pduncan

   In my experience the ONLY line that truly tries to make the experience easy and fun for the solo cruiser is NCL.  They devote one activity staff member throughout the entire voyage to organize a one hour daily meet up and make group reservations for solo diners in the MDR and at the shows. The solo lounge is also a great place to meet other solo cruisers in a relaxed atmosphere. It even sort of makes up for the tiny solo cabins. 
   You can get lucky on Princess and on Cunard by finding your own group through your MDR table mates or by finding one or more fellow passengers who take it upon themselves to organize the group dinners which really create the opportunity to get to know other solos. Princess probably irritates me most because they assign a staff member on only the first night to “host” a solo gathering, but the host disappears 15 minutes into the gathering and is never seen again. You may get lucky with the people you meet that first night and find congenial travel mates, or you may meet only people with whom you don’t care to spend 15 minutes, much less dinner every evening of a cruise. I’d rather eat alone with my book in the MDR than try to make strained conversations with people with whom I have nothing to talk about. But that does not make for an enjoyable cruise experience.  
  The cruise lines need to wake up to the fact that there are a lot of solo cruisers and we want a better experience than what is out there right now. 

On 3/23/2023 at 8:17 PM, LincolnLog said:

I just wanted to check in for a minute to put some people's fears to rest. We're on the Breakaway now and NONE of the recent complaints I've read about on here have been an issue for us. No bar lines 15 people deep, no rude staff members, in fact even the staffing shortage hasn't been noticeable. Maybe we're just easy going, maybe the complainers are the type who look for things to complain about, maybe a mix of both...but we're having a blast and it's one of our favorite cruises we've ever done. (Full disclosure: that could partly be due to the fact that we left the kids at home for this one 😆) But I was a little worried after reading some of the things on here so I just wanted to offer some words of encouragement to anyone who felt the same. 

Thank you for posting this. I just read a very negative review about the food quality and also the feedback about cabin cleaning cutbacks and was almost regretting my upcoming TA!

thanks to everyone who responded. Think I will sign up for the spa!

1 hour ago, reedprincess said:

They're warm.. not hot. The loungers are warm to almost hot : you'll need a towel under you. The heat does build, so to speak, the longer you're on there. 

I have a question for anyone who has sailed on the Regal Princess recently.  Is the Thermal Suite (particularly the lounge chairs) in good working order?  I am contemplating getting a spa package on my upcoming cruise, but on one Princess cruise I was on last year (cannot remember the ship), the shower room faucet was wonky and most of the lounge chairs were not heating properly. Thanks in advance!

6 minutes ago, bluetardis said:

@pduncan thanks for the response. It does help that a representative of the cruise line shows up the first night. After that it is easier for meet ups

Yes. And persistence by passengers makes a difference!

23 hours ago, bluetardis said:

Cruising solo on Princess in April, do they have a good solo meet and greet? In past on Carnival and NCL had a good turn out.

Princess as a solo is hit or miss. First night there’s usually a ship scheduled meet up, usually in one of the bars. Princess activity director is there to welcome everyone bit after that you’re on your own. Some passengers take the initiative to keep the meet ups going by posting notices in the Patter and encourage group dining, shows and other group activities. But the leadership falls largely to the passengers to keep momentum going. 

On 2/18/2022 at 7:14 PM, OllieMom said:

I like alone time but do enjoy dining w a group.  Anyone dine w a solo’s  group recently?

On 3/3/2022 at 9:37 PM, Missymo said:

I am new to the solo traveling.  Have been on the Edge twice so far since the restart and in my instance I was seated solo, but there were  tables for two on either side of me.  I was able to converse with others or not.  It happens I became very friendly with some of the couples going forward and still speak to a couple of them. 

I have been on 3 cruises as a solo this year (2 Princess and 1 NCL) and am getting ready for a 25 day solo in April. I always go to the first sea night Solo Cruisers gathering, and frequently a core group evolves to dine together most nights. It’s a great way to build up a small group of folks you recognize around the shipmand sometimes expands to sharing other meals, excursions, etc. I’ve met some very nice and interesting people this way. 
 

My understanding is that you need to complete the Passenger Locator Forms just to get into Italy.

I’m confused about the two PLF forms. When I went to the EU website to prepare the form for entry into Italy I see a place to fill out informing them I will be on a cruise ship but did not see a separate form for the the cruise ship. Is it just the same form given at the airport upon arrival and then again at cruise terminal or actually two different forms?  Thanks for clarifying. 

10 hours ago, rontron said:

You are able to do anything you want in Italy prior to getting on the ship. You need to fill out two PLF forms. One for your airflight into rome and then the other for when you get on the cruise ship.

My husband I were on the January 2019 Northern Lights sailing and it was fabulous, despite never seeing the Lights!  We are booked on the February 5 2022 sailing to do it again. Highlight was definitely dogsledding in Alta (wear 2 pairs of woolen socks and a face shield if you do this) and ship itself was wonderful, especially Manfredi’s and the spa.  Had a rough crossing from Tilbury to Norway but ships clinic handed out seasickness medicines which got us over the worst. 

On 12/25/2020 at 12:41 PM, coastcat said:

 

Costa Maya isn't exclusive to Carnival, although IIRC they maintain their own dock for their brands while other lines use a different dock. I was supposed to visit Costa Maya a couple weeks ago via NCL Breakaway!

 

Um... so you prompted me to look at the Carnival website, and I started thinking about the Cove Balconies since it would be so interesting to be that close to the water, and...

 

Yeah. I just booked another solo cruise. May 1 2022, 6 days on Carnival Magic in a deck 2 cove balcony, sailing out of Port Canaveral to Grand Turk, Amber Cove, and Half Moon Cay.

On 12/25/2020 at 5:40 AM, farmersfight said:

@coastcat;

 

 

O.k., BIG course change (pardon the ship handling pun), I've nixed the Celebrity Edge because I just found out that Carnival has another new ship coming out, Carnival Celebration (sister to Mardi Gras).

 

So, I've got a "hold" (reserved without having to put a deposit on) on a 7-day Western Caribbean (Cozumel Plus, Costa Maya and Mahogany Bay) round-trip out of Miami, FL; Jan 22-29, 2023.

 

I've got until Monday (12/28), 3:30 pm to make up my mind and put the deposit down.

 

Btw, you may be asking, "what is Cozumel Plus"? Apparently, Carnival ships (on designated cruises) are spending more time in port in Cozumel. This is allowing for longer shore excursions, even shore excursions over on the Mexican mainland, across from the island of Cozumel. Even though I've been to Cozumel multiple times, this intrigues me because I can take an excursion to the Mexican mainland and see an entirely new area of Mexico. Also, Costa Maya is Carnival's privately developed "port" in Mexico and Mahogany Bay is another Carnival owned and developed property in Roatan, Honduras. I've never been to either place.

 

I'm 95% sure that I'm going to "pull the trigger" and put down the deposit on this Carnival Celebration cruise. I've noticed a trend; even as I solo, I'm able to again cruise with Carnival (who is not very "solo-friendly") on their new Mardi Gras class ships. This is because these ships have "Jr. balcony staterooms", which have the same balcony size as a regular balcony stateroom, they are just a little smaller (sq ft) in the stateroom itself. Because these are smaller, Carnival is not pricing them as high as regular balconies, so they are "within reach" of a solo cruiser, even with the 100% solo supplement.

 

Well, I may not have to buy new clothes after all for the fancier Celebrity Edge. I think I'm more of a mainstream cruise line (Carnival, RCL & NCL) type anyway.

 

Marty (aka farmersfight)

  I’ve never really looked at Carnival cruises as a (little bit) older solo traveler since they seem to be pretty popular with families and younger hard-partying types. What has been your experience with them?

Peregrina651 and Heidi13

  I understand your point that in fact I am more than made whole by the 125% FCC, even without adding in the promised $400 guest bonus.  This is my third cancelled trip this year, and the total special promotions (OBC etc) I've lost the value of exceeds $1000.  Just my frustration  talking!

Am I expecting too much?  Just received email from Viking cancelling a Rhine Christmas Market tour a friend and I had booked for November 2020. 125% FCC offer applied to total amount we paid. I have sailed Viking river many times and Viking Ocean once. My friend had never been on any Viking Cruise. One incentive for my choosing this cruise was an advertised double Guest Discount offer of $400 applied to my portion of the cruise fare. I noticed in the computation of the FCC value that I am not getting ANY credit for this lost promotion amount so my friend, with no previous sailings with Viking,  is receiving more FCC than I am.  I called Viking Customer support and spoke with two representatives who didn’t seem to understand the point I was trying to make. One of them even suggested that I just get my money back if I was not happy with the FCC policy as applied. Since my friend and I have already booked another cruise for 2021 for which we still owe the final payment, which the customer support person was aware of, this felt like a very dismissive response. 
I am appreciative of Viking’s 125% FCC policy but am aware they offer this bonus to incentivize customers to allow Viking to keep the money customers have previously paid instead of having to refund it, so they in fact derive value from the “bonus.”   In point of fact, every time a cancellation is made by Viking and Viking takes the position that cash refunds or FCC is calculated solely on what the customer actually paid, the customer loses the value of all promotional incentives which were a part of what he/she based their original purchase decision on (onboard credit, special guest discount offers, etc) so we are never made whole with respect to the cancelled cruise. 

liketraveling-thanks for the information!  We will do that.

  I am sailing on the Eurodam next month to Alaska. My sister and her husband are also going to be on this cruise. My sister and I would like to book the 7 day thermal suite pass. My bro in law couldn't care less.  Can my sister and I share a couples pass, at a savings of $80, or do we need to each buy a separate pass?  If it matters, we are in separate cabins. Thanks. 

11 minutes ago, Essiesmom said:

Best place for this question is on the board here for HAL, located under Cruise Lines A-O.  EM

Ok. Thanks!

  My sister, her husband and I are sailing next month to Alaska on Eurodam. My sister and I would like to use the Thermal Suite facilities. Her husband doesn’t care to.  Would my sister and I be allowed to purchase the Couples Suite package to share (savings is about $80)?  We are staying in separate staterooms, if that matters. 

Thank you so much for posting this information, Andona, particularly the daily ship bulletin . We leave this week for the same cruise on the Emerald Dawn and had a number of specific questions about itinerary which you answered.