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Whether reporting the details of age, hometown, sexual orientation and mugshot of the arrested passengers was in the public interest or yellow journalism is debatable. Outfits like The Advocate, Out.com, Instinct, and Queerty are so full of lurid, trashy stories, nothing they report surprises me. Click-bait is at the center of their revenue stream. I don't believe the public needed to know so much personal information about the Miami arrests. It rubs me the wrong way. The local media in Miami also reported much of arrest details. As a gay man, it's easy to feel like they were treated like zoo animals, on display for everyone to see. ------------------ The cruise ship might have been willing to bargain with you regarding the upgrade, if it's money on top of what they already collected from the perps or others that failed to board. They probably have a proprietary process in place to deal with it. Remember boys, the Internet is forever.

All the more reason for threads to have a limited shelf life before being trashed. This is especially true in the present case when talking about a hotel that has clearly transformed itself since the OP was written all those years ago. A number of posters do make decisions based on other members' recommendations. Recommending a hotel after nearly 13 years is a disservice to others, especially those who have joined more recently.

I did not say Taiwanese are not interested in gay bars and clubs in Taiwan. Far from it! They go to many bars and clubs in Taipei - even one I have been to that is considerably more raunchy than those in Bangkok - although there are not as many of them. What I wrote was when they visit Thailand they prefer massage spas and some saunas to going to bars. That is where they prefer to have a sexual experience. They are in general - and obviously there are exceptions - much less interested in offing guys from the bars. As far as bars in Jomtien are concerned, many Taiwanese have only a basic comprehension of English - as I can attest from the conversations I have had in hot springs and saunas there. A solo Taiwanese sitting with a boy in a host bar whose English is also poor would not be of much interest to the clear majority. But I stand to be corrected on this as I have not been in Jomtien for at least 8 years. I had failed to notice your point about traditional Chinese. That was my error. I just assumed the vdo had perhaps been made in Singapore due more to its production values. Frankly, though, I still do not believe it is a vdo made in Taiwan for a Taiwan audience. If so, there would be no need for English! As it is uploaded to youtube, the blogger would surely have assumed it would therefore be of interest to gay guys around the region and not specifically to one country. Since it would be banned in China, traditional Chinese is more common in S.E. Asia than simplified Chinese. Having visited Singapore more than 35 times, however, and with Singapore friends, English is technically the first language. It is certainly the language used in most business and political affairs, taught in schools to a high level even though it is sometimes corrupted by many into Singlish. But a large percentage of younger Singaporeans who are now of travel age seek similar Chinese-speaking travel companions for trips to Thailand since for nearly 30% of SIngaporeans, Chinese is still their first language. That is obvious from reading Singapore websites. And like Taiwanese, they find sex less complicated to find in massage spas and saunas and on some apps. I have also not visited a gay bar in Bangkok in years, but there is another reason I doubt many South East Asians take boys from bars. Unlike quite a number of Japanese visiting Thailand who are happy enough to travel solo, Singaporeans and Taiwanese tend to travel and go to places in groups of two or more. They might still visit a bar, but rarely for the purpose of offing a boy. And with prices for drinks continuing to rise, merely seeing guys prancing in jeans or shorts and sometimes lady boy acts is hardly an attraction. They generally prefer clubbing and discos. As for the vdo, i have done some research. We really should realise that this is not a one off vdo. It is a typical video blog site which requires a membership fee. It contains no less than 250 individual videos which include ones on Tokyo, Osaka, Seoul, Busan, Taipei, Manila, Singapore, Bangkok and non-gay-related individuals and events like Chinese divers, Singapore musclemen, the Chinese swimming team and the amazing Taipei Lantern Festival two years ago.

I could try to find out--though they probably wouldn't tell me at this point. I got these tix the first day they came available to prior Atlantis guests. The suites weren't available, and I learned later that you must call and ask them specifically for a suite, because some of them are "party-central," and I think they need to warn people of those suites. I usually get Junior Suites on Royal Caribbean, but for this cruise I just got the "extra-sized balcony."

We didn't upgrade. Too much trouble packing and repacking. I was tempted, though.

Was working? You haven't retired, have you?

Golden taps works better for tap dancing lady boys

Last one is good 😊

Or Gold Faucets !

Just like some of its members. 😒🤷

Don't self-proof it before it goes to an official proof reader? That seems nuts to me. It basically means you take no responsibility for what you have written. It's the proof reader who gets the blame. No company I have worked for - and I am not a lawyer - would expect an individual NOT to proof his own work before it was fed on to someone else.

If the bar is to be in Jomtien Complex, may I humbly suggest the following names: Tranny Pines Prune Paradise Pacemakers and Pumps Swansongs The Gramophone Trans Hades or that old classic, God's Waiting Room. Names inspired by snippets of the Venue and M2M shows and audience I caught on social media last night.

😆😆😆😆😆 From the king of asking for info

Too long ago to remember....

People sometimes associate upgrades, being free...... such as with hotels/car rentals/flights..... not a thing on cruises. They are revenue paid upgrades (unless you have contacts, at the corp level or at least a 3 stripe officer). I'd be interested in they listed a price or were waiting for people to make a bid/offer.

Well, if you deal drugs in the gay community, I'd think you'd want to know you might get arrested before boarding your gay cruise. And even if you're just carrying for your own use, wouldn't you want to know that it might get you arrested? Seems the story is a useful warning to me. I doubt the police just showed up on their own. I imagine somebody tipped them off. Could have well been the cruise line or the like who noted drug problems on prior cruises. As one of the articles noted, they've had multiple deaths during these events (though they state they weren't drug related). Nobody wants that kind of publicity. That said, the naming and shaming is bullshit.

So what was your upgrade like compared to your 1st cabin?

To address the original idea. If you do it I think you will need to have a stage for dance numbers. For a name I’m thinking OldMommy’s Golden Taps. you do know haw tap, right? If not you still have time to learn.

The Incompetent-in-Chief dragged the Kennedy Center into partisan politics and tried to make it a tool of his agenda, rather than leaving it to itself to be the arts center it was meant to be, and has been.

What's that common business saying about Trump. "Everything he touches dies."

Well, that depends on whether they are transitioning or not.

It’s been years but on my early trips to Thailand I stayed near Nana and saw lots of Khatoy around and entering Nana and saw several in the elevator with their dates…. Funny to me I remember an a tour there were three Australians 2 guys and a woman scandalizing the Indian family up front. One of their stories was that two had taken the third to Nana where he got drunk and made out with a ladyboy and got beat up a bit for his response after reaching down…. Also I remember Bangkok Boi mentioning such clubs in Nana. I assume nothing has changed.

Although we'd been told that all cabins had been sold out for our cruise, we were surprised on the 2nd day of our cruise by the announcement that a number of suites were available for upgrade. "I wished I'd known before getting unpacked," I grumbled. Then there were rumors that 12 or maybe even 25 of the 5500 passengers got arrested, all carrying methamphetamines, and most with other substances as well. Then news stories got printed in a number of gay publications including Instinct and The Advocate, prompting some others to grumble at how our own publications were demonizing our own community. (I suspect that the sniffing dogs were trained to find meth, as those without meth didn't seem to get arrested). I found the story legitimately news-worthy, although it does portray the gay community in a bad light. It's too bad they had to specifically call out the arrestees, however. I suspect they'll be out of a job when they go back home... https://www.advocate.com/news/crime/atlantis-cruise-drug-arrests "...In a statement, Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office Detective Joseph R. Peguero Rivera told The Advocate that deputies were called in around 6 p.m. Sunday to assist CBP with a drug enforcement operation at PortMiami. “MDSO arrested a total of nine individuals on various drug-related charges,” he said, involving MDMA or ecstasy, LSD, and cocaine. The arrest reports also reference ketamine, methamphetamine, and GHB precursor GBL, among the substances seized. Court records show those charged are Joshua S. Eddy, 41, of West Hollywood, California; Brad R. Kloha, 41, of Nashville, Tennessee; Adam Jones, 49, of Atlanta, Georgia; Hoi Le, 51, of San Francisco; Joshua Lee Jenkins, 39, of Tacoma, Washington; Ryan D. Medrano, 27, of Phoenix, Arizona; Tamar J. Wilson, 37, of Chicago; Daisuke Nakanoh, 40, of Chicago; and Ricardo Gabriel Junquera, 39, of Miami..".. https://instinctmagazine.com/tourists-arrested-gay-cruise/ "...On Sunday, as everyone was excitedly lining up to board the Symphony of the Seas, the usual pre-cruise chaos took an unexpected turn. Instead of the usual luggage checks and occasional confused tourist, trained dogs were on duty, sniffing their way through bags. And, let’s just say… these dogs weren’t there for the scent of sunscreen and sea air. So here are the alleged facts and charges in these arrests. Note: no one knows if they were carrying the drugs to use or to sell or both...". (Nb: the quantities for which these men were arrested suggests to me that sales would be involved) So do you think it's yellow journalism, just intended as click-bait, or legitimate news stories?