Ahoy, mateys, Rosie O'Donnell's going full steam ahead--her cruise line for gay and lesbian families has launched on its maiden voyage.
The first cruise of R Family Vacations, a new company backed by the comic and gay-rights advocate, set sail Sunday from New York for a seven-day cruise to the Bahamas. O'Donnell was on hand in Manhattan Sunday to celebrate the first of several gay family friendly vacations planned by R Family Vacations.
According to the R Family Website, the cruise is a seven-day adventure that will take its 2,100 passengers from New York to Florida to the Bahamas and back again aboard a chartered Norwegian Dawn ship. (Rosie will be receiving the key to the city of Key West for her efforts, when the boat docks there Wednesday.)
On-board activities include mini-camps, entertainment and discussion groups on adoption, artificial insemination, surrogacy and other topics of interest to gay parents or gay parents to be. Cruisers shelled out $999 to $15,000 for the maiden voyage.
R Family Vacations was founded by O'Donnell's partner, Kelli Carpenter O'Donnell (the two married in San Francisco in February and are parents to three adopted children and a daughter conceived via artificial insemination and delivered by Carpenter), and Gregg Kaminski, who formerly worked for the Atlantis gay travel agency.
R Family calls the cruise "truly the first of its kind. A home away from home where you can relax with your partner, your children, your nieces, nephews, grandchildren, parents or friends. It's 'R Family,' and that means a place where everyone is finally welcome."
O'Donnell, who has been hammered by the press in recent years for apparently straying from her Queen of Nice image since leaving her Emmy-winning daytime talk show, is getting props from the gay community for this recent venture.
"Rosie O'Donnell is very smart--as more gay families are getting more exposure, they've got a place where they can go," cruise-goer Jeff Harris told the New York Daily News before shoving off.
Up next for R Family: a series of other gay family friendly vacations, including small tours, ski vacations, fishing trips and safaris.