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Cruising with Pride is a division
of Worldview Travel (founded in 1974), a full service travel agency.
Cruising with Pride, specializing in All Gay and Gay Group Cruises
and Tours. has been around since 1996, the same year Worldview
Travel became a member of Virtuoso, a prestigious consortium of travel professionals
that offers its members additional value and special benefits. Virtuoso limits their
membership to only the highest rated and highest producing agencies. In fact, fewer
than one percent of the travel retailers in North America are accepted for membership
into Virtuoso.
Cruising with Pride's goal is to provide its clients
with attentive customer service, good value and the most comprehensive
listing of All Gay and Gay Group travel options - on land and sea - available
in the current market today.
Tom Stephens,
who operates Cruising With Pride, has been in the travel
industry since 1993. After a year in Hawaii and a wonderful trip
to Europe, he decided travel was his passion, and, being gay, specializing
in gay travel seemed the perfect fit. He came onboard Cruising With Pride
in 2003 and has not looked back. It has been the perfect place for him
to grow as a travel consultant and hosting gay groups, traveling on gay cruises
and tours, and working with a mostly gay clientele has been an amazing joy
for him.
"Life should be an adventure. And traveling can
be such a wonderful part of our adventure, because it's the chance to see different
things, experience different cultures, and change our perspective just a little.
I got into this business because I love to travel. Over the past years
I have been to so many places and my world view has expanded immensely. I realize
how lucky I am to have been born here in Southern California. Much of the
world is not as fortunate as we are, with our weather, our freedoms, and our possibilities.
I have been involved with community charities over
the years. For the AIDS Walk of Long Beach, we did some fundraising cruises,
helping to raise close to $10,000 for the charity. Lately, I've been
working with a gay run charity, Handing Out Hope
www.handingouthope.org, a Non-Profit organization set out to promote
community and individual empowerment, through the creation and support of specific
and varied projects, both domestic and international. I learned long ago that it's
not all about how much you can get, but, about how much you can give, as well.
More than anything, I love helping people to see more of
their world. Being a gay travel specialist is very rewarding, helping gay people
find places that will be suited to their individual needs and making sure they're
going places they will find safe and comfortable. It's a constant learning
process which will never end until we die, and I've always got more to learn.
It's not a small world, after all.
Thank you for visiting, and I hope you will call me to help
you with all your travel needs.
Remember to take a step or you'll never go anywhere
in life.
Tom Stephens "
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Places I've traveled...
North America
Canada: Vancouver, Whistler, Victoria,
Montreal, Toronto, Saint Johns & Halifax
Mexico: Cancun, Cozumel, Puerto Vallarta (hola, Sergio), Acapulco,
Mazatlan, Ixtapa, Cabo San Lucas, and Ensenada (every year for our Halloween cruise,
where we take over a gay club. So fun!!)
Caribbean: Puerto Rico, St. Croix, Jamaica, and dozens of other islands
on cruises through the years.
USA: Alaska (many cities on cruises), Hawaii (Oahu, Maui, Kauai
and the Big Island), San Francisco, Sacramento,
San Diego, Seattle, Portland, Las Vegas, Grand
Canyon, Phoenix, Denver, Houston, New Orleans, Chicago, Boston, New York, Atlantic
City, D.C., Portland & Bar Harbor, ME; Orlando, Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, Tampa,
Key West, Atlanta, Philadelphia, & Provincetown.
Central America-Beautiful Costa Rica, Panama.
South America
Peru (with Macchu Picchu,
which is magical), Brazil (Rio Carnavale is like nothing else man made you will
ever see, and, Iguazu Falls is the most amazingly beautiful thing God made),
Uruguay, and Argentina (Buenos Aires!)
Australia
Sydney & Cairnes (Great Barrier Reef, amazing!!)
Europe
London, Paris, Rome (most of Italy), Berlin, Munich, Amsterdam, Zurich,
Barcelona, Istanbul, Athens (and the islands of Greece), Stockholm, Copenhagen,
Helsinki, Brussels, Bruuge, Tallin, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, Malta, Sicily,
Nice, Cannes, Monte Carlo, & St. Petersberg.
Asia
Thailand; the land of smiles, was a beautiful experience. One of
my favorite places and I hope to go back one day.
China; Beijing, Xian and Shanghai, with a cruise down the Yangzee
River. China is HUGE. It's history is awe inspiring. Bali
is on the horizon (Nov 08)
Middle East: Israel. An amazing, spirtual
experience. Seeing the metropolitan Tel Aviv, riding on the Sea of Galilee,
staying in a Kibbutz near the Golan Heights, seeing Bethlehem, Masada,
the Dead Sea and, of course, Jerusalem. Whatever your faith, it is a truly
amazing, ancient place, with so much history.
South Africa (probably
the most exciting trip of my life. On Safari, near Kruger national park, our
jeep got stuck about 50 feet from a pride of lions! Yikes! We did survive, apparently)
Cruises
I've been on at least 40 cruises (lost count!). 7 with
Atlantis and about that many with RSVP. I've sailed with Royal Caribbean the
most, Celebrity, Holland America, Carnival, Norwegian, Disney, Star Clippers, and
Cunard's QM2. Some day I'll get on Princess, Windstar and Crystal...Every
cruise is a different experience and I've never been on a cruise I didn't enjoy
(some more than others).
My travels for the future wish list...
Egypt
Madrid (and more Spain)
India (just to see the Taj Mahal) &
Jordan (just to see Petra, then, I'll have seen
all the 7 wonders of the modern world. I've seen; (1) Machu Picchu, Peru;
(2) Christ the Redeemer (Rio, Brazil), (3) The Great Wall of China (Beijing), (4)
Chichen Itza (outside of Cancun, Mexico), and (5) The Coliseum in Rome. See
www.new7wonders.com
Tahiti
Antartica
Tokyo
Madagascar
Croatia
Transylvania (I'm part Transylvania)
Kenya
Iraq (just kidding!)
Tokyo
Morocco
Ireland
Portugal
Cologne (going in March!)
& More of the USA...it is beautiful here:-)
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