Cruise Kay

Not a dumb question! Been cruising for years and not had a problem. 

Upcoming cruise dropped over $1000!

I have started solo cruising this year largely due to my husband‘s encouragement. He has been on three cruises and figured out he just doesn’t like it all that much, and he doesn’t want his spend his vacation time on a cruise ship. He still works, I’m semi-retired, he wants me to go and travel while I can. Once I got over the guilt, I embraced the experience!

I am a senior and just started solo cruising this year. I’ve been on two trips so far. And like others have said, it really comes down to the attitude you bring. You have to look at your expectations. It’s obviously not going to be the same experience as traveling with a loved ones, having a constant meal companion, someone to sit next to at the shows, someone to talk to you and laugh with and share shore excursions with. But it is still an amazing, luxurious vacation aboard some amazing ships and you get to see some beautiful places. 
i’m a very active person but one thing I had to figure out on my first solo cruise was: it’s OK not to do every single activity every day. Even though I’m on a cruise ship with lots to offer, at my age, sometimes I need an afternoon of lying around the cabin reading a book and taking a nap or watching movies on TV. Even though it’s a gorgeous day outside, that’s OK to do if that’s what you need. Listen to your body when you get tired and sore, take a break! One nice thing about traveling as a solo is that if you’re not enjoying a show, you can quietly get up and leave without having to consult with anyone else. You don’t have to keep up with anyone. You can eat when you’re ready and you don’t have to negotiate when or where. Also, I have found plenty of opportunities to sit in large communal areas, such as the promenade or pool deck, if I really want to be around people and hear voices and conversations. There’s always trivia games and opportunities for mingling, but solo cruising is also a great time to disconnect and do your own thing and just watch the ocean drift by. I would recommend always buying the Internet package so you can stay in touch with loved ones daily by text or messaging, if that’s your thing. I have run into elderly senior cruisers who use walkers and have difficulty getting around, they arrange for assistance getting on and off the ship as needed ahead of time, and they do their thing and have a great week. Give some thought ahead of time to what you would like from your vacation and bring some flexibility and open mindedness, and I bet you’ll enjoy it. 

I bring an empty tote bag and a baseball hat with me when I’m eating at the buffet alone.

I walk in and get my drinks and then find a table. I put down my drinks and spread out my bag and my hat on top of the table to make it clear someone is sitting here. If there happens to be an employee in the area I will mention to them then I’ll be right back. Then I go get my food. I find that leaving personal objects (of no real value) on the table helps.

Thinking about doing a transatlantic cruise on Disney magic in the fall. I am traveling as a solo adult, I wanted to know if this is a completely ridiculous idea? Has anyone traveled Disney Transatlantic? What are the entertainment options like during the day? I generally enjoy trivia, specialty classes, lying by the pool, using the gym, things like that. Love all things Disney but don’t want to spend 12 days sitting around waiting for the evening show as the highlight of the day.

I’ve cruised “normal“ cruises two times this year as a solo person, and I’m planning my first solo transatlantic in the fall. I’m following this thread and very interested in the answers. Like you, I’m a little bit concerned I will be bored or lonely just because that’s a very long time to be away from home and be by myself. I have no doubt the cruise will be interesting and entertainment will be plentiful, it’s still a long time to travel alone and be away from my husband. I also came away from my last cruise last week with Covid, so I am debating if it’s a good idea to travel so long solo… If I get sick on the ship, no one is there to help me out.

5 hours ago, DJLDRUMS said:

The Royal Caribbean singers and dancers put on very good performances on both ships. As you most likely know there's no diving shows if that's what you're hoping to see. Also no Broadway style shows on either one. A ventriloquist that went from the Symphony to the Jewel was just so-so, nothing special. 

I didn’t know that about the diving shows. Is that just Allure? Or all Oasis ships?

How was the entertainment?

Just did my first solo and really enjoyed it. Used the time to really disconnect, people watch, enjoy the scenery, the ship’s activities, and great food.

I am an introvert and not at all into meeting people or making conversation. I ate all my meals at the buffet or cafés or room service and was just fine with that. Sometimes I ate lunch by the pool and watched a movie on the jumbotron. Other times I lingered over breakfast by a window at the buffet.
 

But if you like good food and like meeting people, give the dining room a try! If you don’t like it, you don’t have to go back. But for the most part, people are really friendly and chatty in situations like that and you may end up having a great time and making new friends. There’s also nothing wrong with doing specialty dining on your own if you really just want to go enjoy a new restaurant and some gourmet food. (Specialty dining are additional-cost restaurants on board that have great food.)    

I just went on my first solo cruise at the age of 54 and I was a bit nervous. I mean, I wanted to go and I had a positive outlook, and what I thought was realistic expectations for how I would spend my week. But I was still nervous that I would get on the boat, suddenly feel ridiculous or anxious, and have a miserable time. That was not the case.

I think the key is making up your mind ahead of time what kind of experience you plan to have. If you go into it hoping everybody else will make it nice for you, you may be doomed. it’s up you to enjoy all that the experience offers. You have to go into it prepared to eat alone and be fine with that, hang out by the pool for hours at a time if that’s your thing and not have anyone to talk to, sleep alone at night, things like that. 
 

The one thing I could not get past was the idea of spending the night in a hotel room near the port the night before the cruise. I just felt completely uncomfortable with that for whatever reason. So I took a big gamble and made the two hour flight early in the morning the day of the cruise. Everything worked out fine fortunately.
 

The first day or two, I was running around the ship trying to do all the fun activities, and that was a bit of a mistake. I think I was trying desperately to fill my days with activity so I wouldn’t have time to feel lonely or awkward. At some point on day two, I just settled down and relaxed and the rest of the cruise was awesome. I didn’t know how I would use the time… Be active? Explore the ports? Turns out I used that week to completely disconnect. I didn’t watch TV one single day. I stayed off social media. I FaceTimed my husband every evening, and sent texts to the (adult) kids several times a day, which was a lot of fun. They enjoyed seeing my photos, especially of food that I was eating or funny art around the ship. My family was super supportive of my solo cruise and very excited for me, and very engaged in texting with me whenever I wanted to. That helped.   I never felt disconnected from my family, just disconnected from the usual hustle and bustle that make up my normal days. It was also heavenly to spend one week without cooking, cleaning, or shopping. Not making the bed for a week, not having to get in the car and go anywhere, that was all wonderful. Having someone else pick up my towels or make my bed or ask me if I needed anything was amazing.

I enjoyed being out by the pool, so I would go to the pool early (9 am) and swim while the pool was nearly empty. It stayed empty till almost noon. I would spend a couple of hours in a pool chair and watch movies on the big screen or watch the ocean drift by. I ate whenever I wanted and left the dining room as soon as I was done eating without having to wait on anyone, or if I wanted to linger by the window over a cup of coffee, I could do that without worrying I was boring anyone. One tip for eating in the common areas like the Buffet… Bring a hat or a sweater or something so you can leave it on the table when you go back for dessert or seconds. Otherwise when you leave the table, everyone will assume it’s empty and you’re not coming back and they will clean it off. Or someone else will sit there. 
 

I went and watched all of the shows offered, but if I felt awkward, uncomfortable, or was bored, I simply got up and left. I did that a few times, and a few times I sat through the whole show and enjoyed it. I did not put pressure on myself to do anything I didn’t really want to do or to have some sort of perfect cruise experience, I went into it with an open mind, not knowing what to expect, and just being kind to myself. One day I didn’t feel especially well and I felt like I needed to spend the day indoors and out of the sun. I played trivia twice, and did a selfie scavenger hunt. These were all activities offered by the ship. I won two gold medals. LOL. 
 

I took a lot of enjoyment going over to the FlowRider for about an hour before dinner each night and watching everybody learn to use it. I also enjoyed watching people learn to use the sky diving machine. One night I noticed on the schedule that there was a speed climbing contest for teens at the rock climbing wall. I went and watched that and it was a lot of fun.  I got up every day and watched the sunrise and also watched  the sunset. I ended up not leaving the ship one single day. I felt safer on the ship and I felt uncomfortable at the thought of leaving the ship and wandering around the ports by myself. I didn’t worry about that, I just rolled with it and stayed on the ship and that was fine. I did not push myself to do something I felt uncomfortable with. All in all, I treated it has a week at a luxury resort to just kick back and relax.  If you are terribly uncertain about the whole experience, I would hold off on doing it, but if you’re torn and part of you really wants to go, I say try it and be kind to yourself. And also just give yourself permission to just enjoy it. Sometimes we feel guilty when we do things like this. 

I will also add that when I told everyone I went cruising by myself I got lots of pitying looks, as though everyone was convinced my marriage was falling apart and I just didn’t want to admit it. Or people would seem shocked that I could be that selfish.  You have to ignore things like that. Also, I am not at all a social person and fully intended to spend the week keeping to myself, which I did, and it was just fine. I enjoyed everything the ship had to offer, from great food to live music to people watching. I don’t drink either, so when I was ready to go to bed, I would stroll around the promenade a few times to catch a little bit of the live music, or maybe watch a little karaoke, and then I would head to bed. I was in bed by 10 PM every night with my door locked, reading a book, and I felt perfectly safe.

Good luck!

On 2/21/2022 at 6:51 PM, Florida32 said:

I'd prefer a 4 night cruise for the value, but those run M-F with Royal mostly and I don't want to take an entire week off work in case I'm miserable. 

 

I plan on buying and packing the following:

Seabands 

Seasickness patch

Anti Nausea medicine

 

Any other suggestions?

Yes! Ginger chews. (Amazon.) very helpful. Maybe a box of saltines. If you get to feeling sick, you’re not gonna feel like running up to the buffet to see if they have crackers or bread to help settle your stomach. For what it’s worth, I am prone to motion sickness and I’ve never been seasick on a cruise ship, not even if the sea is rough. If you have not booked a room yet, try to pick something midship, as that is usually the most stable.

Ship – Odyssey of the Seas

Deck - 6

Stateroom # - 6150

Stateroom Category – Ocean View Balcony

Starboard or Port Side - Starboard

Quiet Stateroom? No. This room is directly above the Royal Theater. You will hear noise from the shows in the theater until about 10 pm. THEN I don’t know what they do, but from 10-11:30 each night, there was endless crashing and banging from below. It sounded like someone smashing machines into each other over and over. This went on every night and made it hard to sleep until after 11:30.

Was stateroom a connecting stateroom? No

Balcony View – Ocean.

Balcony Size? Normal. Enough room for a small round table and two chairs.

Was wind a problem?  No

If an aft cabin, was soot a problem? N/A

Any specific problems with this cabin? - Other than the noise, the room was great. Handy to just zip down two flights of stairs to the Café Promenade. It is at the front of the ship, so if you run down two flights of stairs, Café Promenade is right there. But of course, it’s a long walk to the other end of the ship for The Windjammer or the Solarium or pools.

Any other comments? - See photos