Roz

If you don't have much luggage and are able bodied, you can walk.

Hi @KMBCruzer. I see that this is your 2nd post. Welcome to Cruise Critic. This forum is for river cruising on small ships. Royal Caribbean only has ocean cruising. Viking has ocean and river cruising. Have you looked at the reviews here on Cruise Critic for Royal Caribbean and Viking? They're a world apart.

There's also the issue of whether she'll be able to navigate the steep steps on the tour buses.

I've done that a few times in the past, but I've heard there could be issues with insurance claims if the cruise was paid for with gift cards. Don't know if that's true or not.

@Eric from San Diego, you're absolutely right. That's what I've found in my research.

The people processing the requests may be in another time zone where your Sunday is their Monday.

@SusieKIslandGirl, when I did my searches from Seattle and Vancouver, I only asked for nonstop flights. That would explain why it said no flights are available.

I just had this same conversation with my sister. When I retired I was hoping to be able to take advantage of last minute deals, but there are no bargains out there. If anything, fares have gone up. The price of nothing, including cruises fares, has gone down.

I tried SEA and YVR and it said "no flights available". I also tried LAX and SAN. I flight from LAX and none from SAN. I couldn't find that feature.

@Mary229, thanks for the suggestions. Yes, the holiday season has been a topic of discussion on our roll call as far as booking flights and hotels. I spent the last 2 holiday seasons in Europe and had to deal with the challenge of traveling during a peak time.

@SusieKIslandGirl, no I didn't. Thanks for the suggestion. I'll check those cities, along with waiting a bit to book.

I'm a "bit older", but haven't yet developed the skill of entertaining myself on cruises in the evening. Entertainment is HAL's weak spot, in my opinion.

I don't think you could go wrong with either choice.

Oh no! Please tell me that's not true about my beloved lemon 🍋 drop.

I read posts in this forum about the wonders of Flight Ease, but I've never used it because there has never been any savings vs. booking directly with the airline. I'm cruising on the Noordam from Singapore Jan. 4, and want to arrive in Singapore 3 days beforehand. I live in TN, but am looking at flying non-stop from a West Coast city, preferably San Francisco. My plan is to fly to SFO on SW the day before, stay overnight at an airport hotel, and then fly out the next morning. I'm doing this because the last 3 times I've flown internationally, I've missed my connection, with resulting travel stress and delays. Getting to the connecting city a day ahead will hopefully minimize the chances of this happening again. The options I'm getting from Flight Ease aren't very appealing. I can fly Singapore Airlines in premium economy for $2,751, but they offer no flexible fare, and payment has to be made immediately. My understanding from this forum was that flights didn't have to be paid until final cruise payment was due. Why am I not being offered a flexible fare and why do I have to pay immediately? Flight Ease has flexible and restricted fares on United in premium economy for $4,274 and $4,237 respectively. The same restricted fare on the United website is $3,476. Quelle difference! Before I make a fatal mistake, can someone tell me what's going on here? I feel like I'm being ripped off. Should I wait until 4-6 months out from January to book my flights?

@Hlitner, I'm a budget cruiser, so I'll pack my own bouillon cubes and get a cup of hot water from the Lido. 🤣

@knoxclone, great review 👍. I've found that if you can deal with the cold, wet, windy weather, and shortened daylight hours, there are bargains to be had with both land tours and river cruises in Europe during the off season.

@Coral, sorry you had to cancel, but believe me, I understand. I'm finding that travel costs in general are going up, and cruising isn't as attractive as it once was, especially for solos. When I retired I thought I would be able to take advantage of last minute cruise deals, but those deals aren't out there like they used to be.

When you return, please report back on what you thought of Virgin's Social Room. My friend, a bridge player, loved it. She was sailing solo, but always found a table that needed a 4th.

@cbr663, interesting observation. My local McDonald's has signs saying 20 minutes is the limit for tables. I've never seen the manager say anything to customers, but at the same time I've never seen people park themselves there and work for extended amounts of time. So the message must be getting through. If you get up and order additional drinks or food, that's OK and you're not going to be kicked out.

Huh? All I want is a place to sit down to eat my meal. I'm not some weirdo.

@ChinaShrek, what do you think is causing that?

In the past I had no problem asking to share a table with others, but lately (post-Covid) I've found more people reluctant to do that. When I approach them I get "the look", or they make up some vague, bogus excuse such as we're waiting for friends, or that seat is already taken. I've noticed more and more posts on Cruise Critic asking about 2-top tables and how to avoid eating with other people or just socializing in general. Posters cite social anxiety, fear of meeting new people, depression, etc. as the reason they want to avoid others. Silly me, I regularly ask other passengers to join me at trivia, mealtime, on excursions, etc., not knowing I'm possibly causing someone to have an anxiety attack.

In my original post I never mentioned the pool area or solarium (not even sure what that is), only the Lido, and it's during peak times that the problem exists.

The Crow's Nest can be just as bad as far as people parking themselves there all day long, or getting up early and marking their spot with a book or tote bag. My favorite is people who fall asleep and snore 😴 loudly.