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Courtesy Azamara Cruises

Don and Tony had a thrilling experience with a number of "Friends of Dorothy" on the Azamara Quest.

As spring began in the Northeast, we decided to hurry the season along by taking a cruise around the Italian peninsula. 

We flew to Rome for two glorious days of sunshine before being whisked to the port by Domenico (www.romashuttleairport.it) to board Azamara Cruises’ small elegant ship, the Quest.

The 700-passenger vessel is one of the two ships of the Azamara up-scale brand, a part of Royal Caribbean International.

The itinerary, “The Best of Italy,” left Rome’s port (Civitavevecchia) for Sorrento, Taormina (Sicily), Olbia (Sardinia), Venice, Ravenna, La Spezia (Florence/Pisa), Livorno (Florence/Pisa), and  Dubrovnik in Croatia.

The dynamic cruise director, popular UK entertainer Sue Denning, announced a Friends of Dorothy (aka LGBT) gathering on the second night out.  By then this friendly ship – crew, staff and passengers alike – were already Dorothy’s (FOD) friends!

We’d previously chatted online with two newly civil-unionized women from New Jersey on CruiseCritic.com. Joining the four of us for drinks on FOD night was a male couple from Philadelphia and a partnered but traveling-on-her-own lesbian from Seattle.

Throughout the cruise, we randomly met with FOD members for dinner or drinks - it was nice that there were some kindred spirits aboard.  Whenever we could, we contacted the up-scale Aqualina restaurant host, Chem, or equally fine Prime C host, KiKi, who were happy to book us a table for two or more in these non-stuffy, country-club-casual specialty restaurants.

Our cabin steward, Constantin from Bulgaria, served us breakfast in the stateroom or on our private balcony, and, unlike hotels, no one rushed us out of our room to clean it…..they took care of the stateroom (twice a day) when they knew we were out and about the ship or shore.  

Our first stop, Sorrento, was familiar, as we’d been there previously when we hosted an LGBT group in 2000.  We strolled the streets, stopped at fruit stands (naturally), and stared in disbelief over the racks of ‘I (heart) Sorrento’ t-shirts. Basta - enough! This cliff-side town is on Italy’s magnificent Almalfi Coast across from Capri.  

Next was Taormina, Sicily – one of the most beautiful mountain-side villages in the world. We had pre-arranged a escorted tour with Sebastiano, handsome co-owner of www.sicilylife.com. His equally attractive business partner, Alessandro met us at the dock.  For four hours we enjoyed seeing Taormina through the eyes of a native… including being shown two gay-friendly properties, the hundred-year-old Villa Schuler, www.villaschuler.com, and the La Pensione Svizzera, www.pensionesvizzera.com. These first-class inns have more than 20% LGBT clientele, mostly couples from Europe. They’d like more American visitors! 

Alessandro told us that if we were staying longer, he would have taken us to nearby Catania, where there are two very popular LGBT clubs, Pub Club and Pegaso Circus….right in the shadow of the smoldering volcano, Mt. Etna. If you go to Sicily, these guys will take care of all your arrangements through SicilyLife.com.  

© groveb/iStockphoto

The beautiful Piazza San Marco (St. Mark’s Square) in Venice.

Quest then sailed to magical, dream-like Venice, for two days and an overnight.  We spent the evening (after dinner aboard ship), in Piazza San Marco (St. Mark’s Square) where we and our FOD friends, enjoyed the hugely popular “Battle of the Orchestras,” at the outdoor cafes lining the square.

The orchestras take turns, late in to the night, to out do each other with familiar Italian and international tunes. “Volare” and “The Godfather” are always favorites with the crowds.  By day and night we roamed the plazas, narrow cobblestone streets and picturesque bridges, taking endless pictures of the magnificent buildings and gondolas gliding along the canals.

The fun of Venice is getting lost in all the nooks and crannies in this city of a hundred plus islands connected by bridges and then following the signs that point back to St. Mark’s Square. There is little evidence of LGBT activity in Venice, but the sights and ambience are sensual enough to make up for the lack of open ‘gayness’ in the city.  

The Quest next sailed across the Adriatic to the walled, medieval city of Dubrovnik. This former Yugoslavian port has been completely restored since being under siege and bombarded during the war in 1991.  Our wonderful host, Maja Milovcic, reminded us of the fiery Italian actress Anna Magnani.  She had passion, humor, and, along with tour guide Vesna Gamulin, intimate knowledge of their ancestral hometown.  We lunched outdoors on a terrace overlooking a city gate, the red-roofed town and the sea.  Maja suggested a Croatian red wine that was outstanding - thousands of years of practice paid off.  

A cruise ship is the best way to get to this glorious city. www.tzdubrovnik.hr.  

The Azamara Quest and the Azamara Journey have varied itineraries for every travel taste, and the fact that your ship is your hotel, and all meals and entertainment are included in the rate, make this elegant cruise line a must-do for any occasion. As for gay-friendliness, we would give the Azamara Quest an A+.  www.azamaracruises.com.  This is cruising with a capital C!

Next time, Part II – “La Dolce Vita” is still dolce in Rome - before and after an Italian cruise. Two vacations, but only one, round-trip (discounted) airfare.

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