lost little boy

thank you! bathrooms always concern me lol but im sure it'll be fine ill have a great time nevertheless!

thank you, ill try to just use my hotel and hope for the best otherwise lol...

can i ask are most bathrooms gendered or are there any non-gendered public bathrooms that you noticed? thank you for your information!

id gladly share my experience with all of that! ... except the parking! Im getting a ride to the airport then flying down, so my car is just going to be sitting at home...

no! i looked it up but couldnt find it! what is it called?

we now officially have less days until the cruise than the amount of days of the cruise itself!!

All excursions except for rome i booked through rc so I didn't have to worry about missing the boat or timing of any sort in case of delays or if anything happened! I have: Azores - Dolphin & Whale Watching Malaga - Tapas Tasting Cartagena - Cartagena & Conception Castle Pisa - Tuscan Farmhouse Experience And for Rome: Vatican Museums & Sistine Chapel guided tours, St. Peter's Basilica Dome guided tour - both through Headout Colosseum Underground and Ancient Rome guided tour - booked through Viator We are then spending a few days in Sorrento where we booked a tour of Pompeii and a climb of Mt Vesuvius through Viator and a Capri and Blue Grotto Boat tour through Viator! We are flying home on United! Was hoping for Delta as that's just my personal favorite airline (that I've had experience with) but my travel agent got us united which I'm perfectly fine with too!

it does help!! thank you!

my friend who has been on the exact cruise on the exact boat just one year ago told me to bring a light jacket! he said it gets cool and he and his husband didn't swim in the outdoor pools at all because it was too cold for their taste. However, I'm taking this with a grain of salt as I know he gets cold easier than me. I can't speak from experience (and my body also tends to run warm), but I would assume based off of what he said and just knowing how the weather works over the ocean (I'm a weather nerd lol) it won't be scorching hot or anything of that sort! def pack shorts, t-shirts, etc, but also have a light jacket/windbreaker and some sweats or joggers! but anyone who has actually BEEN on one before can give better insight, I just saw this wasn't responded to and if you still wanted an answer that's the information I have!

This is amazing!! do you mind sharing general information about this? did you go straight from the ship to there? did you have luggage with you? did you just show up? sorry for all the questions, and I know I could just google this, but I also like hearing from people's experiences!

I got 11:30a! I waited for check-in to open and that was the earliest time available

Thank you so SO much to all the quick and incredibly kind responses to my post! Everyone is so warm and welcoming I greatly appreciate everyone's words, advice, and tips! I'm excited now more than ever for my first cruise thanks to this wonderful community!

thank you!

oh i love that, especially since i used to run a zine by that same title thank you!

that's exciting for you too! to be honest, a midnight buffet sounds like sometime I would try once but not get much use out of. interesting concept though! lol honestly I'm most excited for the long stretch of sea days! getting up and just seeing nothing but the ocean for so many days sounds so relaxing to me. what about you?

thats a great point! idk why i didn't think of that! thank you are there LGBT+ meetings onboard on every ship? i had no idea about this! where can I find information about this?

a year late but I just saw this while "cruising" (sorry) the lgbt tag and omg!!! there are meet ups?? is this for every ship? i had no idea about this! any more info or know where I can find more info on this? first time cruiser and I'm trans and I'm nervous...

I wasn't sure how to word the title without it sounding like bait or trying to be controversial, so I will elaborate below. I am in my mid-20s, autistic, and transgender. While I am more accustomed to dealing with the world around be as an autistic adult with minimal support needs (more so concerned about loud noises and how "picky" my food tastes can be, but not a real concern), I am mostly asking how I will be treated as a transgender man who is very early into my physical transition. There is a stereotypical kind of person who enjoys cruising, but I truly love relaxing, laid-back experiences, hot tubs, fine dining, classic rock, and spas. Cruising sounds like a perfect vacation for me and I am very excited to embark on my first one! (I tend to get along best with "older" people and am the closest with coworkers my parents age as we usually have more in common lol!) However, I know I visibly appear very gender nonconforming and I am no stranger to people being rude, uncomfortable, or straight-up hateful for my appearance or "unique" name (which was actually picked out by my father and wasn't me trying to have a ~different~ name, but I love that it's uncommon anyway). In my swimsuit I appear much more like a 13 year old boy than the 24 year old man I actually am, and in more formal wear it's about the same. I am on hormones and my voice is deeper, but I am still usually referred to as a girl by strangers. While I don't think I am going to be discriminated against or anything of that sort by the staff or yelled at by other cruisers, I do worry about how I will be treated in general. Will people make comments to me if I use the men's restroom? Will I get weird looks while swimming? If my party is seated with other cruisers at MDR will they judge me and make my dining experience uncomfortable? Obviously I am aware no one can answer these questions for me, but I was wondering if there were any other trans, queer, or allied people who have noticed anything while cruising royal? Is it a generally accepting, chill experience? I just want to be respected and viewed the same as other guests, but unfortunately this is something I worry about with any new environment. Note: this is NOT a post to discuss LGBT+ opinions, topics, identities, politics, or anything of that nature! I am only making this post because in my two years of researching cruising since I booked mine, I haven't seen anyone discuss anything like this. I am not looking to "invade" any spaces or make anything about "being trans/gay". I am only asking from a comfort and safety standpoint. No discourse, PLEASE. I would not be asking this or making this post if I didn't have reason to be. Please be respectful and kind. Thank you

this will be my first ever cruise and my first time ever leaving the country! i am only 24 and I'm super excited!! 31 days!!!