Australia plans first all-gay cruises
Pastor Dale Morgan
Australia plans first all-gay cruises*
Reuters
Tuesday, September 12, 2006; 2:08 AM
SYDNEY (Reuters) - "Bingay" will replace bingo when Australia launches
its first all-gay cruise ship charter next year.
Tour group All Gay Cruises said it had finalized charter details with
P&O Cruises Australia for the three-day cruise aboard Pacific Sun out of
Sydney next March, which it hopes will attract up to 1,800 passengers,
including 600 from overseas.
All Gay Cruises director Dave Drummond said Bingay was among a number of
onboard activities being planned.
Other options included gift bags containing condoms, he said, as well as
dance parties, special guests, comedians and cabaret shows during the
"NaviGAYtion" cruise.
All Gay Cruises had originally booked 300 berths on board a scheduled
cruise before P&O contacted the group and began negotiations for charter
of an entire ship.
"If a particular group wants to be dominant we would prefer a charter
because we don't wish to have people who may have booked a particular
cruise thinking it is just a normal product when it isn't," said a P&O
spokesman quoted by the Sydney Daily Telegraph.
Families who had already booked places on the cruise have been changed
to other ships.
Drummond said the NaviGAYtion cruise was inspired by successful gay
cruises in the United States and Europe and 600 tickets had already been
purchased. Suites with jacuzzis have sold out.
Australia hosts what is said to be the world's largest annual gay event.
The Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras began in Sydney in 1978 as a protest
march against discrimination and now also celebrates homosexual lifestyles.
It has been estimated that the street parade attracts 10,000 visitors
each year and boosts the New South Wales state economy by A$100 million
($75 million).
($1=A$1.33)