Pride at Sea.
There’s a conga line going throughout the Celebrity Edge led by Olympic athlete Adam Rippon. Everyone is dressed all in white, and there are rainbow flags aplenty. There’s even a full marching band with guests dancing to the beat of the drum. It can only mean one thing: Pride at Sea.
For a second year, Celebrity Cruises dedicated a night of fun at the end of June to celebrate everything LGBTQ. The Pride At Sea party is a moment for the luxury cruiseliner to acknowledge their support and commitment to the LGBTQ community loudly and proudly, fully embracing their ethos that their ships are inclusive spaces open to all. It’s also a moment for us as a community to reflect on how far Pride has come as a movement in the past fifty years.
Pride is, at its very core, a protest. That goes without saying. But Pride can also work on many levels, and in 2019 has power in multiple forms. Yes, Pride at Sea is a huge, vibrant party to celebrate the community and occupy a space that the movement hasn’t traditionally been present in. Its power, on the other hand, is engaging with people who don’t necessarily come into contact with the LGBTQ community or Pride celebrations in their home lives. How many of you can remember those holidays as a child where you are surrounded by heteronormative values at a family resort? Here, in an environment that you would associate with that very idea, Pride is being celebrated to its fullest degree. If one young person on holiday with their family grappling with their identity can see that and realise that they are loved, accepted, and celebrated, then Pride at Sea has done its job.
It’s a sentiment that Pride at Sea’s Grand Marshall, Adam Rippon, agrees with. “It’s all these different kinds of people who come to celebrate and it’s so fun,” he tells us on board. “You see these young kids, you see a lot of older people, you see people my age; it’s really just the gamut of everyone coming together and just having a good time.”
It’s why GAY TIMES teamed up with Celebrity Cruises for a groundbreaking video series this summer. Titled Trailblazers, the five-part series follows eight LGBTQ creatives as they explore Celebrity Edge and the destinations it travels to. For those of you who don’t yet know what Celebrity Edge is, it’s a ship setting a new standard of luxury travel and innovation. There’s everything you could want on this majestic vessel, from spas and a pool, to top-class restaurants, industry-best entertainment and stunning design features. All of this certainly left a good impression on the cast of this series, which is made up of YouTuber and broadcaster Riyadh Khalaf and his partner Josh Harrison; presenter Helen Scott and life coach Char Bailey; Jimmy Essex and Charlie Simmons, a couple from the music and entertainment industry; and last but certainly not least, vogue dancer, Jay Jay Revlon and his best friend, podcast presenter Lee Gray.
The group first set foot on the ship at its departure port in Barcelona, and
for Riyadh, it was an exciting moment as he’d always wanted to go on a cruise. As they boarded they were immediately struck by the scale of the ship and how this 1004 foot-long floating paradise would be their home for the next week. It was also the first proper chance for the queer group of creatives to get to know each other. “The one thing I notice time and time again with a queer group is that you’re kind of brothers, sisters and siblings already,” says Riyadh, while got to explore the ship’s Magic Carpet; the world’s first cantilevered, floating platform that reaches heights of 13 storeys above sea level. “You communicate on the same level, you like the same stuff, so I can tell beyond the cruise that we’re going to be mates.”
While Riyadh and Josh are eager to get to know the group and explore new European destinations with them, this trip is also a chance for them to take some much-needed time to relax in each other’s company. “Our life together is a balancing act,” explains Josh. “We have very social jobs where we are tied in multiple directions and our jobs are very demanding to be here, there and everywhere. So when we get to have time alone that time is crucial and golden for our relationship.”
It’s also crucial that Riyadh and Josh and any LGBTQ passenger can enjoy that time in a safe space and environment where they can just be themselves - which is exactly what Celebrity Edge and all Celebrity Cruises ships offers. “When you’re in an environment like a cruise, everyone is switched off, they’re not working, the walls are down, and you can really meet people who have so many common interests with you,” Josh adds.
That’s something Char and Helen appreciate greatly too. For them, back home in the UK, they are in a long-distance relationship so spending time together exploring the world is paramount to them. Speaking while getting breakfast in Celebrity Edge’s green utopia, Eden Restaurant, they spoke about how being on a cruise allowed them to really bond with one another but also gave them opportunities to experience multiple different destinations across Europe. “It’s great because you get to see Ibiza, Rome, Barcelona, Valencia, and we can explore on our own as a couple, and then come back to the ship to regroup with our friends, grab a cocktail and watch the sunset in luxury,” says Char.
Again, for them both, the inclusive and celebratory ethos of Celebrity Cruises resonates with their own outlook. “It’s really important for us to share our relationship with the world, just to be an example to people who can’t be as visible,” Char goes on to explain. “For me being a queer woman of colour, growing up I didn’t see many queer women of colour. So it’s really important for me to be authentic and visible.”
It’s a sentiment echoed by Jay Jay Revlon and Lee Gray, who both hadn’t been on a cruise before and had preconceived ideas of what it would be like. It’s fair to say that their experience on Celebrity Edge challenged that and won them over to what a cruise holiday can really be. “When we’ve gone on holiday in the past it’s all about finding a place where we can feel safe and feel that we can go on holiday and be ourselves,” says Lee. “It was unexpected that so many people came over to us, and they we’re just happy to have us on the cruise. They were