Do guys ever cruise as a single?

[outerspaceguy]

So if you ladies *really* want to increase your odds of meeting single guys on a cruise, you're much better off splitting up, *especially* if you want the guy to make the first move. Of course, your best odds are to make that first move yourself. Guys like attention too, and as I said, single guys are much easier to spot... :D

 

To the ladies out there, this is very good advice.

 

As a solo guy who is fortunate enough to cruise a lot, I'd also add that the rule really only applies during the first 2(maybe 3) days of the cruise.

 

If he is like me, after the first 2-3 days have passed, he's already made some friends on board (and then he becomes much harder to spot).

[snowbird1]

I'm another 40-something single guy who likes cruising solo. I've been on 10 cruises - 8 of them as a single but traveling with a group, and 2 completely solo, and in a way, I liked the completely solo ones better. (I'm tentatively planning another on the Carnival Pride in late January...) On nearly all of my cruises, single men generally equalled or outnumbered the single women on board, but of course, both were severely outnumbered by couples.

 

I've never had any trouble meeting people and making friends to hang out with, but then, I don't just look for people who are single. I've made plenty of friends at CC role calls, or hanging out in the dance club, or on shore excursions, and the like. No need to limit your interactions with other singles, or even necessarily people "in your age range" (IMHO, age is overrated...).

 

Of course, if you're looking to hook up with someone for something more, um, extracurricular, *that* is when you really need to be looking for other singles. ;-) The singles meet and greets are usually completely unstructured and worthless, but sometime they can be more interesting, so don't pass them up. Personally, I think cruise ships aren't the best way to hook up with someone, but it's possible to do so, and I always keep an eye out myself, but never make it a priority.

 

 

 

That works well in just about any other setting but a cruise. On a cruise, couples outnumber singles by a huge amount compared to any other social venue.

 

Single guys, especially those traveling solo, are fairly easy to spot on a cruise -- we're usually the only ones sitting alone at the bar, or going to the dance floor, or attending a show or other activity. If a guy is hanging out with other guys, he's more than likely part of a couple, or some kind of large Group. (Or he's in the casino -- the rules don't apply there...)

 

Single women on cruises, however, tend to travel in small groups as you pointed out, which makes it almost impossible for any single guy to distinguish them from the women who aren't single. You almost never see a single woman sitting alone, even if they're traveling solo - they'll still tend to find and hang out with the other single women.

 

So it's not really a matter of the guys being shy or not particularly friendly. If we see you with other women on a cruise, and given how much couples outnumber the singles on cruises, the odds are something like 98% that you're taken, so we simply move on. If we tried talking with every group of interesting women we saw, we'd probably give up in frustration *long* before finding you.

 

So if you ladies *really* want to increase your odds of meeting single guys on a cruise, you're much better off splitting up, *especially* if you want the guy to make the first move. Of course, your best odds are to make that first move yourself. Guys like attention too, and as I said, single guys are much easier to spot... :D

 

Normally don't comment too much on this thread but in this case I agree with Steve and others on this.

[Dancer Bob]

Great post by zgwortz, but I can’t resist adding a couple of comments:

There’s an “L” as well as a “G” in GLBT. Women sitting looking like a couple might be a couple.

 

Most women don’t go to singles, saying, sight unseen, “all the single guys are losers”. Since I’m single, you know most women are underwhelmed by me; for all you know, I might fit the loser profile, not rich, not handsome, not young, not good at telling women what they want to hear. Are you really sure you want me hanging around?

 

Single guys are usually easy to find- we’re the ones sitting alone. Even when I travel with a dance group, you can usually quickly tell who the singles are, or if all else fails, ask.

 

A couple of pet peeves- women who adamantly say “not interested in a hookup” and then complain guys are “too gay”. And demanding to be entertained without saying what you’re offering- have you perhaps researched the port stops? Speak the local language? Good trivia partner? Good dance partner? Cheering section for Hairy Chest contest? Or…?

[Haoie]

First time cruiser, I'll prob be going solo on the Carnival Splendor Dec 12-19 [i've given myself another week to find a roomie].

 

I'm on the young side, only mid 20s, and don't really expect to see too many single ladies my age. What a shame!

[zgwortz]

If he is like me, after the first 2-3 days have passed, he's already made some friends on board (and then he becomes much harder to spot).

 

That's a good point -- we *do* tend to eventually hang out with friends made on board.

 

Just thought of another good trick -- hot tubs. Single guys often hang out in them to relax and take in the eye candy. (I suspect single ladies do so as well - but in my experience, they're less likely to admit it... ;) ) It's really easy to strike up or join a conversation in a hot tub without making it seem like you're hitting on someone, and only takes a minute to determine if someone is single or not.

 

This may be the only easy way to find the single guys traveling with a group, too -- last cruise I was on, I found myself in a hot tub talking with a bunch of guys and gals who were part of a wedding party. Two of the guys were unattached and talking about looking for single women on the ship - the rest were paired up with the girls.

[outerspaceguy]

hang out in them to relax and take in the eye candy.

 

Have you been on a cruise recently?

 

I guess it depends on the cruise line and the sailing date, but sometimes the "eye candy" in the whirlpools on a cruise ship isn't as attractive as one would... umm... hope. [i tried to find a nice way to word that...]

 

Me? You're be more likely to find me:

a] on the jogging track

b] at an enrichment lecture

c] in the gym

d] reading a good book in the shade somewhere out on the decks

[mavis2222]

I am a single guy (38yo) going on my first cruise with a male friend. We are both single. I would suspect a lot of guys don't even meet anyone. I do occasionally go to the gym, but am presently 20lbs overweight and not in shape. I suspect the cruise ship will be just like going to a bar or something, where all the singles are looking for Mr. Perfect and Mr. Buff. Who is going to talk to or notice an overweight guy at the pool? :(

 

Dont feel bad..Im in shape and wear a speedo (swimmer biuld). I never meet anybody either. Mostly im to dam shy and not very outgoing. I guess that is worse then being out of shape.

I started wearing Kilts on cruises and that does start a conversation, but mostly from other curious "married" women. Mabie they want one for there husbands..

The way the peer society in this country is, the women seeing me in a speedo probably think im gay. Yet that dosent stop me. I can care less what others think. I like to be comfortable.

[zgwortz]

...sometimes the "eye candy" in the whirlpools on a cruise ship isn't as attractive as one would... umm... hope. [i tried to find a nice way to word that...]

 

Heh. True. Then again, sometimes it's absolutely stunning. The wedding party I mentioned from my last cruise, a bit over a month ago, was a case in point... All the ladies in it were exceptionally attractive. :D But you never can tell.

 

And at my age, I've seen enough to appreciate, shall we say, a wider variety of beauty? On the flip side of that, I'm a teetotaler (mostly because I don't like the taste, and don't react particularly well to alcohol), so most women become proportionally less attractive to me the more they've had to drink, which on a cruise ship tends to be, well, often a bit too much. I've probably missed out on more opportunities because of that... ::sigh::