Age barrier

[Fisherlady48]

I would advise anyone going solo to try the meet n mingle.. I had such a great time with the folks I met here on the board before my trip!!

 

Im taking a quickie cruise for Labor Day weekend solo, Im looking forward to trying out my new snorkle equipment at CocoCay..

 

If you like your own company, you will love crusing..

 

I hope all of you post more trip reports..

 

I wish I could afford Seabourne!!

 

K

[Wilde_37]

Why don't you do that other minority groups do on the cruises. On the first day go to the Cruise Director and ask for a notice to be placed on the community board advertising a Solo/Single cruiser meeting at a reasonable time in a reasonable location. I am sure there would be no difficulty.

 

There are groups meeeting all the time on board and they simply make the request and it is sorted. Friends of Dororthy (Gay cruisers), Friends of Bill W (AA) etc. There is no organisation involved and no need for a leader etc. So it could be up to anyone to talk to the CD.

 

I am a solo cruiser and also find that if I sign up for roll call or meet and mingle etc that I get to say hello to people on the first day - many organise sail-away parties on the deck at 5:00pm first day. This is a great way to break the ice and become a familiar face.

 

Lastly - I always ensure that I am at a large table of at least 8/10 - there is better scope for meeting others and having different people to say hello to over the duration.

[Fisherlady48]

Why don't you do that other minority groups do on the cruises. On the first day go to the Cruise Director and ask for a notice to be placed on the community board advertising a Solo/Single cruiser meeting at a reasonable time in a reasonable location. I am sure there would be no difficulty.

 

There are groups meeeting all the time on board and they simply make the request and it is sorted. Friends of Dororthy (Gay cruisers), Friends of Bill W (AA) etc. There is no organisation involved and no need for a leader etc. So it could be up to anyone to talk to the CD.

 

What a great idea. And thanks for the friends of Dorothy thing, I would have thought it was Wizard of Oz buffs!!

[guardami]

An 81 yr old great grandmother sitting on a bar stool, still seems wrong to me.and singing into a mike with my voice !!!!!!! Oh no it would be run for your lives - abandon ship.!

 

With a sense of humour like that I would suggest all you would need to do is strike up a conversation and you'll be fine! I'm in my late 20's and am going to be cruising solo in Feb next year and would consider myself fortunate if I managed to find someone with a sense of humour like yours to chat to, regardless of age!

 

FYI, I have travelled solo many times and have always been lucky to strike up friendships with people of varying ages and backgrounds, for me the key is to not care about whether I meet people or not - I'm secure enough with my own company that I wouldn't be travelling solo otherwise. Doesn't hurt that I have a father who can strike up a conversation with complete strangers (whether they be a gothic teen with various facial piercings to a little old blue-haired lady to a Hell's Angel) in any slow-moving queue with ease and I guess that has rubbed off on me.

 

Honestly - I met one of my best friends in the ladies at a nightclub! I certainly understand that a mixer is a great safe environment for meeting like-minded people but have a go next time you're waiting in a slow moving queue at striking up a conversation with the person next to you! You might be surprised to find that the little old man with the zimmer frame studied archaeology on a dig-site in Egypt when he was in his 20's or the scary-looking guy with the tattoos is really looking forward to seeing your favourite musical next weekend! Now don't get me wrong I am far from being a new-age earthy type person who believes in the good in everyone but sometimes an open mind can be a wonderful thing, besides where else but on a solo holiday can you try something different without being laughed at?!?

 

Just my two cents!

[Sansouci]

I think that the problem may be that the cruise lines set the meet and greets up for single not necessarly solo cruisers. There is a definite diference.

 

How do you find out about these solo/single gatherings? I've taken two solo cruises (one NCL and one CCL) recently and did not notice anything in the ships' daily newsletters -- my main source of info while cruising. Had I known, I certainly would've attended. Advice?

 

--Deb in Orlando

[Lois R]

How do you find out about these solo/single gatherings? I've taken two solo cruises (one NCL and one CCL) recently and did not notice anything in the ships' daily newsletters -- my main source of info while cruising. Had I known, I certainly would've attended. Advice?

 

--Deb in Orlando

 

Deb, usually there ARE items in the Daily Newsletter. If you think

you are missing something I would go to Guest Services at the

very beginning of the cruise.

The Cruise Director or Asst Director would probably know

about those activites.

I am not one to attend those events but I do know those

are the 2 folks who would know those answers.

[Roz]

Deb,

 

On Carnival, the singles mingle tends to be late evening (10:30 - 11 pm or so) in one of the dance venues. Maybe you didn't look that far down the schedule.

 

Don't know about NCL.

 

I like what HAL's done on my last 3 Caribbean cruises on sea days. They have a solo/singles lunch table. It's listed in the daily activities. We would meet in a lounge outside the dining room. One of the cruise director's staff members would organize it and eat with us. He/she would go to the maitre d' and get the size table we needed, and we would lunch together. A very easy, non-threatening way to get to know other people.

 

Over on the HAL board, there are posters who have taken some real pot shots at those of us who are single/solo and cruise. HAL is starting this dining on demand system, but still making traditional dinner seating available. However, they won't guarantee traditional so a single may get stuck with having to find dining companions every night, or eat by themselves in the Lido or DR. Some of the couples and family cruisers just don't understand how important having people to share dinner with is. We eat by ourselves most of the time, so it's a treat to be with others at mealtime. I like seeing the same faces at my dinner table each evening, but you would have thoughts we were crazy or heretics for even voicing our opinions. It got pretty nasty.

 

Roz

 

Roz

[LuvBNatC]

Deb,

Over on the HAL board, there are posters who have taken some real pot shots at those of us who are single/solo and cruise....I like seeing the same faces at my dinner table each evening, but you would have thoughts we were crazy or heretics for even voicing our opinions. It got pretty nasty. Roz

 

I can believe it. I spent 2 weeks alone back-to-back on HAL (due to my companion's last-minute cancellation) and encountered 2 unfriendly shiploads of passengers, so it wasn't just a fluke. Luckily, I was seated with nice people at dinner, but finding a seat at the buffets was pretty bad.

 

NCL cruises often have a singles get-together late, in the disco.

 

MSC had a singles meeting one afternoon. And I do mean "meeting." Everyone was sitting in a lounge, not mingling at all, waiting for instructions. The crew went around the room and made us introduce ourselves.

 

The cruise had a big band on board, which always attracts an older crowd. Consequently, the singles were a roomful of elderly ladies and two men. However, the two men were traveling with 2 of the ladies, so they were off-limits. The disappointment was palpable. I later found 2 elderly single men on board, but they skipped the singles meeting because they probably knew from experience that going would have been like throwing raw meat into shark-infested waters, because everyone was hungry for a dance partner. :D

 

I think it would be nice if more lines had specifically "solo" get-togethers because I it might deter the silly types who "crash" just to flaunt that they've snagged someone, which I think was the modus operandi on MSC.

[Sansouci]

Deb,

 

On Carnival, the singles mingle tends to be late evening (10:30 - 11 pm or so) in one of the dance venues. Maybe you didn't look that far down the schedule.

 

Don't know about NCL.

 

I like what HAL's done on my last 3 Caribbean cruises on sea days. They have a solo/singles lunch table. It's listed in the daily activities. We would meet in a lounge outside the dining room. One of the cruise director's staff members would organize it and eat with us. He/she would go to the maitre d' and get the size table we needed, and we would lunch together. A very easy, non-threatening way to get to know other people.

 

Over on the HAL board, there are posters who have taken some real pot shots at those of us who are single/solo and cruise. HAL is starting this dining on demand system, but still making traditional dinner seating available. However, they won't guarantee traditional so a single may get stuck with having to find dining companions every night, or eat by themselves in the Lido or DR. Some of the couples and family cruisers just don't understand how important having people to share dinner with is. We eat by ourselves most of the time, so it's a treat to be with others at mealtime. I like seeing the same faces at my dinner table each evening, but you would have thoughts we were crazy or heretics for even voicing our opinions. It got pretty nasty.

 

Roz

 

Roz

 

Thanks for the tip about Carnival's singles mingle, Roz. Now that I think about it, I think I do recall seeing it listed, but given the venue, did not think that there'd be anyone there over 40.

 

I guess I'm a bit surprised about the single/solo cruisers bashing on the HAL boards because it seems to me that quite a few posters on the solo threads here have mentioned that HAL is their favorite cruise line for solo cruising!

 

I have a HAL cruise booked for December on the Zuiderdam, but it's one of those hosted 40+ singles cruises. It'll be my first time out doing one of these. As many of the other posters have said, I too love the freedom of solo cruising, but when I socialize, I want it to be on my own terms, i.e., if and when I want. So the ability to opt in or out of the group activities on the singles cruise -- not to mention having at least a few guaranteed dinner partners with whom I might have something in common -- really interests me. (Not looking for shipboard romance, but comaraderie & kindred spirits!)

[cruisinryan]

It might be nice if the cruise lines would put up a bulletin board or something prior to the solo/singles get-together so those interested could post a note saying they were looking for someone to have lunch with, or shop awhile with or whatever. A little info about age and interests could be included in the note and anyone interested could post a note of their own in response. No cabin numbers, no names, no info that could result in unwanted attention from anyone.

 

Would I welcome someone joining me for a lunch or two during my cruise? Yes! Would I enjoy a little conversation while sitting out on deck some evening? Yes? Do I want a constant companion for the entire cruise. No way!

 

I agree a bulletin board, would be a nice thing for any cruise, and not just for singles but for any kind of notes (maybe even "adult" notes :cool: , if it was viewable and accessible via your TV in your room and had a way to block the adult section).

 

I also agree with you about sharing activities with others ... some of the time; but all the time? no way. I'm one of those who can entertain myself quite happily; but excursion buddies, dining companions, etc. can be nice. I've done 3 solo cruises and all were great, but I'm definitely on the learning curve on how to do "solo".

[cruisinryan]

Over on the HAL board, there are posters who have taken some real pot shots at those of us who are single/solo and cruise. It got pretty nasty.

 

HAL is starting this dining on demand system, but still making traditional dinner seating available. However, they won't guarantee traditional

 

Roz

 

What thread is the nasty one?

 

HAL does not guarantee traditional seating anymore??

[Roz]

Ryan, a lot of the really nasty posts were removed by the moderators.

 

HAL is going to still offer traditional dining, but not guarantee it. There are people "waitlisted" for traditional dining. "As You Wish" dining is not really as you wish, if your wish is to sit at the same table each night with the same people. :D

 

Hope they work it out before I take my next HAL cruise. Up to this point, I've really enjoyed how they handle singles.

 

Roz

[FranKes2000]

I have been travelling solo for the last 30+ years and have mainly had a good time. One singles mixer on NCL Dream was bad, the "gentleman hosts" spent the whole time complaining about the ship. There were no drinks offered and we were made to listen to these two men moan. The whole cruise was a nightmare.

All other cruises have been great and I am still in contact with people I met onboard, often couples with whom I took tours.

[Sansouci]

The whole cruise was a nightmare.

 

I'm contemplating booking a South American itinerary on the Dream for Feb. '08. This statement is pretty damning. Could you elaborate just a bit more other than on the weird singles mixer? :confused: Thanks!

 

Deb in Orlando