No longer do you need to tune-up your gaydar when cruising on most traditional (mainly straight) cruises anymore. Along with the listings for bridge parties, social groups and even the Friends of Bill (AA), more and more cruise lines are recognizing the need to have Friends of Dorothy (FOD) parties to acquaint their gay customers with one another. See the section on gay-friendly cruise lines. In most cases they will have some sort of Friends of Dorothy activity on-board their cruises. 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 Friends 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. Dorothy Zbornak of the Golden Girls TV series is now getting equal recognition as the "Dorothy" with many gay friends. No offense to you Judy Garland fans, but we think Dorothy Zbornak would be a hoot to cruise with!

If a cruise that you are sailing on does not readily offer a scheduled FOD party you can start one yourself. Just ask your Cruise Director to add a party to the roster of activities during the cruise. Rarely does one find a Cruise Director who is homophobic and will not accommodate your wishes. If you do make sure you contact the Cruise Linesailing on a lodge a complaint. Also contact us at Gay Sail Away and other internet based cruise information sites like cruisecritic.com to post your problem on their website. Our sites are regularly viewed by the Cruise Industry and the last thing they want is bad publicity going out into a community that has the money to become regular passengers on their cruise ships.

Dorothy Zbornak
Queen of The Friends of Dorothy

Notoriously Gay Bars
on the High Seas

Celebrity’s Millennium Class Ships Martini Bar are a hub for gay boys on Celebrity's cruises. Their Martini Bar shares a space with the Champagne Bar and usually an hour or so, before the late diner seating, gay men gather here for a pre-diner drink.

Cunard’s Queen Mary 2’s Commodore Club is one of the gayest bars afloat. Not only is this one of the spots where gays congregate, it is one of the poshest bars on the high seas.