A river cruise for transgender travelers

When Miami-based Transgender Vacations launched this week, selling travel to the transgender and cross-dressing community and their friends and families, the company kicked off with a transgender river cruise.

The “Transgender and Friends European River Cruise,” is a seven-night Danube cruise charter from Passau, Germany to Budapest onboard the 176-passenger Belvedere, a river vessel owned by German company TransOcean and being operated by British cruise line Cruise Maritime Voyages.

Highlights of the cruise will include stops in Melk, Durnstein and Vienna in Austria and Bratislava in Slovakia.

The onboard program will showcase lectures and workshops by transgender leaders, including Kellie Maloney, a former British boxing promoter who underwent gender reassignment in 2014; Alexis Dee, who serves as president of the Southern Comfort Conference, one of the largest gatherings of the transgender community; and Sophie Cook, Premier League football photographer, newspaper editor, motorbike racer and transgender woman.

The cruise starts at $2,099 per person, cruise only, and sails Oct. 23-31, 2016. 

Transgender Vacations was founded by Stephanie Land, a transgender woman who serves as company director, and Jennifer Grant, a member of the LGBT community and director of Focus Diva in the U.K., a company with which Transgender Vacations has partnered to offer global services.

“Booking with us, travel agents and members of the community are assured that we understand the challenges that transgender travelers face and that we are their ultimate resource and ambassador every step of the way to deliver their ultimate holidays,” Grant said in a statement.