Swinger Cruises - What are they, what to expect, are they worth it?

[Chicup 42]

Swingers Cruises with Couples Cruise, what are they and what to expect.

 

Please note I wrote this review over the course of several days, so if it seems disjointed in anyways, it is because it is.

 

I'd also like to state up front, neither my wife and I are in anyway affiliated with Couples Cruises, and in fact we only met one of the head people involved at the very end of our last cruise, and that was only briefly. This is a completely unfunded and unbiased article.

 

First what exactly IS a Couples Cruise. I'm sure if you ask different people you will get slightly different answers but it is basically a week long, high end swingers party in close to first class accommodations. They are held on RC ships (which is not the best cruise line anymore but still good) and you will have 1000's of swingers on board. You will also have a number of nudists, people who don't swing but like to go to swingers events, and the usual oddball such an event can bring. It is truly a unique event and the people watching alone is worth the price.

 

Who go on Couples Cruises? Well, pretty much everyone, of all ages, shapes, and fitness levels. If you are expecting a ship of only hard bodies think again. If you are expecting the typical cruise of octogenarians think again as well. I've spoken to Couples Cruise people, and I've used my own eyes, and my guess based on what they say and what I've seen is the average age is about 46. If you are a younger swinger and think that's too old don't despair, I said average age. Out of 1000's of people you will find some in their 20's to some in their 80's or even 90's. I have to admit I get a bit of a kick out of the 80+ year olds and hope some day when I get to that age I'll still be “rocking it”.

 

Now we tend to fit in with the younger demographic and while we are a minority there, we've not had a hard time finding great couples to interact with. If you are 50+ you will have a LOT to choose from.

 

Making things a bit easier, and an improvement from our first cruise with them, they do have age based meet and greets. While not in any way screened it gave couples looking to meet couples in their age range a good place to meet early on.

 

Still when it comes down to it, YOU have to be the one wanting to make contact. If you want to be left alone, you can be, if you want to chat with everyone, you can do that too.

 

And that is the BEST thing about this cruise beyond the swinging part. This will be the friendliest most outgoing cruise you have ever been on. We took one vanilla cruise (again with RC) prior to these cruises and it was boring, stuffy, and unfriendly. No one talked, no one wanted to interact. The only place anyone even tried was the formal dinner table and it was us and 3 couples on their “we are retired and have nothing to do” cruises. We were just young interlopers to them. Here we got to meet a lot of fun and outgoing people who actually wanted to talk and interact with people. Now a cynic would say it is because they wanted to have sex with you/your wife, but honestly it is just a much better vibe.

 

While we have been on three Couples Cruises so far, I have to say we have NOT experienced everything they have to offer, because we didn't want to. We are a “typical” swinger couple, interested in other couples only, not into fetishes or BDSM, gangbangs, etc. I can comment on some activities as they were there but we were not necessarily a participant so my knowledge is either through others or just a basic observation in those cases.

 

Now what sort of activities are we talking about? I'll focus first on the swinger stuff and then get to the cruise part later, after all the cruise itself isn't what brought you here.

 

First there is the playroom. I have a confession to make. Our first cruise we saw them loading a bunch of mattresses on the ship as we got on and wondered why they needed so many new ones. In retrospect , allow me to tell myself “duh”. One of the larger rooms of the ship is converted into a full playroom. This will have come very large orgy style center “beds” and then many small ones that are more for 2-6 people, 8 if you are tricky. Some people got into the playroom the moment it opened and I think they wouldn't leave if they were not forced to. Most wandered in at some time, either to play or to look around. On our three cruises we never played in the play room, usually because by the time we got there it was already full, and by full I mean FULL. The rules for the playroom are no “street clothes” so either nude, or in some sort of bedroom wear. And the couples cruise staff does an EXCELLENT job of keep it clean, with fresh towels and frequent changes.

 

You will find a lot of “hard core” swinger types in the play room and honestly the smell can be a bit overwhelming later in the night. If this isn't your thing, do not worry, you are on a ship with 1000's of rooms, you can be as private as you like. Just know the option is available.

 

On our Freedom of the Seas room they also had a “hallpass room” which, from what I was told by a few, people were using as a playroom due to the number in the main playroom.

 

There was also a “dark room ” (lights out) which you can guess what it was about.

 

There was the “dungeon” for the BDSM type people, they even had classes during the day, not our thing so I'll just say it is there.

 

Finally they have the “chocolate room”. It is always a topic of conversation, but it is an area off the playroom where they have black men to service the white women basically. It has always struck me as wrong as I don't like the idea of swinging for a racial element, which this obviously is about. I'd feel less unease if it were simply a single male room. For those into this though, they seemed to really enjoy it and it is not like they chased you to get you in there. On our last cruise some of the rooms workers did solicit (mildly) more attractive women during the day when they were out which didn't go over very well with some people (single males are single males no matter what race). They have had one on at least 2 of our last cruises (not sure about one cruise) and obviously they have a place otherwise they wouldn't continue with them. So if this is your thing, odds are you are in luck. One thing is that for some reason this is always a topic of conversation, and sometimes a surprise to people. We were that couple on the first cruise when we got a tour of the playroom prior to it being open and no one in our group had any idea why one area was the “chocolate room”. I thought maybe it was going to have some sort of desert tray! Yea not quite that....

 

Now those are just the play areas, but that is by all means not the only things going on.

 

First there are sometimes “classes” going on. It can be on erotic massage, or “squirting” (I won't get started on that), or BDSM or any number of things. In our whole time we only attended one class and that was the erotic massage class on our first cruise. Generally we would rather be out by the pool or socializing during the day but a lot of people we talked to did attend some of these classes. If you are interested in these kind of things, or just need a break indoors, these are available.

 

There are also theme parties after dinner. Some of them are very “basic” others can get pretty elaborate with costumes, and sometimes on fetish night it gets a bit freaky too. Costumes are not required, but we tend to go all out with them and have a great time with it. I have to admit I'm a bit disappointed in the upcoming November cruises themes as they don't leave much room for creative costumes, but this is coming from a guy who wore a full Gorilla suit his last cruise.

 

The parties themselves are all basically dance parties, which we have found are a lot of fun with the right people and quite boring if you don't have the right people. Much like any swinger party. Over all though we enjoy them and have a good time. It is also a good chance to meet people you may not have had a chance too during the day, when they were naked (more on that later).

 

Sometimes there will be some sort of “show” done by the cruise director and couples cruise people in relation to the theme. This can depend on the ship itself as the Freedom class lends a lot more room for these events than the other ships.

 

One thing they improved on from the first cruise a bit was the schedule. It is now on a big easy to read card, with time slots so you can see what events are going on where and what overlaps with what if you have to choose. You can see a picture of it below, I took it with my cell phone so I had it handy.

 

I'm sure I'm missing things here, but lets move onto the cruise part as it relates to the swinging aspect.

 

The cruise is sort of partially clothing optional. Nudity is allowed on the pool deck, the hallways, and topless in the nightclub for the dances (and I should add, of course the play rooms). Otherwise you need to be covered, though some people have a very liberal definition of covered.

 

The pool deck is where the real party is during the day, it is where you will have the chance to meet the most people, make the most contacts, and check out the goods. I'd guess maybe 3/4ths of the people on the pool deck will be nude (outside of crew). I could be slightly overestimating but it is not an exact science here. It is also not required, and many will be only topless or not at all. Interestingly more men will likely be covered up than women (ah male insecurity).

 

One thing about this cruise is that there will be a good number of nudists on board. How many I can't tell you, it is not like they wear a necklace to ID them. One person who worked for CC told me he thought about 1/3 of the ship were nudists. Now this might be a bit higher than I thought, but regardless they are there. They tend to disappear after dinner though to their cabins. I only bring it up because some get a bit annoyed about being hit on by in the words of one I talked to our first cruise “swingers who keep trying to fuck them”. In their defense some at were not told it was a lifestyle cruise, only a clothing optional one by their travel agents. Basically if someone isn't giving you a swinger feeling when you are chatting with them, despite them being naked, just keep this in mind.

 

Ok so you've been naked, gone to parties, had a trip to the chocolate room, and got lost in the dark room, but what about the cruise itself?

 

Having taken RC cruises in the past that were vanilla, and now three of the CC cruises, I can say there isn't much difference. When we signed up for our first CC cruise, I was worried the cruise itself would be bad due to it being a charter, but those fears were misplaced. Now if you read my first review I was a bit harsh on the condition of the ship, and VERY harsh on the food. I still keep in touch with a few people we met on that first cruise and everyone agrees the food was awful. As one women I know went said “I lost weight on the cruise.” I am very happy to report that has been greatly improved. What I discovered after our first CC cruise, talking to a former RC exec, is that RC was losing money badly, and food is one of the aspects which took the biggest hit in the budget cuts. I think RC realized they were making a mistake though and our last two cruises the food was much improved. The food isn't of the level it was back when I took my first RC cruise some 7 years ago, but it is not a source of complaints either.

 

If you have been on a cruise before, especially an RC one, the rest is just as you would expect. You have a “sea pass” which is your ID/Credit Card for the whole cruise. You can plan normal shore excursions at every port. They have dinners in the dinning room every night including usually two formals if it is a week long cruise which are of course optional. There is a casino, spa, exercise room, pool, ping pong tables, etc. Based on the ship you may have a rock climbing wall or a “surfing” pool as well.

 

If you have never been on a cruise, there are plenty of “what to pack” for a cruise websites out there that will be helpful. Just a few words of help here though.

 

Sunscreen – EVERY cruise we see those couples who made their vacation difficult by not wearing it. You can't play on your back if your back feels like it is on fire.

 

Sea Sickness Medication - They have it for free on the ship, and you can get the patch from your local doctor very easily. I don't get sea sick easily and never took anything but my wife does. If you don't know if you get sea sick, take them and TAKE THEM EARLY, before you feel sick at all. Many lose their first few nights (where the winds pick up and the seas can get slightly rough) due to sea sickness. Women seem to suffer worse than men and the ladies room can be a nasty place in rough seas.

 

Expect to pack a LOT – You have your “day clothes”, your dinner clothes, your dancing clothes, and your “specialty” clothes. You would think a clothing optional cruise wouldn't have these issues, but it is typical.

 

Ok so what is different about a CC cruise from a regular RC cruise? Well a few things but nothing too major (outside of the swinging stuff of course).

 

Dinner – This is a big one in that you don't have an assigned table. This is pretty critical for a swing cruise as you will often go to dinner with new friends, and even when we went to dinner solo it was fun meeting new people. The only issue with this is the dinner staff is always chaotic with this. Expect dinner to take two hours (you have nothing better to do at this point usually) and getting drinks/wine can be difficult due to the confusion. I also think the auto gratuity is a bigger issue here than usual. Another thing is that a lot of people dress from formal to ultra slutty. I have nothing against ultra slutty usually, but they do give you towels to sit on if you are dressed in a very short skirt. This was a funny observation for me. Some women were offended they were offered a towel, others were offended they were not offered one.

 

Bar service – This can be bad, they have always been under staffed in bartenders. Let's think about this. You have NO kids on this cruise, and it is full of swingers. That is a lot of booze. From what I'm told it is the alcohol sales that really makes this cruise worth it money wise for RC and the bars are always busy, sometimes too busy and getting a drink in some spots is difficult. It is easier on the freedom ships due to the actual “bars” they have on the main promenade.

 

The Staff – “Oddly” you will see more males staffing the ship than usual. I have been told that the cruise volunteers for this type of cruise and so surprising more men want to come. That being said our last cruise had a lot more female crew members, and I don't know if this was just coincidence or RC changed their policy. It is not a major issue, just interesting. I'll add we also saw more security our last cruise. For us the staff was always polite.

 

Entertainment – Cruises tend to have various acts and entertainment. Some are awesome, some, less so. This hold true for these cruises as well. Early on some of the entertainers complained a bit due to a lack of attendance, which is understandable as WE are the entertainment really. As the cruise goes on though the crowds get bigger as people need a break from the constant parties and many “groups” have already formed. Much of the entertainment is also focused around the nature of the cruise which is a nice touch, from a more “naughty” version of how well do you know your wife, to naked bellyflop contests. They also have a DJ who regularly comes on the cruises and runs a Karaoke set up all night in one of the bars. I recommend going down to it at least one night, and if you have any guts, getting up there and singing. We enjoyed ourselves with that, as I did a shirtless “I”m Too Sexy”. The DJ (who's name is escaping me) has basically EVERY song out there. Just don't be one of those who picks a long boring song, it is a swingers cruise, let loose!

 

Some more advice. Don't be stupid. EVERY cruise some people get kicked off for doing stupid things. I've heard rumors from smoking into the state rooms to drugs, to fighting etc. I've seen very little bad behavior, the worst was a woman who was falling down drunk on the pool deck one night, but with this many people there are always those who like to live stupidly. Don't be them. Also there is no sex outside of the playrooms/your room. Don't be stupid and get caught on the pool deck. Depending on who catches you it could be a “go to your rooms please” to something major like “get off the ship”. RC doesn't mess around with security, which is a good thing.

 

Now are these cruises for you?

 

I have to be honest, I have no idea, being I don't know you. If you are an experience swinger, and enjoy a vacation that involves the possibility of swinging, then you will most likely have an excellent time. If you are a new swinger, swinger want to be, you will most likely have a good time but if you are extra shy the swinging side might not happen. You still get an excellent cruise out of it. If you are some subtype of sexual desire that doesn't quite fit “swinging” you may or may not find what you are looking for. Not everyone who goes is a swinger, and not every swinger goes to play. For example on every cruise we have been on, there have been a few pregnant women who were not pregnant when they signed up but the cruise was already paid for. Those couples go for the cruise and the atmosphere.

 

You will find traditional swingers, fetish people, bdsm, nudists, voyeurs, cuckolds, hot wife types, and pretty much every other flavor. What you make of it is up to you.

 

Now personally our first cruise was “good” not great. Good enough we immediately signed up for the next one (which was sadly a year and a half wait), but it wasn't outstanding. Our second cruise was simply the best time we had on vacation and perhaps the most fun we had over a 7 day period ever. Our third cruise we expected a let down but if anything we had a better time over all though it was close. We met outstanding people on all three cruises, some we still managed to keep in touch with and even visit despite being 100's a miles away. If it was possible for us, we would take three a year. This despite the fact we are NOT big time party people, we are not heavy drinkers, we are not “screw them all” swingers. We are selective in our partners, and always go in with the zero expectation approach, and despite this we have had fabulous times.

 

If you have any questions, or comments, perhaps you were on one of these cruises and want to add your own story, please do so. If you think something needs to be corrected, please again do so, I am not part of CC and as such my knowledge is limited to a guest.

 

I'd also like to give some thanks and praise to the Couples Cruise staff members we have interacted with over these last few years. They have been friendly, and helpful. From when they are relaxing to when they are dead tired after one was up to 4am trying to get people to leave the playroom (we saw the poor woman on an elevator at 9am that morning). I'm sure dealing with 3,800 swingers for a week isn't an easy task.

[SW_PA_Couple 4,026]

Yours is a tremendous review, Chicup. I'm sure I will refer to it many times. And I'm pleased to know that you and your wife have had good times on your cruises.

 

Folks, if you have a sea sickness patch installed and develop an un-explained rash, you haven't picked up a social disease; you have hives. See the ship's doctor; she or he will know exactly what to do. The treatment for the hives is nearly as effective against sea sickness as the patch.

[sunbuckus 3,569]

Wonderful review! Thanks for taking the time to write all of this up. We're hoping to go on a swing cruise eventually and this will help. It's too bad they don't have an actual chocolate room.

[cplnuswing 4,713]

great review, thanks for taking the time to share your experiences

[angelkin 1,326]

Yes, fantastic review...thanks for taking the time to post it!

[funcoupledayton 2,708]

Excellent information!

[LFM2 1,482]

Wonderful review!!

[Wifeypoo 42]

Thank you for this! Incredibly helpful.

[81lizard69 470]

Thanks for the review. We have been kicking around the idea of a sex cruise for a while. Now If I can pry open my husbands wallet.....

[Chicup 42]

I forwarded this article to the head of CC and he was nice enough to add his responses to it. His are bolded and italicized.

 

 

 

Most of what you wrote is spot on. Of course, everyone will have an opinion on certain things (chocolate room, etc…), but I do want to address a few things that might help inform you to understand some things, see my notes in red:

 

 

 

Swingers Cruises with Couples Cruise, what are they and what to expect.

 

Please note I wrote this review over the course of several days, so if it seems disjointed in anyways, it is because it is.

 

I had written a review on our first Couples Cruise that can be found (here). It was generally positive with some negatives to Royal Caribbean thrown in. My wife and I have since been on two more Couples Cruises, are signed up and paid for a fourth, and we are seriously considering a fifth if we can get the time.

 

I'd also like to state up front, neither my wife and I are in anyway affiliated with Couples Cruises, and in fact we only met one of the head people involved at the very end of our last cruise, and that was only briefly. This is a completely unfunded and unbiased article.

 

First what exactly IS a Couples Cruise. I'm sure if you ask different people you will get slightly different answers but its basically a week long, high end swingers party in close to first class accommodations. They are held on RC ships (which is not the best cruise line anymore but still good) and you will have 1000's of swingers on board. You will also have a number of nudists, people who don't swing but like to go to swingers events, and the usual oddball such an event can bring. Its truly a unique event and the people watching alone is worth the price.

 

Who go on Couples Cruises? Well, pretty much everyone, of all ages, shapes, and fitness levels. If you are expecting a ship of only hard bodies think again. If you are expecting the typical cruise of octogenarians think again as well. I've spoken to Couples Cruise people, and I've used my own eyes, and my guess based on what they say and what I've seen is the average age is about 46.

 

 

 

You are very close: The median age on our 1st two cruises was 48. On the Freedom, it was 46, on our last cruise (most expensive cruise) it was 49. The Freedom, tends to have the youngest crowds, from what we have seen.

 

 

 

If you are a younger swinger and think thats too old don't despair, I said average age. Out of 1000's of people you will find some in their 20's to some in their 80's or even 90's. I have to admit I get a bit of a kick out of the 80+ year olds and hope some day when I get to that age I'll still be “rocking it”.

 

Now we tend to fit in with the younger demographic and while we are a minority there, we've not had a hard time finding great couples to interact with. If you are 50+ you will have a LOT to choose from.

 

Making things a bit easier, and an improvement from our first cruise with them, they do have age based meet and greets. While not in any way screened it gave couples looking to meet couples in their age range a good place to meet early on.

 

Still when it comes down to it, YOU have to be the one wanting to make contact. If you want to be left alone, you can be, if you want to chat with everyone, you can do that too.

 

And that is the BEST thing about this cruise beyond the swinging part. This will be the friendliest most outgoing cruise you have ever been on. We took one vanilla cruise (again with RC) prior to these cruises and it was boring, stuffy, and unfriendly. No one talked, no one wanted to interact. The only place anyone even tried was the formal dinner table and it was us and 3 couples on their “we are retired and have nothing to do” cruises. We were just young interlopers to them. Here we got to meet a lot of fun and outgoing people who actually wanted to talk and interact with people. Now a cynic would say its because they wanted to have sex with you/your wife, but honestly its just a much better vibe.

 

While we have been on three Couples Cruises so far, I have to say we have NOT experienced everything they have to offer, because we didn't want to. We are a “typical” swinger couple, interested in other couples only, not into fetishes or BDSM, gangbangs, etc. I can comment on some activities as they were there but we were not necessarily a participant so my knowledge is either through others or just a basic observation in those cases.

 

 

Now what sort of activities are we talking about? I'll focus first on the swinger stuff and then get to the cruise part later, after all the cruise itself isn't what brought you here.

 

First there is the playroom. I have a confession to make. Our first cruise we saw them loading a bunch of mattresses on the ship as we got on and wondered why they needed so many new ones. In retrospect , allow me to tell myself “duh”. One of the larger rooms of the ship is converted into a full playroom. This will have come very large orgy style center “beds” and then many small ones that are more for 2-6 people, 8 if you are tricky. Some people got into the playroom the moment it opened and I think they wouldn't leave if they were not forced to. Most wandered in at some time, either to play or to look around. On our three cruises we never played in the play room, usually because by the time we got there it was already full, and by full I mean FULL. The rules for the playroom are no “street clothes” so either nude, or in some sort of bedroom wear. And the couples cruise staff does an EXCELLENT job of keep it clean, with fresh towels and frequent changes.

 

You will find a lot of “hard core” swinger types in the play room and honestly the smell can be a bit overwhelming later in the night. If this isn't your thing, do not worry, you are on a ship with 1000's of rooms, you can be as private as you like. Just know the option is available.

 

On our Freedom of the Seas room they also had a “hallpass room” which, from what I was told by a few, people were using as a playroom due to the number in the main playroom.

 

 

This will be the “Chocolate Room” on this cruise. We didn’t have a Chocolate Room on last year’s Freedom, but have on every other one. It is controversial, a lot of people LOVE it, some HATE it. But the way I look at it, if it isn’t your thing, don’t go in there. Simple. Many don’t like full swap, BDSM, being naked, etc… we give lots of opportunities for people to expand their horizons, how they do that is up to them.

 

There was also a “dark room ” (lights out) which you can guess what it was about.

 

There was the “dungeon” for the BDSM type people, they even had classes during the day, not our thing so I'll just say its there.

 

Finally they have the “chocolate room”. Its always a topic of conversation, but its a area off the playroom where they have black men to service the white women basically. Its always struck me as wrong as I don't like the idea of swinging for a racial element, which this obviously is about. I'd feel less unease if it were simply a single male room. For those into this though, they seemed to really enjoy it and its not like they chased you to get you in there. On our last cruise some of the rooms workers did solicit (mildly) more attractive women during the day when they were out which didn't go over very well with some people (single males are single males no matter what race). They have had one on at least 2 of our last cruises (not sure about one cruise) and obviously they have a place otherwise they wouldn't continue with them. So if this is your thing, odds are you are in luck. One thing is that for some reason this is always a topic of conversation, and sometimes a surprise to people. We were that couple on the first cruise when we got a tour of the playroom prior to it being open and no one in our group had any idea why one area was the “chocolate room”. I thought maybe it was going to have some sort of desert tray! Yea not quite that....

 

Now those are just the play areas, but thats by all means not the only things going on.

 

First there are sometimes “classes” going on. It can be on erotic massage, or “squirting” (I won't get started on that), or BDSM or any number of things. In our whole time we only attended one class and that was the erotic massage class on our first cruise. Generally we would rather be out by the pool or socializing during the day but a lot of people we talked to did attend some of these classes. If you are interested in these kind of things, or just need a break indoors, these are available.

 

There are also theme parties after dinner. Some of them are very “basic” others can get pretty elaborate with costumes, and sometimes on fetish night it gets a bit freaky too. Costumes are not required, but we tend to go all out with them and have a great time with it. I have to admit I'm a bit disappointed in the upcoming November cruises themes as they don't leave much room for creative costumes, but this is coming from a guy who wore a full Gorilla suit his last cruise.

 

 

 

I did not come up with the themes and we are going to make some changes.

 

 

 

They were:

 

 

 

Sun: 70’s Disco Party

 

Mon: Pajama Party

 

Tues: Cowboy Night

 

Wed: Doctor & Nurses

 

Thurs: Gangster & Moll

 

Fri: Fetish & Vampire Night

 

Sat: Sexy Sarong

 

 

 

They are going to be:

 

 

 

Sun: 70’s Disco Party

 

Mon: Formal night, then Pajama Party

 

Tues: Sexy Superheros

 

Wed: Great Gatsby Roaring 20’s Party

 

Thurs: Mardi Gras Masquerade Ball

 

Fri: Formal Night then Fetish & Vampire Night

 

Sat: Sexy Sarong

 

 

 

We will be announcing them in our upcoming newsletter

The parties themselves are all basically dance parties, which we have found are a lot of fun with the right people and quite boring if you don't have the right people. Much like any swinger party. Over all though we enjoy them and have a good time. Its also a good chance to meet people you may not have had a chance too during the day, when they were naked (more on that later).

 

Sometimes there will be some sort of “show” done by the cruise director and couples cruise people in relation to the theme. This can depend on the ship itself as the Freedom class lends a lot more room for these events than the other ships.

 

One thing they improved on from the first cruise a bit was the schedule. Its now on a big easy to read card, with time slots so you can see what events are going on where and what overlaps with what if you have to choose. You can see a picture of it below, I took it with my cell phone so I had it handy.

 

I'm sure I'm missing things here, but lets move onto the cruise part as it relates to the swinging aspect.

 

The cruise is sort of partially clothing optional. Nudity is allowed on the pool deck, the hallways, and topless in the nightclub for the dances (and I should add, of course the play rooms). Otherwise you need to be covered, though some people have a very liberal definition of covered.

 

The pool deck is where the real party is during the day, its where you will have the chance to meet the most people, make the most contacts, and check out the goods. I'd guess maybe 3/4ths of the people on the pool deck will be nude (outside of crew). I could be slightly overestimating but its not an exact science here. Its also not required, and many will be only topless or not at all. Interestingly more men will likely be covered up than women (ah male insecurity).

 

One thing about this cruise is that there will be a good number of nudists on board. How many I can't tell you, its not like they wear a necklace to ID them. One person who worked for CC told me he thought about 1/3 of the ship were nudists. Now this might be a bit higher than I thought, but regardless they are there. They tend to disappear after dinner though to their cabins. I only bring it up because some get a bit annoyed about being hit on by in the words of one I talked to our first cruise “swingers who keep trying to fuck them”. In their defense some at were not told it was a lifestyle cruise, only a clothing optional one by their travel agents. Basically if someone isn't giving you a swinger feeling when you are chatting with them, despite them being naked, just keep this in mind.

 

Ok so you've been naked, gone to parties, had a trip to the chocolate room, and got lost in the dark room, but what about the cruise itself?

 

Having taken RC cruises in the past that were vanilla, and now three of the CC cruises, I can say there isn't much difference. When we signed up for our first CC cruise, I was worried the cruise itself would be bad due to it being a charter, but those fears were misplaced. Now if you read my first review I was a bit harsh on the condition of the ship, and VERY harsh on the food. I still keep in touch with a few people we met on that first cruise and everyone agrees the food was awful. As one women I know went said “I lost weight on the cruise.” I am very happy to report that has been greatly improved. What I discovered after our first CC cruise, talking to a former RC exec, is that RC was losing money badly, and food is one of the aspects which took the biggest hit in the budget cuts. I think RC realized they were making a mistake though and our last two cruises the food was much improved. The food isn't of the level it was back when I took my first RC cruise some 7 years ago, but its not a source of complaints either.

 

 

 

In November of 2012, RCCL implemented a new menu and new standards. Based on passenger complaints, they took time and money and put together a better program for dining that included both the main dining areas as well as the buffets and other food areas. I do agree that it was a lot better, then got worse,now it is almost as good, but not quite. We are glad to see the overall improvements though.

 

If you have been on a cruise before, especially an RC one, the rest is just as you would expect. You have a “sea pass” which is your ID/Credit Card for the whole cruise. You can plan normal shore excursions at every port. They have dinners in the dinning room every night including usually two formals if its a week long cruise which are of course optional. There is a casino, spa, exercise room, pool, ping pong tables, etc. Based on the ship you may have a rock climbing wall or a “surfing” pool as well.

 

If you have never been on a cruise, there are plenty of “what to pack” for a cruise websites out there that will be helpful. Just a few words of help here though.

 

Sun screen – EVERY cruise we see those couples who made their vacation difficult by not wearing it. You can't play on your back if your back feels like its on fire.

 

Sea Sickness Medication - They have it for free on the ship, and you can get the patch from your local doctor very easily. I don't get sea sick easily and never took anything but my wife does. If you don't know if you get sea sick, take them and TAKE THEM EARLY, before you feel sick at all. Many lose their first few nights (where the winds pick up and the seas can get slightly rough) due to sea sickness. Women seem to suffer worse than men and the ladies room can be a nasty place in rough seas.

 

Expect to pack a LOT – You have your “day clothes”, your dinner clothes, your dancing clothes, and your “specialty” clothes. You would think a clothing optional cruise wouldn't have these issues, but its typical.

 

 

Ok so whats different about a CC cruise from a regular RC cruise? Well a few things but nothing too major (outside of the swinging stuff of course).

 

Dinner – This is a big one in that you don't have an assigned table. This is pretty critical for a swing cruise as you will often go to dinner with new friends, and even when we went to dinner solo it was fun meeting new people. The only issue with this is the dinner staff is always chaotic with this.

 

 

It usually does take longer, especially at the beginning of the cruise. The cruise staff are used to a certain way and then we come in and change everything because we wanted open seating. The big problem is people showing up with 10, 12, 14+ seatings. This really takes a toll on service. Another issue is couples coming but not having their entire group with them. If people would co-operate, it would go a lot smoother, but couples have so much else on their minds.

 

 

Expect dinner to take two hours (you have nothing better to do at this point usually) and getting drinks/wine can be difficult due to the confusion. I also think the auto gratuity is a bigger issue here than usual.

 

 

Not sure what you mean by “gratuity is a bigger issue here. On a normal ship, you are assigned tables and your gratuities go to your servers for the week. Because we have open seating, all of the gratuities are pooled and then split between all of the servers. We require everyone to pre-pay their gratuities, where normal cruises do not require, but strongly recommend passengers pay their gratuities at the end of the cruise. The servers make more during our cruise than a normal cruise (where some people do not pay anything) so they are very happy.

 

 

Another thing is that a lot of people dress from formal to ultra slutty. I have nothing against ultra slutty usually, but they do give you towels to sit on if you are dressed in a very short skirt. This was a funny observation for me. Some women were offended they were offered a towel, others were offended they were not offered one.

 

 

 

I find this funny too

 

Bar service – This can be bad, they have always been under staffed in bartenders. Lets think about this. You have NO kids on this cruise, and its full of swingers. Thats a lot of booze. From what I'm told its the alcohol sales that really makes this cruise worth it money wise for RC and the bars are always busy, sometimes too busy and getting a drink in some spots is difficult. Its easier on the freedom ships due to the actual “bars” they have on the main promenade.

 

 

 

We usually bring on an extra 8-12 bartenders than they normally staff. We have to pay extra for this, but with the extra hours that the bars are open and the sheer volume, they need them in order to keep up. Imagine if we didn’t bring on these extra bartenders…

The Staff – “Oddly” you will see more males staffing the ship than usual. I have been told that the cruise volunteers for this type of cruise and so surprising more men want to come. That being said our last cruise had a lot more female crew members, and I don't know if this was just coincidence or RC changed their policy. Its not a major issue, just interesting. I'll add we also saw more security our last cruise. For us the staff was always polite.

 

 

They don’t change the staff onboard for our charters. Whoever is the staff the week before is the staff on our ship. The only changes are: the extra bartenders, extra entertainers that we bring on, sometimes we replace their piano or pub mucisians with more adult-friendly ones and any staff that is uncomfortable with our charter can either: Take vacation and leave the ship for a week or stay below and not work that week. We have only had one or two people to elect not to work out of 4 charters. One, a staff in the spa, changed her mind once she heard from coworkers that everyone was great and that the spa was busy (meaning more money for her if she worked). So, I guess this is just a coincidence.

Entertainment – Cruises tend to have various acts and entertainment. Some are awesome, some, less so. This hold true for these cruises as well. Early on some of the entertainers complained a bit due to a lack of attendance, which is understandable as WE are the entertainment really. As the cruise goes on though the crowds get bigger as people need a break from the constant parties and many “groups” have already formed. Much of the entertainment is also focused around the nature of the cruise which is a nice touch, from a more “naughty” version of how well do you know your wife, to naked bellyflop contests. They also have a DJ who regularly comes on the cruises and runs a Karaoke set up all night in one of the bars. I recommend going down to it at least one night, and if you have any guts, getting up there and singing. We enjoyed ourselves with that, as I did a shirtless “I”m Too Sexy”. The DJ (who's name is escaping me) has basically EVERY song out there. Just don't be one of those who picks a long boring song, its a swingers cruise, let loose!

 

 

 

The DJ/Karaoke host is Mark Maze

Some more advice. Don't be stupid. EVERY cruise some people get kicked off for doing stupid things. I've heard rumors from smoking into the state rooms to drugs, to fighting etc. I've seen very little bad behavior, the worst was a woman who was falling down drunk on the pool deck one night, but with this many people there are always those who like to live stupidly. Don't be them. Also there is no sex outside of the playrooms/your room. Don't be stupid and get caught on the pool deck. Depending on who catches you it could be a “go to your rooms please” to something major like “get off the ship”. RC doesn't mess around with security, which is a good thing.

 

 

 

If you only saw the things I see J

 

Now are these cruises for you?

 

I have to be honest, I have no idea, being I don't know you. If you are an experience swinger, and enjoy a vacation that involves the possibility of swinging, then you will most likely have an excellent time. If you are a new swinger, swinger want to be, you will most likely have a good time but if you are extra shy the swinging side might not happen. You still get an excellent cruise out of it. If you are some subtype of sexual desire that doesn't quite fit “swinging” you may or may not find what you are looking for. Not everyone who goes is a swinger, and not every swinger goes to play. For example on every cruise we have been on, there have been a few pregnant women who were not pregnant when they signed up but the cruise was already paid for. Those couples go for the cruise and the atmosphere.

 

You will find traditional swingers, fetish people, bdsm, nudists, voyeurs, cuckolds, hot wife types, and pretty much every other flavor. What you make of it is up to you.

 

Now personally our first cruise was “good” not great. Good enough we immediately signed up for the next one (which was sadly a year and a half wait), but it wasn't outstanding. Our second cruise was simply the best time we had on vacation and perhaps the most fun we had over a 7 day period ever. Our third cruise we expected a let down but if anything we had a better time over all though it was close. We met outstanding people on all three cruises, some we still managed to keep in touch with and even visit despite being 100's a miles away. If it was possible for us, we would take three a year. This despite the fact we are NOT big time party people, we are not heavy drinkers, we are not “screw them all” swingers. We are selective in our partners, and always go in with the zero expectation approach, and despite this we have had fabulous times.

 

If you have any questions, or comments, perhaps you were on one of these cruises and want to add your own story, please do so. If you think something needs to be corrected, please again do so, I am not part of CC and as such my knowledge is limited to a guest.

 

I'd also like to give some thanks and praise to the Couples Cruise staff members we have interacted with over these last few years. They have been friendly, and helpful. From when they are relaxing to when they are dead tired after one was up to 4am trying to get people to leave the playroom (we saw the poor woman on an elevator at 9am that morning). I'm sure dealing with 3,800 swingers for a week isn't an easy task.

 

No doubt! Thanks for the kind words, we do (our entire staff) work our butts off. But we love what we do and we can’t wait until November!

[Coupleerotic22 1,419]

That was excellent and candid response from the CC leadership. Wonderful to see.

 

The staff thing surprised me a bit though. I have always wondered about that considering so many people are vehemently anti-swinging.

 

I guess money talks.

[Chicup 42]

Yea I was told by several people, including couples cruise people that they were all volunteers. Some DID seem disgusted, others seemed to really want to participate, especially the European cruise staff. This is of course strictly forbidden (and its one of those rules that if you break they get fired, and I think you get removed from the ship).

 

Over all the staff was very positive though. The only "disgusted" ones we ran into were some of the housekeeping staff on our first cruise who I overheard saying they didn't want to touch anything. I wonder if they know what goes on during a regular cruise

[Coupleerotic22 1,419]

The only "disgusted" ones we ran into were some of the housekeeping staff on our first cruise who I overheard saying they didn't want to touch anything. I wonder if they know what goes on during a regular cruise

 

Hell, I am a swinger and I don't blame them. But like you said, I would feel the same way on a regular cruise. Some people just do not believe in personal hygiene.

[JustAskJulie 2,595]

Excellent Feedback. It's rare to get that kind of feedback from a company, nice and candid. Your review and his feedback definitely increase my desire to check out one of these cruises.

 

I get a little bit motion-sick so that's been one of the biggest things holding us back from going on a cruise in general. Then add to that the super short time you get in any port it seemed pointless. So, when it comes down to it I've felt like if I was going to do a cruise I'd much rather do a swinger cruise where the journey is the destination!

[Chicup 42]

Excellent Feedback. It's rare to get that kind of feedback from a company, nice and candid. Your review and his feedback definitely increase my desire to check out one of these cruises.

 

I get a little bit motion-sick so that's been one of the biggest things holding us back from going on a cruise in general. Then add to that the super short time you get in any port it seemed pointless. So, when it comes down to it I've felt like if I was going to do a cruise I'd much rather do a swinger cruise where the journey is the destination!

 

After our first vanilla cruise we said "never again" we only took the trip since a hurricane took out Desire that year. These are MUCH more fun, even if you weren't swinging the people watching is worth the cost.

[mauijanedoe 1,414]

I get a little bit motion-sick so that's been one of the biggest things holding us back from going on a cruise in general.

 

I get a lot motion sick, but the only cruise I've taken so far, with roughly the same itinerary as the Freedom of the Seas, wasn't bad at all. I just felt a little off balance for most of the trip and had to give up doing headstands for the duration. Since I no longer do headstands, I expect just a few not very noticeable balance issues. I'll bring Dramamine and I'm going to try some of the wrist bands, as well.