Making Friends on a Cruise

[Named-Tawny]

Hey Folks! First time cruiser here (July 16th NCL Pearl; its our honeymoon). I'm wondering what people are generally like in the friendliness department on cruises?

 

I figure a cruise is kinda halfway between a long train journey and an all-inclusive resort, yes? (I've done both. If you've never taken The Canadian from Toronto to Vancouver, do it now). On the train, I quickly made a small group of 'train friends' who I still keep in touch with to this day. At all-inclusives people tend to be much more 'coupley' and stick to their own people who they came with.

 

What's it like on cruises (and NCL specifically)? Do people tend to stick to themselves, or is there lots of genuine interaction?

[boopsahoy]

It really depends. Join your Meet and Greet-best way to make friends right off the bat.

[biker@sea]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.:D

 

We are a little different.

 

We make friends before a cruise thru " Roll Calls " The area just for the folks on Your cruise.

 

We also get together At the NCL Cruise Critic meet & Greet's on board the ship with the NCL officer's. :)

.

[ColinIllinois]

 

What's it like on cruises (and NCL specifically)? Do people tend to stick to themselves, or is there lots of genuine interaction?

 

 

Both, just like anywhere else. All kinds of people sailing.

[DMH15]

You find all kinds on a ship, as in life in general. If you want to develop friendships start now. Go to your roll call and post.

 

Also, some roll calls branch out to form a communicae on the other social media outlet that we cannot mention here on CC. Those tend to be more conversational.

 

On my last cruise I was active on both. So when I boarded I was already acquainted with folks. We even met someone from our area for coffee pre-cruise.

 

Some of my lasting cruise friends I met at trivia. That seems conducive to the same people attending. I still keep in touch with some.

 

Also, bonding can be easily formed on fun excursions. Either those prearranged through your roll call or "luck of the draw".

 

In addition, many times we have dined with strangers. Sometimes we have clicked. Sometimes not.

 

Happy Honeymoon!

 

 

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[Named-Tawny]

Yup, signed up for the roll call! Also figure that all of y'all are probably a bit more social than the average cruiser. ;)

 

Thanks all!

[roger001]

It's just like any setting. Some cruise guests are very social and look for interaction with others. Some, like us, we consider a cruise the great escape, and use it as time for just the two of us mostly. We are not at all unfriendly, but on the cruise don't really want to be more than polite to others.

 

Hope you have a wonderful honeymoon. We love the Pearl and her crew. Do look at the Spinnaker lounge (deck 13 forward). The Great Outdoors is nice for breakfast (deck 12 rear) and if it is crowded for sitting, you can go into the Italian restaurant attached for additional seating. Deck 11, port side forward, is a bridge viewing room.

[Travel R]

It depends.

 

As mentioned above - the Roll Call is the place to start "making friends" pre-cruise, then continue it up by going to the Meet & Greet

 

One cruise about 10 years ago, we (only myself and DW) sat at a top-8 (table for 8) with three other couples. After closing down the restaurant the first night at dinner, we hung with them most nights throughout the remainder of the cruise, and I am still Facebook friends with some of them.

 

On another cruise, we kept seeing the same people during dinner (it was my-time, but we must have had a very similar schedule).

 

On one cruise, my daughters became friends with some other kids, and we became friendly with the parents - even had dinner together. [Although probably not going to work with you this time around.]

 

If you are involved with an event or excursion, you can meet a lot of people that way.

 

You will meet people that want to be friendly, and those that just don't want to be bothered. Everyone is on a cruise for their own reason.

 

Personally, I am someone that will basically start up a conversation with just about anyone - which helps to meet people and break the initial "ice."

 

Talking of Honeymooners . . . . . On my very first cruise, which was our honeymoon cruise (my DW had already been on a few), they sat us at a top-4 with another very young honeymoon couple for dinner. I think we only saw them three times the entire cruise (including dinner). I am not even sure if they got off the ship.

 

Have fun!

[LrgPizza]

Certainly do no let people lead you to believe that you NEED a roll call or meet 'n greet to make friends, as you obviously know from your experience on the train. There are some who might need that if they struggle socially, but most people do just fine making friends on their own.

 

You will have all kinds on a cruise. Some people prefer to stay as just couples, etc, and that is just fine. However, if you are striking up conversations with people around the ship, you will certainly meet and make some friends. I'm still in touch with a friend I met on my 2014 cruise, and we are discussing sailing together next year.

[OurAnniversary25]

We join the Roll Calls before our cruise. We just did a land based trip with friends we met on a cruise in 2014. Going on the Bliss with three people we met on the GA last year, and hoping other friends from past cruises join us.

[Marine Mom]

We met a couple last year on the BA who live about 2.5 hours from us. We instantly became friends, have been to each others house, and now we have two cruises booked with them for this year and early next. It was a friendly ship for sure!!!!

[www3traveler]

In 35 cruises, I have become friends with many passengers and staff through Roll Calls, Meet and Greets and just striking up a conversation with someone waiting in line (like a buffet line) or sitting next to someone at the Java Cafe in the lobby.

 

Have a great cruise. The Pearl is a wonderful ship and Alaska is a wonderful cruise. I will be going for the 4th time in September.

[Tiggertastic]

We have amazing friends that we met on ships, travelled with them again multiple times and seen most of them again. I'd now class one of these people as one of my closest friends and others we treat like close family. Facebook enabled us to stay in touch, we use messenger video call to cover the call across the Atlantic. We traveled Epic last month with 2 couples we'd met at different times on different ships and now introduced them to each other too. My husband would class his best friend as someone we met on a cruise and we've sailed with them 5 times since. Again we met many of these on the roll call and said hello onboard, sharing a meal etc. One couple we met doing a med cruise live 15 miles from us, amazing friends. We're also friends with crew and keep n touch with them too.

 

 

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[Quilting_Cruiser]

As others have said, your roll call is a great place to start. I've met several people through roll calls that I'm still in touch with. Each cruise seems to have a little different feeling to it--I've done three NCL cruises, all solo. On the first I was on the Jade and met a few people through private tours (one of them was on the roll call and signed up herself, her DH and a couple they were traveling with). We had a great time on the tour and none of us had plans in the next port so we spent the day exploring together. Still in touch with them. My Epic cruise last year was a 10-day. A few of us did a food tour the evening before. I hosted the M&G so met a lot of people and a couple of them will be life-long friends. I've even seen one of them since the cruise and we've talked about my coming to visit them. My Pearl cruise in the fall was completely different. I spent the majority of the cruise solo and didn't really hang out with anyone other than brief times on sea days. But, it was nice to see them around the ship.

 

I suspect my next cruise (Alaska) will be one of those that will be more mellow. Our roll call isn't very active and we haven't planned any tours together. But, the next one (Western Med) this fall has a pretty active roll call and we have multiple tours planned as well as a food tour the evening before the cruise that several of us have signed up for.

 

I've found that people on a cruise are generally friendly and if you strike up a conversation with them, you know pretty quickly if you click. For me, it doesn't matter if I make friends or have people to hang out with, but I enjoy it when I do. I'm a very independent person and I work in high tech so my job is pretty intense. When I vacation, I enjoy relaxing and if that means sitting by myself reading a book, I'm fine with it. I'm also fine with going to karaoke with my new cruise friends. It's what you make of it. You seem like an outgoing person, and if you're looking for people to hang with, I suspect you'll find them. :D

[2Cruise4Ever]

We've made friends on here and then cruised with them later. We've also made friends on cruises and still keep in touch with some.

[Peachypooh]

If you would like to make friends on the cruise there are lots of opportunities. Joining the roll call is a great place to start. People also like to chat in the pool, at organized activities and on excursions.

One thing to keep in mind is that as someone said people are on cruises for all sorts of reasons and if they

are not open to talking please don't take it personally. I struck up a conversation with a woman who was on the cruise because her husband's mother just passed away and he needed to relax. He kept to himself and I understand why. Someone else was on a cruise with her daughter because it was an opportunity to spend time with her as they lived too far away for regular visits. In other words they might like you as a person but have other pressing issues. Have fun!

[KeithJenner]

Certainly do no let people lead you to believe that you NEED a roll call or meet 'n greet to make friends, as you obviously know from your experience on the train. There are some who might need that if they struggle socially, but most people do just fine making friends on their own.

 

 

 

This.

 

We have made many friends over the years whilst cruising. Some we have kept in touch with and some we haven't. Many of my Facebook friends are people we met on cruises.

 

Of all these people, only a couple were met at meet and greets. Most are just as a result of striking up a conversation at a bar. The author of the post that I've quoted is one we met in a bar (although from memory cruise critic was a reason we started talking).

 

We have also had some cruises where we have just kept ourselves to ourselves. It's always been our decision. Making friends on a cruise ship is easy if that's what you want to do.

[Linda the Book Lover]

We met many people through Meet & Greet. Our favorite couple we met on an Alaskan tour and we liked each other so much we went on another cruise with them. We are hoping to set another cruise in between our grandparent trips. In the meanwhile we are setting up a meeting for a short land trip. Sometimes it is just a fun time on one cruise and others you will meet great people that you later travel with again and again.

[BostonGal35]

we always chat with people at bars, shows, neighboring tables, etc.

[LrgPizza]

This.

 

We have made many friends over the years whilst cruising. Some we have kept in touch with and some we haven't. Many of my Facebook friends are people we met on cruises.

 

Of all these people, only a couple were met at meet and greets. Most are just as a result of striking up a conversation at a bar. The author of the post that I've quoted is one we met in a bar (although from memory cruise critic was a reason we started talking).

 

We have also had some cruises where we have just kept ourselves to ourselves. It's always been our decision. Making friends on a cruise ship is easy if that's what you want to do.

We need to do it again because there is still more left to drink. ;p

[Sissaaaaaa]

Hey Folks! First time cruiser here (July 16th NCL Pearl; its our honeymoon). I'm wondering what people are generally like in the friendliness department on cruises?

 

I figure a cruise is kinda halfway between a long train journey and an all-inclusive resort, yes? (I've done both. If you've never taken The Canadian from Toronto to Vancouver, do it now). On the train, I quickly made a small group of 'train friends' who I still keep in touch with to this day. At all-inclusives people tend to be much more 'coupley' and stick to their own people who they came with.

 

What's it like on cruises (and NCL specifically)? Do people tend to stick to themselves, or is there lots of genuine interaction?

 

We always make friends. People are on vacation - they want to have fun!

[Sissaaaaaa]

Yup, signed up for the roll call! Also figure that all of y'all are probably a bit more social than the average cruiser. ;)

 

Thanks all!

 

You definitely do not need the roll call, or the meet and greet, to make friends! Most cruisers don't even visit this board!!

[KeithJenner]

We need to do it again because there is still more left to drink. ;p

 

 

 

As I recall it there wasn't much left on that ship by the time we got to Miami. :)

[LrgPizza]

As I recall it there wasn't much left on that ship by the time we got to Miami. :)

It was all those Germans! They had all the good beer gone by day 3.