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La Demence gay cruise 2023: The complete guide.

La Demence gay cruise 2023: The complete guide.

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The next La Demence Cruise will take place from July, 9th to 16th, 2023 sailing to Ravenna (Italy), Sarandë (Albania), Kefalonia island in Greece, Sicily, and Malta.

Gay guys have always loved cruising – although it wasn’t always as elegant as this type of cruising.

Gay men of all ages, sizes, and nationalities spread out across a sunny deck, overlooking the blindingly blue Mediterranean Sea, whilst being pampered by a dedicated team of staff.

Fruity cocktails, gossiping with strangers by the poolside, and getting dressed up for nightly parties are all to be expected on a La Demence cruise. After years of dying to see what all the fuss was about, we joined our first-ever gay cruise with La Demence in 2022 and loved it. We were instantly enthralled! We had such a blast and vowed we would go every year.

The name ‘la démence’ means ‘madness’ in French. There is truly no better word to capture the atmosphere on board. Men of all ages, body types, and nationalities all come together for a week of travel, parties, and fun. We set out below what a La Demence cruise is all about, the fun activities, facilities, and of course the infamous parties to look forward to.

We’d love you to join us!

What more could you possibly need to know to make you want to come along? You have the hot guys, exciting themed parties, eccentric group activities, and best of all, an amazing itinerary! Places book up fast with a choice of several price packages.

Book your cruise now

What is The Cruise by La Demence?

La Demence, best known for its exhilarating monthly gay parties in Brussels, has found soaring success with its annual gay cruise. After all, what could be better than a dreamboat of gorgeous gay guys sailing around some of the most beautiful destinations in the Mediterranean?

The La Demence gay cruise happens every summer and lasts for 1 week.

Guests have plenty of time to explore each city, town, and island, soaking up the wonderful beaches and local life. Or, you could just as well stay on the ship, relishing in the peace and quiet whilst everyone's out exploring. But when everyone’s back on board, that's when the party spirit really takes hold.

Find out more and connect with other like-minded gay guys by joining the La Demence Facebook group.

Hot sexy guys dressed as warriors for the Roman party on the La Demence gay cruise.
Sirs, I'm ready to be conquered!

When is the next La Demence gay cruise?

The next La Demence gay cruise will take place: July, 9th to 16th, 2023.

What is the cruise itinerary?

The 2023 itinerary will be on board Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas ship.

The ship will start and finish in Ravenna in Italy and will sail through the Ionian Sea. The full itinerary is as follows:

  • Sunday 9 July: departs from Ravenna in Italy
  • Monday 10 July: at sea
  • Tuesday 11 July: Sarandë in Albania
  • Wednesday 12 July: Argostoli on Kefalonia island in Greece
  • Thursday 13 July: Malta
  • Friday 14 July: Catania in Sicily (Italy)
  • Saturday 15 July: at sea
  • Sunday 16 July: returns to Ravenna.

Previous itineraries have included: Rome to Athens (via Dubrovnik, Korčula, Kotor, and good old gay Mykonos), a Barcelona return trip (via Palermo, Catania, Malta, and Palma de Mallorca), and Lisbon to the oh-so-gay Gran Canaria (La Palma, La Gomera, Tenerife, and Lanzarote).

In short, all destinations are carefully selected so that they are gay friendly, and most importantly, beautiful!

We can attest that you will be wowed by each stopover as we were.

The beautiful view from Kotor in Montenegro a stopover on the La Demence gay cruise.
Kotor in Montenegro was our favorite stopover on the 2022 La Demence gay cruise

Life on board a La Demence gay cruise

The cruise takes place on a very large cruise ship that has a capacity of over 5,000, which is comprised of around 3,500 gays and 1,500 staff.

There are plenty of amenities on board to keep you preoccupied in between all the onboard events and travel pitstops. There’s a relaxing spa where you can expect an array of rejuvenating treatments, everything you could desire, from couple’s massages to mani-pedis.

There are several pools: the large main one is where most hang out during the day and has a nightly fountain show. This is the beating heart and soul of the cruise where everyone comes to see and be seen! All the main parties are also based in and around the main pool area.

Guys partying by the pool on the La Demence gay cruise.
What happens at the pool party stays at the pool party…

When it comes to food, all meals are included. There is a dining area open 24/7 with a different range of cuisines on offer including Indian, Thai, Italian…

Other important amenities include a theater featuring nightly shows, a nudist sun deck, hot tubs, duty-free shops, lounges, and, of course, a gym!

Oh – and there's the 24-hour darkroom…where you can go to experience a (w)hole new fantasy

For more information about the 2023 cruise ship, check out the Royal Caribbean website about the Explorer of the Sea ship.

Men in drag nun outfits on gay cruise
A 24-hour darkroom? The perfect place to confess your sins to these dear sweet nuns…

What sort of gay parties will there be?

Every night, passengers meet on the deck for a succession of glamorously messy, highly energetic, and entertaining events. With the open sea air, pumping pop music, and an even more pumped-up crowd, there ain’t no gay party, like a gay cruise party.

A classy Sunset Tea Dance starts things off, where people can wind down from a day of sunbathing and land exploring. Passengers can admire the sunset against the backdrop of lowkey music, whilst enjoying some hot tea (both beverage and gossip-wise).

Things turn up a notch with the Night Party, where heavy dance music blares across the deck. Get into the groove! The F3tish party is usually the most popular one…

The Fetish party on board the La Demence gay cruise.
Don't forget to pack a harness or three…

And things don’t just end there – there’s a fun After Party in the ship’s disco for the passengers who aren’t ready to head to bed.

Themed parties to plan your outfits for on the 2023 departure include Venetian Carnival, Where Are You From, Red, Uniforms, Neon, Ladies T-Dance, A Space Odyssey, Disco, and White Party.

The daily themed parties on La Demence gay cruise.

If you aren’t much of a party animal but are still keen to get involved with the shenanigans on board, then why not get enter one of several competitions?

They have all sorts of challenges planned to test your charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent. There’s the death-defying high heel run, the hunkalicious Mister The Cruise competition, and the ultra-savage drag bingo (forget about the handbag throwing tournament, this is where someone could really lose their head!).

We also need to talk about the Ladies T-Dance party. Another personal favorite of ours. Some of these gays go ALL OUT for their outfits and we LIVE for each and every one!

Outfits from the Ladies T-Dance themed party on the La Demence gay cruise.
Next stop: the Miss World pageant!

Book your tickets and join us!

What more could you possibly need to know to make you want to come along?

You have the hot gay guys, glamorous pool parties dancing beneath a sun-splitting sky, a series of eccentric group activities that get more random and hilarious as the trip goes on, and best of all, an amazing itinerary that will allow you to visit some of the most incredible parts of southern Europe – with our humble selves to hand 🙂  

Places are booking up fast – with several price packages already scooped up:

Gay guys having fun at a pool party on La Demence gay cruise.
Gays just wanna have fun…

For more inspiration:

This post may contain affiliate links which means if you make a purchase through one of these links, we will receive a small commission. Read our disclosure for more info.
Stefan Arestis

Hey everyone, I'm Stefan, the curly-haired Greek flavor behind the gay travel blog Nomadic Boys. Together with my other half, I have explored more than 90 countries across 5 continents. What I love most about traveling is discovering the local gay scene, making new friends, learning new cultures. I've written about LGBTQ travel in numerous online publications such as Gaycation Magazine, Gaycities, Gay Times and Pink News as well as for other non-gay-specific publications including Lonely Planet, The New York Times, The Guardian, and The Huffington Post. Check my full bio here.

Thomas Schmögner

Wednesday 3rd of May 2023

Please send me your price list!

Stefan Arestis

Wednesday 3rd of May 2023

Here you go - it's all here: https://www.the-cruise.eu/book-now

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