Do you look around to see if there are other solos?

[Look2Sea]

I have cruised 2 times / both as a solo.

Love cruising solo and love having my own cabin.

 

One thing that I find myself doing is looking around to see if I am the only solo.

I must still feel self conscious about cruising solo.

 

Does anyone else find themselves doing that?

Is this a rookie tendency?

Will it just take more solo cruises to get over it? :)

Or maybe a non-solo cruise :rolleyes:

 

I would love to go on a cruise that had other solos from Cruise Critic but I guess it is just the luck of the draw.

 

Are there Cruise Critic conventions or events that would give me the opportunity to meet other Cruise Critic members?

 

Annette

[TTEllis]

Looking around for other solo's I find myself doing that like maybe the first day on the ship by the second or third day not only does it not matter you realize very quickly your basically the only solo on the ship, there arent any others. If you cruise solo get on your CC Roll call and show up at the Meet n Greet you'll be the only one there solo, its great.

[BonnieVA]

Nope!

[Lois R]

Nope!

 

Hi Bonnie:) me either. I end up looking for crew and staff I know since

I sail so often with X and I always end up seeing wonderful familiar

faces:D...Bartenders especially;)

[brendaswise]

My 1st Solo cruise will be March 28, 2011... from Galveston... Been to Las Vegas solo... Love it....:p

I think the cruise will be just as wonderful... come & go as you please - Cabin to your self...:D

I did not look for other solo travelers while in Las Vegas... and I will NOT will on ship:)

[wishIweretravelling]

Yes, in order to spot people who might want to meet others. Though more often than not, I wind up buddying up with people traveling with someone else. But I still do it.

[jollyjones]

I don't look for solos to meet other people as I am happily self contained - if I happen to chat to other people, that just happens, they may be solos, they may not be.

 

I often take a look through the embarkation photos as that can give you an indication of how many solos there are on the ship, but it's just for interest, kinda like how many pax on board, average age etc ...

[JudiinMt]

My first solo cruise will be in November. I had some hesitation in booking it but I love to cruise.

 

I have been to Vegas alone many times - I don't mind going out to dinner alone - enjoy movies by myself.....just never thought about this first solo cruise that light.

 

Thanks for giving me a different perspective. I am looking forward to it!

[Joliboi]

What ship are you sailing on Judi?

[airlink diva]

On your question Look2Sea for me it's yes and no.

The reason I said this is when I join in on trivia and the teams are two or three people, there are often other solo cruisers like me there.

I know on HAL they offer a solo/single cruise lunch on the first sea day and you often meet other solo cruisers there.

But otherwise, I will head to the lounge or on ship tours alone or with people I met on my roll call or at dinner.

[BonnieVA]

I end up looking for crew and staff I know since

I sail so often with X and I always end up seeing wonderful familiar

faces:D...Bartenders especially;)

 

Hi Lois. I can see how that happens. When I went on my second Mercury solo in Jan I saw several crew who recognized ME from the cruise I was on 2 months prior. I felt like I was being welcomed back by friends. Now I realize the crew are trained to be attentive & make you feel like family but it really did make me feel good when, eg, my asst waiter from the 1st cruise saw me first across Cova Cafe & smiled from one ear to another ... & when I was walking down my hallway when I first got on the ship & the butler on that hallway peaked his head out from the crew doorway & looked down the hall, smiling because he recognized me (& I didn't have butler service since I was in an inside) ... & when the security guard sitting at the xray machine in the gangway at Nassau jumped out of his seat as I was leaving for the day & told me he remembered me from my other cruise ... etc ... etc! I can see how you (& I on my future X cruises) would be on the lookout for crew we've met on other X cruises. They're fun & great to talk with.

 

And that's why I'm so sad to see the Mercury leaving the fleet & Baltimore ... I was looking forward to going on more cruises & hopefully running into the crew I met in Nov & Jan. I don't actually care about the ship leaving ... it's that I'll miss the crew I got to know & who made my cruises special.

[Kween Karen]

I don't look for solos specifically.....but if there are ladies to meet I am there and ready to have a chat. I always find it is good to meet as many people as possible....then there is always someone around to sit with at various activities.

[JudiinMt]

What ship are you sailing on Judi?

 

Carnival Dream November 6th. I love cruising out of there and airfare to Orlando is usually cheaper than other places in Florida. I have since found out this is a "Cruise Critic" cruise so the rollcall board is very slow.

 

No worries - I'm excited - only thing I am re-thinking is set dining times. I have picked the anytime dining which my husband and I enjoyed as it allowed us to do whatever we wanted in the evenings.

[mtwingcpa]

Does anyone else find themselves doing that?

 

No, not really. I will sometimes note (along with many other things) whether there are other solos in the dining room, but I'm not looking to meet anyone.

[Look2Sea]

My purpose for looking to see if there are other solos is not necessarily to meet someone to pal around with.

 

The reason I look around to see if there are other solos

is to reassure myself that there are other people on the ship who cruise solo. Pretty dumb huh?

 

I guess it is just insecurity.

I am sure it is a rookie thing for me that can be remedied by going on more cruises. :D

 

On my last cruise I met so many nice people without hardly even trying.

Everyone was so happy to be on vacation on a beautiful ship.

 

I had the benefit of traveling solo but enjoyed sharing smiles, waves, and brief chats with others.

Some people traveling with others were jealous of my solo status.

 

Not specifically setting out to meet other solo cruisers, I happen to meet 2 solo cruisers. I am sure there were other solos on the ship.

When we smiled or waved to each other, there seemed to be a unspoken kinship because we both knew the joys of traveling solo.

 

Writing my thoughts and the helpful responses from others has really helped. Thanks all :)

[koko1]

I typically cruise about 4 times a year & sometimes, but not often, meet other solos. Exception was the last cruise I was on a very elegant older lady asked if she could join me in the Windjammer. She was 94 years old! Said her husband (long gone) did not like to travel but knew she loved it & did not object if she went alone. She had been all over the world & had been going solo for 50 years. Very sharp & interesting lady. I've also met some male solos, mainly Europeans who tend to do longer cruises or back-to-back. I don't really look for other solos, just people who appear to be interesting and have a good sense of humor. If people are bores, full of themselves or humorless I wouldn't talk to them at home so I sure would not do it on vacation. Sometimes the best company you have is yourself!

[yellowbird23]

I can't say that I have looked for other solos, but they are there to be found if you want to find them. What I have fun doing is usually while waiting for an elevator it never fails that there is always a couple bickering about something. That is when I chime in, "that's why I left my better half at home". Saves on the stress of cruising with someone else and having to please them all the time. Solo cruising means you only have to please yourself. Why seek out "trouble" that you don't need? I have met couples/solos, done excursions with them, ate with them, etc., but when it comes to the actual cruise itself, I love the privacy of my own cabin and the chance to escape when I wish to. Right Lois??? lol

[Lois R]

Quote by Look2Sea

"The reason I look around to see if there are other solos

is to reassure myself that there are other people on the ship who cruise solo. Pretty dumb huh?"

I don't think I would call it dumb but I think you mentioned being

insecure?

We are all different as human beings. Hopefully sailing solo will help

you overcome this.....:)

The last thing I am concerned about is if there are other

solo cruisers on board.

I meet people quite easily. Doesn't matter to me if they are solo, married,

gay, straight, black, white....you get my point:D.....its just fun

to meet other folks while on a cruise. And then again, because I sail

solo I can have all the "Me time" I want too:D

[BonnieVA]

The last thing I am concerned about is if there are other solo cruisers on board. I meet people quite easily. Doesn't matter to me if they are solo, married, gay, straight, black, white....you get my point:D.....its just fun to meet other folks while on a cruise. And then again, because I sail solo I can have all the "Me time" I want too:D

 

Yep, me too, Lois. It's fun meeting other pax & it's fun & interesting to meet the crew as well. I found that I got to know the crew A LOT more on my solo Mercury sailings than when I cruised w/ dh or the whole family. Of course my solos were on X - which has better service anyway - but I still don't think I'd have gotten to know the crew as well if dh would have been w/ me! I can talk w/ dh any time ... but I can't meet interesting people from all over the world any time!!

[SMSACE6]

To the OP, no I dont think I look necessarily to see if there are any other solo cruisers, but I do look at people, make eye contact and smile, and have met some very nice people on my solo cruises, some were couples, some were families, and some were groups of friends travelling together, but I have met other solo cruisers at my dining table, especially on Carnival ships.

 

So, while I often cruise solo, ( not always ) but often do, I tend to like to meet all kinds of people, all ages etc.

 

If you go to the Roll Call boards, check out the roll call for your ship, and you might be able to "get acquainted" with other solo cruisers on your ship before your cruise, or even if they arent cruising solo, you might find some folks you will click with on your cruise! Have a great cruise.:)

[vacation luvver]

I never look around to see if there are other solos on my cruise because unless they're wearing a sign that says "I'm here all by myself," I wouldn't know if they were solos, so what's the point? If I see someone who is alone, that doesn't mean that he/she is solo. Maybe his/her companion is doing something else, and they're not joined at the hip. If I saw someone alone in the dining room, I wouldn't assume that he/she was solo. Because maybe his/her traveling companion slept late/got up early/isn't hungry/is on a shore excursion/is participating in an activity. As for embarkation photos, when I cruise with my friend, we always pose for separate embarkation photos, as opposed to one photo of us together. So anyone seeing our photos might assume that we were two solos, but we're not. So I never assume that an embarkation photo of one person means that that person is a solo.

[MOHAVE]

I live in Las Vegas solo. LOL. And though I've never cruised before, I've booked two up-coming solo cruises.

I read someplace that less than 15% of the ship cruises solo and in that 15%, only 25% are guys so I guess that make me the odd one out but I don't care. I'm looking to have fun and really don't have any idea what to expect. I'll probably have 200 new friends after I get off each ship. Families. That traveled 94 year old lady. Other singles. Don't matter.

Good on all ya solo cruisers. Sitting on the couch reading about cruising is such a terrible waste.

[JerseyJaguar]

I don't really notice the other solo cruisers until dinnertime. My second and third cruise were mainly solo travellers at my dinner table, and the funny thing is the people I became real friends with were the one couple at my table (we had a table of 10 and all but this couple and mother of one of them were solo travellers). I met them in Alaska, they're from Amsterdam and we went to dinner together in NYC months after our cruise. And they promise to show me around Amsterdam when I get there.

 

I don't know if I pay attention besides mealtime. I even forgot about the solo lunch till they sat me at the extra table because the original solo table was all full (but it wasn't all people travelling solo, some were just eating solo).

[Look2Sea]

It is mostly meal times that I am conscious or worry about being solo.

That said, I had very positive dining experiences on my RCI cruise last Nov.

• One night I requested table for 1, and was seated at a very nice secluded table.
  
• Another night I requested table for 1, and was seated at a 2-top that was right next to a couple at their 2-top, and they engaged me in pleasant conversation during the entire meal. Sometimes couples are dying to talk to a third person.
  
• One night was at table for 10 which was a lot of fun.
  
• Two nights I ate at specialty restaurant at solo table.
  
• One breakfast in MDR sitting at a large table. As you enter the dining room you are placed at a table until it fills up. Very casual.
  
• One lunch in MDR. I was seated at 6-top with 2 couples traveling together. It went very well. They were actually grateful when I arrived because it seemed that their service was not going to begin until someone else was placed at their table.
  

I think I am over my hang ups, and can accept myself for wanting to travel solo. Bring on the next cruise !!! :)

[MOHAVE]

That's how I see myself feeling about solo dining on a cruise. There is plesantries in everything you experienced.