“There is an appeal for an all-male experience at the entry-level price point [in the cruise industry],” says Patrick Gunn, co-founder of RU5H, a new sex-progressive cruise billed as the “biggest queer party festival at sea.”
The inaugural three-day voyage will depart from the Port of Palm Beach, Florida, on Oct. 2, sail to Nassau, Bahamas, and return on Oct. 5. Gunn says organizers hope to draw 1,200 guests. About two-thirds of those who have already booked are under 45, indicating early success in attracting younger travelers.
Affordability is central to RU5H’s pitch. Rates start at $397 per person for quad occupancy, with guests sharing a room with three others. Interior staterooms start at $697 per person, while oceanview staterooms start at $797. Solo staterooms range from $997 for an interior room to $1,197 for an oceanview room.
“We’ve made it extremely reasonable at $997 for a solo person to come by themselves,” Gunn says. Travelers who want to share accommodations can use RU5H’s Facebook Solo Travelers group to connect with potential roommates and book together.
Each ticket includes accommodations, onboard parties and social gatherings, and access to many of the cruise’s “experience zones,” where passengers can watch, flirt, or play with others in a variety of settings.
The ship’s upper decks are clothing-optional around the clock while at sea and include “The Loading Zone,” a platform above the dance floor where performers from the Carnal+ and JockPack adult film networks stage live sex shows.
Other experience zones include the “Afterglow Pool,” a 24-hour space where guests can lounge and recharge between activities, and the “Hemisphere Cuddle Puddle,” also open around the clock, where they can express intimacy while recuperating from play.
“The experience zones are just a very sex-progressive place where people can test their boundaries and feel out what is sexy to them and what isn’t,” Gunn says. “If they’re in one experience [zone] at one end of the ship, if it’s not for them, within five, six minutes, they can be in a totally different experience.”
The only onboard event requiring a separate ticket is HorseMarket, a play party Gunn describes as a “ritualized, stylized, consensual role play experience.” Participants assume the role of either a mare — a more submissive partner who is blindfolded during the encounter — or a stallion, a more dominant partner who initiates contact.
“They call the space a ‘stable,’ and it’s very ritualistic in a way that emphasizes trust, choice, and shared fantasy, where then stallions have consensual sexual experiences with the blindfolded mares,” Gunn says.
In addition to its regular amenities and experience zones, RU5H will feature a JustFor.Fans Creator Studio, where adult content creators — regardless of platform — can connect with one another and produce content. Guests can watch the creators work and get a behind-the-scenes look at how adult content is produced in real time. The studio will also offer private sessions for creators who don’t want an audience.
Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are included in the ship’s standard and pool-deck restaurants. Specialty restaurants cost extra. Travelers can purchase a discounted drink package for the weekend or charge individual drinks to their rooms.
Gunn hopes RU5H’s lower prices, roster of DJs and adult content creators, and sex-progressive atmosphere will encourage guests to book future cruises, helping organizers build loyalty among younger travelers.
“It’s very important that the next generation of cruisers have a place where they can come and feel as though they are with their counterparts, in an experience that is reasonably priced,” he says. The three-day weekend itinerary, he adds, means most travelers will need to take only one or two days off work.
The weekend’s music lineup includes DJ Mitch Ferrino of the DWorld Underwear Party; DJ Don Esquival and DJ Perfect Lovers of Por Detroit; DJs Ricardo Tavares and Mark Holcomb of Harder; DJs Victor Rodriguez and Chris Bowen of Bears in Space; DJ Dan Darling of Brüt; DJs Fabrice and Skippo of Hustlaball; Fruitsnax with DJ Joey with the Mustache; and the Puppy Party with Rawhide Raves, featuring DJs Sam and Zander Woods and dancer Coco the Pup.
Gunn says passengers can come aboard for DJs they already know while discovering others throughout the weekend.
“The Underwear party will already be happening when they step on board, and that will be their welcome,” he says. “And then, nightly, there’ll be DJ parties from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m., and then another DJ will come on for the 4 a.m. to 10 a.m. session. And then we’ll start all over again the next day.”
For more information or to book tickets, visit www.ru5h.com.
Christian Styles, an adult content creator with accounts on JustFor.Fans and OnlyFans, has died at age 29.
His family confirmed his death in an obituary, saying he died on August 20.
Born Zachary Christian Jaghab in Canton, Michigan, in January 1997, Styles was raised in the state and entered the adult entertainment industry in 2021. He built a sizable online following, with more than 1.1 million followers on X at the time of his death.
The obituary remembered Styles as a "cherished son," "beloved brother," and "adored uncle." He is survived by his parents, two siblings, nieces and nephews, and extended family and friends. No cause of death was listed.
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!
You must be logged in to post a comment.