Royal Caribbean Becomes First Cruise Line to Earn Gay Travel Stamp of Approval

Rewarding the cruise line’s spirit of diversity and inclusion, Royal Caribbean has, this week, become the first major ocean cruise line to receiver the ‘Gay Travel Approved’ designation from GayTravel.com.

Royal Caribbean is widely recognised for its efforts to make all guests feel welcome aboard their ships regardless of age, national, sexuality or background. And this has not gone unnoticed by the bigwigs at GayTravel.com who moved to make Royal Caribbean the first cruise line to receive the LGBTQ seal of approval.

The cruise line was particularly praised for ensuring that this spirit of inclusion was present across all 25 of their ships, and the diverse appointments made by the company to positions of power.

Steve Rohrlick, CEO of GayTravel.com, explained: “This designation has been a long time in the making. Our GayTravel Cruise Guru Stephen Prisco has sailed on more than one hundred Royal Caribbean cruises.  The recent appointment of Grant Van Ulbrich as the first openly-gay Diversity Executive on a major cruise line and the steps he is implementing are indicative of Royal Caribbean International’s commitment to the LGBTQ community. It is therefore our distinct pleasure to bestow GayTravel Approved 2016 to Royal Caribbean International.”

The news will undoubtedly be music to the ears of the Royal Caribbean management, who have gone to great lengths to make their ships, itineraries and packages to as wide a demographic as possible. No cruise line has done more over the past 30 years to increase the family-friendly reputation of the cruise industry than Royal Caribbean.

Grant Van Ulbrich, Director, Diversity & Inclusion, Royal Caribbean, was unsurprisingly pleased by the news: “Royal Caribbean has always been known and recognised for extraordinary service that is warm and attentive and remains committed to creating a diverse, welcoming environment on each and every one of our ships. To take our efforts to the next level, we recently introduced a new Diversity and Inclusion department and one of its first priorities is to focus on continued training and education for our international crew members.”

This accolade is the result of years of hard work from the Royal Caribbean team. From advertising in gay publications to holding on-board meet-ups for the LGBTQ community to featuring same-sex couples in their promotional material; the line has gone to great lengths to ensure that the community feels welcome aboard any one of their 25 ships.

Booking a Royal Caribbean cruise with Cruise1st UK could not be easier. Simply head over to our dedicated Royal Caribbean cruise page or call our friendly sales team on 0808 2746 777 for unbeatable deals with this unbeatable line.

Images sourced via Royal Caribbean Press Center