These informal but organized gatherings are usually held the first or second night of each cruise and are advertised in the daily newsletters passengers receive in their staterooms either as Friend of Dorothy gatherings or FOD gatherings. A Friend of Dorothy is a common code gays used in the 50’s to identify themselves socially. Based on the love of Judy Garland, patron saint to many gay men, the term now transcends to all gays and even those who aren’t big fans of Judy. Personally I prefer to think of “Dorothy” as Dorothy Zbornak of the Golden Girls TV series. No offense to you Judy Garland fans, but we here at GaySailAway think Dorothy Zbornak (God rest her soul) would be a hoot to cruise with!

If a cruise that you are sailing on does not readily offer a scheduled Friend of Dorothy party you can start one yourself.  Just ask your Cruise Director or someone on your Cruise Director’s staff to add a party to the roster of activities during the cruise. Rarely will you find a Cruise Director who is homophobic and will not accommodate your wishes.

In the extreme unlikelihood that your Cruise Director or his staff won’t post a Friends of Dorothy party make sure you contact the Purser and lodge a complaint. Also contact us at GaySailAway and other internet based cruise information sites like cruisecritic.com to post the issue on their website. Our sites are read regularly by the Cruise Industry and the last thing the Cruise Lines want is to alienate a community that has the money to become regular passengers on their ships.