Best Cruise Line for 1st Time Solo Traveller

I'm a 33 year old single female and I have always wanted to take a cruise. Can anyone recommend a good cruise line for my age range and solo travellers?

Also, I really love spas, so if anyone can recommend a cruise line with the best spa facilities that would be great.

I'm a 33 year old single female and I have always wanted to take a cruise. Can anyone recommend a good cruise line for my age range and solo travellers?

 

Also, I really love spas, so if anyone can recommend a cruise line with the best spa facilities that would be great.

You are not giving us enough info, about all your wants, budget, length of cruise, etc. But keep one thing in mind. Nearly all cruise ships have a decent spa...which is generally operated by a third party (often Steiner). Cruise ship spas tend to be somewhat pricey...so be prepared to pay to be pampered :). A larger ship will increase the odds of you meeting other single travelers. You might want to look into Celebrity or Princess which are more similar then not! Also take a look (and post this same message) on the Special Interest Cruises/Solo board where you may get some advice from other solo cruisers.

One caution is that we recommend you avoid HAL! This particular line does attract more then its share of solo cruisers..but they tend to be old enough to be your Mom or even Grandmom :). And before anyone flames me for this advice, we have nearly 500 days on HAL and are seniors.

Hank

I'm a 33 year old single female and I have always wanted to take a cruise. Can anyone recommend a good cruise line for my age range and solo travellers?

 

Also, I really love spas, so if anyone can recommend a cruise line with the best spa facilities that would be great.

I have heard the absolute best spa facilities are aboard the Queen Mary 2 and Oceania (both Canyon Ranch branded).....I've been to Canyon Ranch spas before, and I can believe it.

As for the general question of what cruise line is best for a single woman, it depends on what you are looking for (other than spas). Do you want organized activities for solos, with a cruise staffer to help organize things, or is that something that doesn't matter to you? Do you want traditional dining times so that you eat with the same people each night, or open dining so that you're seated with different people depending on when you go to dinner? Do you want a dance floor and opportunities for ballroom dancing? Do you want on board activities like classes or lectures, or do you not care about on-board things and just want lots of port stops?

Different strokes for different folks.

Hi Hank,

Thank you so much for your advice.

Sorry, I should have given more info. I'm looking to do a cruise in the Caribbean/Bahamas and to get me started I was thinking 8-10 days. I haven't holidayed in 6 years, so I am not too worried about it being a cheap holiday and I have kind of sussed that cruising isn't for the budget conscious! I guess about £2-3K for the cruise and flight. Then I guess there will be a lot more hidden costs. I did look at the treatment price list for NCL and the prices weren't too high, but I guessed they would naturally be more as they have a captive market. The only thing that worries me is I noticed they charge 18% service charge on treatments, so that adds a significant amount of money to each treatment.

I'm not a major party animal and don't mind my own company, but it would be nice to meet like minded people and possibly make some friends I can dine with etc. However, I'm a cruise virgin, so I have no idea whether that's likely.

From the research I've been doing already, I really like NCL, MSC and Princess. The only trouble with Princess is they charge pretty much the same for 2 adults as they do 1.

There can be bargains with respect to the single supplement - it's not always double (i.e. 100%). You can look at https://www.cruiseplum.com/solo-supplement-deals which lists some good available deals for solo cruisers -- not always cheap, but a good deal in terms of a lower supplement. In general, Crystal also offers better-than-most-lines lower supplements on virtually all of their cruises - usually 30-35% for a window cabin.

Norwegian offers studio cabins for solo cruisers in their newest ships (EPIC, Getaway, Breakaway and Escape). These cabins are really great and have a dedicated lounge for gatherings for only those in the the studios, there is also a staff solo coordinator who will arrange group reservations for dinners. These are great perks and you don't have to participate in anything at all. The "Living Room" is a nice place and you have access to snacks and the great coffee machine for free there.

The EPIC spa is absolutely fantastic, gender specific steam and sauna in the locker rooms with co-ed facilities inside the common area of the spa. Epic has an aft balcony which is lovely with cushioned loungers, the heated tile loungers are just inside the spa with the view off the balcony. Even the salon has floor to ceiling windows looking out to sea.

SPA BALCONY

Studio Cabin

Heated tile Loungers

Thalassotherapy Pools