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R Family Vacations

In 2004 O'Donnell and Carpenter partnered with travel entrepreneur Gregg Kaminsky to launch R Family Vacations catering to both gays and lesbians, "the very first all gay and lesbian family vacation packages" where "gays and lesbians can bring their kids, their friends, and their parents." Although O'Donnell is not involved on a day-to-day basis, she does contribute to the creative aspects of "advertising and marketing materials" and initiated the idea for the company when she filled in as a last-minute replacement headliner on one of Kaminsky's Atlantis Events gay cruises and also came up with the name "R Family Vacations." Kaminsky was previously a Vice President for Atlantis Events, the largest and most successful all-gay cruise company producing "all-gay vacations in Africa, Europe, Australia, the Caribbean, and Mexico" and his partner is also a business partner of O'Donnell's.

On July 11, 2004, the first cruise was held aboard Norwegian Cruise Lines's Norwegian Dawn which holds 2,200 passengers, the ship was over 70 percent full with 1600 passengers including 600 children. In addition to traditional entertainment and recreational activities, the company partnered with Provincetown’s Family Pride, a 25-year-old Washington, D.C.-based organization that advocates for GLBT families to host discussions on "adoption, insemination, surrogacy, and everything else that would be helpful to gay parenting.” Metropolitan Community Church, the predominantly GLBT Christian denomination, had clergy on board to perform wedding ceremonies and conduct interfaith services and there was also discussion groups for kids and a panel discussion where teens could share their experiences of growing up with gay and lesbian parents.

A documentary film about the trip looked inside the lives of some of the 500 families that cruised from New York to the Bahamas. The documentary, All Aboard: Rosie's Family Cruise, debuted on HBO on April 6, 2006, and is now available on DVD. The film was nominated for three Emmy Awards. Of the experience O'Donnell stated "we didn’t really realize the magic that was going to take place. People who had never met another gay family met other families and it was powerful."

In 2007 the annual cruise dropped Bermuda from its itinerary because another of the Norwegian Cruise Lines' all gay cruises was met by a hundred Christian "protesters chanting anti-gay slogans" in nearby Nassau, Bahamas and the R Family cruise itself was being targeted by an interfaith group of 80 churches called United By Faith who were calling for the trip to be cancelled or they would protest when the ship arrived. United By Faith's spokesman, Andre Curtis, is also chairman of Faith Based Tourism for Bermuda as well as being responsible for running Premier Dr. Ewart Brown’s constituency committee in Warwick South Central, where Brown will be seeking re-election. Although Brown, who is also the Minister of Tourism and Transport in Bermuda's Cabinet "dismissed requests" for the cruise to be cancelled R Families changed the itinerary to instead visit two stops in Florida and a private island. Kaminsky stated "If we didn't have kids on board and there were protesters, we would go, but we did not want to expose kids to that hatred while they were on vacation."

1. Kaminsky, Gregg (August 11, 2003). "Rosie O'Donnell Announces R Family Vacations". Out In Buffalo. Retrieved 2007-06-21. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
2. Salvato, Ed. "R Family Vacations plies uncharted gay waters". Planet Out. Retrieved 2007-06-21.
3. Mersmann, Andrew. "Gregg Kaminsky: R Family Vacations". Passport Magazine. Retrieved 2007-06-21.
4. "Q and A with Rosie and Kelli on "All Aboard! Rosie's Family Cruise"". Planet Out. 2006. Retrieved 2007-06-21.
5. ^ Davis, Andrew (2005-01-12). "Getting Away with R Family Vacations". Windy City Times. Retrieved 2007-06-21. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
6. ^ Williams, Bradley David (2004). "Families, Ahoy!". Out Smart Magazine. Retrieved 2007-06-21. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
7. Wieder, Judy (2003). "R We Ready for R Family Vacations?". Out Traveler. Retrieved 2007-06-21. (Fall issue)
8. "Bermuda cut from O'Donnell's gay cruise". Associated Press via Yahoo News. April 17, 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-21. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
9. Dale, Amanda S (April 18, 2007). "United By Faith: 'A victory for God'". The Royal Gazette. Retrieved 2007-06-21. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
10. Jones, Glenn (March 31, 2007). "Tourism fears over gay cruise stand-off". The Royal Gazette. Retrieved 2007-06-21. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
11. Bourke, Amy (3 April, 2007). "Rosie's gay cruise is backed by Bermuda's leader". Pinknews. Retrieved 2007-06-21. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
12. Guaracino, Jeff (2007). "Fun For Grown-Ups Abourd Rosie's r Family Cruises". Instinct (magazine). p. 48. {{cite magazine}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)