Paul Heney travel tips

1. Save money on attractions. When my husband and I took our two older sons (16 and 22) to Spain for summer vacation, we knew we had to be smart about finances. Taking four “adults” to dinner or a museum can get expensive very quickly. So we opted for Go City’s All-Inclusive Passes in both Madrid and Barcelona. These passes allow you to visit as many attractions as you want within a one to seven consecutive day period.  

To many younger LGBTQ travelers, going on a gay cruise often means setting sail on a large 3,000+ passenger ship in the Caribbean, with days of onboard EDM concerts, sun-kissed ports of call, and maybe a bit of foolishness during the evening hours. But today’s queer cruise market is diverse in nature, and there’s also a growing need for luxury itineraries to ports of call in places like Vietnam, Egypt, Norway, and the Seychelles. 

Last month marked the debut of the MeetMeOnBoard app, an LGBTQ cruise app for queer travelers to book cruises and connect with each other. Available for free download on the Apple App Store and Google Play, the app is the next phase of the MeetMeOnBoard website, which was founded in 2008 by Mark den Hartog and Dale McCurdy—and acquired in 2022 by Adam Martindale, a cruise veteran with more than 30 years of experience in the travel industry. We spoke to Martindale to get more insights into the app.

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Some people say that Madonna’s 1980s hit, “La Isla Bonita,” was based on Ambergris Caye, a gorgeous strip of island along Belize’s sunny Caribbean coast. Whether true or not, the caye is a fantastic vacation destination for anyone looking for white sand beaches—or water adventures along the world’s second longest coral reef system. The newest resort here, which just celebrated its grand opening, is the Margaritaville Beach Resort Ambergris Caye, Belize.