Travelers know there are two main mantras that have been mainstays on the Tom Joyner Fantastic Voyage for the entire 11 year run of the cruise: ‘What happens on the cruise, stays on the cruise’. The second truism is that the last night on the cruise, as Joyner himself titled, is ‘Might as Well Night’. That basically means that women might as well reward her male pursuant with some play and engage in sexual congress.
It is common knowledge that many women are more apt to relax their strict moral conduct on cruises, particularly on the Tom Joyner Fantastic Voyage. Some proffered their theories and hypotheses on why the normally morally upright businesswoman lets her hair down on these annual occasions.
“They let their hand down on cruises because they live such structured lives, being married or being single with kids and being in the regular routine of things,“ says Jonathan Moore of Atlanta, a four-time veteran of the Fantastic Voyage. “When you have a large congregation like you have on the Tom Joyner Cruise, it gives them an opportunity to forget about their problems and let their hair down and do things they normally would not. A lot of us know each other. So it’s like a family reunion. But some who come on the cruise for the first time [are] looking for something new, something exciting.”
Walter Wright of New Orleans, who has been on all 11 Tom Joyner Fantastic Voyages, has another theory. “[I’ve] seen people come on the boat for the last 11 years. And I’ve seen men and women come on the boat to hook up. They say, ‘If I see them next year, fine, but I’m not going to see them everyday,‘ ” he opines. “[They feel that way] because [they] are interacting with strangers from around the country that they’ll never see again.”
Shevry Lassiter of St. Louis concurs with her male counterparts, and adds: “It’s the one time of the year where I can do things that will not negatively impact me if I did them at home. Also, it’s a time where women have an opportunity to enact some of their fantasies, of hooking up with some fine man and maybe taking it further and quicker than she normally would in a structured environment,” she says. “The good thing about it is, if the sex is bad, I don’t ever have to see him again and don’t have to worry about him harassing me later,” she said as the small entourage broke out laughing.
Cynthia Fox and her friend Robin Nevins from Louisville, Ky., said almost in unison: “She is looser because she figures no one will see her and no one back home will know what she did here. It’ll never get back and she can be whatever she wants to be,” Fox said.
“I think it’s crazy to do that, but that’s fine. I don’t judge them.” Nevins added. It’s an opportunity for them to engage in some of their long-held fantasies and no one will judge them. They can just go to their room, do what they do, and then leave and go back home [to their hometowns].”
Ro doesn’t know if the above statements are true or not because, as Tom Joyner says, what happens on the cruise, stays on the cruise. –terry shropshire
Captions: Johnathan Moore of Atlanta and Walter Wright of New Orleans
