Roz

Carnival cruises that are 8 days or longer have a completely different vibe and passenger mix than the short booze cruises. I used to be able to book 1A or 4A cabins as a solo for 150%, but Carnival quit offering those fares. 😥.

I've taken some fun and interesting cruises on Carnival. Three that stand out are Hawaii., Alaska, and Panama Canal. Carnival is more high energy than HAL, and I like their food in the MDR.

When I was there last December, Scenic had an check-in and information desk in the lobby. The day of embarkation, I remember a lot of people in the lobby. Their bags were stacked up on baggage carts. Like a lot of European hotels, the Doubletree's lobby is small, so seating was at a premium. I don't think they were there for 3 hours.

The Doubletree Centraal Station is my go to hotel in Amsterdam. I've stayed there for my last 3 river cruises. I'd be happy to answer any questions.

I've never been to a restaurant on land or at sea where I had to ask for extra mashed potatoes 🥔. Ridiculous. One of the cheapest things on the menu.

I hear what you're saying, but why should someone have to request more than a tablespoon of mashed potatoes, and a 15 oz. steak shouldn't be 8oz..

Sounds like you ordered off the kids menu. In all seriousness, I've never been served portions that small.

Going forward, I think HAL is going to find it harder and harder to compete for families with other lines that have new ships with all kinds of family and kid friendly bells and whistles.

I've found I get the best "deals" booking thru the cruise line when the cruise involves 2 different cities, such as embarking in Amsterdam and debarking in Basel.

Silly me, I'm one of those people. 😁 HAL has been coming up with some unique, longer itineraries, which I appreciate now that I'm retired. Those types of cruises would appeal less to families due to the higher cost and time away. But maybe I'm entirely wrong about this.

I email the numbers and PINs to my travel agent. Hang on to the cards in case you cancel the cruise, as your refund will go to the cards.

Interesting that HAL is actively pursuing the family group market, when family friendly lines such as Carnival, Royal Caribbean, MSC, etc. are building bigger and bigger ships. A friend who just returned from a cruise on the new Sun Princess told me the entire 9th deck is devoted to kids stuff.

Such as?

@Horizon chaser 1957, you make an excellent point about a market segment HAL could tap into.

I stayed in a suite on Uniworld one time. I got it because I was willing to transfer my cruise to another week due to an overbooking situation. The suite was nice, but not so nice that I would pay for it.

I never realized how many triple and quad cabins there are until I read this thread and took a close look at deck plans. I cruise solo more often than not, but occasionally cruise with one of my sisters. One year 2 of her friends wanted to go with us to Alaska. It never in a million years occurred to us to book a quad. The only way it was going to work was to book 2 cabins. We weren't 20 somethings looking for a cheap getaway. 😄 With HAL being more adult oriented, I would think there are more bookings for twosomes than 3s or 4s. Maybe I'm wrong about this. Do those of you who cruise with someone other than a spouse or significant other like to limit it to 2 in a cabin, or do you try to cram everyone into a triple or quad? If this policy is strictly enforced, it really limits the cabins a solo can book.

Don't know where you would find that information. Have you asked your travel agent?

That's my "go to" hotel, and less expensive than staying downtown, especially for a family. I used a service called Seattle Express to get to the port. Don't know if they're still in business.

Quite a few families and extended families in Alaska.

Thanks for that information, @Denarius. I think AMA Waterways also offers reduced supplements in certain cabin categories. Maybe because the base fare is more expensive to start with, but I've found river cruise lines to be more accommodating to solos.

I've taken 3 Uniworld river cruises with no or low single supplements. Very good cruise line. Tauck has no single supplement if you book an "aquarium" cabin that's below the water line. I've also sailed with them 3 times on river cruises. Both Uniworld and Tauck are all inclusive.

I'm going to be the Debbie Downer here. Last year I took a 14-day Alaskan cruise on the Noordam. It was the last cruise of the season, and visited some ports HAL usually doesn't have on their itineraries - Kodiak, Valdez, and Prince Rupert. Of the 6 Alaskan cruises I've taken, it was my least favorite. There were very few ship excursions offered in Kodiak, Valdez, and Prince Rupert, and no local or private operators the days we were there. In Kodiak, the local merchants didn't even know there was going to be a ship in port that day until they saw us walking into town. The visitor's center was open and seemed glad to see us and had some information for those interested in hiking and other outdoor activities. We were in Valdez before anything opened, except for the grocery store. Just walked around the cruise terminal in Prince Rupert and went to the library to use their internet service. Even in the usual suspect ports of Ketchikan, Skagway, and Sitka, a lot of businesses were already closed for the season. I love Sitka and know my way around, but there was literally horizontal, blinding rain that day, and I ended up returning to the ship so I could get out of my soaking wet clothing. The highlight of the whole cruise for me was the tour I booked in Skagway thru HAL up to the White Pass Summit. We rode in a bus with a retired geologist as our tour guide. A very scenic and informative experience. In Ketchikan there were still a couple of operators offering tours so I was able to do something besides shop and walk around town. I guess what I'm saying is to keep expectations low. One of the Great Bear Rainforest cruises being offered is at the very beginning of the season and the other is at the very end. Be aware that there may be limited tourist infrastructure at the less frequently visited ports. My cruise itinerary looked good on paper, but I wouldn't pay to do it again.

If you don't have much luggage and are able bodied, you can walk.

Hi @KMBCruzer. I see that this is your 2nd post. Welcome to Cruise Critic. This forum is for river cruising on small ships. Royal Caribbean only has ocean cruising. Viking has ocean and river cruising. Have you looked at the reviews here on Cruise Critic for Royal Caribbean and Viking? They're a world apart.

There's also the issue of whether she'll be able to navigate the steep steps on the tour buses.