Lugger11

It's group travel, so there are group events that are exclusive to you, not available to other travelers on the ship. Mostly about dinner with the group, and cocktail parties and dances with the group. There are also excursions organized by the company, roomate finding service if you want it, and people tend to hang out together at the pool.

It's a great way to meet people and make friends while not feeling isolated because you are single.

There is a culture to them, a kind of celebration of being single, compared to the feeling you often get in the real world where being single is looked at as a problem that needs a solution.

Age ranges vary each time. At 50, I was the youngest on my last singles cruise, but on others, I was right in the middle of the age ranges, with plenty of people in their 30s and 40s, as well as older.

I would enquire about the demographics when you book. I regret going on the last one because of demographics, but I consider my previous ones some of the best things I've ever done, even therapeutic.

So.... to be clear.... only in an up-charge area? Nothing in the gym for everyone?

I've always been frustrated by the crappy American pop music and line dancing that is common on most cruise ships. I'm kinda hoping that there is a more international/European EDM scene in at least one night time venue on our Seascape cruise coming up in February. Can anyone advise?

On 1/21/2023 at 12:01 PM, Morgsmom said:

 Frozen drinks are made to order, take a lot of time and then the blender needs to get cleaned out.  My opinion only as I know a "pina colada" means holiday to some folks.  ALTERNATELY, MSC needs to invest in dedicated frozen drink machines (like at Bahama Breeze) so that they just just "pull" from the handle and serve.

I've been saying this for years, but on ALL cruise lines. This has always been an issue with everyone. I know at some resorts I've been to they have pina colada and strawberry daiquiri slushy machines and all the bartender has to do is add booze. It seems so obvious. Maybe there are some health/cleanliness reasons not to do this.

But I haven't yet been to a poolside bar on a cruise that wasn't super-crowded pushy passengers, but with bartenders who were in no rush. I think best solution is to flag down a waiter and let them deal with it. I'll be over here chilling out in the sun.

I used a US-based online travel broker/agent and got a fantastic price. Paid in USD.

HOWEVER, I couldn't sign up for loyalty club as the US site recognized my booking number, but wouldn't accept my Canadian address. The Canadian site wouldn't recognize my booking number.

SIGH.

Maybe if I get bored I'll deal with it on the ship, if they have a loyalty desk.

I'm guessing that a big part of the competitive price has to do with debt load. MSC was able to continue their commercial shipping business during the pandemic, while the other cruise lines had to shut down and incur debt. So now each cruise fare on the other lines includes a certain amount of debt repayment baked in, while MSC doesn't need to do so.

And yes, they are essentially running promotional pricing to gain market share, and that probably won't last. And yes, they do up-charge a bit more than other lines, but that's for things I wasn't really interested in anyways (like VR arcade). And yes, the nightly shows are not Broadway or Cirque du Soleil quality, but I was never that big in to the shows anyway. And I've heard the buffet food is basically just stuff kids will eat, but that works for the US market anyways, who are thrilled to have unlimited pizza and pasta without having to dress nicely for the MDR.

I'm also thinking they invest a bit more in the Casinos on their ships to try to recoup some $ there. I think that's one of the reasons Disney is so expensive, as they don't have casino revenue to offset the cruise fare.

Just my thoughts

My upcoming Feb 2023 cruise on Seascape comes with free drinks package and internet package, plus cabin credit. Ridiculously cheap, especially given it's a new ship and other lines are starting to up their prices to recoup Covid losses.  I think this might be the last of the cheap cruises for some time. I advise to take advantage while you still can.

On 11/18/2022 at 5:12 AM, drsel said:

I just wonder how other Cruise lines manage to sell their drinks package for $30-- $40 per person per night or more than $250 per person on a typical 7 night Cruise

What cruise line sells their drink packages for that low??? Halloween 2022 RCCL symphony of the seas was over $80 pppd (if you booked early) so almost $600 pp for 7 night cruise.

At $7 per beer (including gratuity), and $11 for a glass of wine at dinner, it adds up quickly.

Maybe you break even, maybe you even save a few bucks, but my main motivation for getting the drink package is the bill on the last night. I pre-pay drinks and gratuities, so I owed NOTHING walking off the ship. I've had bills on the last night of cruises without drink package or pre-paid gratuities that felt like a punch in the stomach. Not how I want to feel at the end of my vacation.

Halloween 2022 - RCCL Symphony of the Seas

The short version: Yawn and ew...

So, I know everyone is having staffing problems, and MDR service was always slow, so I'll just say, yeah it was slow, especially drinks. Not like I was ordering something fancy. Just wine off the wine menu. Shouldn't take 10-15 minutes to arrive.

Disappointments:

Escargot: came in a cream sauce instead of clear garlic butter. I know it's topped with garlic and whatever, but underneath I expected clear butter. Seeing the cream sauce made me think it wasn't done right. It tasted fine, but still unsure if this was right.

Prime rib: it was ok, but there was no seasoning, no rub. Just plain. I guess some people don't like the seasoning so they just served plain. Sad for the rest of us

NY strip steak: a go-to when you aren't in to anything else on the menu that night. Was over-cooked and cold when arrived. texture of shoe leather

Up charge Lobster: For $36 extra, I expected something special. Instead, I got something so over-cooked the meat had shriveled up in to about 4 bites worth. So sad.

Coconut Shrimp: Actually, this wasn't bad, but there was no coconut either. I think the same things as the prime rib. They are so afraid of offending people with flavor that they make it bland to be safe

Cheesecake with Strawberry: The cheesecake was fine, but there was no sauce of any kind, just a small strawberry on top. So it was bland and a bit dry.

Almost every meal came with some kind of deep-fried mash potato, but there was no gravy, butter, or sour cream. Just bland potato.

Did I complain the waiter? No, because he was already over-worked, and anything he could have done to remedy the situation would have taken even more time.

You know, the food is one of the main reasons I choose cruising over resorts, so if you fail at food, you fail on the whole. Not in any hurry to book RCCL again, and will be trying out different cruise lines instead of staying loyal.

Going on Symphony of the Seas over Halloween and considering getting a specialty dining package. The thing is, I generally love the food in the MDR, but some nights are better than others. So what I'd really love to see is a schedule of the MDR menus so I can decide how many nights of Specialty dining I want to pre-purchase, and what nights to book.

For instance, I don't want to book the steak house the night they have Prime Rib in MDR, or the Seafood restaurant the night they have lobster tails in the MDR.

I can't seem to find such a resource.

Can anyone advise?

Also consider group travel for singles. Just google it, I'm not allowed to give more details on this forum.

Benefits include roomate finder, if you want, although not mandatory. A guarantee of dozens of other singles onboard who are in the same situation, instead of always feeling like you're hanging out with couples and families. They also have their own hosts who arrange singles-oriented activities, including dining, dancing, games, karaoke, excursions. And they are well-attended because they are exclusive to the singles group.

There is a bit of a hook-up culture to them, but it's no big deal if you aren't interested in that. It's a great community and many/most people end up making friends they keep in touch with afterwards.

To my knowledge, there are 3 Hosted Singles Halloween cruises, and I've heard that one is already booked up.

I'm on the RCCL one and last I heard there are over 180 booked.

NCL has solo suites built and priced for 1, and apparently other lines are starting to add similar features. I've also found in my recent research that NCL is offering A LOT of incentives which are very tempting.

For clarification, it helps to differentiate "Singles Cruises" and "Solo Cruise". Solo is when you go on your own. Singles Cruise is a group travel thing where everyone in the group is single.

So I'm not sure if I agree with the statement "Most people on this forum are simply going solo"

"It may depend on your age as I don't know if there's that many people say past 45 looking strictly for uh something casual and fun."

Well.... as to that...

If you just go on a cruise by yourself (solo cruising), yes, you're probably right. Not much hooking up.

But this thread was about Singles Cruises, which are organized group travel for people who are single, and a significant proportion, if not the majority, are over 40. That's a bit different. There are a lot of people who might be concerned that if they go on one of these trips it will be all about hooking up. It's not ALL about hooking up, it's more about making friends. But there is hooking up. More than just going on a cruise by yourself and hanging out at the nightclub.

I had this issue myself a few weeks ago.  My advice is to go straight to the dining room as soon as you get on the ship and speak to the Maitre D to make your reservations.

Despite everyone on the Phone at RCCL saying earler times were booked up, I found it no problem at all to get an earlier seating, with many empty tables around me. But you want to book ahead of time, and not just show up

Was on Mariner Feb 10-14. I don't know what the numbers were, but it seemed to me like it was not at capacity.

• No problem getting deck chairs on Lido deck
• No problem getting seated at any time in Main Room
• Lineups for waterslides and VR trampolenes were no more than 15 minutes, usually
• Other than the Piano Bar (which was constantly overflowing with standing room only), all the nightlife seemed dead
• Coco Cay did not feel crowded, despite 2 ships docked

Maybe that's just how they run the Mariner, but I kinda doubt it.

So I just got back from the RCCL Mariner of the Seas and witnessed something very strange. They had a silent dance party. Everyone wore headsets and could choose from one of 14 music styles. On the surface, this would seem to solve the problem. Everyone could choose their own music and have a good time. But it didn't really work, for a number of reasons.

The space wasn't really a club environment. Worked better as a cool martini bar (one of the few places on the ship to get a drink at night where it's quiet). But even with the headphone on, people where singing along to pop songs at the top of their lungs, ruining the peace for the rest of us. There weren't lights or anything like that, so the energy was kinda low. People could tell what music you were listening to by the colour of the LED in your headset, so they would then congregate together, so there were these little pockets of dancers.

The other "disco" was in the ice arena. I only went once after the adult Quest show. That was hilarious. You have all these adults all energized from the show and ready to keep the party going, then the DJ starts off with more of that pop-line-dancing music and the place just cleared out, except for a few young couples. I stayed for a few songs to see if it would pick up, but it didn't. It got worse, so I left.

I took some time to think about my aversion to line dancing on this trip. Then it hit me. This is what children do at school dances up till middle school where I'm from. Then they outgrow it and won't even consider it, because it's childish. It's like watching Sesame Street instead of Game of Thrones. Oh well.

On 2/22/2020 at 11:43 PM, Sandra1616 said:

I visualize hoards of eager singles making advances on singles they find attractive, who respond by dodging these advances or visiting cabins and making quick changes of clothing before finding someone else

Not really, sort-of, maybe sometimes.

You make it sound like some kind of Peppy-La-Peux cartoon, which it definitely is not.

There are dances and cocktail parties and excursions and dinners together. There are those that want to hook up, and those that don't or aren't sure. But regardless of intent, it's mature adults acting respectfully. And generally speaking, those that do hook up tend to either stick with each other as couples for the remainder of the trip, or remain low-key and you wouldn't even know they were together.

Also, regardless of whether you hooked up or not, you make a lot of friends who you keep in touch with afterwards, and will very likely go to reunions and side trips with.

I had a mix-up in my booking for Mariner last week, and somehow went from Early Seating, to "My Time". I didn't know this, and had no idea what My Time meant. I just assumed it meant the time I'd booked 8 months ago.

The Maitre'D gave me a hard time and some attitude, but did seat us. Then he kept saying I should come back after dinner to make a reservation for the rest of my trip. "But I did make a reservation" was my response. "Eight months ago, I reserved the early seating." I said. "Your card says My Time," he replied. "Yes, My Time is the early seating, that's what I booked." It went around in circles for a while. No one took the time to explain what "My Time" meant, and I really resented having to stand in ANOTHER lineup to make a reservation.

What he should have done is recognized my confusion and simply put my reservation in then and there for 530 without me having to ask. It was clearly what I wanted. That would be the kind of service I would expect from an experienced person intent on making my cruise awesome.

I did eventually make a reservation, but still resent it.

A cruise is supposed to be a step up. In my other cruises, I've had Maitre'Ds notice that I was a single parent, and sat me with other single parents without me saying a thing, as an example of a step above service.

But if you can't expect initiative from the staff, then understand that one of first things you should do when you get on the ship is go to the MDM and reserve your table, if you have My Time.   

Last year, I was on a Carnival cruise and was prepared to book a family cruise for this year while on-board to get some discounts/perks. However, I couldn't find a booking agent or desk on board. maybe Carnival doesn't do that anymore. Not that it matters, I was pretty disappointed with that trip and don't think I'll be going on Carnival again anyways.

I was frustrated last week on Mariner that I couldn't watch the Raptors go for 16 in a row. A friend told me that last year he could not watch Raptors PLAYOFF games on their cruise either. The reason is that they primarily subscribe to ESPN. So if it's on ESPN you get it, if not, you're SOL.

What they SHOULD do, is subscribe to NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB and FIFA (and/or other major soccer leagues) directly to get better coverage if someone asks for a specific game.

I was a few years out of my marriage and wanted to go south on a winter vacation. My previous resort vacation on my own bored me, but after doing some research online I found a singles group travel company and they did cruises. So I did that and had a great time, met some fantastic people, and learned to appreciate the nice things about cruises. I have since been on 2 more singles cruises and 2 cruises where I brought my kids.

I've done Disney as a single dad with kids, and will be doing RCCL this February just me and the kids too.

Thought I'd put this out there: Disney is great for kids and families, but not so much for socializing as an adult, if you know what I mean. And that's not really Disney's fault. They have great facilities and programs in the evening for adults, it's just that no one shows up. Or at least they didn't on my trip.  All those parents are just as exhausted as the kids by the end of the day, they just crash too. The bars and clubs were mostly empty at night.

The ventriloquist put on a hilarious adult-themed show post 10pm to about 15 people. Maybe 2 couples stayed for the dj dancing afterwards.

The Piano bar had one couple in it. The sports bar had about 3 guys in there. The martini bar had about 4 couples at any given time.

No single ladies were out at night.

IMO, every ship offers a premium experience if you're willing to pay for it. Suites, VIP areas, A la carte restaurants, etc.

Does that mean you're going to meet a young single person in these areas? Not likely. On any ship. The more expensive the ship/suite/etc, the more likely you'll find older people and couples.

I think the only way to reliably "meet someone" on a cruise is through an organized Singles group travel company. From there, you can choose cruises on more high-end ships, as well as choose more premium cabin/suite.  There are usually sub-groups within the larger travel group who share a desire for, and means to achieve a more premium experience, and you can hang out with them. These groups are also often age-defined. So you can join a 20-30s group, or avoid a 50s-70s group.