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Looking for other active couples to travel with.


nancyshaw
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We are in our mid 60s. Active, usually like sailing on Viking, Oceania and have done many years on Celebrity and now not so eager to sail Celebrity anymore.

 

After sailing with others for many years we find that our companions have become sedentary or disinterested in being active in general.

 

Since we have traveled with others we have not had many opportunities to mingle and meet.

 

So I thought I would see who may respond to this.

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I see there is a huge response to this. LoL

 

didnt think there would be but thought I would give it a try...we made no effort to meet others on many cruises for many years , since we traveled with our friends.. they are limited in the kinds of activities they will do....guess I thought this would improve over the years but it hasnt....

 

best way to meet, will be to travel on our own and meet others who will have similar tastes and interests as we do....

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We generally join our Roll Calls. This allows us to “meet” others (in advance), we will be cruising with for a specific cruise. It’s a great way to connect / plan tours together for specific ports. Once we are on the ship - we have conversations w/ many guests through-out the cruise. This leads to further activities. Have s great next cruise - you’ll find many others who are similarly seeking an active cruise

 

 

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Our experience has been that active 50+ cruisers travel on Princess. The difference between it and others was that people on other lines asked, "Are you going on an excursion today?" while people on Princess ask, "What excursion are you doing today?" Events seem well attended, but passengers are not dependent on ship-directed activities to have a great time. Carnival was too loud for us; RCCL didn't give us time to breathe ;-); our last Celebrity cruise seemed to be more concerned with catering to the large GLBT group rather than the passengers as a whole.

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Yes while people may seem more active on Princess, food quality and general atmosphere are also very important to us.

 

We will be trying Viking Ocean next year. It is not for the silly, there are no belly flops, no newly not so newly married games, no kids, no casinos and no whales parching their skins all day on pool chairs.

 

There are many opportunities to join others for meals in many different venues, all tours are included, they are mostly all walking tours, so you have to be in shape, These tours are longer than 2 hours so they are not for anyone who walks 15 min and then has to sit down.

 

When I expressed a desire to meet others, I knew it would be impossible to do it here. Very few people at this age find themselves with no one to travel with. But that is our story. Our friends are no longer able to be active. Years of sedentary living has led to this inability. We have for years accommodated this but found that we were really held back from enjoying to the fullest.

 

The day may come when we also can only enjoy meals and reading on a ship but not yet. So I want to make the most of it while we can.

 

I welcome all responses.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I would also suggest trying Azamara. Small ships (theirs are under 700 passengers) tend to promote mingling just by their size, and Azamara seems to be even more open that way than others we have tried. Their itineraries are very port-focused, which also attracts a more active crowd -- but the higher prices and longer sailings lead to an older crowd. Older but wiser -- just like us! Our recent Azamara cruise was focused on the Pacific side of Costa Rica, and of the 600 passengers onboard we had 102 on the Cruise Critic roll call! That made excursion planning easy, and we met a wide range of people through our shared excursions. We also did Azamara in 2016 for the Norwegian Fjords, and although the roll call wasn't as active we still met a lot of people and had a great time. More details in my blog: Jazzbeaux Blogs

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I congratulate you for reaching out in this manner in an attempt to broaden your social network. I’m sure that you will find some kindred spirits with whom you can frequently travel. Well, I am not familiar with Azamara, but I think Oceania is a great cruise line. After my first Oceania cruise it is now become my favorite! I hope to see you on board in future.

 

 

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We've met many on Princess who are now long time friends.

What excursions are you taking is always a big topic of conversation.

As time has gone by, we don't do the very active ones we once did ... but are so glad we did them while we could. :D

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Thank you for all the wonderful suggestions. Our next cruise will be on the Viking O in Feb to the Carib. We cancelled a couple of cruises prior to that since we would find ourselves alone again. Actually we would be travelling with friends who are not mobile, meals with them but on our own for all else. When you travel with friends, you feel an obligation to be with them, meeting others becomes more difficult.

 

It is now understood , that unless something changes and they can do more with us, we will be travelling on our own, joining others, couples, singles, whatever. We are really looking forward to doing so much more than we have been.

 

It is amazing how much more sedentary you become when you are with others that are that way. We miss exploring, hiking , doing challenging things with others. Resuming all that again will be an adventure.

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Try Uncruise. They have trips to Alaska, Panama, Costa Rica, Galapagos, Canada, Baja etc. Most passengers are in their 60's and very, very active. Since there is no TV, internet, entertainment, elevators etc., the focus is on outdoor activity.

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...unless something changes....we will be travelling on our own

Sounds like that's the best idea....you'll have fun alone. It doesn't sound like you need other people along to have a good time. But do remember.....be gentle in your critique of those who aren't as active as you....someday you won't be able to be as active as you are now either.

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Sounds like that's the best idea....you'll have fun alone. It doesn't sound like you need other people along to have a good time. But do remember.....be gentle in your critique of those who aren't as active as you....someday you won't be able to be as active as you are now either.

 

You are so right. You never know when things change, never know what the future holds. Time waits for no man. So do all you can, while you can. We have wasted a lot of time waiting for others to change their life style and join us. People really dont change. You have to take them as they are. You really cant push anyone to become less sedentary. They really have to want to do that themselves. Really silly to let years go by thinking things will improve. I regret it.

 

It is time to make the most of what we have, before we dont have it anymore.

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My husband and I usually cruised with family/friends, but vacationed in Europe on our own. When a schedule change altered our Spain trip, we added a HA cruise to the Canary Islands. That was the first time I joined a roll call, which led to joining new friends on optional excursions. Not retired yet, so can't cruise as much as we'd like, but always join roll calls. We're doing our first Viking Ocean to Alaska next summer, so I think you made a good choice. From my single experience on their River Cruise, they seem to offer tours for your less-energetic friends, yet have more adventurous excursions that you'll enjoy.

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Im sure you can understand that when you travel with friends, it is more difficult to spend time with others and include them in activities. We play a lot of trivia, but even then when you already have 4, you can only invite one more couple. So most of the time it has been a foursome.

 

We love our friends dearly and have done all we can to encourage to become more active so we would get to do the things we love. Instead it would turn out that we would become more sedentary. You can imagine how difficult it is to have a conversation about not being able to travel together unless considerable weight was lost and steps taken to make walking a daily priority.

 

But the conversation has been had. There are goals in place but meanwhile we are looking for others to share our travels with.

 

Now that we are on our own, I have definitely joined a roll call for the our next cruise. It wont be till next February.

 

Has anyone else found themselves in a similar situation as us?

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I read this with a smile, our last 4 cruises have been with either family or friends, our next one in May, is just my husband and I and he has repeatedly warned me NOT to ask anyone to join us! LOL Wants to be just us and not deal with anyone else, little does he know all the roll call get togethers I committed us to! Either way you travel, enjoy. Try not to judge others as we never know what their life has been like.

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We are in the 65 and have done my first X cruise on board the Eclipse, a lot to do never been bored. Meet a lot of friends from all parts of the world. Maybe if you feel younger need a cruise focused in the activities you are looking.

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We are in the 65 and have done my first X cruise on board the Eclipse, a lot to do never been bored. Meet a lot of friends from all parts of the world. Maybe if you feel younger need a cruise focused in the activities you are looking.

 

Definitely the way to meet others is to do things. We do a lot of trivia, walk a few miles on deck, go into the gym, the pool, etc. On the carib itins , go into the towns for a bit in the mornings, back on ship by noon...hate the heat. Have been many times, so no tours. But do all kinds of private tours in ports of other itineraries.

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Perhaps on the next cruise, ask to share tables in the MDR, join teams for trivia. EM

 

Will definitely be doing that since we will be by oursselves. We play a lot of trivia and will be able to meet others doing that.

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We will be doing a Viking Ocean next February, our first Viking O cruise. We will be by ourselves and will have plenty of opportunity to join others in the many activities that are offered. Yes also walk several miles a day and also have slaked off recently as the spring weather has been anything but spring like. Thank you for posting the Viking info on the Celeb thread I started. Was getting a pummeling for a while, but thats ok. I quite expected it.

 

 

 

As I said, one thing I’ve learned is to be cautious about saying negative things about a cruise line on their own board. There are always those who defend that line like it was their very own, or as if you insulted their family [emoji15].

 

I saw you could use a life jacket [emoji16]

 

I’m sure you will love Viking. It’s definitely a step above the mainstream lines.

 

 

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Kath,

 

thanks, but I know what I get myself into when saying anything controversial..

 

just had to say it anyway...

 

we had an awful experience on our last Eclipse cruise in the MDR...the waitress was terrible..I didnt even go into it in my thread..and really cant write it here as it is read by everyone....

 

I will leave my email here if anyone is interested in the details...

 

nancyshaw027@gmail.com

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If you are looking to meet people in your local area to travel with some suggestions are:

 

Join local community associations.

Join local clubs that have members that may love to travel such as garden, photo or history clubs.

Some travel agent have sales presentations - look for those and meet people there.

If you see people with cruise company logo items, stop and talk to them.

Let people you know that you are looking for like minded people who love to travel.

If you meet new people at social gatherings ask if they love to travel.

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