sambamama

Really, there are two best ways to see Europe. Either book a TA that starts in Europe, and fly in early, or book a land tour, IMHO. I find the Europe cruises A) very expensive and B) its hard to get inland. The river cruises are even more expensive as a single and you run a huge risk of them being turned into a bus tour. But perhaps money isn't an issue for you. Me, I'd rather vacation longer and less expensive. I book land tours that don't have single supplements, or if they do, low ones, or I travel alone (which is what I mainly do.) If you go by yourself, you can stay in Barcelona, for example , for 6 nights, explore it, and take some day tours from there. It has the largest Roman ruins an hour away from it, the Costa Brava coastline, and amazing medieval villages all available by reasonable day tours.

I loved having the laundry on board. ( On HAL, I don't need it as I get free laundry.) I went to the Specialty Steak House twice, and it was great. I had heard the pastas on Princess were great , and that was true also. There was some trouble as a couple of the bars had no idea how to make an Amaretto Sour, which I found odd, as it isn't that uncommon of a drink. It was sometimes difficult to find a lounge chair near the pool, but that happens. The worst thing was losing two ports, and one they should have replaced as they knew 5 months before they were not going there. HAL would have replaced it. I really minded losing Cartagena, but it was weather related, so nothing could be done.

I've used K look many times! They are great!

Are you overnighting there? If so, you will see more if you book your own private tour and stay the night. I just stayed 9 nights there so much to see! !

HAL offered some special itineraries when they still had the 1200 passenger ships like the Ryndam. I did a 20 night South Pacific RT out of Auckland that went to Tonga, Fiji, American Samoa, the Cook islands, Tahiti, Moorea, Bora Bora, and Niue-amazing!

There are upgrades versus upsells. Upgrades are free - if you book an inside guarantee, and you get bumped up to an outside (that just happened to me again.) I book guarantees almost all the time. An up sell comes a month or so before the cruise. Your TA or you gets an offer to buy a better cabin for a certain amount. It is limited to one category up- you can go from an outside to a balcony, for example. But move fast- - they go quickly!

I wrote to the Office of the President, as I always have. Always before, it was answered by the Assistant to the President, or the Vice President in charge of Marketing, or someone like that. This time, it was simply answered by a "resolution specialist" who didn't even give a last name and in so many words called me a liar. Yes, I know, I was shocked to get a rude letter. I've written to many, many companies, and never, ever gotten a rude letter. I've gotten letters not agreeing with me, but never accusing me of stating a lie. (She said I was not telling the truth about being offered a large amount of shipboard compensation to rebook my cancelled cruise for 2023 ($800.) ) She said that maybe at best $100 had been given. It was another resolution specialist who called me (and he gave me his first and last name. He told me she used a template and did a terrible job of reading my letter and responding to it. I can't remember who I wrote to Princess, but it was one of the executives. There was a MAJOR problem on the Panama canal tours. It was a stop where you had to tender. They did not have enough tenders. There was not nearly enough adequate shade, and people had to stand an hour or more in blazing sun. There were many, many elderly people, and people in wheelchairs. There were only a few crew there, and one junior officer. People were fainting. There wasn't any water either. The crew did nothing. Tour buses would return and drive up, or taxis return, and people would cut the line, causing even more problems. We (the passengers) started policing the line ourselves and moving elderly and wheelchair people out of the sun. We also started telling crew members to get water and wet washcloths to these people. I have never seen such chaos, and I don't know how they avoided having a major medical incident. No one ever replied. It wasn't something I myself was looking for compensation. I just happened to be one of the first people who began policing the lines, and getting the elderly people into the shade. I also started talking to the crew and to the officer. (I was a Naval Commander's wife-I have no problem exerting authority!)

I sailed solo on Princess this past January (it was my first time on Princess) on my third Panama Canal cruise. The solo meetups were when I had my dinner scheduled, so I never made any of those. Princess does not have fixed sitting, which is what i prefer as I am picky and I don't like subjecting a different waiter to that every night. So my choices were go to Anytime dining, which on this cruise was a disaster-having to wait 30-60 minutes every night which I hate, or I could arrange the same table with the same waiters every night at the same time, which is what I did. That worked out well. I had arranged several tours, so one night I ate dinner with people from one tour. I was seated in a very small section of the dining room, so I got to know the people in that section well, and it was like having dinner companions. There were plenty of activities if I wanted to meet people, but I was very happy just lying in the sun and reading a book. The ship was lovely, and all sorts of great entertainment. I think you would have an easy time meeting people if you wanted to. I will say Princess had just started the new lanyard system, so you can do anything with your lanyard. It worked like a charm, although it was strange having your cabin door unlock before you get to it!

There are a number of beach clubs. Just Google beach clubs. Also, Lamai Beach is also close and is lovely. It is a very laid back beach with cheaper hotels. I imagine a number of these, if you bought drinks and lunch, would let you use lounges and umbrellas.

I've sailed with Celebrity, RCLL, Princess, NCL, but primarily with Holland America. I am a 4 star Mariner with them, have sailed over 130 days, and started sailing with them back in 1983. Over the years, there have been some issues with cruises, and I've written to the line. Mostly I've received compensation for the problems. However, I booked a 15 day Asia cruise in 2019 that was to sail in 2021, paid in full early and it has been postponed twice. Each time I had already booked award flights, non award flights and some hotels. Each time, I got absolutely no compensation as a result. I've lost money as a result. I realize I am not alone in this and many people lost money as a result of COVID. However, HAL also canceled 6 other cruises and sent out an email canceling a TA cruise I was booked on, and then sent out an email three weeks later saying they didn't cancel the cruise and it was a mistake. By then I had canceled my flight. So I wrote to HAL and got the rudest letter back I've ever gotten from any company. I replied to this letter, and got an actual call from a concerned HAL employee. We spent 70 minutes on the phone, and at the end, he gave me $85 in shipboard credit, and upgraded my cabin to the best remaining ocean view on the ship (I was booked in an inside guarantee.) So sometimes cruise lines listen. (My letters to Princess fell on deaf ears-no one ever responded about a serious safety concern.)

I just had a long phone conversation with a, HAL exec. I explained to him that HAL is losing opportunities of getting solo cruiser's because of their high single supplements. He agreed with me and I think HAL may be making some changes.

I think a great way to see Europe is to book a TA that goes to Europe first, and then build in 2 weeks before traveling around Europe starting from your destination. So if you board in Barcelona, you can book a flight on TAP or Iberia with a layover in Lisbon or Madrid. Do some travel there, and then go to Barcelona. There are lots of lovely places close by train from there. I speak a few words of Spanish and French and I've traveled thru Europe, Africa, and Asia with no issue. I don't use buses, but use subways and metros and ferries and trains with no problem. Well, I used a bus in Mexico and once in Africa, but both were long distance and not local. I've never had a problem that I couldn't solve .

Organizing a private tour is a great way to meet people. 1) You get to plan a small group tour of what you want to do in a port and get people to join you, 2) you meet people ahead on the roll call, 3) you already have people you know in advance who may invite you to dinner or drinks, etc., and 4) its really fun planning a tour and its usually easy. Then on the cruise you get a tour with 8-16 people at a cost you like doing something you want longer than you would through the ship.

This happens on many, many cruise lines. I had a studio booked on NCL. The regular cabins dropped in priced to the point I was paying triple for a studio compared to a regular outside, and all were more expensive than a HAL cabin on a 14 day cruise from Fort Lauderdale than this 10 day from NYC in February where they would be lousy weather for 3 days. I cancelled and booked with HAL. HAL now has solo cabins on their new ships which are way up at the front, and are really small and cost about 180% for a tiny cabin. No thanks!

Holland America still has fixed dining. I sign up for 8 pm and ask for a table of 6 or 8. That usually works. I get sat at a table of 6 usually. But many times it ends up there is only one other couple and then I am alone. The maitre'd then tries to move me to a back up table. At lunch or breakfast, they group people so I'm fine. Princess only come as you are dining, which means you usually wait for 30 minutes or more. You can avoid that by getting the same table every night with the same waiter. I chose that, as I'm picky and I don't like waiting. But it meant I ate alone every night.

I just booked the August 31 2024 Celestyal Journey 7 night sailing from Piraeus! Really excited about this one. I will add a 4 night bus trip in, and probably 3-4 nights each on 2 small islands near Athens after the cruise.

I did all the bookings on my own, yes, except for the cruise. The flights weren't as bad as I thought. It would have been much easier had I remember ANA opens flights much earlier than other airlines AND after I booked, had I not realized I screwed up and booked my flight leaving from Hong Kong before the cruise got to Hong Kong. The biggest challenge is having flexibility about dates and places to go and not minding doubling back. For example, I have to fly back to Singapore from Hong Kong to then fly on to Bali. But flying business class is always so nice and the RTW ANA ticket is a real bargain if you can make it work for you.

The dining for dinner. I almost always sail with HAL and ask for fixed dining at a table of 6 or 8. I've been put at a table of two, and many times at a table of six where only one other couple comes. But when they don't come, I dine alone. I live alone, and one of my main cruise pleasures is meeting people and hearing their stories for two weeks. So sitting alone is not what I wanted. I just sailed on Princess, and to get a fixed table, I had to agree to eat alone. I prefer having the same waiters, so that was the choice I made. The waiters were excellent, but I missed dinner conversation. And I miss being at tables of six and eight.

I am booked on a 15 night SE Asia HAL Singapore to Hong Kong cruise Jan 2024. Its been cancelled twice and paid in full since December 2019. I added a RTW ANA ticket to get there so I fly JFK to Istanbul, stay 3 nights, fly early to Singapore and stay 4 nights and do the cruise finishing in Hong Kong. I then fly to Bali for 12 nights, on to Japan where I have 5nights in Kyoto and one in Tokyo, and then fly to Houston. I overnight there, and fly home to Hartford, CT on domestic first class on AA. All other flights are business class on Turkish, Singapore, and ANA. And I managed to book my ANA RT ticket myself with FF miles and $900!

I know!! I am planning for September 2024 for a 7 day cruise, a 4-5 day bus tour, and probably a week or so split between the two islands of Agistra (almost unknown, very small, and gorgeous!) and Aegina (bigger with some historical stuff, but still not too well known.) As both aren't well known, prices are pretty moderate, and there are beautiful beaches on both. Each are an hour or so from Athens.

Upon doing further research for Celestyal Cruise lines (not sure if this helps non-Americans), using a travel agency cuts the cost by 50%! And for non-Americans, there is at least one Greek travel agency that cuts the cost of Celestyal cruises if you book with them. I am not sure how much, but I bet it is at least 10-15%. It also will book airfare, bus tours if you want to go early and see more historical stuff, and more importantly, book ferries if you want to see any of the islands. I stumbled onto this and found two gorgeous, almost unknown islands very close to Athens that I plan on visiting when I book my Celestyal cruise. For Americans interested, I found out Delta has nonstop flights to Athens from Boston (however, they are seasonal), but Emirates has nonstop flights to Athens from Newark, and about half the cost! I priced an Emirate economy flight and came in at under $800 with one 50 pound suit case. I am really glad I stumbled onto this Greek cruise line as I certainly plan on booking with them, and am really excited about a cruise-the first I am excited about in a long time! I found the proposed cost for me was around $1100 for a single cabin with port taxes-and considering there are a number of ports, I can live with that.

Really, a great single supplement is what you are willing to pay for it. I agree in principle we should not pay more, but the reality we generally will have to. I am not willing to pay double, however. Sometimes the perks I get subsidize the supplement. For example, on HAL I get free laundry and 25% off the specialty restaurants. I also get $250 shipboard credit on any 2 week cruise that is owned by Carnival. There may be free tips, a drink package, and shipboard credit. I almost always book a guarantee, and I always have ended up higher than I booked-usually an outside if I booked inside, and a balcony if I booked an outside.

Ever since COVID, many, many lines have gone to 100% single supplements. It is usually the lines in the midrange-Celebrity, Holland America, Princess, etc. I am mainly aware of HAL as that is who I had almost exclusively cruised with. Before COVID, my TA could find 50% or less single supplements, but those seem to have vanished. It seems like lower end and very high end have lower supplements. A TA can help you find the bargains, and I've found my TA to be a bargain over the years. I may pay a bit more, but she tracks price drops, etc. She gets the ship to move me up in category (I usually book a year or more ahead.) And when upsell time rolls around, I let her know a price, and tell her to go ahead and book a particular category if something opens up without contacting me. I've ended up with high end balconies where I started out with a low end inside cabin.

I had always cruised with someone, and wanted to go on a cruise, but could not find anyone to go with me. It was a two week Southern Caribbean cruise, and it ended up being the best cruise I had ever been on up to that point. I met a Canadian couple and we spent all our time together. We became great friends, and I ended up visiting them four times and going on trips with them. The first was a cruise to Alaska, the second was an extended road trip of the Western National parks, and the third a trip to Vancouver Island, and then to Banff, Jasper and Lake Louise, and then a road trip from Vancouver down to Southern California and back. We also met up in a Spanish port one day when we were both on different TA cruises. Since then, I have also gone on extensive land trips by myself including my most recent- two months to Africa-one in Egypt and one in Morocco. Every trip has been AMAZING! I've never felt alone, I always meet people, and something super cool happens every trip! So everyone should go!! Don't WAIT! If I waited, I would not have gone anywhere as I haven't had a significant other since 2009. DON'T WAIT-LIFE IS TOO SHORT! I am 66, and I learned to scuba dive two years ago. I now have 102 dives, and am an advanced open water diver. None of this would have happened had I not gone on the first cruise alone!!!

All Celestyal cruises (ALL) do solos for a 50% supplement and start at a very reasonable price. They have 3, 4, 7, and 14 night cruises going to Greece, Greece and Egypt, and Greece, Egypt and Turkey. The base rate even includes free wine with meals! I've read reviews and the cruise line sounds very nice. Smaller ships of around 1600 passengers, the ships are older, but the food is good to excellent, and the crew is great. Excursions look wonderful, and I am definitely thinking of booking. I think the way to go is to combine some time in Greece either before or after. Do book with a travel agency as it is much cheaper than with the line itself.