R Family Vacations is a

LGBT ' is an initialism that stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. In use since the 1990s, the initialism, as well as some of its common variants, functions as an umbrella term for sexuality and gender identity. The LGBT term is a ...

vacation entertainment company that provides luxury

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as "s ...

trips with a focus on inclusive activities for children and services including

same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...

ceremonies. They are a subsidiary of Tzell Travel Group.

History

In 2003,

Rosie O'Donnell Roseann O'Donnell (born March 21, 1962) is an American comedian, television producer, actress, author, and television personality. She began her comedy career as a teenager and received her breakthrough on the television series ''Star Search'' ...

and her then partner Kelli Carpenter-O'Donnell partnered with travel entrepreneur Gregg Kaminsky to launch R Family Vacations catering to both

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...

s and

lesbians A lesbian is a homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with femal ...

, "the very first all gay and lesbian family vacation packages" where "gays and lesbians can bring their kids, their friends, and their parents." O'Donnell is not involved on a day-to-day basis, but provides marketing and promotional advice and is credited with the idea for the company when she filled in as a last-minute replacement headliner on a gay cruise being promoted by Kaminsky.

Maiden voyage (2004)

On July 11, 2004, the first cruise was held aboard

Norwegian Cruise Lines Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), also known in short as Norwegian, is an American cruise line founded in 1966, incorporated in Bermuda and headquartered in Miami. It is the fourth-largest cruise line in the world by passengers, controlling about 8.6 ...

's ''

Norwegian Dawn ''Norwegian Dawn'' is a cruise ship that entered service in 2002 and is in operation with Norwegian Cruise Line. History The ship was completed on 4 December 2002 at the Meyer Werft Shipyard in Papenburg, Germany and sailed her maiden voyage ...

'' with 1600 passengers including 600 children. By the third year, the cruise was selling out to a maximum capacity of 2,600 passengers. In addition to traditional entertainment and recreational activities, the company partnered with

Provincetown Provincetown is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, in the United States. A small coastal resort town with a year-round population of 3,664 as of the 2020 United States Census, Province ...

’s Family Pride, a 25-year-old Washington, D.C.-based organization that advocates for GLBT families, to host discussions on "

adoption Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting of another, usually a child, from that person's biological or legal parent or parents. Legal adoptions permanently transfer all rights and responsibilities, along with filiation, from ...

insemination Insemination is the introduction of sperm into a female’s reproductive system for the purpose of impregnating, also called fertilizing, the female for sexual reproduction. The sperm is introduced into the uterus of a mammal or the oviduct of a ...

, surrogacy, and everything else that would be helpful to gay parenting.

Metropolitan Community Church The Metropolitan Community Church (MCC), also known as the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan Community Churches (UFMCC), is an international LGBT-affirming mainline Protestant Christian denomination. There are 222 member congregations in 3 ...

, the predominantly GLBT Christian denomination, had clergy on board to perform

wedding A wedding is a ceremony where two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnic groups, religions, countries, and social classes. Most wedding ceremonies involve an exchange of marriage vo ...

ceremonies and conduct

interfaith Interfaith dialogue refers to cooperative, constructive, and positive interaction between people of different religious traditions (i.e. "faiths") and/or spiritual or humanistic beliefs, at both the individual and institutional levels. It is ...

services and there was also discussion groups for kids and a panel discussion where teens could share their experiences of growing up with gay and lesbian parents.

2007

In 2007, the company considered making

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one of its stops. Recalling a 2004 incident between Norwegian Cruise Lines' all gay cruises and

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

"protesters chanting anti-gay slogans" in

Nassau, Bahamas Nassau ( ) is the capital and largest city of the Bahamas. With a population of 274,400 as of 2016, or just over 70% of the entire population of the Bahamas, Nassau is commonly defined as a primate city, dwarfing all other towns in the country. ...

,(via wayback machine a

has expired) Kaminsky claimed that Bermuda, which he incorrectly believed had tourism as its main industry, would face economic repercussions if a similar event occurred in the

British overseas territory The British Overseas Territories (BOTs), also known as the United Kingdom Overseas Territories (UKOTs), are fourteen dependent territory, territories with a constitutional and historical link with the United Kingdom. They are the last remna ...

, which has long held a reputation for being anti-gay and only the year before the local legislature refused to even consider outlawing sexuality-based discrimination. While the trip was supported by Premier and Minister of Tourism and Transportation Dr.

Ewart Brown Ewart Frederick Brown Jr. (born 1946) is a politician and physician who served as the ninth Premier of Bermuda and leader of the country's Progressive Labour Party (PLP) from 2006 to 2010. He represented Warwick South Central as a Member of P ...

, it was opposed by one of his close political allies, Andre Curtis, the organiser of a controversial "Faith-Based Tourism" initiative, who organised some eighty churches into an interfaith group called "United by Faith" to oppose the planned visit alongside local African Methodist Episcopal churches. R Families decided to change the itinerary to replace Bermuda with two stops in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

and a private island. Kaminsky stated

2008

In January 2008, Pink Pea, a production company, announced that "Dottie", "the star of '' Dottie's Magic Pockets'' — the first children's program for kids in gay and lesbian families" will be part of the entertainment. "Dottie", portrayed by actor Jen Plante, appeared on the cruise to the

Mexican Riviera The Mexican Riviera refers collectively to twenty cities and lagoons lying on the western coast of Mexico. Although there are long distances between these cities, they are often collectively referred to as the ''Mexican Riviera'' because of the ...

, March 15–22, 2008 and marked the first time the LGBT families and friends will be "entertained by the main character of a kids' show that is set in a lesbian household".

Later growth

The company expanded from cruises to include resort stays, adults-only vacations and a Broadway cruise. As of early 2020, the company had hosted more than twenty thousand guests on its excursions.

''All Aboard: Rosie's Family Cruise''

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional film, motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". Bill Nichols (film critic), Bil ...

about the trip looked inside the lives of some of the 500 families that cruised from New York to the

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...

. The documentary, ''All Aboard: Rosie's Family Cruise'', debuted 6 April 2006 on

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

. The film was nominated for three

Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

. Of the experience O'Donnell stated "We didn’t really realize the magic that was going to take place. People who had never met another gay family met other families and it was powerful."

References

{{reflist, 2 Transport companies established in 2003 Entertainment companies established in 2003 LGBT tourism Rosie O'Donnell