Can I Wear a Thong Swimsuit on a Cruise?

[sam]

It’s been more than 20 years since I went on my one and only cruise. I was too old for the kid activities and too young for the adult stuff. The room was tiny, and I had to share it with two of my younger cousins. I didn’t have any trouble with sea sickness, but, when we got back to land, it felt like the whole world was rocking back and forth for a few weeks after. I haven’t been on a cruise since.

Nevertheless, I know many people enjoy cruises. And they often ask the same question: “Can I Wear a Thong Swimsuit on a Cruise?”.

They ask fellow cruisers on Reddit.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Cruise/search/?q=thong
https://www.reddit.com/r/royalcaribbean/search/?q=thong
https://www.reddit.com/r/VirginVoyages/search/?q=thong

And write blog posts about it.

Let’s face it. there’s something about a cruise that makes people let loose. Maybe it’s simply the “I’m on vacation” mindset. Maybe it’s the warm sunshine. Or maybe it’s just the intoxicating feel of cruising the Caribbean.

At the same time, there’s a definite trend in swimsuits to be a bit more revealing, with more people comfortable wearing a smaller outfit that shows a little cheek.

Combine the two, and you have a number of people interested in wearing a swimsuit that may be more revealing than what was common in years past. After all, if you got it, why not flaunt it?

But you likely also know that there are all sorts of people on board a cruise ship, including everything from retirees to kids and families. Therefore, you might be wondering if revealing swimsuits like thongs or other minimalist bikini cuts are allowed.

Can You Wear a Thong Swimsuit on a Cruise?

Yes, you can wear a thong on a cruise. There are no rules against it, and depending on where you sail from, you’ll find potentially many others doing the same.

https://www.cruzely.com/answered-can-i-wear-a-thong-swimsuit-on-a-cruise/

And post about it on cruise forums and other sites.

https://www.google.com/search?q=can+i+wear+a+thong+on+a+cruise

Apparently, there are a lot of people out there that really want to wear a thong on a cruise ship, but are looking for some validation first.

What do you think?

If you’ve worn a thong on a cruise, what was your experience like?

[Thonged4Life]

I’m on my second cruise. The first was just before Covid, and this is my second one. I’m currently still at sea and have 6 more days total for this trip. I found someone kind enough to let me use their WiFi while they are at dinner, so I have to keep this short.

On my first cruise I wore nothing more than a Gary Majdell “Ultra Greek” on the ship, and I wore my Desmitt thong all day on one of the snorkeling excursions. It was great! I actually got a few compliments from the ladies and one or two of the guys on the excursion said they wish they had the confidence to wear one.

So far this cruise I have only worn my Desmitt suits to the hot tub early in the morning and late in the evening. They are way too crowded to visit during the day. So far no issues, but not a ton of other people around. We have one more sea day coming up, and, if the weather holds, I’m trying to work up the courage to wear one on the main sun deck. I have seen one other speedo so far. I also ran into someone who said they had a thong with them, but didn’t know if they had the courage to wear it or not. Will update this post when I get home.

[GuestGuest]

The Speedo Movement had a cruise scheduled, but I believe they canceled it. Or it was scheduled around Covid times a few years ago. Wearing nothing but a thong on a cruise ship is a bucket list item for me. I’d love if a group got together and planned one. Christian Ocean did one this past summer and encouraged others to join him. Anyway, what a great experience nonetheless.

[Thonged4Life]

I’m back, and I’m happy to report that I wore my thong on the main upper deck (the one above the main pool deck) and the world didn’t come to an end.

As I mentioned earlier, the weather the first 10 nights at sea was absolutely not good for being outside on deck. So, all of my thonging was in the hot tubs early in the mornings or late in the evenings. Thanks to the weather, they were always crowded otherwise. With that part out of the way, I never had any issues. Those that saw my suit just kind of gave me that friendly “I don’t know what to think” smile. No negative reactions, nobody suddenly getting out of the hot tub, just the same as one would expect getting into/out of any hot tub with strangers.

Do keep in mind that there were over 4,400 guests on the ship (only 278 were aged 18 or less) and, of that 4,400, I bet 80% were over 70 years old. So, being only a half century old myself, I was easily in the bottom 1/4 of the age range.

At the second port of call I opted to leave my group (wanted them to be able to enjoy the trip as a family without me as a fifth wheel) and headed back to the ship a bit early. It was over 70° outside, sunny, and zero wind. With the boat fairly empty, I put on my black Desmiit and headed for the sun deck. Found a spot and went for it. Not a lot of people walked by, but the ones that did all kept to themselves and passed without a care. It felt stranger to be out there alone than it did to be wearing my suit.

I have to giggle though. While I was face down with my head away from the track people walk by on, I could still sort of see to the sides. I noticed an older lady on a scooter coming from one side. I closed my eyes and could hear her scooter coming. Then I realized I’d heard it coming from one side, but never heard it pass me. So, still turned to the side she came from, I open my eyes and could barely make out the edge of her scooter. She was stopped directly behind me. I started to raise my head and she zipped off as fast as she could go. The funny part is she totally had her camera out and was snapping a picture. I think I spooked her when I started to lift my head, lol.

I was out for over 2.5 hours. That was the only moment of interest to report. Plenty of people of all ages walked by. I could hear whatever anyone may have said and nothing negative was heard.

The next day was at sea and by late afternoon the air was warm enough and the sun was out. Being the first real day of warm weather, the sun deck was pretty full. I found a spot that was not super crowded and decided that since it was the second to last day what did I have to lose? I set up my towels and before I knew it…suns out, buns out!

I started buns down, because I knew that anyone that didn’t have blinders on could easily see my suit was the smallest on the ship. Twenty minutes, and all was well. So, it was time…suns up, buns up!

Twenty five minutes went by uneventfully. I “flipped” several more times. I caught one small chuckle and did hear one very senior woman say something to her husband as they walked by to the effect of “how could you wear that, I can’t look”. I could make out her husband’s response of “well, then don’t look”. And then they were too far away.

People walked by probably every ninety seconds or less. They all just kept on walking without breaking stride. So, all in all, I can’t really say anything negative actually happened. Wearing my thong was a nonissue. I even found one guy who said he had his with him, but didn’t have the courage to wear it.

A nice unexpected benefit of wearing a thong was that I could wear it under my shorts whenever I was planning on going to the hot tub. Even better, it dried so quickly that I often put my shorts back on and was able to go to the main dining room for lunch or dinner without having to change first.

The only bummer, if you will, was that the hot tub was tough on my swimsuit. Between the chlorine and very hot water, my light blue suit turned almost white, so it’s been discarded. I will post a question elsewhere on this forum asking what swimsuit brands (if any) can stand up to hot tubs fairly well. If it had been one of those crazy high priced suits and it went from new to done in less than two weeks, I would have been really aggravated. But, since it was just a $5 Desmiit, I’m not heartbroken.

[sam]

I’m glad to hear that your cruise went well and that wearing your thong was a nonissue. It’s too bad the weather wasn’t warmer, but it sounds like you made the best of it.

Thanks for taking the time to write such a detailed report, @Thonged4Life. Hopefully your experience will inspire others to wear their thong swimsuits on their next cruise.

[superviolaman]

Greetings, all! I just got back from a short Bahamas cruise on MSC, and I took the opportunity to try out wearing a thong for the first time on a cruise ship. Things went well! There were three waterslides on the top deck, and I rode all of them in my new Christmas thong swimsuit.

I received no negative comments at all, and there were a few of us cruisers all hanging out talking about how fast and fun the slides were. No one even seemed to notice my suit. After the slides, I spent some time in the hot tub before getting dressed for dinner. All in all a great experience, and I look forward to thonging the next time I go on a cruise!

[SXMThonger]

So glad you had a positive experience thonging on your cruise. It sounds like you navigated the situation perfectly.

[aquamantriton]

I’ve worn thongs on 3 different cruise lines. The Americans on board seemed to have the most trouble with it based on their judgemental looks, but, to be fair, said nothing. The Europeans generally didn’t seem to care at all. The rest of the passengers ranged somewhere in between.

I wore thongs at the pool (early & late before crowds), sun decks (any time), and spa (any time). If you want to wear one, do it. Just wear it confidently and ignore any judgmental looks. And remember. if it’s good enough for females to wear, it’s good enough for males to wear.

[Sebastian]

I wore my thong swimsuit on a Holland America cruise, but only in the thermal suites. I avoided the sun deck and pool, because I burn quickly. The thermal suites have hot tubs and saunas as well as heated loungers. I moved around freely, and then put on a pair of shorts when I left.