Roz

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.

I've done that a few times in the past, but I've heard there could be issues with insurance claims if the cruise was paid for with gift cards. Don't know if that's true or not.

@Eric from San Diego, you're absolutely right. That's what I've found in my research.

The people processing the requests may be in another time zone where your Sunday is their Monday.

@SusieKIslandGirl, when I did my searches from Seattle and Vancouver, I only asked for nonstop flights. That would explain why it said no flights are available.

I just had this same conversation with my sister. When I retired I was hoping to be able to take advantage of last minute deals, but there are no bargains out there. If anything, fares have gone up. The price of nothing, including cruises fares, has gone down.

I tried SEA and YVR and it said "no flights available". I also tried LAX and SAN. I flight from LAX and none from SAN. I couldn't find that feature.

@Mary229, thanks for the suggestions. Yes, the holiday season has been a topic of discussion on our roll call as far as booking flights and hotels. I spent the last 2 holiday seasons in Europe and had to deal with the challenge of traveling during a peak time.

@SusieKIslandGirl, no I didn't. Thanks for the suggestion. I'll check those cities, along with waiting a bit to book.

I'm a "bit older", but haven't yet developed the skill of entertaining myself on cruises in the evening. Entertainment is HAL's weak spot, in my opinion.

I don't think you could go wrong with either choice.

Oh no! Please tell me that's not true about my beloved lemon 🍋 drop.

I read posts in this forum about the wonders of Flight Ease, but I've never used it because there has never been any savings vs. booking directly with the airline. I'm cruising on the Noordam from Singapore Jan. 4, and want to arrive in Singapore 3 days beforehand. I live in TN, but am looking at flying non-stop from a West Coast city, preferably San Francisco. My plan is to fly to SFO on SW the day before, stay overnight at an airport hotel, and then fly out the next morning. I'm doing this because the last 3 times I've flown internationally, I've missed my connection, with resulting travel stress and delays. Getting to the connecting city a day ahead will hopefully minimize the chances of this happening again. The options I'm getting from Flight Ease aren't very appealing. I can fly Singapore Airlines in premium economy for $2,751, but they offer no flexible fare, and payment has to be made immediately. My understanding from this forum was that flights didn't have to be paid until final cruise payment was due. Why am I not being offered a flexible fare and why do I have to pay immediately? Flight Ease has flexible and restricted fares on United in premium economy for $4,274 and $4,237 respectively. The same restricted fare on the United website is $3,476. Quelle difference! Before I make a fatal mistake, can someone tell me what's going on here? I feel like I'm being ripped off. Should I wait until 4-6 months out from January to book my flights?

@Hlitner, I'm a budget cruiser, so I'll pack my own bouillon cubes and get a cup of hot water from the Lido. 🤣

@knoxclone, great review 👍. I've found that if you can deal with the cold, wet, windy weather, and shortened daylight hours, there are bargains to be had with both land tours and river cruises in Europe during the off season.

@Coral, sorry you had to cancel, but believe me, I understand. I'm finding that travel costs in general are going up, and cruising isn't as attractive as it once was, especially for solos. When I retired I thought I would be able to take advantage of last minute cruise deals, but those deals aren't out there like they used to be.

When you return, please report back on what you thought of Virgin's Social Room. My friend, a bridge player, loved it. She was sailing solo, but always found a table that needed a 4th.

@cbr663, interesting observation. My local McDonald's has signs saying 20 minutes is the limit for tables. I've never seen the manager say anything to customers, but at the same time I've never seen people park themselves there and work for extended amounts of time. So the message must be getting through. If you get up and order additional drinks or food, that's OK and you're not going to be kicked out.

Huh? All I want is a place to sit down to eat my meal. I'm not some weirdo.