A group of more than 2000 Americans have set sail on an 11-day nude cruise this week in the lead-up to Valentine's Day this Friday.
'The Big Nude Boat 2025' is an annual event run by Bare Necessities Cruising, a travel company that has been organising clothing-optional and nude cruises since the 1990s.
Having run more than 75 nude cruises around the world, Bare Necessities says “Every Big Nude Boat offers wonderful food, entertainment, and new friendships waiting to be forged.”
They have teamed up with Norwegian Cruise Lines to take more than 2000 completely naked passengers to “Bare-adise”.
The Norwegian Peal, a 968-foot vessel, will cruise around the Caribbean with stops in the Bahamas, Puerto Rico, Dominica and St.Lucia.
A basic ticket for the laid-bare voyage sets back travellers around US$2,000 while some pay upwards of $33,000 for a deluxe three-bedroom villa.
Given the vulnerable nature of the experience, passengers have a list of strict rules they must follow while on board.
Most rules are designed to maintain personal hygiene and limit nude activities to the eyes of other participating passengers.
For example, no photography or filming is allowed, and clothes must be worn when docked at a port and when dining indoors - nudity is allowed at the outdoor dining area however.
Passengers also must always sit on a towel when their bottom half is bare.
Bare Necessities also makes it clear that their cruises are not sexual.
“Fondling or inappropriate touching is prohibited,” and any violations result in offenders being removed from the cruise.
The Daily Mail reported a passenger’s prior experience which he posted to Reddit, giving an insider's look at the cruise.
Summing up the nude experience, the man concluded: 'It was awesome. Great weather and the opportunity to do a bunch of fun things nude (beaches, resorts, dancing, be at bars, etc.).
He also said, the crowd was mostly people in their 50s-70s.
“Also, most people don’t seem to be comfortable being nude in public until later in life so the crowd was older. I’d say 20% attractive, 20% average, 60% unattractive,” he added.