calliopecruiser

In Europe, many hotels offer solo occupancy rooms, or solo prices. Still, not the same because on a cruise you are paying for more than a room. Moving on: I always cruise solo, though sometimes I am fortunate enough to have friends also cruising on the same voyage. I am single, so no spouse or partner, but on my cruises, I quite often meet married solo cruisers.....Some are married to spouses that don't want to cruise, others are married to spouses who can't take long cruise voyages. Some planned to meet their spouses at the cruise's embarkation port for a vacation, others would be flying home alone after the cruise. There are some low solo supplements to be had, especially if you look at the premium and luxury lines. I have cruises booked over the next 18 months with supplements of 35%-50% or so.

If you make advertisements your decision about whom to cruise with, you'll never go anywhere. All of them understand solo cruisers, but none of them really want solo cruisers.....Still, the best of them will treat them well, because they treat everyone well. That's what I want as a solo passenger - to be treated like any other passenger.

Then learn how to not be afraid or feel weird about being alone. It can be a paradigm shift, but I think it's important to learn to be comfortable enough with yourself so that you're not always looking for other people to talk/walk/eat with. You'll probably find that easiest if you engage in something that will make you look busy, so you won't feel as if people will see you as "wandering alone" or "sitting alone".....When I started, I used photography. I thought that no one would question why a woman was out photographing things by herself, and that made me feel less obvious about being alone. Eventually, I realized that they probably didn't care that I was alone, and so using my photography as a blind was unnecessary (though I still take a lot of photographs). I came to realize that people didn't look at me askance if I was doing something alone, and in some cases, they even envied it. I was on a cruise once when a woman came up to me and asked if I was on the cruise by myself: "Are you on this cruise alone? I wish I was!".....I realized that not everyone around with other people are happy being with those other people.

Sure, but dining alone in a restaurant is better than the alternative of not going out at all, and it's better than being ignored by everyone else at a shared table (IMO).

What you mean, I think, is that you won't benefit financially, but you still may consider there to be other benefits that make it worthwhile.

I too found the service on my first (and probably only) Seabourn cruise to be somewhere between "meh" and "bad", in spite of its great reputation. I admit my expectations were high after sailing with Crystal for 5 years, but at a luxury cruise price, I should be able to expect that they won't forget to deliver the tea I ordered, or forget to put some cans of gingerale in my cabin fridge. I don't know why our experiences were so unlike their reputation, but there are lots of other cruise lines on the oceans. In the next 2 years, I have cruises planned on Azamara, Silversea, and Crystal (new owners), so I'll see if I can find something more to my taste.

Not always - it depends on the line, and the individual voyage. Occasionally, on highly booked cruises, they might charge more. On the other hand, I've paid as low as 35% supplement on a luxury line for a cruise with lots of sea days.

LOL.....there were other places to eat on board that had much better food than the dining room - the sushi restaurant and the poolside dinner venue (I forget what they called it at night) were both particularly good. Poolside at night was a lovely place to dine; the sushi restaurant had good food, but visually the decor was lacking. I did not go hungry!

I realize that I mistyped.....I was not disappointed in my Seabourn cruise and did enjoy myself, but I was very disappointed in the service on the cruise. I can't say I was disappointed in the ship or the route, but the service was, frankly, bad. They did have invitations most nights for solo passengers to dine with cruise staff in the main dining room, but the service and quality of food in the main dining room was not very good, so I only took them up on that offer once. In fact, after the second or third day, I never chose to eat there again (though I did eat with a some new friends once or twice at their request). Dining and bar staff generally provided pretty bad service in most of the venues (TK's lounge being the only exception); sometimes I didn't get an ordered beverage with breakfast or lunch until I'd asked 3 times and I'd finished eating. Maybe it was an aberration that voyage, but the food and beverage service was quite bad, and food in the main dining room ranged from marginal to not good.

It's hard to trust a company that is refunding, charging, and then charging something again to my credit card, with no explanation. I find that kind of scary. My travel agent was kicked off of hold after 3 hours (which is their max wait time) while she's trying to find out why I have several mystery charges of a few hundred dollars to my Visa. I've not sailed Azamara yet (my first voyage is in August), but I'm already looking askance at the company......even if my on-board experience is good, how comfortable will I be if this is the way their shore-side business is run?

I've always been treated very well as a solo cruiser on Crystal in the before-times; my only experience with another luxury line has been Seabourn, and their service was nowhere near as good, for a higher price. I was very disappointed in my Seabourn cruise. I have not and suspect will not sail the small ships of < 500 people, so I haven't looked at their options or prices for solo travel. In the next 18 months, I'll be on Azamara, Crystal, and Silversea, so I'll have a wider range of experiences sailing solo.

My agent notified me of an itinerary change a month ago, but I can't remember what the change was, and I wouldn't have remembered Sharm El Sheik because it wouldn't have ever been a port I cared about.

Immaterial. My first Crystal 2.0 trip will be a month-long cruise in 2024 in a solo cabin at the front of deck 7 - on the Symphony, but the issues, if any, will be the same. I'm more worried about the forward location than any noise from the theatre below. However, given the savings, and my unwillingness to pay for a suite - I'm willing to try it out.

I think cruises are not a great way to see any city, or country, and I never consider that I've seen any place where we are in port for 8 or 10 hours. You can see some particular sites (or sights) with a bus from the port, but not really visit a place....for that, you need to stay at least a couple of days, in my opinion. I love cruising, but the only places I really see when I cruise are the embarkation and debarkation ports, where I usually spend a few days at either end (unless it's a place I've been frequently).

That wallpaper is pretty scary.....I think the seats look like they could be fine, though. The squared tables give it a little more "restaurant" than "hangout" feel to it, but that will probably change as people use it.

I'd much rather have a larger shower, and I prefer the walk in option to climbing over the side of the tub.

Thanks for the reminder - I got a single cabin for the December 2024 trip I'd been wait-listed for.

You can go to the bars, even if you don't drink alcohol (unless you're too tempted by an addiction, in which case I'm sorry for an inappropriate suggestion). They can make any number of "mocktails" like a Virgin Mary, Seedlip and tonic, or a Nojito, or you could just order an iced tea or soft drink while sitting chatting, reading, or watching the crowd.

My first question is what do you want from a cruise, particularly as a solo cruiser. My goal is to be treated no differently than any other cruiser......I don't want solo gatherings or lounges, because I am no more interested in meeting solo people than non-solo people. I'd rather have a nice central cocktail lounge near the dining room, where mingling with people coming and going is easier, regardless of whether they're travelling solo, as a couple, or as a family. A nice library or coffee lounge is good too. I just want staff and servers who look at me, and not past me to see whom I'm there with (which is no one) or whether there's a couple waiting for a table instead. I've sailed multiple times on the old Crystal, and only once on Seabourn. I have solo cruises coming up on Azamara, the new Crystal, and Silversea.

I do it all the time, and I love it.......Depending on whether or not I've been there before, and how expensive a location it is, I stay 1-5 days at the front and back end of cruises when travelling solo (and I almost always travel solo). NY city, San Francisco, Miami, Athens, Tokyo, Lisbon, Dubai, and once I did a 10 day road trip in New Zealand after the cruise. Yes, I go out wandering the neighbourhood, and I find places to eat that look popular, are well rated on line, or just catch my eye. Even if they don't speak any English (Tokyo was the toughest in that respect), pointing and some charades usually does the trick. I research some sites or neighbourhoods beforehand, then go out and catch public transit or Uber and see them (I'm a big fan of public transit when I travel). I have done several long solo land trips (not part of a tour group), a couple before I started cruising solo (3 weeks in Portugal, 2 weeks in Spain, 4 weeks in Italy). It's not hard if you think of it as an adventure that might not always work out smoothly, but will always be interesting. A few thoughts: Learn at least a half dozen words in the local language, including please, thank you, excuse me, and sorry. Probably also learn to say "do you speak English" in the local language. You can use Google Translate for a lot of stuff, but showing people you're willing to learn at least a few words in their language really helps. I'll admit, I kind of failed at that in Japanese; fortunately, they're big on pictograms. Ask at your hotel for the local phone number for police emergencies (here it's 911, but it varies worldwide) Trust your gut, and that goes for everything from deciding on a restaurant to judging safety. Have a general plan, but don't be afraid to "go with the flow" of what looks interesting that you never knew about, or something you thought would be great but isn't and you want to leave early. In Tokyo, I found something in a different neighbourhood every day to see, and that got me to see different neighbourhoods. In Dubai I thought I'd love wandering the souks (local markets) but I hated them and left quickly for an early lunch.

Not if you're a TA, but for those of us shopping itineraries on the internet, we didn't know what the solo supplement would be. They said one thing on board, but it was often not the case as it varied with (something) - I suspect it varied with the popularity of the cruise.

Yes - I will be alone in the cabin, and I wondered what it would cost me to sail in a midship cabin (a "double" cabin for a solo person), as opposed to a cabin very forward (a "single" cabin for a solo person). You can consider the solo cabins as having zero supplement in as much as the price you see is the price you get. It's higher than the per-person price with two people sharing a cabin, but at least there's no mystery about what you'll pay.

Yeah, exactly. Which is why anyone claiming they always sail with great service and food is lying, because you never know til you get there. Someone can say they always enjoy going there, but that's a different thing. I wouldn't rush to go back to a restaurant who had that kind of inconsistent service and food quality that they never acknowledged, let alone apologized for.

I had my travel agency price me a solo spot on the same cruise for a solo window cabin, a double window cabin, and a double veranda. I won't get in to the specific price because that will vary by voyage, so lets price the solo cabin at $100: Solo window $100 Double window midship $174 Double veranda midship $196 A different cruise: Solo window $100 Double window midship $148 Double veranda midship $167

Of course. I'm not in a rush to sail with them again: the food ranged from inedible to excellent, and the service ranged from horrible to good (with the exception of one excellent lounge). I'm throwing my opinion into pot, but - more importantly - I'm pointing out that everyone's experience may vary regardless of the reputation or what experiences others have. Isn't that the whole point of these threads? Now, I had a lovely cruise and thoroughly enjoyed myself, able to laugh about the time they forgot about our orders and had to scramble to get us our meals.......but I don't want to spend a lot of money to be in that position again. I'll give another cruise line my money instead and see if they can offer me a lovely cruise with better service and food. YMMV.