Q: There’s a joke that changes lyrics from an old song, “nobody loves you when you’re old and g(r)ay” that describes my situation. This grey-hair just took retirement at age 62, and may celebrate by traveling, possibly with a tour group. I no longer have a partner, and would like to make the trip with fellow gays, as well as hope to begin a new individual relationship. Do you have any suggestions?

A: First of all, new love can happen at any old time. A song by Sinatra insists “love is lovelier, the second time around”. If you surf the internet and/or check with your neighborhood travel agency, you’ll be able to find all kinds of gay-oriented vacations. We suggest a cruise, because at-sea experiences combine fun, good food, port visits and many, many more kinds of shared onboard social activities and entertainment. If you can’t find compatible new friends on a gay cruise, you should be living alone in a cave on top of a mountain.

For instance, here’s one worth investigating:

The Atlantis organization is sponsoring a gay-oriented cruise on the new, 3,200-passenger Mariner of the Seas from October 18 to 25, 2009. It leaves from Los Angeles, and visits Mexican cities of Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas.

The seven-night price starts at $949, which means for as little as $135 a day, you get a great cabin, three fantastic meals a day, midnight snacks, dancing, Broadway-style entertainment, swimming, sunning, indoor ice skating, Mexican port visits, casino action and many other goodies. You can’t do any vacation that economically on a land tour or luxury resort stay. And it is infinitely more enjoyable.

Cruise schedulers say the last three gay-oriented Baja Mexico cruises sold out quickly, so don’t delay. For more information, go to http://www.orbitz.com/App/PerformMDLPDealsContent?deal_id=gay-travel&cnt=OVI&type=el_dp   ... or go to ... http://atlantisevents.com/cruises_2009_mexico.aspx