Atlantis Events

Atlantis Events was founded in 1991 to organize resort vacations, beginning with an event at the Club Med resort at Playa Blanca in Costa Careyes, Jalisco, Mexico.{{cite news |first=Bryan |last=Van Gorder |title=Twenty-Five and Still Cruising |work=The Advocate |date=March 9, 2016 |url=https://www.advocate.com/current-issue/2016/3/09/twenty-five-and-still-cruising}}{{cite news |first=Steven |last=McElroy |title=On a Gay Cruise, Just One of the Guys |work=The New York Times |date=April 10, 2015 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/12/travel/on-gay-cruise-just-one-of-the-guys.html}} The company began chartering cruise ships in 1998.{{cite news |last=Pae |first=Peter |date=October 12, 2008 |title=How I Made It: Rich Campbell; Gay Getaways' Go-to Guy |work=Los Angeles Times |page=C.2 |id={{ProQuest|}}}} In October 2007, Atlantis acquired competitor RSVP Vacations from RSVP's parent company, PlanetOut.{{cite news |first=Spud |last=Hilton |date=October 28, 2007 |title=Atlantis Purchases Rival Gay Line |work=South Florida Sun |page=7 |id={{ProQuest|}}}}

The company's tours have sometimes experienced negative reactions from anti-gay officials at their destinations.{{cite book |title=Pink Tourism: Holidays of Gay Men and Lesbians |first=Howard L. |last=Hughes |publisher=CABI |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |date=2006 |isbn=978-1-84593-076-9 |pages=82–83}} In December 1997, an Atlantis Events cruise on Norwegian Cruise Line's MS Leeward was denied permission make a planned February 1998 stop at Grand Cayman. Caymanian official Thomas C. Jefferson wrote to the cruise line that the cruise's passengers would not "uphold the standards of appropriate behavior expected of visitors".{{cite news |last1=Mozingo |first1=Joe |last2=Clary |first2=Mike |date=January 8, 1998 |title=Port's Refusal to Allow Gay Tour Sparks Outcry |edition=Home |work=Los Angeles Times |page=3 |id={{ProQuest|}}}} The ship docked in Belize instead.{{cite news |first=Betsy |last=Wade |author-link=Betsy Wade |title=Banned From Caymans, Gay Cruise Visits Belize |work=The New York Times |date=February 1, 1998 |page=5.3 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/02/01/travel/travel-advisory-banned-from-caymans-gay-cruise-visits-belize.html}} In September 2000, Turkish police blocked Atlantis guests from visiting the Aegean resort town Kuşadası, after the ship was already docked.{{cite news |first=Christopher |last=Marquis |title=Turkish Police Bar Gay Americans From Visiting Aegean Port |work=The New York Times |date=September 7, 2000 |page=A.6 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2000/09/07/world/turkish-police-bar-gay-americans-from-visiting-aegean-port.html}}

In January 2013, the United States Justice Department opened an investigation into Atlantis Events after guests alleged the company failed to provide accommodations for participants with disabilities. In 2018, Atlantis Events reached a settlement with the Justice Department, agreeing to pay civil damages and penalties, as well as developing appropriate accommodations for disabled passengers on its cruises.{{Cite web |last=Zonkel |first=Phillip |date=2018-02-21 |title=Atlantis Events, Justice Department reach settlement on Disabilities Act violations |url=https://qvoicenews.com/2018/02/21/atlantis-events-justice-department-reache-settlement-on-disabilities-act-violations/ |access-date=2024-12-13 |website=Q Voice News |language=en-US}}

Typical cruise itineraries for Atlantis are to the Caribbean, the Mediterranean, the Pacific coast of Mexico, and Australia. Typical locations for land resort vacations are Mexico and the Caribbean.{{cite book |title=Pink Tourism: Holidays of Gay Men and Lesbians |first=Howard L. |last=Hughes |publisher=CABI |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |date=2006 |isbn=978-1-84593-076-9 |pages=98–99}} Other destinations – which have included cruises in areas such as Alaska, Asia, and the Baltic, and land vacations in Las Vegas and Kenya – are offered less frequently.

• January 2018 – Joel Taylor, a television personality who appeared on the Discovery Channel series, Storm Chasers, died of a drug overdose aboard Harmony of the Seas while sailing with an Atlantic Events charter.{{Cite web |last=Cooper |first=Mariah |date=2018-01-25 |title='Storm Chasers' star Joel Taylor found dead on board gay cruise |url=https://www.washingtonblade.com/2018/01/25/storm-chasers-starjoel-taylor-found-dead-onboard-atlantis-gay-cruise-ship/ |access-date=2024-12-13 |website=www.washingtonblade.com |language=en-US}}
• January 2020 – A man was fatally injured when he jumped from the Atlantis Events-chartered Oasis of the Seas while the ship was docked in Puerto Rico.{{Cite web |title=Florida Man Dies on Gay Atlantis Cruise After Jumping Overboard |url=https://www.advocate.com/news/2020/1/23/florida-man-dies-after-jumping-overboard-during-gay-themed-cruise |access-date=2024-12-13 |website=www.advocate.com |language=en}}
• January 2022 – A passenger died unexpectedly aboard the Atlantis Events' 30th Anniversary Cruise on Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas.{{Cite web |title=Death Confirmed Onboard Atlantis Events' Oasis of the Seas Gay Cruise |url=https://www.advocate.com/news/2022/1/21/death-reported-onboard-atlantis-events-oasis-seas-cruise |access-date=2024-12-13 |website=www.advocate.com |language=en}}
• January 2024 – A passenger died unexpectedly aboard Oasis of the Seas while undertaking an Atlantis Events' cruise.{{Cite web |date=2024-01-30 |title=Yet another passenger dies on world's biggest gay cruise |url=https://www.yahoo.com/news/yet-another-passenger-dies-world-060002636.html?guccounter=1 |access-date=2024-12-13 |website=Yahoo News |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Another person dies on Royal Caribbean Atlantis cruise |url=https://www.advocate.com/news/atlantis-cruise-death-again |access-date=2024-12-13 |website=www.advocate.com |language=en}}

• LGBT marketing

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category}}

• {{Official|atlantisevents.com}}

{{West Hollywood, California}}

Category:Companies based in West Hollywood, California

Category:LGBTQ tourism

Category:Transport companies established in 1991

Category:Travel and holiday companies of the United States

Category:1991 establishments in California