Bare Necessities Tour & Travel: The Natural Choice

Not many travel agencies have a real claim to fame, but Bare Necessities Tour & Travel, an Austin, Texas based company and the recipient of national coverage by a number of mainstay and widely known publications such as The New York Times, USA Today, Forbes, San Francisco Chronicle, Los Angles Times and Chicago Tribune might very well lay claim to such a distinction. Known far and wide as the premiere operator in the emerging travel industry niche market, nude recreation, Bare Necessities is a company whose specialty is providing upscale vacations for the discriminating clothing-optional traveler. Since 1990 BNNT has produced fine clothing-optional resort vacations and luxury nude cruises for those who enjoy leaving their clothes behind and taking pleasure in experiencing vacation destinations featuring wholesome, social nudity.

From a modest beginning with a thirty-six passenger chartered dive boat offering in 1991, BNTT has since compiled an impressive record of major nude cruise offerings aboard some of the largest luxury liners available such as the Carnival Legend with 12 decks, 1,062 staterooms and a passenger capacity of 2,124. Truly, Bare Necessities has done an impressive job over the past 20 years in helping to build acceptance for nude recreation and vacationing and in dispelling the notion that social nudity is about sexual activity; demonstrating with their quality offerings that combining vacationing with social nudity allows vacationers to discover an atmosphere that is relaxing, healthful, wholesome and just plain fun.

Recently, I had the distinct pleasure of visiting with Nancy Tiemann, owner of Bare Necessities Tour & Travel and she agreed to talk to The Emerging Nudist about her company, BNTT travel offerings and services and the nude recreation market in general. Nancy, an Austin resident for more than 35 years was a delight to speak with. Her passion for nude recreation was very evident and she very graciously answered EN’s most probing questions with complete candor, discussing at length the Bare Necessities program offerings and services. I was interested to learn that when she isn’t busy running BNTT, Nancy enjoys organic gardening, teaches Yoga and is the president of her local area Farmer’s Market. If you have ever been curious about what a Bare Necessities vacation is like, sit back and enjoy my conversation with Nancy.

[EN]: My introduction to Bare Necessities Tour & Travel was a past article I read on the Internet that you were interviewed for. The article made a passing reference to the fact that one of the circumstances that planted the seed of the idea that later blossomed into your clothing-optional travel agency was that you and your husband “accidentally stumbled” onto a nude beach one day? True story? Can you share the story with me?

[NT]: Yes! It happened on a beach in St. Martin while we were traveling. We went to the beach to see the sunrise and as the sun came up, we began to notice people coming out and they were completely naked!

[EN]: How did that then lead you to the idea for actually starting a company specializing in producing clothing-optional getaways?

[NT]: Not long after the experience at St. Martin, we went on a dive boat excursion chartered by a small nudist vacation company. It started me thinking as we talked with the others in our group of thirty-four people how great it would be if there were mainstream cruises available that catered to nudists. This was in 1989 and there just wasn’t anything like that available. Later we talked with others in the nudist community like resort owners and asked whether they thought that there might be a large enough niche market for nude cruises to make it a viable idea and whether they would support such an idea. The rest is history.

[EN]: Did you have any previous experience with the travel industry or was this a totally new direction for you?

[NT]: No, I didn’t have any previous experience with the travel industry other than we liked to travel. I was a bank officer at the time and my husband was an attorney.

[EN]: Was Bare Necessities Tour and Travel the first travel agency to offer upscale travel opportunities that catered to those interested in clothes-free vacationing?

[NT]: Yes.

[EN]: As far as the demographics of your past clients, are most of them seasoned nudists or would you say that more are drawn to clothing-optional vacations just out of curiosity because of the novelty of it?

[NT]: I really don’t think we get many people who try it simply out of curiosity because a cruise is a large ticket item. Most of our customers have been on nude cruises before and for the most part they don’t necessarily consider themselves nudists, they just consider clothing-optional vacations a choice. I estimate that at least fifty percent are AANR members or former members. We do have those who contact us who have never been on a nude cruise or experienced clothing-optional and we always suggest that they first visit a local resort to try out the experience first and we even help them find a resort in their local area.

[EN]: I know that people can choose to deal directly with some resorts and book their own vacations. What are some of the advantages of booking through an agency like Bare Necessities rather than trying to do it yourself?

[NT]: People are traveling more these days and many are travel savvy and can shop for there own trips. For those who don’t want to shop for travel on their own, we provide a service at no additional fee to help. When you call us you get to talk to a real person and really there is a relationship that is formed where people can feel comfortable giving someone their credit card information. Also we can often provide better deals because resorts offer specials to us that aren’t otherwise available.

[EN]: I think it would be hard to argue with the fact that Bare Necessities Tour and Travel is the undisputed leader in producing clothing-optional cruise vacations. As I understand it, the cruise lines don’t directly offer clothes-free cruises but that your agency contracts with the lines to provide the ships which are then booked exclusively for nude cruising, is that correct?

[NT]: Yes, we negotiate for the ships under a full charter contract at what the cruise lines refer to as rack rates. We then offer them for sale and book the cruises.

[EN]: Just how difficult was it back in the beginning to sell the first major cruise line on the idea of providing a ship for a nude cruise?

[NT]: It wasn’t easy! When we first started calling cruise lines some would actually hang up on us thinking it was a phony call or some kind of joke. But eventually we were able to contract for our first mainstream cruise with a Florida based line. It was a brand new ship with a 600 passenger capacity, a size we were comfortable with and actually that cruise sold out after only five months.

[EN]: A question that has occurred to me is this; why have cruise lines not opted to offer nude cruises directly on their own after seeing how wildly successful your firm has been in putting them together?

I think it is primarily because they don’t know the market the way we do. It is similar to why we don’t offer gay and lesbian cruises. We just don’t have the insight into that market to know how to approach it. We have actually created this brand and know how to produce this kind of cruise. When we contract for the ship, the cruise line still gets all of the ship revenue from things like the onboard sales, gambling and shore excursions so they really get the same revenue, the same money by allowing us to fill the ship for them.

[EN]: As I understand it, the cruise industry standard for pricing cruise cabins are rates based on double occupancy. So if a single person decided to book a cruise and go alone, wouldn’t they actually have to pay a price equal to that of two passengers since the rates are based on double occupancy?

[NT]: Unfortunately, yes. Under the terms of our contracts with the cruise lines we are required to sell 85 – 90 percent of the cabins that way because that is the equation used by the cruise lines that they believe makes it profitable for them. We do sell some cabins to singles but we are restricted in the number because if we don’t meet the criteria set by the cruise lines, we would have to pay some substantial added costs.

[EN]: Are there any options available for singles that would like to take a clothing-optional cruise but just can’t afford the cost involved in occupying a cabin alone but that don’t know anyone willing to go along and share a cabin?

[NT]: Absolutely! As a free service we maintain a list for single men and women and help introduce them and put them together to share cabins which helps make it more affordable.

[EN]: After perusing the informational rates presented on your web site and making some comparisons between “textile” cruises, it seems that when comparing cruises on comparable ships visiting comparable ports, that the rates are significantly higher for booking a nude cruise than a conventional cruise. Is that accurate?

[NT]: Yes, very accurate. We have to enter into the charter contracts based on the cruise lines brochure rates, well in advance between 18 – 24 months out. So for the cruises coming up, many of the contracts were made before the bottom fell out of the economy. Since we are under contract, we don’t have the flexibility that the cruise lines have themselves for lowering rates in response to current economic conditions. But as we contract for future cruises, the prices will better reflect the current economy and should be more comparable.

[EN]: Okay, the reason I was asking was curiosity about whether nude cruises might be more expensive just because of the old “law of supply and demand”, the fact that there are simply fewer nude cruises available than conventional cruises or whether people actually are paying a bit of a premium for the novelty of the nude cruise experience.

[NT]: Well as I explained, the difference is mostly due to when contracts are signed and the changes in the economy but yes, there are many more conventional cruises than nude cruises offered so I guess we could charge even more. There is also added value in our cruises. We provide special speakers on topics of interest to nudists, Yoga classes, personal enrichment classes and the like.

[EN]: On your web site I saw a reference to an auction in connection with booking cabins for the cruises you produce. Can you tell me a little about that and how it works?

[NT]: Yes, it works pretty much like any auction. Some of them require a minimum bid but not all. Bidders can place bids similarly to how it is done in other auctions, like eBay and they are open to the general public. We send out advertisements by email every first and third Friday and that is how people become aware of them.

[EN]: All of these questions about cruises have really made me wish I was on one right now! So let’s take a “virtual” cruise here, go aboard and see what they experience might be like from the perspective of a knowledgably person like you. Can you tell me if there are major differences between a nude cruise and a conventional cruise or are the experiences pretty similar beyond the obvious difference in “attire”?

[NT]: The experiences are quite similar with the exception of attire but this is really what enhances the experience.

[EN]: Given that the same ships contracted for nude cruises are also used for conventional cruises, what is the interaction between passengers and crew like in comparison? Is the crew comfortable with all the nudity?

[NT]: We have been doing this for a while now so very often we find ourselves bumping into crew members who have sailed with our cruises before and already know our groups are a whole lot of fun. This is a real advantage because cruise ship crew members come from many different countries and have different moral standards and beliefs. Those who have been on our cruises before are very helpful in explaining it to cruise members experiencing it for the first time and helping them to feel at ease. Crew members really look forward to our cruises because they have learned that we are a whole lot of fun to work with.

[EN]: In our correspondence you mentioned that you have been quite busy with several cruises on the horizon. What offering are you currently working on now and how has the demand been for them?

[NT]: In 3 or 4 weeks, we have a 14 day cruise leaving from Rome which is already sold out. We have one leaving soon from Key West, “Fantasy Fest” which is about 90 percent sold out and in March 2010 we will be having a Hawaii cruise.

[EN]: Recently I read that world-wide, travel accounts for about seven trillion dollars in sales annually, making it the largest single global industry. In 2007, published figures reported nude recreation as a four hundred million dollar slice of that total travel industry pie. In 2006 both Forbes and the Wall Street Journal characterized nude recreation as the fastest growing niche in the travel industry. Given all that, and looking into your crystal ball, how do you see the future of nude recreation shaping up? Will it continue to grow?

[NT]: If history repeats itself it will. Nude recreation has been growing exponentially. I think we are far more open-minded than twenty years ago so I do expect the growth to continue.

[EN]: Is there anything else that we haven’t covered that you would like to share about Bare Necessities Tour and Travel, nude recreation or anything you think might be good information for my readers to be aware of when considering booking a clothing-optional vacation?

[NT]: For those who might ask what makes our cruises so special, it’s the people. I mean that sincerely and it’s the absolute truth. The people who take our cruises is the reason I’m in the business. They are really the driving force and very special.

Have you been dreaming of taking a clothing-optional vacation? Then contact Bare Necessities Tour & Travel. They specialize in transforming clothing-optional travel dreams into a reality. For more information:

Reservations and Questions: (Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.)

1-800-743-0405 (Toll Free)
512-499-0405 (Austin, Texas area/International)
512-469-0179 (FAX)

Website: Bare Necessities Tour & Travel

Email contacts:

Clothing-optional cruise related inquiries webmaster@bare-necessities.com
Clothing-optional resort related inquires steve@bare-necessities.com
To request a clothing-optional vacation brochure alina@bare-necessities.com

Photo credits: Courtesy of Bare Necessities Tour & Travel

Coming Soon!

Still intrigued by the idea of nude cruises, The Emerging Nudist went straight to the source and visited with Nancy Tiemann, owner of Bare Necessities Tour & Travel, the preeminent clothing-optional tour and travel operator. Nancy provides interesting insight into clothing-optional getaways, especially nude cruises, in an upcoming interview that you won't want to miss. Look for it Saturday, May 16.

Unique opportunities to go nude

Besides the normal fare open to naturists like clothing-optional beaches and resorts, a less well known recreational option is found in cruises. Combining these two words creates a most intriguing phrase, “nude cruise.” The concept while certainly curiosity piquing also invites lots of questions. Are there really cruises one can take wearing nothing more than SPF-30 sunscreen? Yes actually there are, thanks mostly to the efforts of a visionary couple from Austin, Texas, Tom and Nancy Tiemann, who in 1990 formed a travel agency, Bare Necessities, which charters entire ships for those who desire a cruise experience in the buff.

The Tiemann’s, after an “accidental” visit to a nude beach, began looking for upscale nude recreation activities. Finding none, they decided to open Bare Necessities Travel Agency and began searching out cruise lines interested in hosting nude cruises. It took almost two years before they were able to contract for the first cruise, but the idea took off from there and the rest is history. 53 cruises and 20 years later, in March 2010, they will be celebrating their twentieth year anniversary of producing nude cruises with a 16 day, luxury cruise to Hawaii aboard the Celebrity Constellation.

As a veteran of the more common clothed variety of cruising, I can easily imagine the benefits of not having to calculate what outfits to take based on formal nights and freedom from having to use the somewhat expensive laundry service on board ships. It is certainly appealing to imagine packing everything for a two week vacation in one small suitcase. But are people really nude the entire time on a nude cruise? Actually, the answer is no, but for the most part, passengers can choose to be nude anywhere and any time onboard ship: in the pool, in the casino, in the night clubs and the fitness center. Swimming and sunbathing au naturel is of course a given. The only exceptions are that passengers must be dressed to dine in the formal dining room, where clothes are required and must be covered when the ship is entering or leaving port. Even in the formal dining room, clothing can consist of as little as a T-shirt, shorts and flip-flops which is quite a departure from the normal rules when cruising.

According to Bare Necessities, the demographics of those they have booked for their nude cruises ranges from bus drivers and soccer moms to doctors and Fortune 500 CEOs. They even claim at least one Canadian Supreme Court justice among their past customers. The average age of nude cruise guests generally ranges between 45 and 55, with almost all being couples, either married or otherwise attached.

One question that is certain to occur to many is whether the ship’s crew is naked and the answer is no. In fact representatives of Bare Necessities typically meet with the crews in advance of sailings to address questions and concerns. Understandably, many crewmembers are initially a bit shocked by the idea and aren’t sure how they are expected to interact with nude passengers.

If you have ever been on a cruise, I’m sure you recall how frequently you found yourself in the sights of a ship’s photographer and how aggressively the cruise lines market photographs and cruise videos to passengers. Many passengers can be found making their daily pilgrimage to the photo display area to review the “catch of the day.” Here again is a departure from the norm when it comes to nude cruises. Due to obvious privacy concerns, no one need worry that they will show up nude in photographs or in the cruise video. The restriction on photography alone is to me almost reason enough to eschew the normal cruises for a nude cruise.

Many might assume that nude cruises are simply a hedonistic swinger cruise and one big sex orgy on the high seas. Not so say the Tiemanns. The rule is, “Don't do anything outside your cabin that you wouldn’t do outside your home.” In keeping with the traditionally accepted naturist etiquette on conduct and behavior, overt sexual activity is verboten.

I can imagine that the idea of a nude cruise might appeal to some who would never consider visiting a nudist resort or clothing-optional beach and it does in fact appear to be a pretty non-threatening way to dip your toe into social nudity. Be forewarned however that you can expect to pay considerably more for a nude cruise than if you were taking a more generic clothed variety cruise to the same locale. Prices for the eight day, Caribbean cruise aboard the Carnival Miracle, October 27 – November 4, 2009, advertised on the Bare Necessities web site, average at about $1500 - $1700 for least desirable cabin selections. The Carnival Cruise web site advertises the regular eight day, Caribbean cruises, sailing on comparable ships, traveling to comparable ports of call during the same time period for an average of $500 - $800 per persons and with better cabin selections. In fact on the regular cruises, one can actually get a suite for the same price as they can expect to pay for an interior cabin on a less desirable deck on the nude cruise.

I admit to feeling a fair amount of sticker shock when I first investigated the prices for a nude cruise but admittedly I am a pretty frugal person. At first blush I wasn’t at all sure I could be convinced to part with that kind of cash for a nude sailing. Certainly I’m not knocking the concept. It’s just that $1700 would likely buy me a lifetime membership to one of the local, albeit less luxurious nudist resorts in my area. Part of the extra cost is of course due to the fact that it is a private sailing, with the entire ship booked for nude travelers and of course I allow that one should expect to pay a bit more for something that is still a novelty of sorts. Admittedly, it does seem Bare Necessities has no trouble finding customers willing and able to bear the prices offered as all of the nude cruises advertised on their site for 2009 – 2010 are close to selling out. Now that I think about, the savings from paying for the professional photography alone might just justify the higher fare. I suspect that the Tiemanns may have had difficulty selling the idea of nude cruises to the cruise lines in the beginning, but I rather imagine that the lines “stand in line” to compete for their business these days.

Do you have any interest in setting sail on a nude cruise? If so, for more information on Bare Necessities cruises check out their web site.