Traveling solo on a river cruise

[gailellen12]

 I am thinking about doing a river cruise solo next summer.  I have cruised alone before with Holland America; but thought I might enjoy a much smaller ship the second time aroun,d.  I am interested in hearing from anyone who has done this before.  I am looking at Avalon and Gate 1 for a Rhine cruise. Thanks

[gnome12]

1 hour ago, gailellen12 said:

 I am thinking about doing a river cruise solo next summer.  I have cruised alone before with Holland America; but thought I might enjoy a much smaller ship the second time aroun,d.  I am interested in hearing from anyone who has done this before.  I am looking at Avalon and Gate 1 for a Rhine cruise. Thanks

I have done 2 European cruises with Uniworld, Vietnam and Cambodia with Ama Waterways and Myanmar with Avalon, all as a single. Because of the size of the ship, the very limited number of 2-top tables,  and generally one lounge area to congregate, it is very easy to meet people. (Included excursions don't hurt either.) On my first cruise I moved around every evening, sitting at different tables. The second, I generally sat with a couple and a guy travelling without his partner, but I would occasionally sit somewhere else for variety. It is very easy.

 

As for the lounge area, just sit down and join a conversation. No problem.

 

Go for it!

[Coral]

I have done 2 - one with Amawaterways and one with Crystal.

 

I think river cruises is great for solos as there are fewer people on the ships and you get to meet people. I recommend finding a TA who specializing in cruises and look for companies with specials with no single supplement (or a minimal one). For example, Tauck (high end) offers the lowest category with no single supplement. Other lines ran specials last year (not sure about this year). I did Crystal with 125% last  year and thought the cost was reasonable but I went off season. Some higher lines may waive solo supplement verses some lower lines may not - so it is worth having a TA look for you.

[Roz]

I've done 3 cruises on Uniworld, all solo.  I agree with everything Gnome and Coral posted.  Most of my ocean cruises have been with Holland America.  Solo pricing can vary a great deal across lines, itineraries, and time of year, so it definitely pays to shop around.  I've found end of season cruises, before the Christmas Market cruises, to offer good pricing in Europe.

 

What area of the world are you interested in?  

 

Roz

[RTLS]

We are going to be cruising with Avalon in September. We are 3 adults , 2 sharing and 1 single. We chose Avalon because the single was able to book the same category as the double and there was no single supplement. It seems to me that most of the lines that offer single supplement waivers only offer them on the lowest category. Avalon doesn't offer this deal on all sailings but when it is offered it applies to all categories.

[Charm2018]

My mom is looking into Avalon for the very reason that it offers a no single supplement.  It's a bucket list trip for her and although I would have gone with her, she knows it would be expensive for me right now.  🙂 

[Lois R]

I always sail solo and took my first River cruise back in the spring of 2016 on AMA Waterways and LOVED IT

And I just booked my 2nd river cruise with UNIWORLD sailing in October cannot wait to try them! Got a great deal on the cabin too.

[supersecdd]

I wish that CruiseCritic had forums for specific river cruise lines like they do for ocean cruises.  We booked our first river cruise for next year on Avalon and my single friend was happy to have no  single supplement.  We are also doing Globus' land tour before the river cruise, so it should be a really nice trip.  

[Coral]

4 hours ago, supersecdd said:

I wish that CruiseCritic had forums for specific river cruise lines like they do for ocean cruises.  We booked our first river cruise for next year on Avalon and my single friend was happy to have no  single supplement.  We are also doing Globus' land tour before the river cruise, so it should be a really nice trip.  

They tried it once. It was quickly reversed.

[VT Hokie Cruiser]

I just returned from my first river cruise -- the Danube on Avalon Envision. I traveled for first time as a single (age 65, male, recently divorced) and wasn't sure what it would be like after 40 years of travel with spouse and/or family. It was great and I recommend it to others.

 

I found it rather easy to meet others, and I am not an extrovert. The variety of people I met and conversed with was among highlights of the trip. I found there were people who sort of watch out for single travelers. At dinner the first night I sat by myself at a two-top but was adjacent to two couples I met on the bus from Prague to the port. It probably appeared that I was "all alone" and soon an outgoing lady from a nearby table got up and came over and introduced herself and told me about the group she was traveling with. Very nice gesture. In the next few days I found myself "adopted" by two other groups of four people and tended to hang out, do excursions and have meals with them. (They were varying ages, and one was asked by another cruiser if I was their uncle, because we were hanging out so much). By the end of the week we knew everything about each other's backgrounds and families and will stay in touch. It was easy. Just ask others that you come in contact with if this is their first river cruise (I found that it usually was), and conversation flows from there.

 

By the way, the no-single-supplement is capacity controlled. There are only so many "single cabins" per sailing, so be aware. You can track the availability on the Avalon website, for example (although I used a travel agent to book). The no-supplement is highlighted in yellow if available for a particular sailing date. I just booked Paris to Normandy for May 2020 the day before leaving for the Danube. I planned to wait until I returned, in order to see how I liked river cruising before committing, but was tracking availability for several dates and noticed the no-supplement was starting to dry up for spring 2020. So I jumped in (deposit only $250, what the heck). When I returned, there was no single availability for my three weeks of choice, so it was the right decision not to wait. For this early May 2019 trip, there was single availability when I booked in late July 2018. But the Danube has more ships/capacity than the Seine (Normandy), according to TA. Some cruise lines, such as Viking, do not cater to singles, FYI.    

[Lois R]

Good morning, glad you enjoyed your cruise