Bidding war for buff cruises
From The American Association for Nude Recreation


KISSIMMEE, FL - In 1991, when Nancy and Tom Tiemann first approached cruise lines to charter nude cruises, their inquiries were usually met with disinterest, skepticism, disbelief or merely an old-fashioned chuckle.

Today, as Bare Necessities Tour and Travel finalizes its 1997 plans for cruises in the Caribbean, Mediterranean and South Pacific, they are being courted by three different cruise lines.

"We are talking to Costa, Dolphin and Majesty about working with them in 1997," says Tiemann, who runs Bare Necessities with her husband Tom, an attorney.

"Nowadays in the Caribbean there is such a glut of boats sailing half-full, that when a company like ours can deliver a full ship that's a bonus for the cruise line. It's a far cry from our first cruise when the captain said "we thought you just wanted to be nude on the sundeck, not everywhere!"

Bare Necessities' next cruise sails on February 25th from Miami and has been sold out for months. Nude cruises are a popular and growing vacation choice, according to the American Association for Nude Recreation, (AANR), North America's oldest and largest organization representing nudists and nude recreation.

Traditionally popular throughout Europe, nude vacationing is now on the rise in the United States and Canada and has become an important niche market in the cruise industry.

"Many of our members who sail nude cruises with Bare Necessities or Travel Au Naturel have sailed many "non-nude" cruises prior to trying their first nude cruise," said Roslyn Scheer, Executive Director of the American Association for Nude Recreation. "With 92% of our members ages 35 and older, and almost 50% earning at least $50,000 a year, the cruise lines taking notice and acknowledging the growth of this powerful segment."

Travel Au Naturel, a full-service travel agency in Land O'Lakes, Florida, is the other company which has uncovered this market. Their latest 72-passenger Windjammer cruise will sail this fall from October 20 to November 2. The Halloween Nude Windjammer Cruise (couples-only) will sail from Antigua to St. Lucia and Grenada, stopping at tiny islands along the way. Highlights of the trip will be a Halloween party and a talent contest, as well as costume parties and dancing. The price for this couples-only voyage is $1,845 to $2,100 per person and the ship is already two-thirds full reports Travel au Naturel owner Christie Musick.

"All types of people - doctors, lawyers, waitresses and businesspeople .. of all different ages from 22 to 80 have sailed our Windjammers" said Musick. "On nude cruises people feel so comfortable and free, while the all-over tan is an extra plus, A few of my clients still travel on non-nude cruises, but most of them say "once you go nude, you'll never go back!"

Bare Necessities will set sail February 25th on the Seabreeze for a Caribbean excursion with stops planned at Nassau's Blue Lagoon, Grand Cayman, and Montego Bay, Jamaica. Amenities include round-the clock entertainment and the ever popular annual Brazilian Carnival Costume Ball. In addition, the typically varied itineraries of this and other nude cruises allow vacationers the opportunity to enjoy nude recreation on-shore with excursions to rain forests and waterfalls and river-rafting trips in such destinations as Jamaica, the Grand Cayman, the Dominican Republic and the Bahamas.

Bare Necessities Tour & Travel launched its first nude cruise in 1992 when it chartered the Crown Monarch. Other groups sailed on the Crown Jewel (1993), Cunard Dynasty (1994), Star Clipper (1994) and the Regent Rainbow (1995).

"On each cruise we average about 30% first-timers," said Tiemann. "There are thoustands of people who enjoy social nudism in their own backyard and just don't know that there are places to go f~or organizations to call like the American Association for Nude Recreation to find out about clothing-optional or clothing-free vacation options."

The American Association for Nude Recreation, based in Kissimmee, Florida, has doubled its membership in 10 years and now has nearly 50,000 individual members. Membership benefits include a monthly newspaper with the latest travel and recreation opportunities, discounted admission to member clubs and resorts, a toll-free hotline for information about clubs and resorts, automatic membership in the International Naturist Federation and an invitation to attend annual and regional conventions of the association.

To learn more about nude recreation and nude cruises, consumers can call 407-933-2064 or 1-800-TRY-NUDE (879-6833); visit the association's World Wide Web site at http://aanr.com
or write the American Association for Nude Recreation at 1703 N. Main Street, Suite E, Kissimmee, Fl. 34744-3396.