First solo cruise for a veteran cruiser

[ksmcdonald]

My father will be going on his first solo cruise.  He is an experienced cruiser, with 70 plus cruises under his belt, but they all were with my mom.  She has been gone now for five years and he really misses cruising but just thought it would be too hard to go without her.  He has decided to try a solo cruise in January and I was wondering what is the best way for him to have dinner with other solo cruisers.  He is going on the NCL Epic and I know they have the free-style dining so he won't be assigned to a regular table each night.  He is very, very social and loves to meet new people.  If you go to the MDR solo, can you ask to be seated with other people?  I want to give him some advice before he leaves. 

[lepidoptera]

They have a solo traveller meet up every night. When I was on the Breakaway in Ocrober they had it in a lounge the first night then we moved to the studio lounge thereafter (the door was unlocked so people that were sailing in other cabins could get in). From the solo social those of us that wanted to could go to the  reserved table one of the main dining rooms and they also reserved seats for us at shows near the frount. 

[FLAHAM]

On the other hand, if he would prefer to dine with mostly (usually) married couples, all he has to do is show up at one of the main dining rooms and ask to be seated at a sharing table.  

[marktwothousand]

Go to the solo cruiser meetup every day in the studio lounge and then the solo coordinator will take the entire group who wants to dine together, usually a 6 PM'ish seating. I did this for almost the entire last cruise I was on the Epic.

[kochleffel]

I'll add that the solos' gatherings on the Epic tend to have many people at them, with (in my experience) ten to twelve going to dinner together. On smaller ships there will naturally be fewer people, as there will be on ships that don't have studio cabins. However, even when the gathering is in the studio lounge, as it will be on the Epic, one doesn't have to be booked into a studio to attend them.

 

Before my first cruise I was worried that I might be older than most other solos, but that was not an issue. Many others were either recently retired or close to retirement (as I am), and not very many were really young. The groups for dinners in the MDR had a mix of ages.

 

If he is interested in specialty dining, he should go ahead and make the reservations. Sometimes the solo host will also arrange groups for specialty dining, sometimes not, but there is no problem in going solo to a specialty restaurant. It is better to make a reservation and cancel it if he connects with others going to the same restaurant than not to make one and possibly not to be able to get one (although on the Epic, the evenings that I happened to notice, the specialty restaurants were not full).

[marktwothousand]

You can also do one night at the teppanyaki. You are guaranteed seated with a group there, and even if you don’t make friends, you still have a good show to watch as they prepare the food

[Nola26]

I echo the solo meet up, just check the daily, time and place are listed each day.

 

I sail solo and I have made friends/meal companions via the group, but also on excursions. I met one of my good cruise buddies in the security detector line. So just be open, you never know who is solo or simply open to dining with your Dad.  I also had lunch with a  charming grandmother sailing with her 20 something niece/boyfriend. O'Sheehan's was packed on a sea day and the server asked if I'd mind sharing, my gain.

 

Finally, it didn't work for me, but he can also join his roll call to connect with people and meet them early in the cruise.

[ksmcdonald]

16 hours ago, marktwothousand said:

You can also do one night at the teppanyaki. You are guaranteed seated with a group there, and even if you don’t make friends, you still have a good show to watch as they prepare the food

 

Great idea!  Thanks so much for your input. 

[ksmcdonald]

13 hours ago, Nola26 said:

I echo the solo meet up, just check the daily, time and place are listed each day.

 

I sail solo and I have made friends/meal companions via the group, but also on excursions. I met one of my good cruise buddies in the security detector line. So just be open, you never know who is solo or simply open to dining with your Dad.  I also had lunch with a  charming grandmother sailing with her 20 something niece/boyfriend. O'Sheehan's was packed on a sea day and the server asked if I'd mind sharing, my gain.

 

Finally, it didn't work for me, but he can also join his roll call to connect with people and meet them early in the cruise.

 

Thanks so much for the information.  I agree the solo meet up sounds like his best bet.  I'm sure he will be fine, just me worrying about my 81 year father!

 

 

[ksmcdonald]

21 hours ago, lepidoptera said:

They have a solo traveller meet up every night. When I was on the Breakaway in Ocrober they had it in a lounge the first night then we moved to the studio lounge thereafter (the door was unlocked so people that were sailing in other cabins could get in). From the solo social those of us that wanted to could go to the  reserved table one of the main dining rooms and they also reserved seats for us at shows near the frount. 

 

Thanks!  Also I love the idea of them all going together at a reserved table.  He's always preferred the set dining time and set table and was a little disappointed that NCL didn't have that.  Also, I like that they reserve seat in the front at the shows.  He was always the person to get to the show 1/2 hour or more before it started just to get a seat down front.  Very helpful info to pass on to him, thanks again!