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Review

In 2002, comedian/actor Rosie O'Donnell, her partner Kelli, and their friend Gregg Kaminsky discussed the possibility of creating vacation packages for the gay and lesbian community. Two years later, in the summer of 2004, in the aptly titled All Aboard! Rosie's Family Cruise. we join Rosie, Kelli and 1,500 other GLBT and straight families on the Norwegian Dawn set to sail from New York City to the Bahamas and back with a pit-stop in the gay friendly port of Key West.

Acceptance without judgement is the mantra behind this documentary, and while Rosie is always centre stage as the lesbian celebrity, host, and flagship name on the movie title, the filmmakers do take care to talk to the “ordinary” passengers on the cruise-ship to document their stories of same-sex parenting.

While a cruise ship and travels across the Atlantic Ocean sounds adventurous, it is the tension and anger that confronts the passengers when they disembark in Nassau that actually adds a much needed spark to this documentary. Confronted with angry fundamentalist church members protesting our lifestyle, we are reminded that homophobia is still rampant in this world and we do need alternative safe vacation spaces for LGBT families.

 -- Carol Coombes