Los Angeles Daily News

LOS ANGELES - Imagine a cruise to Alaska where the casino is converted into a Christian bookstore, the bars serve orange juice but no vodka, and the Vegas-style entertainers are replaced with G-rated comedians and preachers.

Forget the Love Boat. Think Love Thy Neighbor. Special interests have long taken to the high seas to pursue their passions with like-minded travelers. There are cruises for chocolate lovers, clothing-optional groups, Trekkies, craft enthusiasts and gays and lesbians.

But Christian cruises change the traditional cruise experience more fundamentally than any other niche.

Responding to demand, cruise promoters are increasingly chartering entire 3,000-bed cruise ships for Christian passengers so they can control the environment onboard. That means more ships are sailing with "darkened" casinos and the bars serve nonalcoholic beverages.

"The great thing with the Christian market is the ability to take a typical Carnival cruise and change that to a Christian theme," said Cherie Weinstein, vice president of group sales and administration at Miami-based Carnival Corp., the world's largest cruise operator.

"They will shut down the casinos, remove all liquor from the bars, or at least move it from display."

They can also make sure showgirls cover up racy outfits and swap out naughty comedians for clean comics. Weinstein said full-ship charters cost more because of lost revenue from the casinos and bars.

But Carnival works with the cruise promoters to make up the losses elsewhere, with sales of books and audio tapes, for example. Full-ship charters still represent a small slice of the overall cruise business, but it's a desirable slice.

"It's a very important portion because it's volume business," said Weinstein.

Most Christian cruises sail out of ports in Florida or the Gulf Coast. But rising demand in California and the Southwest is prompting cruise companies to consider more excursions to Mexico from the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles, said Lisa Mann of All Christian Cruises, based in Roswell, Ga.

Even when Christian cruise promoters share the ship with other groups or individuals, they tend to do things in a way that stands out. Premier Christian Cruises' Girl's Get-A-Way weekend trip to Cozumel, Mexico, offers morning worship services and a fashion show by Christi's Pure Fashion, a Glendale, Ohio, company that makes modest clothing that encourages women to celebrate their "authentic beauty."

Historically, religious travel has fallen under the category of either educational tours to the Holy Land or mission trips to evangelize and do outreach in disadvantaged areas. But the rise of Christian marketing has resulted in busy religious families looking for a way to relax and maybe worship at the same time.

"There has been a generational change," said David Meier, a Baptist minister in Texas who started International Travel & Tour Consultants 38 years ago.