There are more rules for passengers than you might expect.
A traveler who joined a nudist cruise shared the ship’s on-board etiquette he had to follow.
Bare Necessities, a Texas-based operator of cruises for nudists, regularly hosts over 2,000 unclothed guests on round trips from Miami to places like Mexico and Honduras.
The candid passenger posted on Reddit, explaining that it’s not simply a case of boarding and letting everything hang out at sea.
In a thread titled “I just disembarked from a 2000 person nude cruise”, the 67-year-old—fresh off a seven-day voyage that departed from Tampa, Florida—wrote:
“I can’t possibly respond to every single question. Here are the answers to the most asked questions:
- The staff was dressed.
- This was a cruise for nudists, not a “lifestyle” cruise. Accordingly, there was no public sex and no erections that I saw. An erection would be considered poor form in this environment.
- Generally speaking, the crowd was older and not particularly attractive. However, there were attractive people too.
- The “why” is because it’s a nice feeling to be nude, just like it’s a nice feeling for a man to be without a shirt at the beach. Skinny dipping is great. Being nude at some of the world’s nicest beaches is great.
- No bare butts on any surface in any public space. Ever. That’s not a difficult concept. Nudists are as interested in hygiene as much as if not more than the next guy.”
He added,
“Most people who try nudism, love it. YOLO. Please don’t write that the only people who are on nude beaches are the ones who shouldn’t be there. That’s crabbed and trite. Thanks.”
The post drew over 1,000 comments, with users posing some pointed questions.
One asked:
“What’s the policy on cell phones/taking pics? With the world being so virtual now, I would be paranoid that someone is sneaking pics, and I end up on the internet without my knowledge or consent.”
The original poster replied:
“As I’ve mentioned elsewhere, this was a crowd with lots of nudist experience.
Everyone knows you can’t take pictures of other people. I was much less worried here than I have been at nude beaches.
“Almost no one had phones with them outside their cabin. There were many signs posted. There were a lot of staff from the charter company whose job it was to enforce good naturist etiquette.
And I’ve spent time online researching nudism and I’ve never seen a single online photograph from the cruise except for the group shots that people voluntarily pose for.
For those reasons, i wasn’t concerned.”
Another commenter asked:
“Do you carry a towel everywhere you go? It seems rather gross to have multiple naked sweaty bodies sitting or laying on everything that everyone uses.
“Also is it weird that when you go to the bathroom that you are already naked so you just use it and do you try to clean even more since you are using communal things?”
He answered:
“Yes. One must only sit with a towel under one’s bare butt. There are clean towels all over the ship.
“Yes, it is strange to go to the bathroom when one is naked. I for one was much more fastidious after using the bathroom because of the unusual exposure.”
Summing up, he wrote:
“It was awesome. Great weather and the opportunity to do a bunch of fun things nude (beaches, resorts, dancing, be at bars, etc.). My 61-year old partner also enjoyed it very much.”
The core takeaway: this was a naturist cruise with clear etiquette—no public sex, strict hygiene, and strong privacy rules.