Big Gay Frat House Blog

RSVP Caribbean Cruise - Part 1

Faithful readers of this blog will recall that Kevin and Tim went on an RSVP Vacations cruise to the Mexican Riviera last Halloween. You can re-read our accounts of our experiences in parts one, two, and three.

On that cruise, our friends Jeremy and Alvin introduced us to some of their friends, Mark and Zach. Over the course of the cruise, Kevin became good friends with both of them and we continued to hang out a lot once when we returned to San Francisco. In the months that followed, we kept discussing wanting to do another cruise, and at the last minute (literally a week before it sailed) we booked a cabin on RSVP's Caribbean cruise, flying to Fort Lauderdale at midnight on Saturday, February 25th for a Sunday afternoon departure....

Day 1 - Sunday, February 25 (Bon Voyage from Fort Lauderdale)

In the airport in San Francisco, we saw adult star Benjamin Bradley and his boyfriend, Ethan Reynolds of Brat Boy Bulletin. They were flying through Chicago (we went through Dallas), but I knew they were going to be on the boat, too. We took a red eye because the cheaper daytime fares were already taken (plus it saved us hotel fare in Fort Lauderdale that first night). But Ethan and Ben flew out late from SF because they were at the GayVN Awards earlier at the Castro Theatre.

After exploring the ship a bit, we returned to the cabin to change (our bags finally arrived) before heading up to the bon voyage party. It started to sprinkle a bit, but Mark and I ventured to the top deck anyway and danced in the rain (Zach stayed below). What started as a few warm drops suddenly got heavy and cold, to the point where I was gasping for breath as if I had fallen into an icy river. We rushed back to our cabin to change before returning to find Zach.

Later that evening, we made a new friend: Brian. I went up to watch the Oscars in one of the lounges, but the red-eye and jet lag was finally catching up to me, so I returned to our cabin to watch the end of the Oscars and fall asleep...

(See more pics from Day 1)

Day 2 - Monday, February 26th (at sea)

Monday was our first full day, and it was an at-sea day (which I tend to like the best).

The night before, Mark and Kevin ran into Steven, a friend of Zach's from when they were camp counselors together fresh out of high school. Steven was an influential figure in Zach's coming out process, so for Zach it was both weird and exciting to see him. Steven was also a last-minute addition to the cruise, being RSVP's brand new Director of Marketing. (His official first day was the Monday after the cruise.) Steven used to work for Olivia, but this was his first cruise with mostly boys.

In the early afternoon, they held the 2(x)ist Underwear Fashion Show. I took pictures from above, which all look so tiny in thumbnails, but perhaps later I will crop some for a better shot.

There was a tea dance, too, like every day, but if it had a theme I'm sure I cannot recall what it was. But then at night we had one of the most fun parties: the Red Party. Because apparently red is the new white. Mark and Zach had thematically matching outfits: Mark as an angelic cupid and Zach as a red devil. Adorable. Me, I just had on a new red blouse which, because it was transparent, I put over a red t-shirt. But I did get a chance to finally meet Ben Bradley (who, for the record, was the second of my three porn star crushes) and Ethan Reynolds.

Jet lag finally caught up to Mark, though, so after the Red Party he put his head down for a quick nap and ended up sleeping on til morning. Zach and I meandered over to Skywalkers, the after hours club that doesn't even open til 2:00 am.

(See more pictures from Day 2)

The RSVP Mexican Riviera Cruise, Part 3

(Continued from part 2.)

Day 5 - Wednesday, November 1

On the fifth day, we arrived at our second port: Mazatlan.

Tim and Kevin went ashore with Jonnie and our friend Alvin (whose partner, Jeremy, went kayaking). We went first to a bar valled Valentino's, which was having a special reception for the cruise, but it was too much like being on the boat and not enough like being in Mexico, so we headed off to wander a bit looking for pharmacias.

Back on the boat, it ended up being a relatively quiet evening. No dances for us. The ship's crew did indulge in a strange tradition that probably made more sense on a straight cruise: the champagne waterfall with an opportunity to dance with the cruise's female crew. Uh huh. They did choose music especially for us - songs like "Dancing Queen," "I'm Coming Out," Cher, Madonna, the Village People....

Weird.

(More pictures from Day 5.)

Day 6 - Thursday, November 2

Our third port was Cabo San Lucas, and Kevin went ashore to have lunch with ... his mom!

Kevin's mom and her husband recently purchased a vacation condo in a town about 20 miles from Cabo. The condo isn't done being built yet, but they stayed in a hotel to check on the progress (and, being recently retired, they could revel in a mid-winter get-away).

Cabo was by far the most beautiful port. Unlike the other cities, which also have large commerce and industry in addition to tourism, Cabo is a resort area that almost exclusively caters to tourists.

But for whatever reason, the ship had to depart unusually early, so we headed back to sea at 2:00 in the afternoon.

That afternoon was the swimsuit competition. All of the top contestants were in drag.

Later there was another tea dance. Not sure what the theme was but it was essentially another excuse for cute boys to dance wearing very little. That night was the Diamond Studded White Party with a special performance by Deborah Cox (because when gays congregate they have to throw a white party). Lots of cute, cute boys wearing a variety of white clothing - some in regular white clothes, some in costumes like togas, a lot in underwear and very little clothing at all.

Kevin managed to spot porn star Roman Heart who appears to have been trying to pass incognito by donning a white wig. After dancing with Mark, Zach, and Rick for awhile, it was time to call it a night...

All in all, a fun night and a great port to visit.

(More photos from Day 6.)

Day 7 - Friday, November 3rd

Our last day was a full sea day, but we were heading back towards colder climates and the weather was cold and windy. Gale force winds, in fact, which forced the military-themed tea dance into one of the inside bars. Roman Heart was supposed to dance, but due to the venue change just mingled with guests. Kevin had gotten Roman's signature at a signing (in the chapel!) earlier in the week, but Kevin finally managed to get a picture with him at the dance.

Afterwards, Kevin went to a private reception hosted by the president of PlanetOut, where he saw Roman Heart again and posed for another picture. (Picture whore!) He met up with the boys again and they ended up doing a hot tub - so relaxing!

(More pictures from Day 7.)

The next morning we arrived in Los Angeles. A delay due to insufficient customs officials trapped us on the boat for a few extra hours, but we were able to get to our car without much hassle to make our way back to San Francisco. A long, exhausting but ultimately way fun week!

The RSVP Mexican Riviera Cruise, Part 2

(Continued from Part 1...)

Day 3 - Monday, October 30

Our third day was another "at sea" day. I don't know what straight cruises do for entertainment (I can't imagine, actually), but RSVP does a great job coming up with all sorts of entertainment, especially during days at sea.

Today's activity was "Pool Games." Emcee Paul Williams led a series of three contests. The first involved pairing players up to toss a ball back and forth until only one team remained. Kevin kinda photo-stalked Billy, one of the cute model boys (who was later revealed to have attitude, surprise surprise). The second involved a wacky relay race. And the third, which could have been the sexiest (except all five contestants ended up being bears) was a "changing into leotards" contest.

Sigh. The games were fun, but we kinda were expecting them to be a little more risque on a gay cruise. Hello! But this was RSVP's first cruise with Princess, so I guess they were bending over backwards to be on their best behavior.

After the pool games there was the group photo shoot. Then time to relax a bit before the "Salsa T-Dance." Not all of the costumes made sense (see right), but that's ok. MORE than ok. (A few hours later there were many, many guys wearing similar or less.)

The real highlight of the day, and perhaps one of the best events of the whole ship, was the underwear party later that night.

Kevin bought special 2(x)ist soy underwear for the event -- softer than cashmere! It wasn't long before he ran into James David who was shy and demure in his bathrobe...which he discarded about three seconds later! And while wandering around, they ran into Mark, Zach, and Rick from the first night, and we all (including Jeremy and Alvin, who we met up with soon thereafter) ended up spending the rest of the evening together.

Lots of fun dancing and other stuff (ok, not everything gets blogged, but it's probably not what you're thinking). Truly one of the most fun events on the ship.

(More photos from Day 3)

Day 4 - Tuesday, October 31

Our first day at a port - Puerto Vallarta!

But after the night before, it ended up being a sluggish day. Neither Tim nor Kevin went ashore, though Jonny and Mason did. Kevin and Mark hung out by the pool for most of the day and just had a leisurely time.

Of course, the highlight was the "Princes and Pauper Renaissance Ball" that night for Halloween!

There were numerous really clever costumes. The "Three Must-Be-Queers." A beautiful Marie Antionette. A gaggle of jock-strapped bunnies. Six "one nightstands." A re-enactment of Raphael's angels. Lots of bare butts (and other things).

But the winner of the costume contest probably spent the least: a 400+ pound bear in drag wearing a way-too-small women's bikini carrying a sign advertising his lost dog -- and attached to his backside, a tiny stuffed dog.

After a special performance by Kristine W, Kevin rushed back to the cabin for a quick costume change (his Renaissance costume was chafing) before heading out to continue the party.

(More photos from Day 4)

Stay tuned for more covering days 5 through 7...

The RSVP Mexican Riviera Cruise, Part 1

Kevin and Tim managed to miss the shootings in the Castro on Halloween by setting sail on RSVP Vacations's special gay and lesbian cruise to the Mexican Riviera.

This was Kevin's first cruise of any kind, but Tim had already done two other RSVP cruises within the last year -- the Alaskan cruise in the fall of 2005, and the Caribbean in the spring of 2006. But with a passenger capacity of 2,674, this was the largest ship RSVP has ever chartered and a whole new adventure for even Tim.

We were joined in our adventures by our friend Jonny and his straight-but-not-narrow nephew, Mason. In addition, our friend Donna Sachet was on board as one of the emcees, and Kevin had several other friends on board as passengers or crew (the company Kevin works for purchased RSVP last year).

Day -1 (Friday, October 27)

The four of us (Tim, Kevin, Jonny, and Mason) drove from San Francisco to Long Beach. With four passengers, driving was cheaper than flying and in theory would make for a much less stressful return.

We spent the night at a hotel in Long Beach. After "painting the town" (rather unsuccessfully), we returned to the hotel where Kevin and Mason went for a quick swim in the hotel pool. We were immediately approached by two older gentlemen who somehow knew we were going on the cruise. Are we that obviously gay? (And hell, Mason isn't gay.)

Day 1 (Saturday, October 28)

We arrived around 1:30 or so to board, and it proved to be the easiest boarding process ever -- far easier than Tim's previous two cruises. Rather than waiting in line for hours, it took us a mere 15 minutes to get processed and maybe 10 more to get through security. Easy as pie, and then we were already on the ship!

We went to our rooms to unpack (prematurely, as it turns out, since our boarding process was so fast that we beat our luggage), and Kevin bumped into our friend Julian -- who played Puck for our Midsummer Night's Dream fundraiser. This sort of thing would happen all week long (the day before we left, Kevin was still bumping into friends and co-workers we hadn't seen all week).

We then proceeded to explore the ship, kick-starting it with a round of top-shelf Long Island Ice Teas. And then it was time for the "Tiaras, Crowns & Scepters" bon voyage party (which were provided by RSVP, but we brought our own from the costume kitchen). At the bon voyage, Kevin bumped into our friends Jeremy and Alvin who were chatting with three boys who would become new friends: Mark, Zach, and Rick.

Kevin ended up missing the "early dining" and went to see the San Diego Gay Men's Chorus. He met back up with Tim later, but then decided to head off to the Day of the Dead Dance while Tim caught some of the other shows. At the dance, Kevin ran into his co-worker James David, on board to play escort to the gaggle of visiting journalists. Afterwards, they headed to the Skywalker Lounge to dance before calling it a night.

Here are some other pictures from that first day...

(More pictures from Day 1)

Day 2 - Sunday, October 29

Our first full day at sea, and still a few more days before Halloween.

After a leisurely room-service breakfast, it was time to catch the "LA Sports Center and 2(x)ist Fashion Show" where five cute boys hired by RSVP were modeling sportswear, swimwear, and underwear. As anyone who has seen Kevin's Flickr galleries knows, Kevin has quite the reputation for pushing his way to the front to get good pictures, and this time was no exception. No indeed.

Hundreds of pictures later, we headed back to do a swim in the indoor pool before freshening up before Jeremy and Alvin stopped by for dinner.

Alvin ended up getting a little inebriated and went to bed after dinner. Tim and Jonny went off to a cabaret show, so Kevin and Jeremy went together to the "Dungeons & Dragons Leather Party" with special guest porn star Roman Heart and an awesome performance by Abigail. Kevin chose to focus on the fantasy element rather than the leather side, and wore a beautiful (but ultimately a little annoying) black-and-gold dragon mask.

(More photos from Day 2)

Stay tuned for more blog entries covering days 3 through 7....

Sailing, Take Me Away.....

Tim and Kevin are about to embark on an RSVP vacation to the Mexican Riviera!

For Tim, these cruises are old hat -- this will be his third RSVP trip in barely a year! He and David had already planned a trip to the Caribbean for last March when Tim's friend John suddenly had a vacancy in his cabin for an Alaskan cruise. So when Kevin got a great employee discount, they jumped at the chance to go.

Our friend Jon and his nephew will also be joining us (but in a smaller cabin below ours), along with two other sets of friends in other cabins. But Kevin will probably know dozens and dozens of people on the boat (which, with a capacity of just under 2,700, is the largest RSVP has ever chartered).

Our dear friend Donna Sachet, who co-hosted our naked rugby fundraiser last April, will be one of the co-hosts of the cruise. Charles "Social Grace" Purdy, Gay.com's etiquette columnist, is also planning to go. And because Kevin's work owns RSVP (along with half the gay universe), he'll know quite a lot of the other staff members and employee-discounters. Probably about 50 of them, all told.

There is quite a line-up of events planned, and because the cruise is over Halloween (and because we're gay!), many of them have costume themes. So we're raiding the costume closet. (Excuse me, costume kitchen. Who needs a third kitchen when one can be for costumes?) Some of the events include:

• "Diamond Stud White Party " sponsored by Cuervo with special performance by Deborah Cox
• "Prince & Pauper Renaissance Ball" (Costume Party) sponsored by Nutrisoda with special performance by Kristine W and prizes for the best costume
• "Tiaras, Crowns & Scepters" bon voyage party
• "Day of the Dead" celebration
• "Dungeons & Dragons" leather party
• "Trick-or-Treat T-dance"
• "Royal Skivvies 2x(ist) Underwear Party"
• Military T-dance

Aside from having an excuse to bring about 5 different king costumes, Kevin is probably most excited about being able to meet the delightfully cute Roman Heart, Freshmen magazine's Freshman of the Year and co-star (with our "Midsummer Night's Dream" emcee Brent Corrigan) in Falcon Studio's recent release "The Velvet Mafia."

Rumor has it that there's wireless access available on the cruise, so Kevin will bring his laptap and try, connectivity willing, to upload pictures to his Flickr gallery throughout the trip.

Faggot First Wednesday

Over the last year or so, the bar formerly known as Daddy's has slowly, under new management, transformed itself into "440 Castro" with a new name and an evolving vibe.

And part of the credit for that change has to go to Scott Brown, a graphic designer and event promoter whose monthly party Faggot, held the first Wedneday of every month, has become one of the hottest nights all month long in the Castro. (Brown is also the mastermind behind Attention Deficit Disco, a monthly event transforming The Transfer, which is also recently under new management.)

"There's always so much griping about the Castro," Brown told Kevin in an interview for Gay.com a few months ago. "I wanted to do something there that was on the edge to sort of bring that back into the Castro, a fun night that I think people would suspect would happen South of Market, or somewhere on Polk Street, or in the Mission, or happen somewhere else but the Castro."

So last night, being the first Wednesday of July, Kevin had to trot down to experience the action. Faggot is, after all, where he recruited one of his go-go boys, Justin, for the Epiphany Party.

One of Faggot's best assets is DJ Earworm, whose mash-ups are legendary in club circles. Some of his hottest include:

• "Don't Mess With Orgasmatron," an explicit blend of music from the Eurythmics, Avenue D, Mousse T., and Anthony Rother
• "We Need a Filthy War" with music from Fischerspooner, Scissor Sisters, Chemical Brothers, Pet Shop Boys, Edwin Starr, and Culture Club
• "I Like the Way Jenny Scrubs" featuring TLC, Jennifer Lopez, Bodyrockers, and Missy Elliott
• "No One Takes Your Freedom" which includes music from Scissor Sisters, Beatles, Aretha Franklin, and George Michael
• "What's My Name?", a freakin' brilliant mix of 22 songs from Ace of Bass, Mamas and the Papas, Brandy & Monica, Aaliyah, Britney Spears, Beyonce, Donna Summer, Maroon 5, Eminem, Alicia Keys, Destiny's Child, Snoop Dogg, DMX, The Who, Madison Avenue, Eurythmics, Peter Gabriel, Irene Cara, Kanye West, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Jason Mraz, and Phil Collins

And DJ Earworm is quite the cutie, too.

Drag talent Felicia Fellatio recently took over emcee duties from Ana Conda, who was also present last night. She was jokingly telling other patrons that she wasn't wearing any underwear, and when it came time to perform her ballsy number, it was apparent why.

But in addition to the midnight drag number, Scott Brown also had another fun event planned: an underwear fashion show sponsored by My Trick Pony. (We live for that kind of shit.) Some of the highlights:

Check out the rest of Kevin's pictures from the evening on Flickr.

But the big shocker of the evening came at the end when Felicia announced that the next Faggot (August 2nd) would be the last. If you read Kevin's interview, you'll already know that Brown is moving to Chicago in the fall for art school. But his original plan was to keep his team intact and have the parties continue in his absence while continuing the marketing from afar.

Alas, it seems that plans have changed.

So if you've missed Faggot, come out August 2nd, because it will be your last chance.

Priscilla, Queen of the Midwest

Tim has embarked on what may be the adventure of a lifetime. He rented an RV and left at midnight on Pink Saturday with our friends Jonnie and Ernie for a 2+ week tour of the Midwest. They'll do the usual "largest ball of twine in the world" pitstops, but with a heavy emphasis on Midwest gay bars. They'll end up in Minneapolis where they will visit with our friend Lamonte.

It sounds like so much fun!

Gay.com wanted him to do a video diary of the trip, but Tim's pretty much committed to not being sober enough most of the time. Maybe next year when we do a gay bar tour of the South, starting in Ohio and moving down the map all the way into Alabama. (Assuming they don't kill each other on this trip or get permanently traumatized by the locals, foregoing all future roadtrips.)

Pride Week in San Francisco

It's the countdown for Gay Pride in San Francisco, which is always the last Sunday in June. Hundreds of thousands of tourists are already in town for the big day, and the Pride Parade and Festival on Sunday is expected to draw over a million participants and guests.

There are events and activities all month long, but this final week has the most. Gay.com Local Scene has written a San Francisco Pride Guide to help you scope out what to do, but here are some of the highlights...

• Trannyshack on Tuesday, June 20 has a special guest, Chi Chi LaRue, for "Porn Pride." If you're from out of town, Trannyshack may well be the craziest, trashiest drag show you've ever seen. The show is at midnight at The Stud.
• The Frameline Film Festival, the largest and oldest LGBT film festival in the world, has screenings at multiple venues all day long from now through Sunday evening.
• Theater? We've already recommended D*Face at the New Conservatory Theatre, but in addition, they also have "Valhalla" and "The Fabulous Adventures of Captain Queer." We haven't seen either one, but might be fun. Go to http://www.nctcsf.org/ to check it out.
• On Friday, our friends with the San Francisco Lesbian/Gay Freedom Band are once again teaming up with the SF Gay Men's Chorus and the Lesbian/Gay Chorus of SF for the annual Pride Concert. This year's special guest is Candye Kane. Performances at 7:00 and 9:00 at the Yerba Buena Center - buy tickets now!
• So you wanna dance? The Gay.com Pride Guide shows a lot of options, but you can also go to Gus Presents to check out the big circuit parties. They have Underworld (an underwear dance party) on Friday, Colossus on Saturday, Ritual on Sunday, and then Sanctuary later on Sunday.

This is just a highlight of the millions of things happening this week. Don't "bah humbug" Pride -- go out and have some fun! Even if you don't feel "proud," there are lots of adventures to be had.

Did we miss something you think should be included? By all means, post a comment and tell everyone about it!