sambamama

Most solos don't go to the Meet and Greet in my experience and I have well over 300 days sailing with HAL. They are usually at inconvenient times. On my last cruise, the ship only had 1solo meetup.

When I dove in Thailand this summer, we found a cell phone at the ocean bottom in one of these waterproof pouches. It still worked, although the battery was dead! It had probably been there a week or more! The same dive I found a dive knife in a leather sheath. That had been there considerably longer!

Airline MCT are down to 35 minutes in some airports. JetBlue changed my flight vivo bong me 59 minutes to connect in Fort Lauderdale from Hartford to a Cozumel flight. My flight has a 20% record of being 30 minutes late, and the connecting later flight was already 75% full. That was the only flight to Consume later that day. I insisted they change it as I booked with a 2 hour window. They changed it on their own because they wanted to sell my award flight ( booked through Orlando) for more.

The website is very clunky, but at least somewhat useable. However, I spent 10 minutes trying to pull up an Alaska cruise for 2025, and finally gave up and went to a cruise travel agency. The Navigator App, if you have an Android, is complete junk and does not operate at all. And HAL has basically given everything over to the app. You can't find out your current bill unless you go to Guest Services unless you use the app, and Guest Services almost always has a line now. They used to have a handy machine that you could print a bill out on, but that is gone.

This is an absolutely horrible idea. As I just about always book a guarantee, it would almost never affect me. But I know I am in a very small minority. HAL most be out of their mind to change the policy this way. Just about every cruise I go on is couples. Very, very rarely do I meet families cruising or people sharing 3 or 4 to a cabin. If HAL this was absolutely necessary, they should only do it for prime periods of Alaska or Caribbean cruising. No one wants to sign up for an expensive long cruise and lose their specially selected cabin. HAL will be losing a great deal of their cruisers. People should write and tell the management that they won't continue to sail with HAL with these conditions in place.

HAL had cruises to the ABC islands, and I've done them many times. But the snorkeling isn't that great in Aruba or Curacao. Bonaire-amazing! I did 2 snorkel trips there. Really, if you love snorkeling, your money is better spent going to Bonaire or Cozumel and staying there for a week or 10 days and snorkeling every day. And if you love snorkeling, you may want to try a discover scuba package. I did that in Costume three years ago and now I've dove 144 times. Curacao and Aruba have amazing beaches, but the snorkeling was not that great.

You may pay a bit more using a TA than booking with the cruiser line. That's to be expected. Will the cruise line track if the price drops? Does the cruise line help you pick the best line, itinerary, and cabin? Help with airfare? Give you personalized advice? Let you know what package may be best for you? Find out if there are special rates for you? Possibly rebate some of the price back? If the price drops, get your cabin upgraded? That's what mine has done. She lets me know about special deals, too. No cruise line does that. And if the TA booked you a bad cabin, you are A) working with a bad TA and B) not doing your due diligence.

And unfortunately, HAL wants you to run your cruise off their non-functioning app. They no longer have the machine that prints out your statement. You are supposed to get this thru the app, which you can't do if the app doesn't work .

It never worked for me before, during and after my cruise. It hates Android phones.

HAL has also now closed the MDR every day the ship is in port. And for everything they cut, there are very few things they add instead. They added Lincoln Stage, but that's gone. They added milkshakes and those are actually great!

Find a good TA and work with them. Their agency may have a deal that gets you a better deal. They know the lines, the routes, etc. They deal with any hassles with the cruise line. Mine checks for price drops, and sees if the cruise line will upgrade my cabin.

Or if you need checked luggage, get a bag that rolls well!!

Trip advisor has cheaper tours than Viator. Also just Google Lisbon day tours and Barcelona day tours. If you like walkIng, Google free walking tours for each city. See if your phone can get an esim. That may be the cheapest way to solve the phone issue as you may only need actual phone use for a week and you can get by with data the rest of the time.

I've sailed solo for a long time. I always request main fixed table for 6 or 8. That way I have dining companions. If I end up at an empty table, I ask to be moved to a table with at least two other people. I like eating with the same people and getting to know them and having the same waiters. As far as the Pinnacle, you can join a roll call and see if someone will let you join their dinner. Or make your own solo reservation and hopefully meet people to dine with on the ship. Don't count on solo meetups, though. My recent 2 week Asia cruise had 1solo meet up and it was timed such I couldn't make dinner. And that has been the timing for the last 3 cruises.

Bargains in travel are not in cruises usually any more. It is in land travel in cheaper countries. HAL has priced this solo cruiser pretty much out of booking cruises any more with them for the time being.

I worried before my first solo cruise. But it turned out to be the best cruise ever! I met a wonderful couple I spent all my time with and even went on three trips with later. If you don't mind being alone, you will be fine. If you find it easy to meet people, you will be fine. Go and have a great time. You can make your own schedule. I've traveled alone now for over10 years and love it!

I've traveled alone for 25 years. All over the world - Africa, Asia, Mexico, Europe, etc. I've even used public transport. You should have no issue in either place. You can use the cruise transfers. Suntransfer is a company I've used that was reasonable and good. Booking.com is a great site for booking hotels. The subway in Barcelona is easy to use and get around the city. There are some lovely day tours out of the city to Girona or the Costa Brava. You can go see flamenco at night, too.

I've shared cabins with other women who I did not know prior to the cruise. And even if I did, if we both are single, I think we both qualify. People like to meet other people. And it isn't like there is any harm. On my last HAL cruise, there was exactly 1 solo meet up in the 2 week cruise. Considering the cruise was in Asia, Andi knew no one, I found that very disappointing. Further, HAL always schedules it so if you have late sitting, you can't make it.

I don't know where you are looking. Every time I search, every cruise I look, cabins are 200%. And even if they are 175% for an ocean view, cabins used to be 150% or less, especially for a TA. HAL has priced themselves right out of the solo market when other lines are offering way lower supplements, and HAL's entertainment is so bad, and the food cut backs are notable. The MDR is closed every port day now.

If you check prices, with NCL, at times your studio cabin will cost more than a regular cabin. I had that happen, and I canceled and went to a Cruise out of FL (the NCL was out of NYC and it was winter.) There are no cruise lines I know of that have no single supplement policies. Some lines have solo rooms, like HAL. But it is never 1/2 the price. You can try booking hosted single cruises, and you can Google that.

I wouldn't call $4k for a TA a bargain at all! How many ports do you have, 5-6? But then your definition of a bargain may be different of mine. And of course, there are far fewer bargains post Covid, and almost none for solos.

They are generally priced at more than a 50% supplement. IMHO, absolutely not worth it. 127 square feet is tiny. You are way up at the front of the ship. HAL used to sell cabins for solos at a 50% supplement or less. Now regular cabins are always 200%. And on my last cruise, a 2 week Asian cruise, they had exactly one solo meet up and no classical music at all. I am a 4 star and have been sailing on HAL since 1983. But with all the cut backs in food in entertainment, and the 200% supplement, I am better off with land travel or another line.

There are roll calls for Celestyal. But you must post them in the other roll call section. Also, don't expect any replies as it seems Celestyal cruisers dont use this website. I suggest either booking ship tours which are better priced than normal or just booking your own private and not expecting anyone to join. Or plan your own free walking tour or using public transportation.

I got a great prescription mask from my dive shop for $110. It was fully customized. I chose the mash color, the lens color, and it even has bifocals! WORTH EVERY PENNY! Go to a dive shop, don't muck around!

Work WITH SOMEONE RIGHT NEAR YOUR SHIP! The traffic on this island is nuts! You will lose your dive time otherwise. Even if you don't go to the best reefs, it's OK. The visibility is worth it.