 | |
| Company type | LGBT travel |
|---|---|
| Industry | LGBT tourism |
| Founded | 1991 |
| Headquarters | , US |
Key people | Rich Campbell (CEO and co-founder) |
| Products | cruises, resorts, related products |
| Website | atlantisevents |
Atlantis Events is an LGBT vacation company that provides LGBT cruises and resort vacations. A 2017 book on LGBT tourism described it as "the most successful LGBT tour operator in the world". [1] Their vacations are designed and marketed primarily for gay men. [2]
Atlantis Events was founded in 1991 to organize resort vacations, beginning with an event at the Club Med resort at Playa Blanca in Costa Careyes, Jalisco, Mexico. [3] [4] The company began chartering cruise ships in 1998. [5] In October 2007, Atlantis acquired competitor RSVP Vacations from RSVP's parent company, PlanetOut. [6]
The company's tours have sometimes experienced negative reactions from anti-gay officials at their destinations. [7] In December 1997, an Atlantis Events cruise on Norwegian Cruise Line's MS Leeward was denied permission make a planned February 1998 stop at Grand Cayman. Caymanian official Thomas C. Jefferson wrote to the cruise line that the cruise's passengers would not "uphold the standards of appropriate behavior expected of visitors". [8] The ship docked in Belize instead. [9] In September 2000, Turkish police blocked Atlantis guests from visiting the Aegean resort town Kuşadası, after the ship was already docked. [10]
Typical cruise itineraries for Atlantis are to the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, the Pacific coast of Mexico, and Australia. Typical locations for land resort vacations are Mexico and the Caribbean. [11] Other destinations – which have included cruises in areas such as Alaska, Asia, and the Baltic, and land vacations in Las Vegas and Kenya – are offered less frequently.
Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports of call, where passengers may go on tours known as "shore excursions".
Royal Caribbean International (RCI), formerly Royal Caribbean Cruise Line (RCCL), is a cruise line founded in 1968 in Norway and organized as a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Group since 1997.
LGBTQ tourism is a form of tourism marketed to gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) people. People might be open about their sexual orientation and gender identity at times, but less so in areas known for violence against LGBTQ people.
Labadee is a private resort located on the northern coast of Haiti within the arrondissement of Cap-Haïtien in the Nord department. In 1985 the government of Haiti under the leadership of the dictator Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier leased the area to Royal Caribbean Group, for the exclusive use of passengers of its three cruise lines: Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises, and Azamara Club Cruises. The lease was later extended to 2050. The resort is completely tourist-oriented and is guarded by a private security force. The site is doubly fenced off from the surrounding area; passengers cannot leave the property and locals cannot enter. Food available to tourists is brought from the cruise ships. A controlled group of Haitian merchants are given sole rights to sell merchandise and establish their businesses in the resort. Although sometimes described as an island in advertisements, it is actually a peninsula contiguous with the island of Hispaniola. The cruise ship moors to the pier at Labadee are capable of servicing the Oasis class ships, which was completed in late 2009. The commercial airport that is closest to Labadee is Cap-Haïtien International Airport.
The Oasis class is a class of seven Royal Caribbean International cruise ships. The first two ships in the class, Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas, were delivered respectively in 2009 and 2010 by STX Europe Turku Shipyard, Finland. A third Oasis-class vessel, Harmony of the Seas, was delivered in 2016 built by STX France. A fourth vessel, Symphony of the Seas, was completed in March 2018. As of March 2022, the fifth Oasis-class ship, Wonder of the Seas, was the largest cruise ship in the world. A sixth ship, Utopia of the Seas, slightly larger than the previous one, followed in July 2024, with a seventh to follow in 2028.
Thomas Carrol Jefferson, OBE was a Caymanian politician. He was the first Leader of Government Business in the Cayman Islands, serving from 1992 to 1995.
Independence of the Seas is a Freedom-class cruise ship operated by Royal Caribbean International. The 15-deck ship was built in the Aker Finnyards Turku Shipyard, Finland. At 154,407 GT, she joined Freedom of the Seas and Liberty of the Seas as the largest cruise ships and passenger vessels when built. She is 1,112 feet (339 m) long, and typically cruises at 21.6 knots.
Tourism is one of the Caribbean's major economic sectors, with 25 million visitors contributing $49 billion towards the area's gross domestic product in 2013, which represented 14% of its total GDP. It is often described as, "the most tourism-dependent region in the world".
R Family Vacations is an LGBT vacation entertainment company that provides luxury cruise ship trips with a focus on inclusive activities for children and services including same-sex marriage ceremonies. They are a subsidiary of Tzell Travel Group.
Oasis of the Seas is a cruise ship operated by Royal Caribbean International. She is the first of her class, the Oasis class, whose ships were the largest passenger ships in the world, until surpassed in 2023 by the Icon class. Her hull was laid down in November 2007 and she was completed and delivered to Royal Caribbean in October 2009. At the time of construction, Oasis of the Seas set a new capacity record of carrying over 6,000 passengers. The first of her class, she was joined by sister ships Allure of the Seas in December 2010, Harmony of the Seas in May 2016, Symphony of the Seas in April 2018, and Wonder of the Seas in March 2022, as well as Utopia of the Seas in July 2024. As of November 2024, Oasis of the Seas conducts cruises in the Caribbean from her home port of Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
Allure of the Seas is an Oasis-class cruise ship owned and operated by Royal Caribbean International. As of 2018, the Oasis class ships were the largest passenger vessels ever in service, and Allure is 50 millimetres (2.0 in) longer than her sister ship Oasis of the Seas, though both were built to the same specifications. Designed under the name "Project Genesis", she was ordered from Aker Finnyards in February 2006 and her construction began at the Perno shipyard, Turku, Finland, in February 2008. She was named in May 2008 after a contest was held to name her and her sister. The keel of Allure of the Seas was laid on 2 December 2008, shortly after the shipyard had been acquired by STX Europe.
Carnival Vista is a cruise ship operated by Carnival Cruise Line. She is the lead ship of her namesake class, which includes two additional Carnival ships, Carnival Horizon and Carnival Panorama, as well as two Costa ships, Costa Venezia and Costa Firenze.
Ovation of the Seas is a Quantum-class cruise ship owned by Royal Caribbean International (RCI) and the third ship of her class. The Quantum class is the fourth largest class of cruise ships behind MSC Cruises's Meraviglia class, Royal Caribbean International's Oasis class, and Royal Caribbean International's Icon Class by gross tonnage.
Harmony of the Seas is an Oasis-class cruise ship built by STX France at the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France, for Royal Caribbean International. With a gross tonnage of 226,963 GT, she is the fifth largest passenger ship in the world, surpassed by her newer sisters Icon of the Seas, Utopia of the Seas, Symphony of the Seas and Wonder of the Seas.
MSC Meraviglia is a cruise ship owned and operated by MSC Cruises, built at the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in St. Nazaire, France, by STX France. MSC Meraviglia is the lead ship of MSC's new "Vista Project" vessels, the Meraviglia class, with MSC Bellissima following in 2019. Each vessel has a passenger capacity of 4,500. When it entered service in June 2017, it was the sixth largest cruise ship in the world, behind Royal Caribbean's Oasis-class cruise ships and AIDAnova.
LGBTQ cruises are a rising phenomenon in LGBTQ culture and a growing trend in the LGBTQ tourism industry. LGBTQ cruises typically consist of cruises oriented towards gay men or lesbians.
Symphony of the Seas is an Oasis-class cruise ship owned and operated by Royal Caribbean International. She was built in 2018 in the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France, the fourth in Royal Caribbean's Oasis class of cruise ships.
Wonder of the Seas is a cruise ship operated by Royal Caribbean International. She was completed in 2022 in the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in Saint-Nazaire France, the fifth in Royal Caribbean's Oasis class of cruise ships. At 235,600 GT, she was the largest cruise ship by gross tonnage, until she was surpassed in 2024 by the Icon-class cruise ship, Icon of the Seas, also owned by Royal Caribbean International.
Early in 2020, in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, the disease spread to a number of cruise ships, with the nature of such ships – including crowded semi-enclosed areas, increased exposure to new environments, and limited medical resources – contributing to the heightened risk and rapid spread of the disease.
