GAY TIMES and Celebrity Cruises today announce “Trailblazers”, an online series exploring genuine LGBTQ+ travel experiences, set against the backdrop of the stunning Celebrity Edge. The award-winning cruise line and the queer media powerhouse have joined forces to create an industry-leading content series, a documentation of authentic experiences onboard the ship as it docks in Europe’s most famous ports.

Launching daily on GAY TIMES and Celebrity Cruises social media channels from 30th September until 4th October 2019, each mini episode of “Trailblazers” paves the way for a perfect LGBTQ+ travel experience.  Aiming to shine a light on queer travel, the collaboration amplifies the voices of key representatives from the LGBTQ community, with the chosen influencers reflecting a range of diverse backgrounds.

Four pairs of new to cruise influencers were selected to participate in the series with each of the duos’ passion points and experiences chosen to reflect a different facet of the LGBTQ+ community. Setting sail to key LGBTQ+ European destinations including Barcelona, Valencia, Ibiza, Nice and Rome and culminating in the influencers’ participation in the third annual Pride at Sea onboard Celebrity Edge, together they explore the world in modern luxury, sharing their stories and building meaningful connections.

Jo Rzymowska, Managing Director, UK and Ireland Celebrity Cruises commented: “We were thrilled to welcome the cast of Trailblazers onboard Celebrity Edge, which we hope has positively shaped their perception of travelling as members of the LGBTQ+ community. We want everyone onboard our ships to feel appreciated and welcome, whoever they are, and am therefore delighted to launch this industry-leading content in partnership with GAY TIMES.”

Tag Warner, CEO of GAY TIMES commented: “Through our ‘trailblazing’ partnership with Celebrity Cruises we’re thrilled to share our exploration of queer travel experience onboard Celebrity Edge. This industry-leading      collaboration has set the scene for a unique      LGBTQ+ travel experience – an onboard community of like-minded people, thriving in a young, free and dynamic environment, a safe space for self-expression set against the perfect Mediterranean backdrop.”

As an industry leader in LGBTQ+ friendly travel, Celebrity Cruises is an award-winning company for championing diversity and inclusion, as proud headline sponsors of TTG’s LGBT initiative and named Best for LGBT Cruisers at Cruise International’s 2018 awards. Jo Rzymowska, Managing Director, UK and Ireland, was also named a Top 10 LGBTQ+ Inspirational Leader at the British LGBT Awards in 2017. The company is proud to spearhead a number of initiatives including: sponsoring the annual Miami Gay Pride; arranging welcome drinks for LGBT guests at the start of every cruise; and is the first U.S company to host same-sex weddings at sea.

Additionally, Celebrity Cruises annually celebrates Pride at Sea – an owned initiative set up to celebrate Pride month across its entire fleet around the globe. June 2020 will see Celebrity Cruises fourth annual Pride Party at Sea, with each ship in the fleet hosting a range of exciting events and activities throughout the “30 days of Pride”. Celebrity Apex℠, the breath-taking new ship launching in Southampton April 2020, will host the Flagship Pride at Sea Party when docked in Ibiza on 24 June 2020.

As part of an ongoing commitment to champion equality, 2018 saw Celebrity Cruises launch its first dedicated Diversity & Inclusion Training Module for agents on the e-learning platform, Celebrity Passport. Agents can log onto Celebritycentral.co.uk to access the updated LGBT toolkit collection with new images, flyers and logos and also learn about how Celebrity Cruises’ ethos of championing progression is filtered all the way through the company.