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First time solo concerns


catsea
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Hiya... just popping back into this thread with an update since I have now returned from my first cruise, which was in a Solo Studio on the Epic...

 

I had a wonderful time and I met some wonderful people. Made some fantastic memories and will write a full review when I get some time at the weekend. I will say that I did come across a couple of sleezy blokes, but in general the people I met staying in the solo cabins were very friendly and we had lots of fun together, but it was also easy to take some time out to myself when I needed it. I will definitely do it again and recommend it to others! :)

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I just came back from my first solo cruise last week. I'm a 32 year old female. I have traveled numerous times solo though around the world so cruising really wasn't a huge thing to me. The only thing I once in awhile have found lonely on travels is dining alone like for lunch or dinner, but I got over it because well, I want to experience good food which triumphed over being lonely lol... I can say though that sadly, many times when I have dined solo (anywhere) because I'm the party of 1, service is really bad. I could probably dine and dash and no one would know. On the other hand, on occasions I have struck up interesting conversations with wait staff who give me tips about the area. It's a toss up between looking like you aren't there, and being interesting lol.

 

 

That being said, I was a little embarrassed at first to dine solo on a cruise yet alone go on a cruise solo which always to me seemed like something you do with other people. The buffet thing I've noticed has many people eating solo especially during breakfast. I think it's because some of us wake up early, and others don't. I also dined at dinner in the dining rooms solo. I didn't see anyone else doing it. Yeah it was a bit depressing because they have candlelight's there, and honestly it is somewhat romantic, but I would always use it as a reason to stare at the water to see animals (saw dolphins and otters!). I would though dine solo on the later side so it was less awkward for me. If a restaurant stopped giving tables at 9, I made sure I was there at 8:45.

 

 

To me the only thing embarrassing and annoying thing to me about cruising solo is the picture taking thing with the photographers. They start the second you are about to go on the ship. I like to run quickly and when they say something I've come up with lines like "No one wants to see me smile!" and "I don't smile!" (that one got a lot of laughs LOL).

 

You can request to dine with other people like Holland America still forces you to do (I think?). Many solo cruisers like that. I myself would rather just eat and be on my way than feel stuck (has happened to me on travels before).

 

Do show up to some of the solo cruiser events like mentioned on here. If you are looking for activity partners and meal companions, that would be your best bet.

 

Also I've always met people in hot tubs LOL. I feel that's the best way to meet people-solo or not.

 

 

Oh and with excursions, you can just go on a tour or whatever like what most people do solo or not. Most of the time when I have done this, no one says anything to me or even cares. The only time on my trip that someone said anything was when I took a guided tour in one port. It was a small group with just 4 of us and the guide (1 couple, me, and 1 retired man). The guide was female and about my age. She was asking me questions about traveling solo. She was interested because she says she travels solo all the time too. If anything, people find it interesting when women (especially young women) travel solo. I've never really felt like people thought I was a loser or anything.

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... I can say though that sadly, many times when I have dined solo (anywhere) because I'm the party of 1, service is really bad. I could probably dine and dash and no one would know.

 

 

True!

 

That's my history I always tend to eat solo everywhere and I still donde understand why the service is so bad. When you are eating alone as a customer you are always noticing everything, speed, attention, courtesy, so offering bad service to someone solo is worst to a party.

 

About cruising solo, this will be my first time, I have some concerns about

 

1. My age and age of other solos: I'm 34 and I'm starting to think that most solos are seniors. I can talk to everybody but I'm looking for added fun with people similar to me.

 

2. Language: I'm a Spanish speaker so being on a cruise with majority of English speaker will be a challenge, sometimes catching a joke is hard. If I cannot sustain a conversation as the way English speakers expects they will probably get bored and I'll be solo.

 

3. Sexual orientation: I'm gay and I don't like the idea of a gay cruise for several reasons so I decided to try on NCL but at the same type I wouldn't like to feel excluded for my preferences and I will probably be around of straight people, married, with children or whichever status.

 

4. I tend to be very open to talk to stranger, but I do not push conversations beyond a "hot tub", maybe thinking that doing that will make me seem me as awkward

 

5. Now that you says photos: I would say I feel the same but the reason is that seing a picture of just myself in a cruise makes me thing that I'm solo and if other people see that will be hard to process, I don t want that everybody knows that I'm solo.

 

Despite these fears, in planning to have a good time, solo or not. I'll try my best to meet and hang out with them and at the same time spent time with me

 

 

 

 

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True!

 

That's my history I always tend to eat solo everywhere and I still donde understand why the service is so bad. When you are eating alone as a customer you are always noticing everything, speed, attention, courtesy, so offering bad service to someone solo is worst to a party.

 

About cruising solo, this will be my first time, I have some concerns about

 

1. My age and age of other solos: I'm 34 and I'm starting to think that most solos are seniors. I can talk to everybody but I'm looking for added fun with people similar to me.

 

2. Language: I'm a Spanish speaker so being on a cruise with majority of English speaker will be a challenge, sometimes catching a joke is hard. If I cannot sustain a conversation as the way English speakers expects they will probably get bored and I'll be solo.

 

3. Sexual orientation: I'm gay and I don't like the idea of a gay cruise for several reasons so I decided to try on NCL but at the same type I wouldn't like to feel excluded for my preferences and I will probably be around of straight people, married, with children or whichever status.

 

4. I tend to be very open to talk to stranger, but I do not push conversations beyond a "hot tub", maybe thinking that doing that will make me seem me as awkward

 

5. Now that you says photos: I would say I feel the same but the reason is that seing a picture of just myself in a cruise makes me thing that I'm solo and if other people see that will be hard to process, I don t want that everybody knows that I'm solo.

 

Despite these fears, in planning to have a good time, solo or not. I'll try my best to meet and hang out with them and at the same time spent time with me

 

 

 

 

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In my mind most solo cruisers to me have always been seniors however on my last cruise at the solo meet (met 2 people who went..I didn't go but I ended up meeting all of those who went anyway lol) I met 4 people- 1 was in her early 30s, 2 guys were in their early 50s, and 1 woman was in her 40s. The only thing is, aside from the girl in her 30s, all of them weren't really solo. The 2 guys came together, and the 40s woman came with family. Not exactly solo.

 

On NCL, they actually have special interest meet up groups in addition to solo cruiser. I often have seen the "Friends of Bill W" one and "Friends of Dorothy".

 

With language, there's more non English cruisers than you think (although I'm not sure how many would be Spanish speaking). Met a lot of Indian cruisers, German cruisers, Russian cruisers, and Chinese cruisers.

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In my mind most solo cruisers to me have always been seniors however on my last cruise at the solo meet (met 2 people who went..I didn't go but I ended up meeting all of those who went anyway lol) I met 4 people- 1 was in her early 30s, 2 guys were in their early 50s, and 1 woman was in her 40s. The only thing is, aside from the girl in her 30s, all of them weren't really solo. The 2 guys came together, and the 40s woman came with family. Not exactly solo.

 

 

 

On NCL, they actually have special interest meet up groups in addition to solo cruiser. I often have seen the "Friends of Bill W" one and "Friends of Dorothy".

 

 

 

With language, there's more non English cruisers than you think (although I'm not sure how many would be Spanish speaking). Met a lot of Indian cruisers, German cruisers, Russian cruisers, and Chinese cruisers.

 

 

 

Thanks for the cheering!

 

I had to look for the meaning of friends of bill of Dorothy as I didn't understood what you mean with that, but now I know ;)

 

http://www.cruisedork.com/ask-the-cruise-dork/bill-dorothy-friends/

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Thanks for the cheering!

 

I had to look for the meaning of friends of bill of Dorothy as I didn't understood what you mean with that, but now I know ;)

 

http://www.cruisedork.com/ask-the-cruise-dork/bill-dorothy-friends/

 

There was some slang before where you ask someone if they wear the ruby red slippers or something like that LOL

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In my mind most solo cruisers to me have always been seniors however on my last cruise at the solo meet (met 2 people who went..I didn't go but I ended up meeting all of those who went anyway lol) I met 4 people- 1 was in her early 30s, 2 guys were in their early 50s, and 1 woman was in her 40s. The only thing is, aside from the girl in her 30s, all of them weren't really solo. The 2 guys came together, and the 40s woman came with family. Not exactly solo.

 

On NCL, they actually have special interest meet up groups in addition to solo cruiser. I often have seen the "Friends of Bill W" one and "Friends of Dorothy".

 

With language, there's more non English cruisers than you think (although I'm not sure how many would be Spanish speaking). Met a lot of Indian cruisers, German cruisers, Russian cruisers, and Chinese cruisers.

 

Good morning........"FRIENDS OF BILL"..........that is a group for AA members.............

 

"Friends Of Dorothy" is for Gay/Lesbian folks.

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Good morning........"FRIENDS OF BILL"..........that is a group for AA members.............

 

"Friends Of Dorothy" is for Gay/Lesbian folks.

I know, I was just saying that they were special interest groups. I knew Friends of Bill wasn't for LGBTQ?P

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True!

 

That's my history I always tend to eat solo everywhere and I still donde understand why the service is so bad. When you are eating alone as a customer you are always noticing everything, speed, attention, courtesy, so offering bad service to someone solo is worst to a party.

 

About cruising solo, this will be my first time, I have some concerns about

 

1. My age and age of other solos: I'm 34 and I'm starting to think that most solos are seniors. I can talk to everybody but I'm looking for added fun with people similar to me.

 

2. Language: I'm a Spanish speaker so being on a cruise with majority of English speaker will be a challenge, sometimes catching a joke is hard. If I cannot sustain a conversation as the way English speakers expects they will probably get bored and I'll be solo.

 

3. Sexual orientation: I'm gay and I don't like the idea of a gay cruise for several reasons so I decided to try on NCL but at the same type I wouldn't like to feel excluded for my preferences and I will probably be around of straight people, married, with children or whichever status.

 

4. I tend to be very open to talk to stranger, but I do not push conversations beyond a "hot tub", maybe thinking that doing that will make me seem me as awkward

 

5. Now that you says photos: I would say I feel the same but the reason is that seing a picture of just myself in a cruise makes me thing that I'm solo and if other people see that will be hard to process, I don t want that everybody knows that I'm solo.

 

Despite these fears, in planning to have a good time, solo or not. I'll try my best to meet and hang out with them and at the same time spent time with me

 

 

 

 

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The solos on my recent NCL cruise were from all age groups, many nationalities, and different sexual orientations.. and we all partied together irrespective of any of it! You can choose to dine with a group or on your own... I ate alone 3 nights out of 7 and this was by choice because the group plans didn't fit in with what I wanted to do... I just met them at the bar later. I've been very self-conscious about vacationing alone in the past and seriously wish I'd tried cruising sooner. I believe I made the best choice with choosing NCL and hope to cruise with them again next year. I hope you have as great a time as I did. :)

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The solos on my recent NCL cruise were from all age groups, many nationalities, and different sexual orientations.. and we all partied together irrespective of any of it! You can choose to dine with a group or on your own... I ate alone 3 nights out of 7 and this was by choice because the group plans didn't fit in with what I wanted to do... I just met them at the bar later. I've been very self-conscious about vacationing alone in the past and seriously wish I'd tried cruising sooner. I believe I made the best choice with choosing NCL and hope to cruise with them again next year. I hope you have as great a time as I did. :)

 

 

 

Thank you for your words :)

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The solos on my recent NCL cruise were from all age groups, many nationalities, and different sexual orientations.. and we all partied together irrespective of any of it! You can choose to dine with a group or on your own... I ate alone 3 nights out of 7 and this was by choice because the group plans didn't fit in with what I wanted to do... I just met them at the bar later. I've been very self-conscious about vacationing alone in the past and seriously wish I'd tried cruising sooner. I believe I made the best choice with choosing NCL and hope to cruise with them again next year. I hope you have as great a time as I did. :)

 

This was my experience on NCL as well. Lots of different nationalities, age ranges and sexual orientation (of course, we didn't go around the room and introduce ourselves and give our sexual orientation...but statistics and my gay-dar could read the room 😎 ). Anyway, I'd say any lady - young, old, gay, straight, would have a great time and feel safe on a cruise. Use your common sense, go to the solo meet ups on the first night at least to meet some people for dinner companions if you'd like and enjoy being able to do things on your schedule..it's very liberating. One other tip - join the roll call for your cruise here on CC. I met some great people that way as well. In addition to those at the solo meet ups, I had a larger pool of folks to hang with.

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I will be on my first solo cruise in September. I am not single - but I am now hooked on cruising. Everyone I have met on the Princess cruises so far have been nice... I have talked to solos at our tables - and they were quite content... The Maitre'Ds will seat you according to your wishes.

 

I cannot find enough persons to cruise with. The solo cruise is an experiment. I must admit that on my previous cruises I often wanted to do the opposite of everyone else and I am slightly hyper. So I often ended up doing things I did not want to do! I finally will be able to see how it feels to go alone to a dining room and share - and actually do precisely what I want to do. So - good luck to you... and to me.

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I will be on my first solo cruise in September. I am not single - but I am now hooked on cruising. Everyone I have met on the Princess cruises so far have been nice... I have talked to solos at our tables - and they were quite content... The Maitre'Ds will seat you according to your wishes.

 

I cannot find enough persons to cruise with. The solo cruise is an experiment. I must admit that on my previous cruises I often wanted to do the opposite of everyone else and I am slightly hyper. So I often ended up doing things I did not want to do! I finally will be able to see how it feels to go alone to a dining room and share - and actually do precisely what I want to do. So - good luck to you... and to me.

 

 

 

Traveling solo is one of the best things that happened to me. I started on land based trips because I would plan trips and people would back out at the last minute. I love to travel so I went solo after people would cancel.

 

It's so liberating and I had my first solo cruise last year for the same reasons. I tried to get my friends to go on another cruise but no one wanted to go. I said forget it and didn't cruise for a while, plus I didn't like the cruise line from my first cruise. A coworker told me that I could cruise solo and I never looked back. I have 8 cruises planned and only 2 with a family member. The other 6 are solo and I couldn't be happier.

 

It was so nice getting up early walking around the ship and then having a relaxing breakfast in the MDR alone. I did everything I wanted to do and some days I relaxed for half the day in my cabin with room service. Give it a try and it may become your preferred way of travel SOLO!

 

 

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Hi, welcome to the world of solo cruising. Il will tell you that once you start, it will become an addiction. This addiction will grow to where you almost don't to go on a cruise with anyone.

 

As a single male in my 30s, the first time I cruised solo I had so many similar fears. As others have said, just be smart in port, only go on excursions ran by the ship. I understand your shy but I promise you will not be the only shy person on ship. For the most part everyone on board (90% reallllyyyy want to meet others) Being a young woman, meeting people can be far easier for you than us guys, trust me. Anyways, here are a few pointers for you. During meals the first day you get your assigned dining room, go early and as the Maitre'd that you wish to be put with other single people, people your age or whomever you like and he will do so. I have done this each time with great success. Also, at shows, nightclubs or other activities just say hi, most people would love to talk to you. Finally, the biggest thing that works for me is the ship will have HUGE social events; IE Beer pong, deck parties, Quest, activities that usually involve drinking or teamwork is really easy to meet people because people want to meet others here, its kinda the point =)especially Quest, which I wont spoil, anyways, the first day you will be nervous, but just relax, there are tons of people in your exact situation.

 

Finally, about safety. ON The ship, I can tell you there is little places in the world, where you are more safe. I once asked a carnival employee during Beer pong, how many cameras on the ship. He stated Hundreds and most are hidden. He further said that there is always people watching. And the response time is always less than a minute. Its actually a funny story what brought this question to him, ill never forgot his remark, "trust me, you don't want to go to Cruise jail or get room lock." Just be smart with the alcohol and you will be great. I have been on 6 solo cruises and each one I still keep in touch with everyone.

 

If nothing else, use NCL, and stay in the studio Cabins. They have a lounge for solo travelers where everyone can hang out. Whats even better is there is a NCl employee who will set your entire week up helping you schedule dinners and shows with other solo travelers.

 

Well, ive rambled enough, feel free to msg me, for anymore advice, or ill give you my fb and we can chat there. Have fun!!

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