Many gay travelers are familiar with the larger cruise options offered by tour operators such as Atlantis Events and RSVP Vacations.

These cruises are often large to very large. In fact, nearly 6,000 gay passengers will sail on the upcoming sold-out Allure of the Seas voyage on Atlantis. That's larger than the population of many U.S. towns.

Big gay cruises are really fun. You can meet a lot of people and the ships are simply bursting with crazy-fun amenities like actual parks (complete with green grass), ice-skating rinks, rock-climbing walls, surfing features and many more such options.

But big cruises aren't for everyone. Some travelers feel more comfortable on a smaller cruise. They still like the all-gay environment but they want to be in an intimate setting and get to know their fellow passengers beyond surface hellos in passing in the restaurant. Some small-ship cruisers want to explore an exotic port of call or they simply want a change from the last large cruise they took.

There are several tour operators available that welcome much smaller groups of LGBT passengers that visit off-beat, often smaller ports.

Concierge Travel, the largest gay-owned and operated travel agency and tour operator in Texas, is now offering its first all-gay luxury sailing ship cruise to Costa Rica and Panama. The cruise will sail on Star Clippers’ elegant Star Flyer clipper ship from March 6-13, 2011.

The 170-passenger Star Flyer is the world’s tallest sailing ship, with a mast that stands 226 feet tall. It’s incredibly quiet, too, and what an impression it makes as it majestically sails into these tiny Caribbean harbors.

So don’t pack your ice skates or rock-climbing gloves. Instead, grab your honey, your iPod and a stack of books, and get ready for a very different kind of all-gay cruise experience. Feel good about your carbon footprint, too: The Star Flyer runs on good old fashioned wind!

Ed Salvato has been called “the world’s foremost expert in gay travel.” You might remember him as editor in chief of OUT & ABOUT and The Out Traveler. He also oversaw travel as senior online editor for Gay.com, PlanetOut.com and Advocate.com. He has logged over a million miles visiting countless destinations on six continents. Antarctica is next on his list. Reach him at Ed@EdSalvato.com.