calliopecruiser

I can't recommend a luxury hotel, but I do recommend staying near Tokyo station. 

On 3/26/2024 at 10:29 AM, lucas34 said:

(2 weeks no more than 2500USD/pp

At that price (<$200 per day) you are not going to get a luxury cruise; you might not even be able to find a premium line (Azamara, etc) at that price (though there might be sales)

9 hours ago, GoHuskies! said:

Another admonition for everyone is to keep your weight in check.

Ha, that's the assumption that my weight has ever been in check.  I haven't been a "normal" weight since I was, well, born. 

I'll be solo on Silversea in 3 weeks.  I've looked at Regent, but the solo cost is pretty high and I've been reluctant to push that button and commit. 

On 3/22/2024 at 12:43 PM, 3ric said:

Are you thinking they day to day menu was not fancy enough to qualify for a luxury

I don't think fancy has anything to do with luxury, per se, because fancy doesn't equal top quality.  All the lobster (ick) and caviar (meh) won't make for luxury dining if they're not good quality, well prepared, and well served.   Maybe it was on Ponant (I've never sailed with them), but "fancy" or expensive items alone don't make for luxurious food or dining. 

On 3/16/2024 at 2:46 AM, Lee Jones Jnr said:

The blurring of single and solo

What blurring?  Single is unmarried, and solo is a description of someone currently without company. 

If it makes you feel any better - even though I cruise solo, I don't go to solo gatherings. 

The first - Sydney to Auckland.  More sea days, and I haven't seen the southern island.  The second cruise has more time in Hobart, which I would like, but also overnights in Napier, which holds no interest for me. 

On 2/9/2024 at 3:39 PM, Jaynay said:

Do you (we) solos have a harder time booking transport (uber) etc.? Do you find that transports take advantage of you pricewise traveling solo?

I don't think so, but I'm not sure I'd know.......I just do what I need to do to get where I want to go. 

Give yourself lots of time, and if you are concerned about getting ripped off by local transport, you can always book a driver service for a pre-arranged price. 

On 3/4/2024 at 5:26 AM, Honolulu Blue said:

Are a group of co-workers traveling together solo if they each have their own cabins? What if they don't? What about people who are sharing a cabin but matched together somehow? I'm inclined to consider them all as solos for most purposes, but I do sometimes go back and forth about this.

I consider myself travelling solo, even if I know other people on the cruise.  I might have friends on board, but I make my own arrangements, have my own cabin, and choose my own excursions (or not).  The last time I was on the same cruise as friends, we sometimes chose to dine separately, each eating with different people we'd met on board. 

23 hours ago, Stickman1990 said:

dining and service were amongst the best we’ve experienced

.That's nice, because good food is really important to me;  my last 2 cruises were somewhat lacking in the service sector (didn't ruin the cruise, but were not what I was hoping for).  

You know me......entertainment isn't a big issue, but food and service are

Cruising is the best way to start travelling solo, because everything is arranged for you -- you don't need to plan where to go to dinner, or worry about walking into a bar alone; there's entertainment options all nearby if you want them, but safe and quiet places to go if you don't.  You will see the same people around the ship so often, they won't be strangers for long, and that will make it easier to strike up conversations with them, and you will all have some shared experiences (which are great for starting conversations). 

I think a 10 day trip is a good one to start solo cruising -- cruises of 7 days or less tend to have more of a party vibe, and cruisers are more likely to want to hang with the people they came with.  In a longer cruise, more cruisers are (in my experience) more laid-back, willing to talk with other travellers, and less focused on being busy all the time. 

I'm interested to hear about your experiences as solo on Explora, which I'm also considering (solo).  I don't cruise for anything less than 2 weeks, though - preferably 3-4, but they do have some interesting itineraries and I hear great things. 

4 hours ago, Texas Tillie said:

Explora board

Been there, but a lot of it is very specific (food/decor/entertainment), rather than an overall experience vs. other lines.  . 

I'd love to hear about these new entrants to the luxury category.

I do some floor Pilates exercises and stretches that I learned years ago (I still take a twice weekly private Pilates class, but use equipment these days rather than floor stuff).  Thoracic rotations, Psoas activations, and a variation  of a "Figure 4" stretch with my feet on a wall.  OK, sometimes I can't do it against the wall until I've done it with my feet on the ground first a few times to stretch my Piriformis enough.  I prefer to do them in the gym if there's a decent amount of floor space available, but I can do them in my cabin as well. 

I also walk the stairs if it's 2 flights (sometimes 3) rather than take the lift.  I'm there to relax, not do chores (i.e. exercises), so I do just enough to maintain. 

Crystal also has a few cabins priced for solo occupancy -- they're actually the same cabins as the doubles, but they are more forward, and they're priced lower than the single supplement would be on the double cabin. 

I agree about the different clientele on a longer cruise, and I very much recommend it.  Nothing would get me on a 3 or 5 day cruise, and that goes double because of the time it takes to travel there and make.  The more cruising I've done, the longer I like my cruises - now, anything less than 2 weeks seems a waste. 

Wow, you and your family have been hit with a lot recently!  I doubt anyone can match your situation, but maybe collectively it will help.  It sounds like some time away might be just the thing you need. 

I am a single woman in my 60s, also from Ontario; I've been travelling alone for over 25 years, including cruising alone for the last 10.  In those 10 years, I've met more than a few married women cruising solo, and I have made some very good cruising friends as well - now I share cruise thoughts with them to see if any of us have an interest in taking the same cruise so we can meet up on board.  Sometimes we do (I'm meeting a friend aboard a Panama Canal cruise this spring) and sometimes we don't (I did a Middle East cruise last year knowing nobody aboard).  Some of my cruising friends are solo women, some are couples.

I have had the feeling of suddenly taking an emotional hit on board and feeling badly, but I did not ever think about the railing -- I went to take a nap on deck in the shade (purposely not in my cabin), and almost immediately lost that "bad" feeling.  Cruising helps me to relax, and so it did.  But if you do want to talk to people, there's usually no shortage of them at bars and lounges....Even though you don't drink alcohol, there's no end of things you do drink at the bar, from soda water and lime to a virgin margarita.   Actually sitting AT the bar is a good way to start chatting with people, if you want to. 

Most cruise lines will have some amount of solo events - usually not my thing, but it does allow to at least see who else is sailing solo.  My thought is that I don't care if the people I meet are sailing solo or not, and it's not only solo travellers who want to meet other travellers.  Dining alone every night can be a drag, especially in a more formal atmosphere like the main dining room, but it's not the major part of my day.  Some cruise lines allow you to be seated with other people who are looking to share their table, and I really like that.  It's usually easier at breakfast and lunch more than dinner.

If a ship-sponsored excursion is what you want, then do it.....Don't let other people tell you that there are better or cheaper excursions that you can arrange yourself.  Sometimes being on a cruise vacation is about not having to arrange anything by yourself, so if it fits the bill of what you want, then do it.  Or if not even getting off the ship at a port is what you want, then don't  - I love sea days most of all when cruising, and sometimes don't get off the ship in port.  I cruise for cruising, not port stops. 

2 hours ago, CDNPolar said:

Anyone with experience adding voice using your home number and not a temporary number?

I didn't know that was an option - I thought t was data only.  However, even with just data, you can make voice calls and send text messages with the WhatsApp app to other WhatsApp users.  Just get your friends and family to get What's App, even if only for the time you are away.  It's also very common in just about everywhere in the world except for Canada and the US (and maybe Aus/NZ), so if you want to text with people about reservations, etc, they'll be using WhatsApp. 

I just bought and used my second Airalo and has as good an experience as the first time.  Will do it again for my Panama Canal trip in April. 

For me, having a data connection is a bit of extra security for me, which makes me feel better....Should there be a problem or if I am separated from the group, I can still make a phone call or get other information.  Not everyone may share my same concerns, but for the extra few bucks, I'm more comfortable with it. 

Why is an US based e-SIM company not what you're looking for?  Does it matter where the company is based, since you can use them all over the world? 

My only experience with e-SIM has been with Airalo in Europe, and it worked very well at a reasonable cost. 

Seabourn.  It's the only luxury line among your choices, and I'm sure you would enjoy it.  Fewer  passengers, less crowded venues, fewer lines.  No nickel and diming, no frequent announcements.  Really good food, if you stay out of the main dining room -- Earth and Ocean poolside is the best place to eat on the ship, but it gets busy. 

I found the food on Seaborne to be very good, as long as you stayed out of the main dining room (where food and service was bad).  I found the service on my Seaborne cruise to be mediocre, but I suspect you'll fair better as a couple than I did as a solo.  The ship was lovely and comfortable.

The best food I've had cruising was on the old Crystal - I have not yet sailed on Crystal since it was bought and renovated, so I don't know personally if the food and service are equally as good as it was in the past (I have a cruised booked with them in 2024). 

Azamara was good, but not special.  If you're looking at Azamara, book a suite unless you are OK with having a very tiny shower stall (about 20" x 20").

I cruised solo with Seabourn last year......I had a good time, but I found the service was particularly lacking, which is one of the things I look for in a luxury cruise.  Maybe it was just a fluke.   I'm not sure I'm ready for an 80 day venture; so far, my longest has been 3 weeks, and I'll be doing a month-long cruise next December.