Cruise - First same-sex couple dared to board the TUI Mein Schiff Fleet

Same sex marriages on board MEIN SCHIFF fleet, as well on board CELEBRITY CRUISES. Both companies serve the upmarket mass market in the cruise industry.
A gay marriage on board a ship is the dream of many, which became an offer onboard many cruise ships, depending on the law of the flag state.

CELEBRITY CRUISES was a first to offer that oportunity. TUI CRUISES followed the same year, 2017. Both cruise companies fly the Maltese flag. Malta is member of the EU and it is a common agreement within the western EU countries following the basic human rigth of equal rights. Germany in a stride legalized at the end of the last legislation period same sex marriages.

by Earl of Cruise

Rachelle and Julia Esser on board MEIN SCHIFF 6, officially the first married same sex couple - courtesy TUI CRUISES

On 22.11.2017 Rachelle and Julia Esser have given themselves on board the Mein Schiff 6 officially the yes-word. This makes them the first same-sex couple to be married on board the TUI Cruises fleet. We congratulate them from the bottom of our hearts and wish them all the best for the future.

Rachelle Esser is Dutch, Julia Esser is German - the newly married couple lives together in Hamelin. She was married on a trip to Central America on board the Mein Schiff 6 by Captain Kjell Holm. Especially nice for TUI CRUISES: Julia Esser is a former employee of TUI Cruises.

Kjell Holm, captain of MEIN SCHIFF 4 - courtesy TUI CRUISES

Already in the beginning of 2016 the first same-sex partnering took place on board the TUI CRUISES MEIN SCHIFF fleet - the legal ceremony is carried out by our captains on board according to Maltese law.
When searching a film location for Charlie David and his producing partner for a cruise ship location for the planed sequel of "Make the Yuletide Gay", I contacted TUI CRUISES and heard a distrubing answer: "We don´t want to be a location in a gay film project." I was flabbergasted by the statement of that project managing lady back then. I told her that I for the sake of her and TUI CRUISES I did not hear that degrading answer, as it could be a backlash for the cruise company. For certain departure dates a great number of gay and lesbian booked cruises with TUI, which I allready by research knew, and as friends of mine did tell too. Also, that cruises seem to be ideal for LGBT, especially for gay men. I did remind her for that fact. And she became quiet ... This turned to the better, caused by demand and the laws EU and Germany implemented, as a good thing.

Rainbow Cruise Schirmherrin Gloria Viagra und Kollegin Melli Magic

TUI Rainbow Cruise patroness´ Gloria Viagra and colleague Melli Magic - courtesy TUI CRUISES

Since then TUI CRUISES officially, late but not too late, changed it policy ... From April 29th to May 7th 2017, TUI CRUISES was organising the first German-speaking cruise for the LGBT community and its friends. This was announced by the renowned Hamburg shipping company in a press release back then. TUI CRUISES had a strong followership within the LGBT community. And while the German public grew more and more open against LGBT, it was a logical step for TUI to embrace LGBT finally in its cruise branch.

Press photo of the "Rainbow Cruise": TUI Cruises has already understood how to address the gay target group (picture: TUI Cruises)

Press photo of the TUI "Rainbow Cruise": TUI Cruises has already understood how to address the gay target group - courtesy TUI CRUISES

On board the TUI "Rainbow Cruise" guests experienced parties with scene DJs and performances by artists from the fields of music, comedy, cabaret and travesty. Included in the show was WestBam, House DJ Rony Golding, Chansonnier Tim Fischer and the Drag Queens Cybersissy and Babyjane. TUI CRUISES had implemented further top acts on the trip.
MEIN SCHIFF 2 raised the rainbow flag in Palma de Mallorca. From where, the eight-day cruise went through the Mediterranean with stops in Barcelona (Spain) - with overnight, La Seyne (France), Corsica (France), Civitaveccia/Rome (Italy), Salerno (Italy) and Valletta (Malta).
In the Spanish gay metropolis Barcelona MEIN SCHIFF 2 was located overnight, giving its LGBT guests the chance exploring thriving LGBT Barcelona.
As the TUI "Heavy Metal Cruises", this cruise turned out to be a true success for the cruise company.
Also on the TUI "Rainbow Cruise", in April 2017, Rachelle and Julia Esser got married: Within the framework of a campaign with a large German online portal, TUI were looking for and found a lesbian and gay couple who dared to make the covenant for life on board of our Mein Schiff 2. A ZDF report on the trip and the wedding on board can be found here: Rainbow Cruise Wedding on ZDF (only in Germany, sorry).

It all started with the then legal form of "partnering" now following the full legalisation of same sex marriages, TUI CRUISES is offering the same service as ashore, according to Maltese right. If you want to have the marriage according to German civil right, you have to hire a marriage officiant (a solemniser, or "vow master" - a person who officiates at a wedding ceremony.

Schwul-lesbische Trauungen sind bei TUI Cruises auf hoher See möglich

Rachelle and Julia Esser with Ken and Peter on board MEIN SCHIFF 6, the wedding ceremony was held in the Diiamond of the main dining room - courtesy TUI CRUISES

Since the official introduction of same-sex marriage in both Germany and TUI CRUISES´ flag state Malta, TUI CRUISES has been in close contact with the relevant authorities in order to expedite the implementation and recognition of same-sex marriage on board the MEIN SCHIFF fleet as quickly as possible. "We are pleased to officially offer `marriage for all´", announced TUI CRUISES PR manager.

TUI CRUISES, a joint venture of TUI AG (TUI GROUP) and the globally active cruise company ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISES Ltd. has already made headlines with its own cruises for hit or heavy metal fans in the past. "With this trip, we want to set an example for diversity," explained Wybcke Meier, CEO of TUI Cruises. "We already have a lot of gay and lesbian guests. "he LGBT community is very keen to travel and has an affinity for cruising."

What a difference from my experience some years ago ...

More information about the wedding on board can be found here: Marriage on board

As TUI CRUISES is a German speaking oriented joint venture product of TUI GROUP and RCI, the info is in German. But if you are interested taking a cruise on a German oriented ship - ahoy, do it! Most German are capable of English, open minded and quite free spirited, especially the LGBT community.

Cruise - CELEBRITY CRUISES to offer legal same-sex marriages on board

Comments

Ocean Liners in Movies or Films at Sea (updated Nov 2017)

For liners and the shipping companies movies and films had been a top marketing tool Movies or Films and liners at sea, had been intriguing me since I have read about in my youth in LUXUSLINER - BILDER EINER GROSSEN ZEIT by Lee Server ( THE GOLDEN AGE OF OCEAN LINERS ). But earlier, mot only since my first crossing, I was keen watching movies with liners in it, and disapointed, which was an understatement, when I realized the films have been made in a set ashore in some movie "factory". That was after my first crossing. by Earl of Cruise an essay in progress `Sabrina´, Humphrey Bogart in the office, while LIBERTÉ is sailing out of New York harbor - screenshot Ocean liners, especially those of the luxury category, had been the location of dramas, love stories, thrillers, suspense and catastrophies sinde film was born, or nearly. In this list, the most descriptions are taken from Wikipedia, as I guess no one can expect having seen all these films ... otherwise I w

Thank You 500,000 readers

ss NORMANDIE 1935 - 1942 IX

s s / te NORMANDIE starting from cold Owners: COMPAGNIE GÉNÉRALE TRANSATLANTIQUE BUILDERS: PENH Ö ET, St. Nazaire, France by Stephen Carey © , editing by Earl of Cruise This document is almost exclusively about the engineering aspects of NORMANDIE , mainly on how to start her up from cold. If you are looking for photos of the passenger spaces, there is a plethora of them on the web, in Facebook groups - Admirers of the ss Normandie , ss Normandie photographic file , The French Ocean Liners / Les Paquebots Fran ç ais , ss Normandie , GREAT LINERS OF THE PAST & PRESENT , and others, Pinterest and in articles about NORMANDIE here in the blog, please see at the end of the article. Using "ss" for NORMANDIE is quite incorrect, as NORMANDIE was a Turbo Electric vessel and not a steamship, therefore NORMANDIE should be adressed as "te". by Earl of Cruise te / ss NORMANDIE berthed in Le Havre, Gare Maritime May 29th, 1935 - colouring courtesy

Starting rms MAURETANIA from cold

rms MAURETANIA, 1907, Cold Starting CUNARD LINE Ltd., Builders: SWAN, HUNTER & WIGHAM RICHARDSON. Newcastle on Tyne by Stephen Carey, engineer, editing by Earl of Cruise rm s M AURETANIA © Stephen Carey 1 Overview of machinery spaces 1.1 Boiler rooms MAURETANIA is (or was) a quadruple screw Cunard liner fitted with 2 single-ended and 23 double-ended boilers, operating at 195lb/in2. These boilers are arranged six in 3 boiler rooms (4,3 & 2; note that Cunard numbers forward to aft compared to White Star which numbers aft to forward), and five in No1 Boiler Room (the foremost one) where the fine lines of the ship only allow 2 abreast at the forward end of this boiler room. No1 Boiler Room also houses the two single ended boilers used for hotel services and auxiliary supplies in port. The double-ended boilers are fired for transatlantic passages up to full speed and primarily used for main propulsion. Combustion air for the boilers is provided by forc

HISTORY - Traveling with airliner LZ 129 HINDENBURG was the most luxurious airtravel

The real airliner LZ 129 HINDENBURG enabled the most luxurious airtravel for decades. Imagine, gliding through the air while the landscape or the sea below can be seen ... LZ 129 HINDENBURG marks the climax of airship construction. On May 6, 1937, the story of civilian airship ended in a tragedy. In Lakehurst, New Jersey, the largest flying object and has been with the similar sized LZ 130 GRAF ZEPPELIN II the most luxurious of all time. How this came about can be reconstructed logically, a series of fatal physics concatenations . The airship LZ 129 HINDENBURG marks the climax of airship construction. It was in its time the fastest and most exclusive traveling object between Europe and America. The challenges of the construction of the giant of the heaven were immense. by Earl of Cruise LZ 129 HINDENBURG, 1936, in Lakehurst - digital copy of a coloured cover photo, originally by Bill Schneider, published in Dan Grossman´s book ` ZEPPELIN HINDENBURG: AN ILLUSTRATED HI

HISTORY - The CUNARD - WHITE STAR Liner rms QUEEN ELIZABETH (1938-1972)

Over years, in my early youth, the QUEEN ELIZABETH was shaping my mind for the perfect ocean liner, despite having made my first experiences with a liner onboard the HANSEATIC (1), ex EMPRESS OF SCOTLAND, ex EMPRESS OF JAPAN. When leaning at the rail of HANSEATIC entering the port, my eyes where every where and I wished to by a camera, I took all in. And when seeing the QUEEN ELIZABETH with my own eyes, the nice behaving young boy turned into a tomboy, that my grandmére was no longer able to tame ... I did draw quite a lot of looks, back then. I found, while on research, this article and thought it interesting publishing in my blog: written and published by John Sheperd at liverpoolships.org editing and comments by Earl of Cruise I ( John Shepard ) joined the CUNARD LINE in March 1962 as an Assistant Purser and sailed the QUEEN ELIZABETH throughout that year, before transferring to the Liverpool-based CARINTHIA in November, where I remained as Crew Purser for the next five

HISTORY - rms MAJESTIC - Hand in Hand with rms TITANIC

TITANIC and MAJESTIC (1890), both Royal Mail Ships, hand in hand? How so? The review of João Martins will show. by João Martins , editing by Earl of Cruise And WHITE STAR LINE was more than only a shipping line which employed rms TITANIC. WHITE STAR was company with a great heritage and introduced many innovations which became standards. Founded by Thomas Henry Ismay , originally from Maryport, and shareholders amoung whom had been HARLAND&WOLFF . Later the Irish shipbuilder, located in Belfast, built all ships for WHITE STAR. rms MAJESTIC as built by HARLAND&WOLFF - Sour ce: Wikipedia ( original seize ) T he rms MAJESTIC was a 9,965 GRT British ocean liner built by HARLAND & WOLFF for WHITE STAR LINE and completed in 1890. Her career was profoundly intertwined with rms TITANIC. In the late 1880s competition for the Blue Riband, the award for the fastest Atlantic crossing, was fierce amongst the major shipping lines. At the time the prize belonged to CUNA RD

HISTORY - Italian TITANIC - The sinking of ss PRINCIPESSA MAFALDA

Despite rms TITANIC , ss PRINCIPESSA MAFALDA somehow has disappeared into the mists of time. Except for a small group of followers. This is mostly a reflection of the fact, that it was an Italian ship, carrying a complement that was almost exclusively Latino. The disaster of the MORRO CASTLE was a less significant event, and yet the amount of information and coverage, even today, is exponentially greater. Earl of Cruise by João Martins , editing by Earl of Cruise The Italian "rms TITANIC", ss PRINCIPESSA MAFALDA - Source: Wikipedia D espite the sinking of the ss ANDREADORIA 30 years later being much better known, the greatest tragedy in Italian shipping and largest ever in the Southern Hemisphere in peacetime was the sinking of the ss PRINCIPESSA MAFALDA in 1927. Builder Cantiere Riva Trigoso, Riva Trigoso No. 42 Launching 22. Oktober 1908 Commissioning 30. März 1909 25. Oktober 1927 su

Germany and HAPAG - A Journey through History

HAMBURG-AMERIKANISCHEPACKETFAHRT ACTIEN GESELLSCHAFT - HAPAG or HAMBURG AMERICA LINE is reflecting, as Germany, the LLOYD of Bremen, two times of rsing and two times of devasting downfall and a third rise. BORUSSIA , 1856, First Day Cover 1956 of Deutsche Bundespost - own collection Once Germany´s biggest shipping line HAPAG / HAMBURG-AMERIKANISCHE PACKETFAHRT ACTIEN GESELLSCHAFT-LLOYD, merged with it former old Hanseatic rival NORDDEUTSCHER LLOYD in 1970, to now HAPAG-LLOYD, had its peaks and downs, but rose each time on its own to new hights, without any state subsidies. As German mail subsidiaries did never cover the costs for purchasing or mainting the vessels ordered for the specific German mail lines. by Earl of Cruise In this article I used most German Wikipedia links, as they proved to be mostly of better research quality, and surprisinf to me, some English lines and liners have only German written articles, for the others, English Wiki links are to find

ss NORMANDIE 1935-1942 III

© coloured by Daryl LeBlanc Die NORMANDIE "flying the Blue Riband" Die Technick Die 812 Mio. Francs teure NORMANDIE stellte nicht nur mit ihrer Geschwindigkeit einen neuen Höhepunkt im Schiffbau dar. Die NORMANDIE war, mit ihrer einer Tonnage von 79.280 BRT (83.423 BRT nach dem Umbau Winter 1937/38) und einer Länge von 313,75m 1935 das größte und längste Schiff, das je gebaut worden war. Zugleich war die NORMANDIE auch das erste Schiff mit einer Länge über 300 Metern (1.000 Fuß). Der Bau des gigantischen Rumpfes hatte ganze 21 Monate in Anspruch genommen. Zuvor musste der vorherige Ausbau zur Vergrößerung der Helling erledigt werden. Mit einem Stapellaufgewicht von 27.650t war der Schiffsrumpf der NORMANDIE auch die bis dato größte, jemals auf dem Land bewegte Masse. Mitverantwortlich für den Entwurf der NORMANDIE zeichnete, der nach Frankreich emigrierte Russe, Wladimir Yourkevitch. Die Konstruktion war in mancher Hinsicht außergewöhnlich. Der Rumpfqu

Search This Blog

Thank You 500,000 readers