sambamama

Ever since COVID, many, many lines have gone to 100% single supplements. It is usually the lines in the midrange-Celebrity, Holland America, Princess, etc. I am mainly aware of HAL as that is who I had almost exclusively cruised with. Before COVID, my TA could find 50% or less single supplements, but those seem to have vanished. It seems like lower end and very high end have lower supplements. A TA can help you find the bargains, and I've found my TA to be a bargain over the years. I may pay a bit more, but she tracks price drops, etc. She gets the ship to move me up in category (I usually book a year or more ahead.) And when upsell time rolls around, I let her know a price, and tell her to go ahead and book a particular category if something opens up without contacting me. I've ended up with high end balconies where I started out with a low end inside cabin.

I had always cruised with someone, and wanted to go on a cruise, but could not find anyone to go with me. It was a two week Southern Caribbean cruise, and it ended up being the best cruise I had ever been on up to that point. I met a Canadian couple and we spent all our time together. We became great friends, and I ended up visiting them four times and going on trips with them. The first was a cruise to Alaska, the second was an extended road trip of the Western National parks, and the third a trip to Vancouver Island, and then to Banff, Jasper and Lake Louise, and then a road trip from Vancouver down to Southern California and back. We also met up in a Spanish port one day when we were both on different TA cruises. Since then, I have also gone on extensive land trips by myself including my most recent- two months to Africa-one in Egypt and one in Morocco. Every trip has been AMAZING! I've never felt alone, I always meet people, and something super cool happens every trip! So everyone should go!! Don't WAIT! If I waited, I would not have gone anywhere as I haven't had a significant other since 2009. DON'T WAIT-LIFE IS TOO SHORT! I am 66, and I learned to scuba dive two years ago. I now have 102 dives, and am an advanced open water diver. None of this would have happened had I not gone on the first cruise alone!!!

All Celestyal cruises (ALL) do solos for a 50% supplement and start at a very reasonable price. They have 3, 4, 7, and 14 night cruises going to Greece, Greece and Egypt, and Greece, Egypt and Turkey. The base rate even includes free wine with meals! I've read reviews and the cruise line sounds very nice. Smaller ships of around 1600 passengers, the ships are older, but the food is good to excellent, and the crew is great. Excursions look wonderful, and I am definitely thinking of booking. I think the way to go is to combine some time in Greece either before or after. Do book with a travel agency as it is much cheaper than with the line itself.

Boy, does this suck. The classical music was the main draw to HAL for me, and Lincoln Center was huge! I LOVED IT! I have a 14 day cruise that's been cancelled twice and is now Jan 2024, so they won't be on it. HAL is getting rid of the special touches-no candied ginger, no Lincoln Center, and the management doesn't care if they screw up your cruise or have any affordable cruises for singles.

Once your cruise is approaching, you can't make any reservations-you must be on Princess wifi. It also won't let you view your tours or contact anyone. This is the stupidest app in the world except for my banking app which won't let me make mobile deposits!

HAL does a superb job with narration and lecturers for the Panama Canal cruise. In addition to the Crow's Nest lounge, they also open up some deck areas not ordinarily open that give great visibility. They also make these awesome Panama Canal buns that have orange inside!

I booked a Panama Canal cruise on the Emerald Princess leaving Long Beach January 17. I've never sailed on Princess- I am a 4 star HAL Mariner. I've also sailed NCL, Celebrity, and Royal Caribbean, but none of those in a long time. I always book late seating at a table of 6 or 8 on HAL. Is there no fixed seating at all on Princess? So there is no way to get the same waiter night after night? I am somewhat picky, so I like having the same waiter, and not having to inflict my pickiness on a new waiter every night, and I like having lemons on the table for my water every night. I also don't want to eat dinner alone-I eat dinner alone the rest of the year, so I don't want to eat dinner alone. I don't mind eating breakfast or lunch alone. I'd prefer eating with the same people night after night, and getting to know them-is this not possible on Princess at all now? Is there a way to have a standing table for 8 pm? Or is there a table set up for solo diners? I know absolutely nothing about Princess except that the pasta is supposed to be excellent. I booked because the prices on HAL for a solo were crazy high-everything was double priced, and not good value, either! But I had no idea they did not have fixed dining at all anymore. Is there no workaround at all? They still have it on HAL-although it is less popular, there are some of us who still prefer it.

I usually avoid ship tours like the plague. I've taken the local bus to beaches, or posted on a roll call looking for shares. I've had excellent luck organizing a private tour, and posting it on the roll call so I get a small group doing what I want. Snorkeling is best done in smaller groups and that is the best thing to do in Cozumel other than dive. It's no fun snorkeling with 40 people!

5 of these cruises were precovid. Yes, I have insurance, but my insurance doesn't pay out for cruise cancellations. I booked my airfare using points and a consultant to maximize their usage, and no insurance covers the booking fee. I lost time booking my hotels, and most all were refundable. I don't get to travel much, so I use cruises to add pre and post travel, especially when going long distances. I never said I lost a ton of money booking non refundable hotels and airfare-you made that assumption. But I did lose a great deal of time. You entirely missed my point that HAL has had my money since 2019, and I still have no cruise and it is held hostage with no benefits for years. Flight ease prices are crazy high now, which is why I booked my own. The only cruises that have been cancelled in COVID were this Asia one.

I am so soured on HAL I have turned into a pickle. The cost cutting measures bother me, but not nearly as much as the fact that there are basically no cruises for sale at less than 200% now, and at highly inflated prices as well! HAL (and other cruise lines, I checked prices on Carnival today) have priced themselves right out of single cruiser budgets. It is now cheaper for me to do land trips than cruises, and I can travel in a more lavish style as well. The fact that HAL thinks it is OK to hold onto my money for 4 years interest free and not even give me a free Pinnacle dinner is beyond belief. What would it cost them to raise my cabin one category, or give me $50 in shipboard credit for cancelling my cruise for another year? the fact that they are offering me $400 shipboard credit to rebook on a cruise this year, but not a penny for them to hold my money for a third year really bothers me. I am up to 8 cancelled cruises-all of which has cost me considerable time and effort as I book my shore trips, hotels and airfare long in advance and money as well, as travel insurance doesn't pay for cancelled cruises. I don't think HAL can get its act together because it isn't HAL-it is the new management!

HA!!! HAL has had my money paid in full from December 19, 2020-I've had 8 cruises canceled, and this is now the second time they canceled my January Asia cruise-each time after I already booked my airfare and hotels. As a single, all their cruises (or probably 98%) are now 200% single supplements now. So I can rebook and get very little of the value I had for this cruise or cancel and lose the value I gained from my FCC (which I only got the first time they canceled) or wait yet a third year. HAL won't even give me any courtesy shipboard credit or even a tiny free cabin upgrade- a J from an L. HAL canceled my TA and then uncanceled it a month later saying it was a mistake after I canceled my airfare and hotels. I've been sailing with HAL since the early 1980s, and am a 4 star. At this point, I may never cruise with HAL again after this cruise-I am totally disgusted with how they have handled my cancellations. I had a casino cruise booked this past fall, and the ship got chartered for that week. At least half the passengers knew the cruise wasn't going before HAL finally announce the cruise was cancelled (the exact dates were posted on the charter website!) This was about 6-8 weeks before the ship was sailing, and people already had their airfare and hotels booked. And what did we get for that debacle??? Nothing!!! If I had the option of getting all my money back (including the FCC) in cash, I would grab it and go! I figure HAL has had some of my money interest free since 2018 and longer now!