Excursions in Europe for Solo

[kelib]

I am traveling on the Epic in late August. As of now I have the excursion credit but am also looking at non NCL excursions instead. I am finding a lot of these excursions are gearing towards groups traveling together. I am also a skeptical on some of these small vans. The concept is great IF you have the right people, but with a group of maybe 8 people it only takes one jerk to ruin the trip ( or as my friend had a group that included 4 kids  that were too young for a long day)

Does anyone out there have any experience with finding an excursion company that is easy for a solo to join. 

[kochleffel]

For a Mediterranean cruise last year on the Epic, I connected through the Roll Call here on Cruise Critic with people organizing small-group excursions. It all worked out OK - congenial people with interests similar to mine - generally in 9-passenger vehicles. Being solo was not a problem. Some of the groups had more than one solo participant, some had odd numbers of people traveling together, etc. - it wasn't all couples.

 

One that was a little odd, but fun in the end, was when a tour that I'd signed up for didn't make its minimum and the company had me switch to another group for the same tour. That was a group of eight women all traveling together. We had some time on our own during that excursion and the tour guide suggested several different things to do so that everyone would be happy.

[Grburkart]

I’m travelling on the Emerald Princess in October. It will be my first cruise since 1978 so I have no answer to your questions. 

Having said that, I opted to go the route of getting my shore excursions from the cruise company because they have a guarantee return to ship policy. As a newcomer to the region I don’t want to take a chance. 

As far as getting a “bad apple”, you take your chances with any tour private or otherwise. 

 

Glenn

 

 

Edited February 1, 2019 by Grburkart

[kelib]

23 hours ago, kochleffel said:

For a Mediterranean cruise last year on the Epic, I connected through the Roll Call here on Cruise Critic with people organizing small-group excursions. It all worked out OK - congenial people with interests similar to mine - generally in 9-passenger vehicles. Being solo was not a problem. Some of the groups had more than one solo participant, some had odd numbers of people traveling together, etc. - it wasn't all couples.

 

One that was a little odd, but fun in the end, was when a tour that I'd signed up for didn't make its minimum and the company had me switch to another group for the same tour. That was a group of eight women all traveling together. We had some time on our own during that excursion and the tour guide suggested several different things to do so that everyone would be happy.

Our Roll call is pretty light at the moment.

[Lois R]

Hi, I always sail solo and have been to the Med twice in the last 2 years. I have gotten recommendations from the ports of call boards (depending on the city you are wanting to see).  Many legit companies are more than happy to add a solo guest to a tour but yes, you will probably be joining others.  Some couples, some singles, etc.  It depends on exactly what you are looking for really. I was in Barcelona and used "Barcelona Day Tours" and highly recommend them and they get very high marks from others over on the Spain forum. Yes, we were in a van (A very nice one) and I think there were about 10 of us and I had an excellent time.  I would suggest using the ports of call boards and Trip Advisor as well.

[kek123]

I have been to the Med three times in the last five years on cruises, all solo. I generally book thru the cruise line. If you book early they are very comparably priced to private tours and have the return to ship guarantee. I have also done the HOHO (Hop on Hop Off) buses in Barcelona and Monte Carlo. Very reasonable, I think it was 19 euros and took me all around the city. 

[Lois R]

Hi again, I should have also mentioned taking ship excursions.  I have done many of them over the years as well. I would say to do your research and do what you feel is best for you.

[kochleffel]

On 2/1/2019 at 7:51 PM, kelib said:

Our Roll call is pretty light at the moment.

 

It helped that for the western Mediterranean itinerary, NCL allowed embarkation from either Barcelona or Rome. As a result, there were three overlapping roll calls and the one for the first Barcelona departure was very active, partly because it followed a transatlantic sailing and there were many B2B passengers.

[NancyW12]

Hello! I did this trip as a solo last August. I am a 51 year old female and never touched the ship's excursions. Instead, I had what I feel was a more local and authentic port excursion DIY, and a lot more fun!! As a solo middle aged woman, safety was always paramount.

Here are some things I did by myself- if you want more detail, let me know. Otherwise, I won't clutter.

Naples- I pre-paid for my Pompeii ticket online (SMART!!!- shorter line at the site) and took a local bus to the local train. It was all right there. On the way back, I took the subway back to the ship and had a lovely 1/2 mile walk the last bit. Total cost was about $15 transportation and the Pompeii ticket.

Rome- took the shuttle bus to the local train. I missed my stop and ended up at the Termini and ended up taking a Hop On Hop Off bus instead of the public transit, with a cab back to the station. All inclusive cost with train, cab, and HOHO bus- approx. $65.

Pisa- from ship to shuttle bus to local bus to train and back- 15E- charming, charming town!

Cannes- I hopped a train to Nice, looked around a bit, came back. 12E.

Palma- stayed on the boat.

 

Point being- when you wing it, you can decide if you are too tired that day (Pisa, after 2 days of 100+ heat). My total transportation cost for the entire cruise was less than most of the excursion fares. I traveled at my speed and ate meals that looked interesting to me. They will always find another seat on the ship for the next day's excursion, so why not try doing it yourself the first day and see if you like it? If not, sign up for a ship's tour after that.

[Virtopia]

Too bad that there is not a lot of activity on your roll call. My last cruise was my first transatlantic in November and I booked about 5 excurisions, including pre cruise, with my roll call. Luckily, they were the sweetest people and I'll be cruising with a few of them again on the Allure transatlantic next November.

[robin13]

I just went through this on my TA last week.  I had booked all of my excursions ahead of time so there was no way to add any of the people I met on the cruise.  Almost all of the excursions were couples and then there was me.  I felt like a third wheel but tried to make the best of it.   Will probably be the last time I go solo in Europe as I am not one to do things by myself. 

[Lois R]

3 hours ago, robin13 said:

I just went through this on my TA last week.  I had booked all of my excursions ahead of time so there was no way to add any of the people I met on the cruise.  Almost all of the excursions were couples and then there was me.  I felt like a third wheel but tried to make the best of it.   Will probably be the last time I go solo in Europe as I am not one to do things by myself. 

 

Sorry you felt that way and too bad the other folks were not more welcoming. I am going to Europe for my 4th time in the fall and I am one who does things on her own but I also enjoy meeting other folks. Did you make an effort to speak with any of the other folks? Maybe I have been lucky but even with people I don't know I am quite outgoing.  I would say if there are parts of Europe you want to see, don't let that one TA deter you.

[mef_57]

18 hours ago, robin13 said:

I just went through this on my TA last week.  I had booked all of my excursions ahead of time so there was no way to add any of the people I met on the cruise.  Almost all of the excursions were couples and then there was me.  I felt like a third wheel but tried to make the best of it.   Will probably be the last time I go solo in Europe as I am not one to do things by myself. 

It's unfortunate that you would avoid an entire continent because of this experience.  It seems to me that some people are not as comfortable in their own skin and are much more self conscious than they need to be. What was the nature of the excursion? If they were information excursions (museums, historical sites, etc) I would go just for the content. Whether anyone talks to me is irrelevant to my enjoyment of the activity.  Even snorkeling or a physical activity, others would be less important to me. But if it was a pub crawl or something really intended to be social, then it is very unfortunate if others wouldn't interact.....and would indicate that the guide wasn't doing their job to help people mingle.

Perhaps an alternative approach is to book the most important (to you) excursions ahead of time, and leave some ports loose for activities with people from your roll call or you meet on board.....I get the impression that these opportunities came up but you were already committed to your early bookings.  Also, as a solo, it is often easier to squeeze onto a tour last minute - so you could book those onboard.

If you want to get comfortable 'doing things by yourself', start at home.

But then, solo travel isn't for everyone.  Sometimes it takes a bit to realize or accept that.

[robin13]

14 minutes ago, mef_57 said:

It's unfortunate that you would avoid an entire continent because of this experience.  It seems to me that some people are not as comfortable in their own skin and are much more self conscious than they need to be. What was the nature of the excursion? If they were information excursions (museums, historical sites, etc) I would go just for the content. Whether anyone talks to me is irrelevant to my enjoyment of the activity.  Even snorkeling or a physical activity, others would be less important to me. But if it was a pub crawl or something really intended to be social, then it is very unfortunate if others wouldn't interact.....and would indicate that the guide wasn't doing their job to help people mingle.

Perhaps an alternative approach is to book the most important (to you) excursions ahead of time, and leave some ports loose for activities with people from your roll call or you meet on board.....I get the impression that these opportunities came up but you were already committed to your early bookings.  Also, as a solo, it is often easier to squeeze onto a tour last minute - so you could book those onboard.

If you want to get comfortable 'doing things by yourself', start at home.

But then, solo travel isn't for everyone.  Sometimes it takes a bit to realize or accept that.

Well I guess I resemble your comment about feeling self conscious being the only solo on an excursion.  Since being divorced 4 years ago it has become very clear to me that older women are invisible to most people.  I can't tell you how many times people just ignored me on my tours even with me trying to start conversations.  The worst was a man that literally took my arm and pushed me out of the way saying "watch it they are trying to take a picture".  Are you  frigging kidding me??  I for a second thought that maybe I was walking into something and he was trying to save me.  But it seemed that the people taking pictures were more important than where I was walking.  I really wanted to say something to him but decided that since I still had another 2 hours left on the tour that I should hold my tongue.   Not all of my excursions were like this and there was one that had two other solo women so we wound up doing the tour together and eating lunch.  I'm just saying that on my excursions 99% of the group were coupled up and they just didn't want anything to do with a solo person.  And these tours were all walking city tours with visits to various palaces in Spain.

 

This was my third solo cruise but my other two were just Caribbean cruises and I didn't do any excursions as I had been to those islands before.  I have no problem sailing solo but my problem is with rude people that ignore you when you are trying to be friendly.  And you are right solo travel isn't for everyone.  If I had a choice I would rather travel with someone but since I'm alone and I want to travel I'm still going to do it.  Matter of fact I have another solo cruise booked for 2/20 on the Epic doing a 10 Caribbean cruise.

[mef_57]

2 hours ago, robin13 said:

 The worst was a man that literally took my arm and pushed me out of the way saying "watch it they are trying to take a picture".  Are you  frigging kidding me?? 

Ouch.  That is rude.  I wish I had words of wisdom, but am introverted and not aware of what others think about my solo state.  I also am over 60 and if 'invisible' it doesn't impact what I take away from what I do.

Perhaps doing activities with the ship's roll call group (who tend to be friendly types regardless of marital status), or a non ship excursion may provide better results - but would understand if you are gun shy.

I hope you have a great cruise in February.

[Lois R]

I am also over 60, being on my own for almost my entire adult life.  I don't like rude people either and hope your 2020 cruise is better for you😁

[robin13]

Thank you ladies!  For some strange reason I was very sensitive on this cruise and was really ready to come home as it was way too long.  I'm very glad that I did it and a TA is now marked off my bucket list.  As for my 2020 cruise I do know several people that will be on that cruise so I will have people to do excursions with.  And I will get back to Europe one day but it will probably be a land tour with friends as there are still lots of places to see. ☺

[geoherb]

My mother took an exchange group trip to the Netherlands when she was in her 50s. She traveled on her own to Paris and Madrid after the group part of her trip ended. It helped that she was fluent in Spanish and spoke a little bit of French--enough to  get along. I'm now older than she was then and am about to embark on my first solo cruise (but only because DH has to work).