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Big Nude Boat #18644
02/19/2013 06:36 PM
02/19/2013 06:36 PM
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 182
North Texas
rockhill Offline OP
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rockhill  Offline OP
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North Texas
Not being of the literary type I will attempt a brief trip report of the Big Nude Boat. This cruise was organized by a travel agency specializing in such cruises. They have several scheduled at any given time and this one was the largest ever. I believe the Carnival Freedom holds around 2974 passengers and the cruise was very near sold out or perhaps did sell out. Hard to give an exact number as some passengers missed the boat due to the blizzard in the NE just prior to sailing. Of those, some met the ship in Cozumel, our first port of call. The established rules of the cruise where that nudity was allowed except when in port, or directed by the captain. The only place on ship where nudity was not allowed was in the main dining rooms.

Of the 2500 plus passengers, most if not all, were nude at some point. The pools and surrounding areas were very crowded with naked people. Deck chairs were hard to come by as people got out very early to stake their spot. Most people were nude in the casino, theaters, bars and other clubs. As one might expect some found the interior areas too cold for their comfort. Clothing that was worn ranged from sheer cover ups to regular street clothing. While titled as the “Big Nude Boat”, it was always marketed as “clothing optional”. The vast majorities of the people were nudist and thus exercised that option.

The ports of call were Cozumel Mexico, Puerto Limon Costa Rica and Colon Panama. Lots of debate about those but all knew what they were prior to booking. From a personal viewpoint we had never been to any of these places so that was fine. In doing my personal research I expected Cozumel to be a fun, touristy stop and that it was. We opted for a kayak and snorkel at Chankanaab Park that we really enjoyed. In Limon we choose to stay on ship except for brief foray into flea market type area next to pier. Limon is not a tourist friendly type place. Others in our group did excursions ranging from whitewater rafting, (class 3) to chocolate production. No problems that I know of and good reviews of those excursions were given. The final port of call was Colon Panama. At this stop we took part in a tour of the Gatun locks and an eco-tour of Gatun Lake. Our timing was perfect as we were at the locks as two ships were transiting the canal heading west. To see a piece of history in action was perhaps the high point for us. Others in the group took longer excursions that went to the Pacific side and actually went thru some of the locks. Reports I had read prior to cruise indicated that Colon was not particularly safe. The downtown that I saw from the safety of the bus was of a dirty, dilapidated city. I would not feel safe on a personal walking tour. Others would feel different I am sure.

This was our first cruise of any type so I cannot compare food, service or any of those type things to other cruises. I can say the food did not meet our expectations, but perhaps our expectations were wrong. As a guideline we are not “white table cloth” type diners, nor would we ever be considered foodies. We are more of the local Texmex, bar-b-que, Chinese buffet type eaters. If that gives you a frame of reference, then good. The food was plentiful at the buffets, just seemed bland to us. The food in main dining was not much better, in my opinion. Taking a minimum of an hour and a half to eat dinner was way too slow for me. Staring into space and waiting between courses was frustrating to us. Others have reported good service, but we used different waiters and dining rooms with same result.

This was an adult only cruise so the lack of children was nice. Having said that, it was NOT a swinger cruise in any way. Were some lifestylers on board? I am sure they were but no overt sexual activity was tolerated. Even the mere mention of something along those lines on the cruise bulletin board was removed quickly. We would do the cruise again and plan to make one of their future cruises.

Last edited by Carol_Hill; 02/19/2013 07:01 PM.
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Re: Big Nude Boat [Re: rockhill] #18645
02/19/2013 07:05 PM
02/19/2013 07:05 PM
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 82,481
Central Florida!
Carol_Hill Offline
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Hi. Thanks for the report! I went in and added additional blank lines in the report to make it easier to read.

It appears they did not have a designated nude excursion in one of the ports? Normally they do that. Carnival is not really known for fantastic food, but as you say, they do cruises on several different lines, so if you do another one, you might like the food better.


Carol Hill
Re: Big Nude Boat [Re: Carol_Hill] #18646
02/19/2013 07:22 PM
02/19/2013 07:22 PM
Joined: Aug 2006
Posts: 520
Huntington Beach, CA, USA
Temery Offline
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TY for the report, must have been kind of cool to gamble nakid =)

*sorry hit the wrong button, responding to OP =)

Last edited by Temery; 02/19/2013 07:23 PM.
Re: Big Nude Boat [Re: Carol_Hill] #18647
02/19/2013 07:33 PM
02/19/2013 07:33 PM
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 182
North Texas
rockhill Offline OP
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rockhill  Offline OP
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North Texas
Quote
Carol_Hill said:
Hi. Thanks for the report! I went in and added additional blank lines in the report to make it easier to read.

It appears they did not have a designated nude excursion in one of the ports? Normally they do that. Carnival is not really known for fantastic food, but as you say, they do cruises on several different lines, so if you do another one, you might like the food better.


Thanks for the editing. Yes, they did have a nude excursion to Passion Island in Cozumel, a topless beach in Costa Rica and one in Panama. We chose not to do those particular excusions. Next years cruise is on the Neuw Amsterdam with HAL, along with several small ship cruises. I have heard from more experienced cruisers, textile and nude, that food is better on the other lines. It wasn't bad, just not memorable food.
And yes, loosing your shirt while not wearing one in the casino, is a bit different.

Re: Big Nude Boat [Re: rockhill] #18648
02/19/2013 07:44 PM
02/19/2013 07:44 PM
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 82,481
Central Florida!
Carol_Hill Offline
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Carol_Hill  Offline
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Oh, OK. "Passion Island" in Cozumel--that didn't happen to be on Isla Mujeres, did it??? I have an amusing story about a BN nude excursion there... <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Grin.gif" alt="" />


Carol Hill
Re: Big Nude Boat [Re: rockhill] #18649
03/04/2013 08:59 PM
03/04/2013 08:59 PM
Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 1,146
Louisiana
o2bnsxm Offline
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Thanks for the detailed report. We always wondered about those cruises, having taken nummerous cruises ourselves, but never a nude cruise. I was wondering about the crew's reaction. Did it seem like they were able to handle it professionally, or did some have visible reactions to the whole idea? Your experience of the hour and a half for dinner is a normal amount of time to spend in the dining room. We would certainly like to try one of the future cruises, hopefully one that spends at least one day in St. Martin, but the prices are usually three times the cost of a regular cruise.

Re: Big Nude Boat [Re: o2bnsxm] #18650
03/05/2013 12:39 AM
03/05/2013 12:39 AM

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Anyone else on this cruise care to give a detailed trip report? Any repeat customers out there?

Re: Big Nude Boat [Re: o2bnsxm] #18651
03/05/2013 09:23 AM
03/05/2013 09:23 AM
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 82,481
Central Florida!
Carol_Hill Offline
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Carol_Hill  Offline
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It's been a while, but we took two nude cruises. The crew was very professional and acted 'normal' although I'm sure there were some discussions below decks. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Smile.gif" alt="" /> You are correct though, the prices for these cruises is a multiple of a 'regular' cruise. We did really enjoy both cruises very much.


Carol Hill
Re: Big Nude Boat [Re: o2bnsxm] #18652
03/05/2013 09:47 AM
03/05/2013 09:47 AM
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 182
North Texas
rockhill Offline OP
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rockhill  Offline OP
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Quote
o2bnsxm said:
Thanks for the detailed report. We always wondered about those cruises, having taken nummerous cruises ourselves, but never a nude cruise. I was wondering about the crew's reaction. Did it seem like they were able to handle it professionally, or did some have visible reactions to the whole idea?
[color:"red"]No visable reation from the crew at all that i saw.As Carol suggested there probably was below decks. Around the passengers no reaction. The DJ around the pool and the cruise director made some comments but more along the line of "we have left port and now OK to loose your clothes and let the fun out".[/color]

Your experience of the hour and a half for dinner is a normal amount of time to spend in the dining room. [color:"red"]That is what I have come to understand. I considered it more my problem than a problem with the ship or crew.[/color]

We would certainly like to try one of the future cruises, hopefully one that spends at least one day in St. Martin, but the prices are usually three times the cost of a regular cruise. [color:"red"]They did one a year or so back, "Best of the French Islands" that spent time in St. Martin. And you certainly do pay a premium to leave your clothes off[/color]


The vast majority of the cruisers were repeat customers. For some they had been on 10+ nude cruises. Enjoyed it, but not sure it is the best way to spend our discretionary vacation dollars.

Re: Big Nude Boat #18653
03/16/2013 01:45 AM
03/16/2013 01:45 AM

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Any more trip reports on this cruise?

Re: Big Nude Boat #18654
04/14/2013 11:14 AM
04/14/2013 11:14 AM

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Still looking for more reviews of this trip, there were several posts talking about going and such but little feedback. I hope it was a good trip?

Re: Big Nude Boat #18655
04/18/2013 07:35 PM
04/18/2013 07:35 PM

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Guess nobody went or it was a dud cruise

Re: Big Nude Boat #18656
04/19/2013 09:29 AM
04/19/2013 09:29 AM

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Actually, it broke the record for number of nudists on a single cruise ship, nearly 3000.

Re: Big Nude Boat #18657
04/19/2013 09:32 AM
04/19/2013 09:32 AM

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Quote
Anonymous said:
Still looking for more reviews of this trip, there were several posts talking about going and such but little feedback. I hope it was a good trip?


Sign up for a BN cruise; then you can peruse their BB.

Re: Big Nude Boat #18658
04/20/2013 09:06 AM
04/20/2013 09:06 AM
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 182
North Texas
rockhill Offline OP
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rockhill  Offline OP
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Quote
Anonymous said:
Guess nobody went or it was a dud cruise


The ship holds 2974 passengers and was sold out so somebody went. Out of 2974 passengers reviews could range from fantastic to disappointing. As another poster said, sign up for one of their cruises which would get you access to the private bulletin board...

Re: Big Nude Boat [Re: rockhill] #18659
04/20/2013 10:19 AM
04/20/2013 10:19 AM

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I just read one website which said it was good but not great. Said carnival food was poor and quite a bit os seasickness. Ports were dull

Re: Big Nude Boat #18660
06/14/2013 11:07 PM
06/14/2013 11:07 PM
Joined: Jan 2012
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subie Offline
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OK, OK you twisted my arm.
My wife and I did the Big Nude Boat.
This was our 4th cruise with BN and our last.
The food was just barely OK, just. You could tell the cruise line was cutting corners.
The boat ride and day at the nude beach in Cozamel was very good. A beautiful beach and great food and just plain fun.
In Costa Rica was arranged our own trip that included a river cruise and had a great time.
Panama was kind of dull and the port is very dangerous. We didn't feel sale walking around.

Now the big issues.
1) Just too many people on the boat. Lines for everything.
2) Both Carnival and BN said that unattended towels would be removed after X amount of time. Wrong! We never got to sit near a pool or the movie screen. There were towels on seats all day and no one in sight. When we complained to BN they said to remove the towels outselves. I'm just not going to do that.
3) This trip was mostly sea days and there were just too many people and too few pool spaces.
I know, nudists are sun and pool people ans we are too. No joy on this cruise.

We have been to 5 nude resorts in Europe, many, many Caribbean island and nude places all over the states.
We'll stick to landed vacations.

Re: Big Nude Boat [Re: subie] #18661
06/14/2013 11:54 PM
06/14/2013 11:54 PM

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That stinks on a textile cruise...............what else are you supposed to do on NUDE SEA DAY. You're right that should of been managed better. We got pretty good at getting chairs but one of us stays in em and eats a bit of breakfast or something to ACTUALLY occupy the chair.

Maybe a club O tag system would work.....I would pay 20 day to not have to fight/hunt for chairs. Of course that would mean somebody won't get one.

I agree 30 minutes away, you lose it. Could you get more towels easily ifsomeone removed yours'?

Re: Big Nude Boat [Re: subie] #18662
06/15/2013 08:16 AM
06/15/2013 08:16 AM
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 82,481
Central Florida!
Carol_Hill Offline
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Carol_Hill  Offline
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Hi. You said this was your 4th nude cruise, so you must have liked it before? Maybe the bigger issue was you didn't like Carnival's food and the layout of their ship didn't give enough sunning area?


Carol Hill
Re: Big Nude Boat [Re: Carol_Hill] #18663
06/15/2013 01:13 PM
06/15/2013 01:13 PM
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We were on the Big Nude Boat and thought that there were plenty of lounge chairs. In fact, I've never seen so many empty lounges on a BN cruise! Now that doesn't mean that you could always get one in the center of the ship, surrounding the main pool and overlooking it directly from the deck above. Of course, it would be impossible for 3000 people to all fit in an area probably designed for 400-500. There were many more deck areas with chairs available.

I think this was our 20th BN cruise, so I do have some past experience to compare to. No, Carnival food isn't 5 star, but neither is the cost of a Carnival cruise. In my opinion, no one does a better job of treating thousands of nude people as if every cruise had the same dress code than the Carnival employees do. They are professional and respectful and FUN! When you stop and think that public nudity for most of these people, culturally, is a big no-no, and they aren't the ones choosing to be around all these naked people, it's pretty impressive that everything seems so normal during the cruise. For a higher-end experience at a higher price, sign up for the BN Holland America cruise next Feb.

Re: Big Nude Boat [Re: LdSandMiraVista] #18664
06/15/2013 11:56 PM
06/15/2013 11:56 PM
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subie Offline
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I think part of the issue was that on this cruise there were more sea days so it compounded the lounges issue.

As for the food, the first BN cruise was the Maasdam. Smaller ship, much better service and food.
I forget the next cruise line we were on.
3 and 4 were Carnaval and bigger each time.

As for the cost. The Big Nude Boat was quite expensive and we didn't think we got value for the money. Last year we spent 10 days at N Resort in Jamaica and it was less expensive, the food was better, the drinks were free and we could always get a spot by the pool.

As for the BN Holland America ship, nope, no more cruises.

Re: Big Nude Boat [Re: subie] #18665
06/16/2013 09:41 AM
06/16/2013 09:41 AM
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 82,481
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Carol_Hill Offline
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As far as cruises in general, you are going to get much better food on HAL than on Carnival, so that doesn't surprise me at all, that you liked the food better on HAL. I myself much prefer smaller ships to the megamonsters these days, but cruise ship execs don't seem to listen to people like me. Nude cruises in general are very expensive, even compared to cruises in general. It depends too on how much you spend on things like booze and excursions, etc., versus an a/i. A cruise is generally going to be more expensive than an a/i, and when you go for a nude cruise, it makes it even more expensive. We did a couple of nude cruises, one on Star Clipper and one on the Crown Dynasty, which was only a 700 or so pax ship. I thoroughly enjoyed both, but these days, the added premium for being a nude cruise doesn't make sense to me personally.


Carol Hill
Re: Big Nude Boat [Re: Carol_Hill] #18666
06/22/2013 08:08 AM
06/22/2013 08:08 AM

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I'd rather have Hal than carnival for sure. Since they are mostly owned by carn corp, I'd like to see princess get one.

Re: Big Nude Boat [Re: rockhill] #18667
06/29/2013 08:48 PM
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I was told the dining room was clothed and that the buffet was nude..............i'm all in for max-Nude but the buffet is always a question mark on a regular cruise boat with all the self serve ladles and key area for hand sanitizer......some cruises more religious than others...some not nearly careful enough (running out or no dispenser at all).......I sure hope it was pushed big time on the NUDE CRUISE BUFFET or that might be the first cruise I would lose weight on. <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Yikes.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Yikes.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Yikes.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Yikes.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Yikes.gif" alt="" />


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