jimdee3636

@travelloverontario Like you, I love to cruise, and also like you I'm married but understand the need for alone time. A solo cruise might work for you (I've greatly enjoyed the four I've taken), but keep in mind that cruising is not the only travel option. Maybe you could initially try a relatively short (three or four day) road trip to a destination far enough away to feel like a real change of scenery but close enough to be able to return home fairly quickly if something "bad" happens. If that goes well, you could consider booking a cruise for your next solo trip. No matter what you do, you need to attend to your own needs because if you don't take care of yourself you can't take care of anyone else---at least not for long. Caregiver burnout is real and it's serious. Good luck, and maybe you can let us know what you decide and how it turns out. I'd love to know. Jim

@WVU_Neal Whether or not you're a cheapskate, you're right about the tacky pricing. But it could be worse. I've sailed twice on Cunard (a sister line to HAL), which has (or had) a $12.00 limit on drinks in their package, which but priced many of their popular drinks (like my Tanqueray martinis) at $12.25. Unlike HAL, where you only pay the difference in price, on Cunard if you ordered a drink above the package maximum price you only got a 20% discount on that drink. In other words, a $12.25 martini would cost you $9.80, plus the mandatory gratuity on $9.80. On my second Cunard cruise I simply paid as I went and I'm sure I saved a lot of money. In general, drink packages on most lines are a mine field of limitations, exclusions, and confusion, and are best avoided. Jim

This is probably a distinctly minority opinion, but I don't mind the "23 hour day" aspect of an eastbound cruise (assuming, of course, the overall itinerary is better than the other options). Assuming the cruise started and ended at the same port (FLL or wherever), the maximum number of 23 hour days would be 24, less than one day in five on average. (Yeah, I know, there'd be times when the time changes are on consecutive days, but they would be balanced out by longer stretches when there'd be no changing the clocks for a week or more). Whether I'm at home or on vacation, I'm an early riser. And I always wake up hungry! Let me tell you, it's torture for an early riser to deal with 25 hour days on ships. You wake up at your usual time, but it's not 6:00AM, it's 5:00AM. Nothing is open! You can't even get coffee in the Lido. The only cruise line that solves that problem is Princess, which has a 24-hour "International Cafe" that serves excellent coffee and espresso, along with bagels, muffins, and breakfast sandwiches. It's a godsend for people like me, and I know from my experience on Princess that I'm hardly the only one needing an early morning food and coffee fix. In most respects, Princess is nowhere near as good as HAL, but I'll give credit where it's due. Jim

@CruiserBruce It was in San Pedro, on a Norwegian ship. And I think on that same NCL Pacific Coastal cruise it also happened when we were docked in San Francisco. As for HAL, I can't say for sure but I vaguely remember being charged the "alcohol tax" in San Diego at least once. I hope you're right, in any case, that HAL now eats the tax liability. Jim

@mwj Thanks for posting the itineraries. I didn't get the survey either, but if I had I would have voted for "A" or the final Eastbound one. I'm not likely to do either one---the longest cruise I've ever taken was a 30-night Inca Explorer out of San Diego, which was perfect but just long enough---but if my Powerball strategy finally pays off, who knows? Jim

It's been a while since I've sailed out of Vancouver, but I'll be doing it later this year (on HAL). I'm wondering if the city of Vancouver (and/or the province of B.C.) has a tax on alcohol purchased onboard while the ship is docked there or sailing in local waters. A couple of cities/ counties in California have taxes like that, and they even apply to alcoholic drinks purchased under a prepaid beverage plan. They take a bit of the fun out of boarding the ship and having wine with lunch or a cocktail at the sailaway party. Any information would be appreciated. Jim

@ChinaShrek Maine to Singapore is about as far as you can fly on this planet! I hope if you go you'll give yourself a MINIMUM of two days in Singapore before the cruise, partly to get over the jet lag and partly to explore a unique and very special place. Jim

@Real NHDOC Yes, there will be three sea days on the four-night cruise. i hope you're right that there will be a sommelier tasting, because on such a short cruise that's about the only four-star benefit I could get. It's too short a cruise to bother with the free laundry, and the wines-by-the-bottle packages begin at four bottles. (I'm going solo this time, so a bottle each night is too much, even for an everyday wine drinker like me!). Thanks for your insights. Jim

@DCThunder Since I mentioned pre-dinner drinks, let me recommend---very strongly---the Midship Bar (sometimes referred to as the Gin and Fizz Bar) on deck three of the QE (I assume you'll be on the QE if it's an Alaska cruise). My wife and I loved it so much that on our Panama Canal cruise in 2022 we went there every single night before dinner. On the final night the bartender said we'd get a gold star for perfect attendance! Jim

@DCThunder I would just keep doing what you're doing, especially reading the many Cruise Critic threads on daily life on Cunard. Many of those who post on such threads are Cunard "regulars," some having sailed hundreds and hundreds of nights onboard the "Queens," and almost all having useful information and opinions. I'm nowhere near as experienced with Cunard as most of these posters are (only two cruises, totaling 35 days), but as a fellow-American I can tell you that one of the things I like most is the international demographic, even on cruises beginning in U.S. ports. Unlike HAL and Princess, where the overwhelming majority of guests are American, on a typical Cunard cruise Americans are likely to be in the minority. Expect Brits to be the biggest nationality onboard, but also fairly sizable numbers of English-speaking Germans and others from the Continent, plus some Aussies and Japanese. I find the mix of nationalities to be very stimulating, especially for pre-dinner conversations over drinks. You'll enjoy yourself!

I'm four-star with HAL and have often enjoyed the complimentary sommelier wine tastings in the MDR, usually done on the first sea day of a cruise. Later this year I'll be on a four-night repositioning cruise (Vancouver to San Diego) on the Koningsdam---my first short cruise in many years---and I'm wondering if they'll offer the sommelier tasting. If anyone has been on a four-night cruise (or something similar) in the recent past I'd love to know your experience with this. Thanks! Jim

Jamie: To your list of cruise lines that have single-occupancy cabins, let me add HAL. Two of their "Pinnacle Class" ships---the Koningsdam and the Nieuw Statendam---each have a total of twelve single-occupancy ocean view cabins (six on each side) at the very front of the ship on Deck 1, ranging in size from 135 to 172 square feet. They're under the theater, which means that any noise from above should be over by 10:30PM at the latest, with very little noise during the day. I just booked one for a four-night repositioning cruise, Vancouver to San Diego, October 22-26, 2024, for $394.00 plus about $130.00 in port charges and taxes, which is over $100.00 cheaper than a single-occupancy inside cabin on the same cruise. Jim

It could be a day, two at most.

I'm sure others will have different opinions, but I suggest starting with a good cruise-oriented travel agent. And then tell him or her the general itinerary and time of year you're looking for, but that you want to know only the "solo" fares. I'm not necessarily saying you should book the lowest-priced quote (you may feel that paying 40-50% more for a better ship or cruise line is worth it), but you'll at least have the facts in front of you in order to make an informed decision. Jim

I just booked a short (4-night) Pacific Coastal (Vancouver to San Diego) cruise, Oct. 22-26, 2024, on the HAL Koningsdam in one of their single-occupancy ocean view cabins in the very front of Deck 1. (HAL has two ships with such cabins; the other one is the Nieuw Statendam. there are twelve single occupancy cabins on each of the ships, ranging from 137 to 172 square feet). The price was $394.00, plus $136.00 in taxes and port charges---about $100.00 less than a solo occupant in an inside cabin would pay. As both an AARP member and a Carnival Corp. shareholder, I'll get a total of $100.00 in OBC. This is one of those times when the airfare will cost more than the cruise, but I don't care. I want to do it! My last solo cruise was five years ago. Jim

@The-Inside-Cabin I've been on a lot of cruises, but none longer than thirty days (and most in the 12 to 17 day range). I've always wondered whether on a World Cruise you have to spend a lot of time and energy avoiding certain people. I mean, even on a short cruise my wife and I have to avoid certain venues at certain times because of loud, obnoxious fellow-guests, particularly ones who tend to "hold court" in the Ocean Bar or the Crow's Nest for hours on end. Does that kind of thing happen often on a World Cruise? If so, it would be a l-o-n-g 128 days. Jim

Here's a highly-critical report about Celebrity's outrageous pricing for solo cruisers: https://loyaltylobby.com/2024/01/09/celebrity-cruises-under-fire-for-charging-solo-cruisers-outrageous-prices/ Why bother with them? Look for another line. Jim

Although I didn't sail solo, I was on the QM2 for 21 nights in 2019 (New York roundtrip by way of England, Iceland, and Nova Scotia), and every day (usually after breakfast) I would see a good-sized table of solo passengers in the large coffee lounge adjacent to the King's Court buffet (the Carinthia Lounge, I think it's called). There may well have been solo get-togethers in other venues that I didn't see, but I met plenty of solos individually around the ship. In general, it's a very sociable ship, especially if you like a pre-dinner cocktail or two. The Chart Room, in particular, was always hopping in the early evening. I think you'll enjoy the ship. Jim

I was just on the Koningsdam last month. We always get late fixed dining, table for two, but were surprised to find that late dining was now at 7:30PM. Early dining (ridiculously early, in my opinion) was at 5:00PM. Whether this is a system-wide change I can't say, but I did like the 7:30PM time rather than 8:00PM.

Can you please explain what you mean by "disputes between customer service and operations"? It's hard---for me at least---to understand your issue out of context. Are you saying there was false, or at least misleading, advertising? Jim

A knitting group has the whole damn ship for a 21-night cruise? (Zuiderdam, June 8-29, 2024). I guess anything is possible, but that looks like a misprint. A partial charter maybe? (Then again, maybe I underestimate the number of knitters out there!). Jim

@Gray Lady We don't know each other, but your story, although different from mine, makes me want to respond. This past February, on the very first night of a 35-night HAL cruise, I had an "out of the blue" medical event that the ship's doctor determined would require surgery. I disembarked at the first port, returned home, and got the surgery I needed. It was a success, and the first thing we did after we got the "all clear" signal from the surgeon was to book a "make up" cruise on the same ship. In fact, we booked the same cabin. It was wonderful, in some ways the best of the nearly thirty cruises we've taken. I didn't have cancer, but it was serious enough. All I can say is that things are not always as dire as they seem at the time. Be brave and be optimistic, and maybe good things will happen. I predict a Mediterranean cruise for the two of you in 2025. Jim.

The baffling thing about old people being sloppy dressers is that the easiest way to look better (and sometimes younger) is by dressing better. If you're 75, 80, or older, you can't get by on youthful good looks anymore, no matter what you looked like forty or fifty years ago. But if you put on a decent shirt and sport jacket, neat pants, and "real" shoes (i.e., not sneakers), in other words a nice but age-appropriate look, you'll get noticed in a good way---for very little time and effort. For me, the worst examples are men who look like hell even when their wives are clearly making an effort to dress well. It conveys a selfish and disrespectful attitude, both to their wives and to other guests on the ship.

@friendswithdave I can relate to your good cruise/ bad cruise scenario. This past February, I had to disembark 7 days into a scheduled 35-day Hawaii/ South Pacific cruise on the Koningsdam. Although it was for an out-of-the-blue medical issue that came up onboard and which would require surgery, I was still able to enjoy the time on the ship---so much so that once I had recovered from the surgery my wife and I booked a "make up" cruise on the Koningsdam, even booking the exact same vista suite cabin. It was for an eleven-night Mexican Riviera/ Sea of Cortez cruise, which just ended a week ago today. The ship was as beautiful as we remembered and the late-seating MDR dining was even better. As the saying goes, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. I hope you and your wife have quick recoveries Jim.

@Abuckett How was the Barbados airport? The only times I've flown into or out of the place (at the beginning and end of a Silversea cruise a few years ago), I vowed never to return. They were the most chaotic airport experiences of my life. But maybe things have improved. Thanks. Jim