By Wendy Anders From The Costa Rica Star

Hate to pack? A nude cruise might be for you.

The Bare Necessities 2017 Big Nude Boat, equipped to hold up to 3,000 passengers set sail from Tampa Harbor February 5 with four gorgeous stops in the Caribbean.

Director of Bare Necessities, Nancy Tiemann, says that on average cruises, “Over 70 per cent of the passengers have been on a Bare Necessities cruise before, which is extremely competitive by cruise industry standards.”

Nancy hopes to enlighten people that the trips are not sexual and passengers will actually learn to love and accept their bodies more during the trip, instead of being embarrassed

She explained that cruise staff are clothed on the cruise liner, and are carefully selected and prepped for their jobs.

Bare Necessities, founded in 1991, says on their website they “support the belief that sexuality is not a state of undress, but rather, a state of mind. Social nudity is not a sexual activity, and we strive to dispel the misconception that it is anything but natural and beautiful. We have made strides in the acceptance of nude vacationing and our wide range of cruise charters are a testament to our success.”

This year’s 9-day Boat Nude Boat tour includes stops at Key West in the Florida Keys; Half Moon Cay, on the private Little San Salvador island in the Bahamas; Grand Turk, home to the Grand Turk Cruise Center, a world-class beach-front tourist facility; and Amber Cove, located just outside the historical town of Puerto Plata in the heart of the Dominican Republic’s breathtaking northern coast.

Some ports of call require travelers to disembark clothed, others don’t, so you’ll need to pack a small bag after all.

And if you missed this year’s, jot down next year’s dates: February 2-12, 2018.

For more on this story go to: http://news.co.cr/big-nude-boat-set-sail-sunday-from-tampa-on-caribbean-cruise/56339/