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Cruise for Single/Widowed Female - 62


clshappy
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My mother loves to travel but has nobody to travel with unless our family goes with her and we have two small children and cannot afford it at this time. I would love to bring up the idea of her going on a singles cruise hopefully to meet new friends and if she finds love then that is absolutely perfect!! She is 62 and my father passed away 3 years ago, so she is a widow. Prior to my dad passing away my parents used to always travel and traveling is the one thing that seems to interest her. Does anyone know of a good cruise to take for a 62 year old widowed female that is safe?? Thanks!!

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My mother loves to travel but has nobody to travel with unless our family goes with her and we have two small children and cannot afford it at this time. I would love to bring up the idea of her going on a singles cruise hopefully to meet new friends and if she finds love then that is absolutely perfect!! She is 62 and my father passed away 3 years ago, so she is a widow. Prior to my dad passing away my parents used to always travel and traveling is the one thing that seems to interest her. Does anyone know of a good cruise to take for a 62 year old widowed female that is safe?? Thanks!!

 

I am a single woman who is 56. I have safely traveled quite abit - in fact my friends would say I am a travel addict. I do not take unrealistic risks but with being a woman engineer I am also not an extremely fearful person. I am saying this because I wanted you to have an idea of the type of person who is offering this advice. I have safely traveled on both HAL (Holland America) and Celebrity in the Caribbean, Panama Canal, Alaska and Hawaii. I always ask for a 6 - 8 person table - assigned formal dining room. The people at the tables I have been assigned to have always been very nice and I have often gone to the entertainment later with those people. Even if that does not happen you often can start up a conversation with other people in the theater. I would not say I have never had moments of being lonely but in general they have been short and fleeting. There are quite a number of female solo travelers that you meet on cruise ships - there are not that many single men on the cruises.

 

I personally would not go on a singles cruise - I know for me that would be setting myself up for disappointment and for being possibly hassled. Interesting people are not just single people...all I try to find is friendly people.

 

When I do cruise I have a cabin to myself - I have never wanted a stranger for a roomate...more expensive but for me at least the right answer. I generally do excursions thru the cruise line - I just feel it is more secure.

 

If you Mom is ready to take on the adventure I would say encourage her but until she is ready and want the adventure (because everything will not go perfect) I would not suggest you push her. If you want to discuss this further just let me know.

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IF your mother has never traveled by herself then I am not sure a cruise is the best place for her to start. She may have lots of cruise memories from traveling with your father too.

I am the same age but I have traveled alone for a while now since my husband does not care to fly any more.

She may have a friend who would go with her?

If not you might consider a tour with:

http://www.exploritas.org/

This is an organization that arranges all sorts of trips around the world and in the USA for seniors. There are planned activities and she can choose from short local weekends away to longer trips/voyages. It would be a good intro to traveling on her own.IMO

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  • 3 weeks later...

I am a 67 year old widow and have travelled alone many times to many parts of the world. I would suggest staying on cruise ships, river boat cruises, take the tours suggested by the cruise line instead of going off in a cab by yourself because, if something happens, i.e., they are late getting back to port, a flat tire, etc., the ship will take off without you. If you take the cruise sanctioned tours, the ship WILL wait if you are late. I always meet so many interesting people, especially on longer cruises. Seven day cruises are mostly filled with working people, naturally, who want to fit everything into their 7 days at sea. I love the transatlantic cruises which leave from Florida (where I live) in the Spring and go to a port in Europe and vice versa in the Fall. Good luck. Once your mother has taken a cruise alone, she will get back her confidence that she can cruise, and/or make other trips that are structured alone. I wouldn't have it any other way. GOOD LUCK.

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  • 2 weeks later...

NCL is just launching the EPIC which has cabins specifically for singles. The cabins share a private lounge with a bar, comfy seating and a concierge service to help with shore excursions and dining reservations, etc. I was looking at this for a single, older (70s) woman who often travels alone. It looks like a great way to cruise and mingle with other folks traveling single without any pressure to 'connect'. If you make friends, great, if you don't, you have all the comforts and support you need for a wonderful, hassle-free trip.

 

Oh, and these don't have the expensive single-supplement charges. The prices I looked at are only slightly more than a double inside. The one draw-back (for some folks) is these are all inside cabins. But, from what I could tell of the ship's plan, they all open to a center corridor of other singles and it leads to the private lounge.

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I am a recent widow, and went on my first cruise in April. I am 61, went Solo, and had the time of my life.

I loved sitting on the deck and having my coffee, just enjoying the atmosphere.

Your mother will love it.

Melanie

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As a widow of 3 years, I filled those first two years with travel involving my adult children, maybe somehow trying to keep the family together after Dad's death. Now I LOVE to travel solo, cruising is one answer. OAT, is a travel company that has trips all over the world, including some cruises of the Amazon, Nile, Rhine, with attractive solo rates. For the bigger lines, I've found Holland American to have the best cost/value ratio for older adults. I would not recommend Carnival, too many "happy" people, and Royal Caribbean (you are paying for that rock wall, wave rider and ice rink whether you use them or not). Just my personal observations, but most lines also have a single/solo mixer early on in the cruise. Tell your Mom to be sure to attend that and plan some excursions with other widows along the way. Above all, don't push her. It is really hard when you're still missing your mate, to see happy couples holding hands and growing old together. Her feelings should be paramount. You can't understand it until you've been in her shoes.

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Cunard and Crystal both provide dance hosts; both are a little pricey, but might be a good choice if your mother is interested.

HAL is a good choice if you like huge portions of American comfort food, and then in bed by 10PM. I'm only 60, the people on it are way too old for me.

I'm going on Epic in February to check out the Singles environment, it's a little bit too early to draw conclusions.

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I just stumbled onto the 55+ Forum and my head is reeling after having read all the postings since sometime in 2005! You all may be interested in reading the letter I recently emailed to my many cyberfriends in Canada, the US and in Europe and if you have questions, don't hesitate!

 

Musicus

 

Dear friends,

 

come the middle of September, you’ll not get any more forwardings from me and I’ll ask you to take me off your mailing list, if I happen to be on it. From that time onwards and for at least one entire year, my internet access will be severely restricted, although I hope to stay in touch with many friends on a personal level.

 

But let me explain…

 

Having outlived my wife, many close friends and. with exception of my son, all my family, I’ve reached the age where assisted living with its amenities looms large. I visited several such facilities but despite comfortable lodgings, the often quite pleasant surroundings exude a depressing “Waiting for God” feeling for me when I see some of the residents. I think that I am not ready for this- yet.

 

After my thoroughly enjoyable 14-day Panama Canal cruise over Christmas/New Years (my second cruise experience), I began to think of cruise ships as a viable alternative.

A comfortable room with all amenities, from Satellite TV,

air conditioning to private bath (and no more making the bed each morning, cleaning room and bath, changing linen); a choice of restaurants with fabulous menus (goodbye TV Dinners or having to cook and then eat alone); nightly Broadway Class entertainment in a luxurious theater (beats lousy TV fare); swimming pools, jaccuzzis, well equipped gym and a medical facility complete with doctor and nurse - all a short walk away; a well stocked library and lectures, a casino, bars and interesting people to meet - and to top it all off, travel to places you would never have seen otherwise -- all in all, what more could you want?

 

For many months I have been working on a plan to spend one year on a cruise ship, which entailed arduous computer research covering cruise lines, their ships and itineraries (which often were hard to find for more than a few months) and finally, costs!

 

To my chagrin I discovered that I would be faced with a single supplement varying between 50% and 100% of the double occupancy rate, which is the industry’s standard and I knew then that I would have to stretch my budget limitation by at least $10,000 to get anywhere near to my goal.

 

I am happy to report that I finally succeeded in finding the right Line, ship, itinerary and price (which however will mean that I’ll spend more of my son’s inheritance …) and I will leave on MSC's "Poesia"

October 9 at Quebec City, returning to there October 15, 2011.

Oh yes, I forgot to tell you: I was born February 9, 1917.

 

Attached is my itinerary. It certainly would be nice if some of you would decide to take one or two of the cruise legs and we would see each other! And should you be alone, don’t forget that my stateroom has twin beds! Sharing the stateroom with me will save you a lot of money and if I am lucky and you are female, be assured that I will be on my best gentlemanly behavior!

 

Ahoy!

 

Egon

 

MY ITINERARY ON MSC “POESIA” 2010/2011

004 Saturday Oct. 9 – Sat. 16 - 7 Quebec, Sydney, Nova Scotia, Bar Harbor, Maine, Boston, MA, Newport, R.I., New York

P005 Saturday Oct. 16 – Sat.23, 2010 - 7 New York, Hallifax, Sydney, Charlottetown, Quebec

P006 Sat. Oct.23 - Nov 1, 2010 - 7 Quebec, Sydney, Boston, Newport, New York, Fort Everglades

PO07 Mon, Nov 01, Thu, Nov 11, 10 Port Everglades, Cozumel, Puerto Limon, Cristobal, Cartagena, Montego Bay, Port Everglades

PO08 Thu, Nov 11, 2010 Sun, Nov 14, 2010 3 Port Everglades, Coco Bay, Nassau, Port Everglades

PO09 Sun, Nov 14, 2010 Sun, Nov 21, 2010 7 Port Everglades, Charlotte Amalie, Philipsburg, Nassau, Port Everglades

PO10 Sun, Nov 21, 2010 Sun, Nov 28, 2010 7 Port Everglades, Key West, Ocho Rios, Georgetown, Cozumel, Port Everglades

PO11 Sun, Nov 28, Sun, Dec 05, 7 Port Everglades, Charlotte Amalie, Philipsburg, Nassau, Port Everglades Cozumel, Port Everglade

P012 Sun. Dec 5, 2010 - Sun. Dec 12, 2010 7 Port Everglades, Key West, Ocho Rios, Georgetown,,Cosumel, Port Everglades

PO13 Sun, Dec 12, 2010 Sun, Dec 19, 2010 7 Port Everglades, Philipsburg, Charlotte Amalie, Nassau, Port Everglades

PO14 Sun, Dec 19, 2010 Sun, Dec 26, 2010 7 Port Everglades, Key West, Ocho Rios, Georgetown, Cozumel, Port Everglades

PO15 Sun, Dec 26, 2010 Sun, Jan 02, 2011 7 Port Everglades, Charlotte Amalie, Philipsburg, Nassau, Port Everglades

PO16 Sunday, Jan. 2nd – Tuesday Jan. 4th, 2010 – Fort Lauderdale, Nassau, Fort Lauderdale

JAN 4 - 9 CHARTER

PO18 Sun, Jan 09, 2011 Sun, Jan 16, 2011 7 Port Everglades, Charlotte Amalie, Philipsburg, Nassau, Port Everglades

PO19 Sun, Jan 16, 2011 Sun, Jan 23, 2011 7 Port Everglades, Key West, Ocho Rios, Georgetown, Sunday,

PO20 Sun, Jan 23, 2011 Sun, Jan 30, 2011 7 Port Everglades, Charlotte Amalie, Philipsburg, Nassau, Port Everglades

PO21 Sun, Jan 30, 2011 Sun, Feb 06, 2011 7 Port Everglades, Key West, Ocho Rios, Georgetown, Cozumel, Port Everglades

PO22 Sun, Feb 06, 2011 Sun, Feb 13, 2011 7 Port Everglades, Charlotte Amalie, Philipsburg, Nassau, Port Everglades

PO23 Sun, Feb 13, 2011 Sun, Feb 20, 2011 7 Port Everglades, Key West, Ocho Rios, Georgetown, Cozumel, Port Everglades

PO24 Sun, Feb 20, 2011 Sun, Feb 27, 2011 7 Port Everglades, Charlotte Amalie, Philipsburg, Nassau, Port Everglades

PO25 Sun, Feb 27, 2011 Sun, Mar 06, 2011 7 Port Everglades, Key West, Ocho Rios, Georgetown, Cozumel, Port Everglades

PO26 Sun, Mar 06, Wed, Mar 23, 17 Port Everglades, San Juan, St. John's, Castries, Funchal, Malaga , Alicante, Barcelona, Genoa

PO27 Wed, Mar 23, 2011 Thu, Mar 31, 2011 8 Genoa, Malaga, Cadiz, Lisbon, Gibraltar, Alicante, Barcelona, Genoa

PO28 Thu, Mar 31, 2011 Fri, Apr 08, 2011 8 Genoa, Malaga, Cadiz, Lisbon, Gibraltar, Alicante, Barcelona, Genoa

PO29 Fri, Apr 08, 2011 Sat, Apr 16, 2011 8 Genoa, Malaga, Cadiz, Lisbon, Gibraltar, Alicante, Barcelona, Genoa

PO30 Sat, Apr 16, 2011 Sun, Apr 24, 2011 8 Genoa, Malaga, Cadiz, Lisbon, Gibraltar, Alicante, Barcelona, Genoa

PO31 Sun, Apr 24, 2011 Mon, May 02, 2011 8 Genoa, Malaga, Cadiz, Lisbon, Gibraltar, Alicante, Barcelona, Genoa

PO32 Mon, May 02, 2011 Tue, May 10, 2011 8 Genoa, Malaga, Cadiz, Lisbon, Gibraltar, Alicante, Barcelona, Genoa

PO33 Tue, May 10, 2011 Fri, May 20, 2011 10 Genoa, Malaga, Cadiz, Lisbon, Vigo, Southampton, Zeebrugge, Kiel

PO34 Fri, May 20, 2011 Mon, May 23, 2011 3 Kiel, Oslo, Copenhagen, Kiel

PO35 Mon, May 23, 2011 Fri, Jun 03, 2011 11 Kiel, Bergen, Tórshavn, Akureyri, Isafjordur, Reykjavík, Lerwick, Kiel

PO36 Fri, Jun 03, 2011 Tue, Jun 14, 11 Kiel, Copenhagen, Trondeim, Honningsvag, Tromso, Hellesylt & Geiranger, Bergen, Kiel

PO37 Tue, Jun 14, 2011 Sat, Jun 25, 11 Kiel, Copenhagen, Trondeim, Honningsvag, Tromso, Hellesylt & Geiranger, Bergen, Kiel

PO38 Sat, Jun 25, 2011 Sat, Jul 02, 2011 7 Kiel, Copenhagen, Olden, Bergen, Kristiansand, Oslo, Kiel

PO39 Sat, Jul 02, 2011 Sat, Jul 09, 2011 7 Kiel, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Tallin, St. Petersburg, Kiel

PO40 Sat, Jul 09, 2011 Sat, Jul 16, 2011 7 Kiel, Copenhagen, Olden, Bergen, Kristiansand, Oslo, Kiel

PO41 Sat, Jul 16, 2011 Sat, Jul 23, 2011 7 Kiel, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Tallin, St. Petersburg, Kiel

PO42 Sat, Jul 23, 2011 Sat, Jul 30, 2011 7 Kiel, Copenhagen, Olden, Bergen, Kristiansand, Oslo, Kiel

PO43 Sat, Jul 30, 2011 Sat, Aug 06, 2011 7 Kiel, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Tallin, St. Petersburg, Kiel

PO44 Sat, Aug 06, 2011 Sat, Aug 13, 2011 7 Kiel, Copenhagen, Olden, Bergen, Kristiansand, Oslo, Kiel

PO45 Sat, Aug 13, 2011 Sat, Aug 20, 2011 7 Kiel, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Tallin, St. Petersburg, Kiel

PO46 Sat, Aug 20, 2011 Sat, Aug 27, 2011 7 Kiel, Copenhagen, Olden, Bergen, Kristiansand, Oslo, Kiel

PO47 Sat, Aug 27, 2011 Sat, Sep 03, 2011 7 Kiel, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Tallin, St. Petersburg, Kiel

PO48 Sat, Sep 03, 2011 Sat, Sep 10, 2011 7 Kiel, Copenhagen, Olden, Bergen, Kristiansand, Oslo, Kiel

PO01 Sat, Sep 10, 2011 Wed, Sep 28, 2011 18 Kiel, Copenhagen, Zeebrugge, Southampton, Vigo, Lisbon, Ponta Delgada, King's Wharf, New York City

PO02 Wed, Sep 28, 2011 Sat, Oct 08, 2011 10 New York City, Sydney, Charlottetown, Quebec, Halifax, Newport, New York City PO03 Sat, Oct 08, 2011 Sat, Oct 15, 2011 7 New York City, Halifax, Sydney, Charlottetown, Quebec

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The ship is the easiest, safest part of equation. Its the ports, airports, and onshore travel that can be dangerous. Traveling by herself will cost close to double on a cruise due to the dreaded singles supplement.

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Any ship will be as "safe" as any other....it's up to the cruiser to be aware of their surroundings, just like anywhere!

Does your mom want to cruise? She's an adult...let her pick her vacation, if she wants one. She's hardly "ancient"...she will be fine!

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I just stumbled onto the 55+ Forum and my head is reeling after having read all the postings since sometime in 2005! You all may be interested in reading the letter I recently emailed to my many cyberfriends in Canada, the US and in Europe and if you have questions, don't hesitate!

 

Musicus

 

Dear friends,

 

come the middle of September, you’ll not get any more forwardings from me and I’ll ask you to take me off your mailing list, if I happen to be on it. From that time onwards and for at least one entire year, my internet access will be severely restricted, although I hope to stay in touch with many friends on a personal level.

 

But let me explain…

 

Having outlived my wife, many close friends and. with exception of my son, all my family, I’ve reached the age where assisted living with its amenities looms large. I visited several such facilities but despite comfortable lodgings, the often quite pleasant surroundings exude a depressing “Waiting for God” feeling for me when I see some of the residents. I think that I am not ready for this- yet.

 

After my thoroughly enjoyable 14-day Panama Canal cruise over Christmas/New Years (my second cruise experience), I began to think of cruise ships as a viable alternative.

A comfortable room with all amenities, from Satellite TV,

air conditioning to private bath (and no more making the bed each morning, cleaning room and bath, changing linen); a choice of restaurants with fabulous menus (goodbye TV Dinners or having to cook and then eat alone); nightly Broadway Class entertainment in a luxurious theater (beats lousy TV fare); swimming pools, jaccuzzis, well equipped gym and a medical facility complete with doctor and nurse - all a short walk away; a well stocked library and lectures, a casino, bars and interesting people to meet - and to top it all off, travel to places you would never have seen otherwise -- all in all, what more could you want?

 

For many months I have been working on a plan to spend one year on a cruise ship, which entailed arduous computer research covering cruise lines, their ships and itineraries (which often were hard to find for more than a few months) and finally, costs!

 

To my chagrin I discovered that I would be faced with a single supplement varying between 50% and 100% of the double occupancy rate, which is the industry’s standard and I knew then that I would have to stretch my budget limitation by at least $10,000 to get anywhere near to my goal.

 

I am happy to report that I finally succeeded in finding the right Line, ship, itinerary and price (which however will mean that I’ll spend more of my son’s inheritance …) and I will leave on MSC's "Poesia"

October 9 at Quebec City, returning to there October 15, 2011.

Oh yes, I forgot to tell you: I was born February 9, 1917.

 

Attached is my itinerary. It certainly would be nice if some of you would decide to take one or two of the cruise legs and we would see each other! And should you be alone, don’t forget that my stateroom has twin beds! Sharing the stateroom with me will save you a lot of money and if I am lucky and you are female, be assured that I will be on my best gentlemanly behavior!

 

Ahoy!

 

Egon

 

MY ITINERARY ON MSC “POESIA” 2010/2011

004 Saturday Oct. 9 – Sat. 16 - 7 Quebec, Sydney, Nova Scotia, Bar Harbor, Maine, Boston, MA, Newport, R.I., New York

P005 Saturday Oct. 16 – Sat.23, 2010 - 7 New York, Hallifax, Sydney, Charlottetown, Quebec

P006 Sat. Oct.23 - Nov 1, 2010 - 7 Quebec, Sydney, Boston, Newport, New York, Fort Everglades

PO07 Mon, Nov 01, Thu, Nov 11, 10 Port Everglades, Cozumel, Puerto Limon, Cristobal, Cartagena, Montego Bay, Port Everglades

PO08 Thu, Nov 11, 2010 Sun, Nov 14, 2010 3 Port Everglades, Coco Bay, Nassau, Port Everglades

PO09 Sun, Nov 14, 2010 Sun, Nov 21, 2010 7 Port Everglades, Charlotte Amalie, Philipsburg, Nassau, Port Everglades

PO10 Sun, Nov 21, 2010 Sun, Nov 28, 2010 7 Port Everglades, Key West, Ocho Rios, Georgetown, Cozumel, Port Everglades

PO11 Sun, Nov 28, Sun, Dec 05, 7 Port Everglades, Charlotte Amalie, Philipsburg, Nassau, Port Everglades Cozumel, Port Everglade

P012 Sun. Dec 5, 2010 - Sun. Dec 12, 2010 7 Port Everglades, Key West, Ocho Rios, Georgetown,,Cosumel, Port Everglades

PO13 Sun, Dec 12, 2010 Sun, Dec 19, 2010 7 Port Everglades, Philipsburg, Charlotte Amalie, Nassau, Port Everglades

PO14 Sun, Dec 19, 2010 Sun, Dec 26, 2010 7 Port Everglades, Key West, Ocho Rios, Georgetown, Cozumel, Port Everglades

PO15 Sun, Dec 26, 2010 Sun, Jan 02, 2011 7 Port Everglades, Charlotte Amalie, Philipsburg, Nassau, Port Everglades

PO16 Sunday, Jan. 2nd – Tuesday Jan. 4th, 2010 – Fort Lauderdale, Nassau, Fort Lauderdale

JAN 4 - 9 CHARTER

PO18 Sun, Jan 09, 2011 Sun, Jan 16, 2011 7 Port Everglades, Charlotte Amalie, Philipsburg, Nassau, Port Everglades

PO19 Sun, Jan 16, 2011 Sun, Jan 23, 2011 7 Port Everglades, Key West, Ocho Rios, Georgetown, Sunday,

PO20 Sun, Jan 23, 2011 Sun, Jan 30, 2011 7 Port Everglades, Charlotte Amalie, Philipsburg, Nassau, Port Everglades

PO21 Sun, Jan 30, 2011 Sun, Feb 06, 2011 7 Port Everglades, Key West, Ocho Rios, Georgetown, Cozumel, Port Everglades

PO22 Sun, Feb 06, 2011 Sun, Feb 13, 2011 7 Port Everglades, Charlotte Amalie, Philipsburg, Nassau, Port Everglades

PO23 Sun, Feb 13, 2011 Sun, Feb 20, 2011 7 Port Everglades, Key West, Ocho Rios, Georgetown, Cozumel, Port Everglades

PO24 Sun, Feb 20, 2011 Sun, Feb 27, 2011 7 Port Everglades, Charlotte Amalie, Philipsburg, Nassau, Port Everglades

PO25 Sun, Feb 27, 2011 Sun, Mar 06, 2011 7 Port Everglades, Key West, Ocho Rios, Georgetown, Cozumel, Port Everglades

PO26 Sun, Mar 06, Wed, Mar 23, 17 Port Everglades, San Juan, St. John's, Castries, Funchal, Malaga , Alicante, Barcelona, Genoa

PO27 Wed, Mar 23, 2011 Thu, Mar 31, 2011 8 Genoa, Malaga, Cadiz, Lisbon, Gibraltar, Alicante, Barcelona, Genoa

PO28 Thu, Mar 31, 2011 Fri, Apr 08, 2011 8 Genoa, Malaga, Cadiz, Lisbon, Gibraltar, Alicante, Barcelona, Genoa

PO29 Fri, Apr 08, 2011 Sat, Apr 16, 2011 8 Genoa, Malaga, Cadiz, Lisbon, Gibraltar, Alicante, Barcelona, Genoa

PO30 Sat, Apr 16, 2011 Sun, Apr 24, 2011 8 Genoa, Malaga, Cadiz, Lisbon, Gibraltar, Alicante, Barcelona, Genoa

PO31 Sun, Apr 24, 2011 Mon, May 02, 2011 8 Genoa, Malaga, Cadiz, Lisbon, Gibraltar, Alicante, Barcelona, Genoa

PO32 Mon, May 02, 2011 Tue, May 10, 2011 8 Genoa, Malaga, Cadiz, Lisbon, Gibraltar, Alicante, Barcelona, Genoa

PO33 Tue, May 10, 2011 Fri, May 20, 2011 10 Genoa, Malaga, Cadiz, Lisbon, Vigo, Southampton, Zeebrugge, Kiel

PO34 Fri, May 20, 2011 Mon, May 23, 2011 3 Kiel, Oslo, Copenhagen, Kiel

PO35 Mon, May 23, 2011 Fri, Jun 03, 2011 11 Kiel, Bergen, Tórshavn, Akureyri, Isafjordur, Reykjavík, Lerwick, Kiel

PO36 Fri, Jun 03, 2011 Tue, Jun 14, 11 Kiel, Copenhagen, Trondeim, Honningsvag, Tromso, Hellesylt & Geiranger, Bergen, Kiel

PO37 Tue, Jun 14, 2011 Sat, Jun 25, 11 Kiel, Copenhagen, Trondeim, Honningsvag, Tromso, Hellesylt & Geiranger, Bergen, Kiel

PO38 Sat, Jun 25, 2011 Sat, Jul 02, 2011 7 Kiel, Copenhagen, Olden, Bergen, Kristiansand, Oslo, Kiel

PO39 Sat, Jul 02, 2011 Sat, Jul 09, 2011 7 Kiel, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Tallin, St. Petersburg, Kiel

PO40 Sat, Jul 09, 2011 Sat, Jul 16, 2011 7 Kiel, Copenhagen, Olden, Bergen, Kristiansand, Oslo, Kiel

PO41 Sat, Jul 16, 2011 Sat, Jul 23, 2011 7 Kiel, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Tallin, St. Petersburg, Kiel

PO42 Sat, Jul 23, 2011 Sat, Jul 30, 2011 7 Kiel, Copenhagen, Olden, Bergen, Kristiansand, Oslo, Kiel

PO43 Sat, Jul 30, 2011 Sat, Aug 06, 2011 7 Kiel, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Tallin, St. Petersburg, Kiel

PO44 Sat, Aug 06, 2011 Sat, Aug 13, 2011 7 Kiel, Copenhagen, Olden, Bergen, Kristiansand, Oslo, Kiel

PO45 Sat, Aug 13, 2011 Sat, Aug 20, 2011 7 Kiel, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Tallin, St. Petersburg, Kiel

PO46 Sat, Aug 20, 2011 Sat, Aug 27, 2011 7 Kiel, Copenhagen, Olden, Bergen, Kristiansand, Oslo, Kiel

PO47 Sat, Aug 27, 2011 Sat, Sep 03, 2011 7 Kiel, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Tallin, St. Petersburg, Kiel

PO48 Sat, Sep 03, 2011 Sat, Sep 10, 2011 7 Kiel, Copenhagen, Olden, Bergen, Kristiansand, Oslo, Kiel

PO01 Sat, Sep 10, 2011 Wed, Sep 28, 2011 18 Kiel, Copenhagen, Zeebrugge, Southampton, Vigo, Lisbon, Ponta Delgada, King's Wharf, New York City

PO02 Wed, Sep 28, 2011 Sat, Oct 08, 2011 10 New York City, Sydney, Charlottetown, Quebec, Halifax, Newport, New York City PO03 Sat, Oct 08, 2011 Sat, Oct 15, 2011 7 New York City, Halifax, Sydney, Charlottetown, Quebec

 

 

You are my HERO! Have a great trip. Perhaps you will have a little time to write a book about your adventure. It could pay for the next trip! I hope you will drop a line to let everyone know how it works out for you. :D

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i just stumbled onto the 55+ forum and my head is reeling after having read all the postings since sometime in 2005! You all may be interested in reading the letter i recently emailed to my many cyberfriends in canada, the us and in europe and if you have questions, don't hesitate!

 

Musicus

 

dear friends,

 

come the middle of september, you’ll not get any more forwardings from me and i’ll ask you to take me off your mailing list, if i happen to be on it. From that time onwards and for at least one entire year, my internet access will be severely restricted, although i hope to stay in touch with many friends on a personal level.

 

But let me explain…

 

having outlived my wife, many close friends and. With exception of my son, all my family, i’ve reached the age where assisted living with its amenities looms large. I visited several such facilities but despite comfortable lodgings, the often quite pleasant surroundings exude a depressing “waiting for god” feeling for me when i see some of the residents. I think that i am not ready for this- yet.

 

After my thoroughly enjoyable 14-day panama canal cruise over christmas/new years (my second cruise experience), i began to think of cruise ships as a viable alternative.

A comfortable room with all amenities, from satellite tv,

air conditioning to private bath (and no more making the bed each morning, cleaning room and bath, changing linen); a choice of restaurants with fabulous menus (goodbye tv dinners or having to cook and then eat alone); nightly broadway class entertainment in a luxurious theater (beats lousy tv fare); swimming pools, jaccuzzis, well equipped gym and a medical facility complete with doctor and nurse - all a short walk away; a well stocked library and lectures, a casino, bars and interesting people to meet - and to top it all off, travel to places you would never have seen otherwise -- all in all, what more could you want?

 

For many months i have been working on a plan to spend one year on a cruise ship, which entailed arduous computer research covering cruise lines, their ships and itineraries (which often were hard to find for more than a few months) and finally, costs!

 

To my chagrin i discovered that i would be faced with a single supplement varying between 50% and 100% of the double occupancy rate, which is the industry’s standard and i knew then that i would have to stretch my budget limitation by at least $10,000 to get anywhere near to my goal.

 

I am happy to report that i finally succeeded in finding the right line, ship, itinerary and price (which however will mean that i’ll spend more of my son’s inheritance …) and i will leave on msc's "poesia"

october 9 at quebec city, returning to there october 15, 2011.

Oh yes, i forgot to tell you: I was born february 9, 1917.

 

Attached is my itinerary. It certainly would be nice if some of you would decide to take one or two of the cruise legs and we would see each other! And should you be alone, don’t forget that my stateroom has twin beds! Sharing the stateroom with me will save you a lot of money and if i am lucky and you are female, be assured that i will be on my best gentlemanly behavior!

 

Ahoy!

 

Egon

 

my itinerary on msc “poesia” 2010/2011

004 saturday oct. 9 – sat. 16 - 7 quebec, sydney, nova scotia, bar harbor, maine, boston, ma, newport, r.i., new york

p005 saturday oct. 16 – sat.23, 2010 - 7 new york, hallifax, sydney, charlottetown, quebec

p006 sat. Oct.23 - nov 1, 2010 - 7 quebec, sydney, boston, newport, new york, fort everglades

po07 mon, nov 01, thu, nov 11, 10 port everglades, cozumel, puerto limon, cristobal, cartagena, montego bay, port everglades

po08 thu, nov 11, 2010 sun, nov 14, 2010 3 port everglades, coco bay, nassau, port everglades

po09 sun, nov 14, 2010 sun, nov 21, 2010 7 port everglades, charlotte amalie, philipsburg, nassau, port everglades

po10 sun, nov 21, 2010 sun, nov 28, 2010 7 port everglades, key west, ocho rios, georgetown, cozumel, port everglades

po11 sun, nov 28, sun, dec 05, 7 port everglades, charlotte amalie, philipsburg, nassau, port everglades cozumel, port everglade

p012 sun. Dec 5, 2010 - sun. Dec 12, 2010 7 port everglades, key west, ocho rios, georgetown,,cosumel, port everglades

po13 sun, dec 12, 2010 sun, dec 19, 2010 7 port everglades, philipsburg, charlotte amalie, nassau, port everglades

po14 sun, dec 19, 2010 sun, dec 26, 2010 7 port everglades, key west, ocho rios, georgetown, cozumel, port everglades

po15 sun, dec 26, 2010 sun, jan 02, 2011 7 port everglades, charlotte amalie, philipsburg, nassau, port everglades

po16 sunday, jan. 2nd – tuesday jan. 4th, 2010 – fort lauderdale, nassau, fort lauderdale

jan 4 - 9 charter

po18 sun, jan 09, 2011 sun, jan 16, 2011 7 port everglades, charlotte amalie, philipsburg, nassau, port everglades

po19 sun, jan 16, 2011 sun, jan 23, 2011 7 port everglades, key west, ocho rios, georgetown, sunday,

po20 sun, jan 23, 2011 sun, jan 30, 2011 7 port everglades, charlotte amalie, philipsburg, nassau, port everglades

po21 sun, jan 30, 2011 sun, feb 06, 2011 7 port everglades, key west, ocho rios, georgetown, cozumel, port everglades

po22 sun, feb 06, 2011 sun, feb 13, 2011 7 port everglades, charlotte amalie, philipsburg, nassau, port everglades

po23 sun, feb 13, 2011 sun, feb 20, 2011 7 port everglades, key west, ocho rios, georgetown, cozumel, port everglades

po24 sun, feb 20, 2011 sun, feb 27, 2011 7 port everglades, charlotte amalie, philipsburg, nassau, port everglades

po25 sun, feb 27, 2011 sun, mar 06, 2011 7 port everglades, key west, ocho rios, georgetown, cozumel, port everglades

po26 sun, mar 06, wed, mar 23, 17 port everglades, san juan, st. John's, castries, funchal, malaga , alicante, barcelona, genoa

po27 wed, mar 23, 2011 thu, mar 31, 2011 8 genoa, malaga, cadiz, lisbon, gibraltar, alicante, barcelona, genoa

po28 thu, mar 31, 2011 fri, apr 08, 2011 8 genoa, malaga, cadiz, lisbon, gibraltar, alicante, barcelona, genoa

po29 fri, apr 08, 2011 sat, apr 16, 2011 8 genoa, malaga, cadiz, lisbon, gibraltar, alicante, barcelona, genoa

po30 sat, apr 16, 2011 sun, apr 24, 2011 8 genoa, malaga, cadiz, lisbon, gibraltar, alicante, barcelona, genoa

po31 sun, apr 24, 2011 mon, may 02, 2011 8 genoa, malaga, cadiz, lisbon, gibraltar, alicante, barcelona, genoa

po32 mon, may 02, 2011 tue, may 10, 2011 8 genoa, malaga, cadiz, lisbon, gibraltar, alicante, barcelona, genoa

po33 tue, may 10, 2011 fri, may 20, 2011 10 genoa, malaga, cadiz, lisbon, vigo, southampton, zeebrugge, kiel

po34 fri, may 20, 2011 mon, may 23, 2011 3 kiel, oslo, copenhagen, kiel

po35 mon, may 23, 2011 fri, jun 03, 2011 11 kiel, bergen, tórshavn, akureyri, isafjordur, reykjavík, lerwick, kiel

po36 fri, jun 03, 2011 tue, jun 14, 11 kiel, copenhagen, trondeim, honningsvag, tromso, hellesylt & geiranger, bergen, kiel

po37 tue, jun 14, 2011 sat, jun 25, 11 kiel, copenhagen, trondeim, honningsvag, tromso, hellesylt & geiranger, bergen, kiel

po38 sat, jun 25, 2011 sat, jul 02, 2011 7 kiel, copenhagen, olden, bergen, kristiansand, oslo, kiel

po39 sat, jul 02, 2011 sat, jul 09, 2011 7 kiel, copenhagen, stockholm, tallin, st. Petersburg, kiel

po40 sat, jul 09, 2011 sat, jul 16, 2011 7 kiel, copenhagen, olden, bergen, kristiansand, oslo, kiel

po41 sat, jul 16, 2011 sat, jul 23, 2011 7 kiel, copenhagen, stockholm, tallin, st. Petersburg, kiel

po42 sat, jul 23, 2011 sat, jul 30, 2011 7 kiel, copenhagen, olden, bergen, kristiansand, oslo, kiel

po43 sat, jul 30, 2011 sat, aug 06, 2011 7 kiel, copenhagen, stockholm, tallin, st. Petersburg, kiel

po44 sat, aug 06, 2011 sat, aug 13, 2011 7 kiel, copenhagen, olden, bergen, kristiansand, oslo, kiel

po45 sat, aug 13, 2011 sat, aug 20, 2011 7 kiel, copenhagen, stockholm, tallin, st. Petersburg, kiel

po46 sat, aug 20, 2011 sat, aug 27, 2011 7 kiel, copenhagen, olden, bergen, kristiansand, oslo, kiel

po47 sat, aug 27, 2011 sat, sep 03, 2011 7 kiel, copenhagen, stockholm, tallin, st. Petersburg, kiel

po48 sat, sep 03, 2011 sat, sep 10, 2011 7 kiel, copenhagen, olden, bergen, kristiansand, oslo, kiel

po01 sat, sep 10, 2011 wed, sep 28, 2011 18 kiel, copenhagen, zeebrugge, southampton, vigo, lisbon, ponta delgada, king's wharf, new york city

po02 wed, sep 28, 2011 sat, oct 08, 2011 10 new york city, sydney, charlottetown, quebec, halifax, newport, new york city po03 sat, oct 08, 2011 sat, oct 15, 2011 7 new york city, halifax, sydney, charlottetown, quebec

 

way to go!!! What a great idea!

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I am a single woman who is 56. I have safely traveled quite abit - in fact my friends would say I am a travel addict. I do not take unrealistic risks but with being a woman engineer I am also not an extremely fearful person. I am saying this because I wanted you to have an idea of the type of person who is offering this advice. I have safely traveled on both HAL (Holland America) and Celebrity in the Caribbean, Panama Canal, Alaska and Hawaii. I always ask for a 6 - 8 person table - assigned formal dining room. The people at the tables I have been assigned to have always been very nice and I have often gone to the entertainment later with those people. Even if that does not happen you often can start up a conversation with other people in the theater. I would not say I have never had moments of being lonely but in general they have been short and fleeting. There are quite a number of female solo travelers that you meet on cruise ships - there are not that many single men on the cruises.

 

I personally would not go on a singles cruise - I know for me that would be setting myself up for disappointment and for being possibly hassled. Interesting people are not just single people...all I try to find is friendly people.

 

When I do cruise I have a cabin to myself - I have never wanted a stranger for a roomate...more expensive but for me at least the right answer. I generally do excursions thru the cruise line - I just feel it is more secure.

 

If you Mom is ready to take on the adventure I would say encourage her but until she is ready and want the adventure (because everything will not go perfect) I would not suggest you push her. If you want to discuss this further just let me know.

 

I am 54 and have gone on 2 solo cruises these last two years. I was a little nervous at first but got over it fast. I loved it. However, avoid going on short cruises over the summer months. I took a short summer cruise last year because the price was so cheap $299 on RCCL. I didn't care much for the ship and there were 700 high school kids from Argentina on board for a school field trip. Yikes! The other cruise I took was at Christmas time and it was awesome. Lastly, I took a Disney cruise with my granddaughter and although we did have fun - I'm looking forward to another solo cruise. It is so relaxing!

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  • 2 weeks later...

Amazing journey , you will have , I began 5 yrs ago to experience what crusing was all about since the unexpected passing of my husband , the first two cruises was with my teenage son a Baja cruise on the Monarch and the second with my sister a Mediterannean on the Brilliance , then there was no one to cruise with me since no one had the time, so I started traveling by myself to Europe to do Trans Atlantic Cruises , I had so much fun meeting new friends, esp joining Cruise Critics , though I had to pay for double occupancy and I enjoyed balconies ... I have had great travels thru Europe, I now have a friend that cruises with me ,I'm the one that looks for the discounted Hot Deals and find that the Trans Atlantic are the best rates for 2 wk cruises. I only Cruise with RCI.

So Bon Voyage to you and Cheers , your doing what a few of us wish we could do, just live on a cruise ship and enjoying each different Ports each time you awake to a new day.

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  • 2 weeks later...

At that time i was widowed for 15 months.

All would have been ok,but 3 days before leaving i hurt my back.

If that was not enough,the ship was cancelled and left one day late.

Next the ship broke down on the way to fiji,the captain announced we would receive a full refund,then we turned around and came back to sydney.

The worst part about all this,was the standing in line at the pursers deck,sometimes for half an hour or more,sore back and all.

 

One day a lovely young mother, helped me out with my paperwork,as this was all new to me,then she made me sit, while she stood in line with her and my paperwork for 45 minutes,i could not thank her enough,i tried to offer her something for her trouble,but she refused.

 

I tried to have a good time regardless,and put it all down to a learning experience.LOL.

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I have been widowed for 2 years and another widow-friend of mine and I are going on a 21 day cruise to the Mediterreanean during Christmas. I have cruised many times, including last year, with my son and his family. My friend has never cruised, so she is courageous to do a 21 day one for the first. We are so anticipating our trip...to get away from memories at home during the Christmas holidays.

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I've really enjoyed reading this thread. Lately I've been cruising during the Christmas/New Years holidays. I live and work in a 'college town' and this time works out to be a good time to get away. I'm open to all the cruiselines--last year I was on a PC cruise on HAL. Sometimes I tack on some visiting time in a port area--this way I can visit old friends/co-workers and cruise on the same airfare. When cruising over the holidays I only consider cruises of 10+ nights--I'm concerned about being overwhelmed with family groups. So far this hasn't happened. I think that a lot of us--solo for whatever reason--are looking to get away over the holidays.

 

I think that solo cruising is a great way to travel alone for the first time. The basics are taken care of for you--all one needs to do is show up. Someday I'd love to do a TA and spend some time in Europe. I'm hoping I can do this before I retire cause retirement is not for another 6-8 years. Happy cruising everybody. Faith

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I have been widowed for 2 years and another widow-friend of mine and I are going on a 21 day cruise to the Mediterreanean during Christmas. I have cruised many times, including last year, with my son and his family. My friend has never cruised, so she is courageous to do a 21 day one for the first. We are so anticipating our trip...to get away from memories at home during the Christmas holidays.

You go girls!

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Seabourn cruise line is perfect for singles of all ages and genders. There are three small ships (206) and 3 larger ones (450). The cruise is all inclusive except for excursions, the Spa and the casino.

The personal service is outstanding. Dining venues and times are not assigned and the options to dine with others is always available. In addition, there are hosted tables every evening and accepting an invitation to one of those is sure to be a splendid time. Entertainment is low key expecially on the smaller ships. I have sailed alone on Seabourn for 9 years and the cruises have been wonderful. One can be alone if you want, or not. But the other cruisers are interesting and varied. While 'all inclusive' may seem daunting. there is a single supplement, but one can have caviar and champagne all day every day.

There is no tipping and that's the truth. Check out the Seabourn website and the CC Seabourn Forum.

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  • 1 year later...
Hi I just joined and am a single lady senior 68yrs.. I also love to travel, and have been travelling on my own for the past 10 yrs..if you care to chat about your Mom please contact me.....:)

 

Chances are, since the original post is nearly two years old, the OP probably won't be back here to chat with you.

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