were for sophisticated gay men, especially couples seeking a romantic, cultural getaway. Destinations were listed as Egypt, Amazon, Greece, Peru, Russia. They no longer exist.

In the meantime, tour operator Happy Gay Travel, together with the ‘father of all rainbow holidays’ HE Travel, is organizing casual gay Nile cruises in a country where you are not really welcome as a gay person – where a whole group is even more noticeable. Relative newcomers are VACAYA and Out Adventures (both also going to Egypt), while the Belgian HolidayPride (“straight friendly” travel agency) is organizing a small-scale cruise (40 passengers) in Croatia next month.

Well-known companies such as DFDS have also participated in Marketing the Rainbow, and P&O has its first Pride Cruise in Australia in August.

LGBT travel agents have booked (groups of) guests on ‘regular’ cruises – sometimes with a theme such as “Cinema Diverse at Sea” or “Wine and Western Europe” – but this has not been very successful.

The B2G market

“Regular” companies have also offered gay and lesbian cruises, or…? The Silversea print ad below appeared in Travel & Leisure and made many people wonder if they were seeing a lesbian couple – not in the least because of the “Nothing excluded” pay-off. In reality, actress Isabella Rossellini and her daughter Elettra star in the ad, but neither of them are named as such. These kinds of ads are described by LGBT marketing expert Mike Wilke as “gay vague”.

A company spokesperson said they had been asked questions about the women’s relationship and said their celebrity status would be mentioned in future ads. “In the early stages of the campaign, we didn’t want to make a hard sell with Isabella,” explained Brad Ball, Silversea spokesperson.

Olivia Vacations also uses the Silversea Line for her trips.

Carnival & Crystal go B2G

But gay vague aside, in 2001, the American cruise line Carnival was the first regular operator to place an ad made specifically for gay media. Although they only used a stock photo, we see an unusual setup with only men together – and also rare for the group to show only older men, in a gay ad (note: the community is often seen as superficial, and aimed at young, beautiful and well built). The ad appeared in The Gay & Lesbian Florida Vacation Planner 2001-2002.

The following year, Crystal Cruises was spotted with an ad that played with gay clichés: “Cruise back into the 70s with ABBA”. The fine print told the reader that it was an English imitation tire. Both Rainbow Travel and Friends Of Dorothy Travel were named as sales agents for the cruise. The photos showed some middle-aged men, in pairs or singles, enjoying the luxury of Crystal.

Celebrity

Celebrity Cruises (Royal Caribbean’s luxury label) presents itself as “The Best Large-Ship Cruise Line for LGBT Travelers” in direct competition with all-gay cruises. They said they offer a much wider range of cruise experiences. While all-gay cruises offer a limited number of departures and ship types and experiences, Celebrity covers a broad cross-section of cruise options.

In 2014, they showed three men enjoying a ball game. The ad read: “We don’t believe in labels. Except of course modern, luxury and comfort.”

In 2016, they advertised a mysterious piece of chocolate and the tagline “Celebrate Love In All Its Many Glorious Forms”.

In 2021 Celebrity released a special video for LGBT travelers. This TV commercial ran nationwide in the US on ABC and CNN. He was supported by full-page color ads in five newspapers, including The New York Times, Washington Post and San Francisco Chronicle, as well as in Architectural Digest. Advertisements also appeared in the UK and Australia.

Another video from 2021 was for their mainstream audience… blink and you’ll miss it, but there’s also a moment in it where we see two guys dancing on the ship. That’s the nice casual inclusivity I like to see. You could also see this in the movie “Fantastic Things” by Princess Cruises, earlier this year. This includes even more diversity, including ethnic and people with disabilities. A few boxes could be checked.

While Royal Caribbean and Celebrity score a perfect 100 on the HRC Corporate Equality Index, this is in stark contrast to CEO Richard Fain’s attitude. He has often donated to anti-LGBT Republican politicians and organizations, including Jeb Bush. It is therefore a consideration to choose the right provider. As a vegan you don’t go to the deli butcher either.

Note: In 2015, Royal Caribbean made headlines when a gay man “fell off the ship” after an argument he had with staff over homophobic comments. Cruise line officials insisted the man jumped himself. He was never found.

Economic impact

The economic contribution of cruises, especially in the departure or arrival ports, is enormous. Three major LGBT cruises departing Fort Lauderdale in 2015 had a $14 million economic impact on the area, according to the Greater Fort Lauderdale Convention & Visitors Bureau (Note: About 1.5 million LGBT travelers visited Greater Fort Lauderdale in 2014 and spent about $1.5 billion. Fort Lauderdale has over the years taken over the role of Florida’s gay capital from Miami South Beach). It makes sense that both ports and cities would like to attract more cruises in general, but especially those of the rainbow type.

An unexpected effect is that the “marriage at sea” beloved by some people is no longer possible on all ships. Quite a few are registered in Bermuda (such as Princess Lines and Cunard ships), which not long ago banned “gay marriage” and turned it into a civic registration. And a “partnership registration at sea” sounds much less romantic.

The ship’s staff are often very much looking forward to the gay cruises, as the guests are usually two decades younger than the average straight cruiser. The camaraderie and the feeling of ‘one big happy family’ also has an effect on them. Then there are the events (with stars like Rita Moreno or Roseanne Barr) and parties (T-dances, drag queens and many themed costume parties), which are really ‘different’ from the other cruises. And the tips are certainly more generous than with the public, who pay half for such a holiday, and often also have to think about (financing) children.

Conclusion

Cruises have a special place in the travel world, because almost your entire holiday budget ends up in 1 cash register. In addition to the G2G providers such as Atlantis, RSVP or La Demence Cruises, the major cruise lines have also discovered that they would like to get the LGBT people (read the G and maybe the L) on board. This is done in many different ways: from individual bookings by presenting themselves ATL as gay-friendly, to larger groups through booking partners and even the whole theming of a cruise. And it will probably only increase.

Alfred Verhoeven is a marketer and is in the final phase of his PhD research Marketing the Rainbow. He previously wrote for ILOVEGAY about Booking.com,  Home Deco, Haters and trolls: the ‘letter to the editor’ of the 21st century, 5 Bizarre LGBT Videos, TRANSparency, Transgender persons as a target group, Matchmaking, 5 videos that went viral, From Representation To Respect, Cultural sensitivities and social involvement in marketing, 4 reasons to practice diversity and The Rules of Market Segmentation.

Article provided by Alfred Verhoeven, Marketing The Rainbow
Does the Gay Consumer Really Exist?
www.MarketingTheRainbow.info

1 thought on “Marketing the Rainbow: The other kind of Cruising”

Comments are closed.