What happens when passengers get aroused on 2,000-person nude cruise
A woman who has worked for a nude cruise company for 16 years has said one of several strict rules on board is that 'men can't be overly excited'.
The Bare Necessities cruise company launched in 1991, and Kat Whitmire has worked for them since 2010 and is now their vice-president of sales.
The main thing she wants people to know is they're 'not a swingers' cruise', and they actually take steps to stop things getting sexual.
Whitmire works as part of a team which plans two cruises; a February trip which takes 2,100 passengers on a large cruise on the 'Big Nude Boat', and a smaller cruise in the summer.
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And with thousands of potentially completely naked individuals on board a boat, awkward moments are bound to happen.
Of course, it's much easier for women to disguise these kinds of feelings, but for men - circumstances are slightly different.
Speaking to Business Insider, Whitmire explained that it's actually a rule onboard the ship that 'men can't be overly excited'.
She also shared the advice she offers to men if they start to feel themselves entering a, ahem, hard situation.
Whitmire said: "We say that if they start to feel things around moving down there, jump in cold water, or think about baseball."
On their website, Bare Necessities says it is an affiliated club of the American Association of Nude Recreation (AANR), so guests must abide by that organization's standards of decorum.
The AANR has a section on erections which reads: "Erections happen, but rarely. That towel comes in handy until things calm down.
"Nudity is not sexual. Sensual? Sure, but keep the sex (including intimate touching) where it belongs - in private."
Other, quite common sense, rules about keeping things decent on a Bare Necessities cruise state you can't 'fondle' your own or someone else's privates, or solicit or perform sexual acts while in communal areas.
Bare Necessities adds: "Violations of these standards will result in immediate disembarkation at the next port of call, without refund or compensation of any kind."
The organizer's advice helps explain what a male naked cruise passenger said about the issue of arousal when a Reddit user asked whether accidental erections were 'frowned upon'.
The man explained that boners 'almost never happen' on board, saying: "This cruise is very non-sexual, so a man would want to hide it somehow. Non-nudists think about this a lot more than nudists do."
Could 'baseball' be the naked cruise ship's version of the Roman Empire?
It turns out that the anti-arousal rule is just one of a number of stipulations Bare Necessities has in place for passengers.
Photos
The 'most important' rule onboard, according to Whitmire, is that passengers must ask permission before taking a photo with someone else in it.
Bare Necessities states that there are 'No Photo Zones' around the pool and dancefloors, and if guests don't observe this their camera will be confiscated.
You can't be naked everywhere
A third rule relates to the one place where clothes must be worn - the formal dining room.
Whitmire explains that there is a dress code of 'no nips, no bits and no butts' in the dining room, largely because the staff working there often carry trays of hot food, and no naked person wants to be on the receiving end of that disaster.
You also can't be nude when the ship is in port. A passenger shared on Reddit that the captain 'generally makes an announcement' as to when clothes can be removed.
Whitmire said the captain and crew also keep their clothes on at all times.
There is a sort-of dress code
Though a lot of the time guests will be will be wearing nothing at all, there are also some things they can't wear.
According to Bare Necessities, 'lingerie, fetish-wear, and excessive genital jewelry are not appropriate at any time'.
Also, in terms of basic hygiene, it's a rule that guests have to sit on a towel when they are bare-bottomed or wearing a thong or a g-string.
Topics: News, US News, Cruise ship
Mia Williams