Solo Cruiser's Roll Call

[ScubaCruiserC]

9 hours ago, vjblk said:

I am going on my first solo cruise over NewYears on HAL. My sister passed away in July. She was my best friend and travel buddy. We traveled alot and cruising had become our favorite vacation. I really didn't want to give up traveling and with the encouragement of friends, I decided to book this trip. It's a ship I've been on and an itinerary I've done before. Figured familiarity would help ease into solo travel. I used to travel for work sometimes so flying and staying pre cruise should be okay. Not sure how a whole week will go. But I figure I won't know until I try.  It's not always easy for me to talk with strangers but I have always found cruisers to be a friendly bunch. Looking forward to this cruise.

Sorry for your loss.  Wishing you a fantastic cruise.

 

[shipper50]

On 10/10/2022 at 9:18 AM, shippmates said:

We did Alaska the first week of June.  The weather was cold but the mountains were beautiful with the snow on the tops.  We saw lots of animals in Denali when we did our tour.  Shipper 50 please make sure you also do the land tour before your cruise.  We saw more on the land tour than we did on the cruise.  The train ride up the White Mountain Pass into Canada is amazing.    Just make sure you have your passport.

 

When I went to Alaska in 2012 I did the White Mountain train and it was great. Not going to Skagway this trip. Not sure what you mean do the land tour before my cruise? I will be in Seattle before boarding the ship?

[grobma]

12 minutes ago, shipper50 said:

Not sure what you mean do the land tour before my cruise? I will be in Seattle before boarding the ship?

On NCL, I cruised from Vancouver to Seward, and then did a one-week land tour flying home out of Fairbanks. You can also do it in reverse - fly to Alaska and do the land tour first, and then board the ship in Seward heading south.

[shipper50]

1 hour ago, grobma said:

On NCL, I cruised from Vancouver to Seward, and then did a one-week land tour flying home out of Fairbanks. You can also do it in reverse - fly to Alaska and do the land tour first, and then board the ship in Seward heading south.

Thanks for the tip. But with me spending $3108 on the cruise alone, and being a lowly retired steel worker not sure that will happen.😊

[shippmates]

3 hours ago, shipper50 said:

When I went to Alaska in 2012 I did the White Mountain train and it was great. Not going to Skagway this trip. Not sure what you mean do the land tour before my cruise? I will be in Seattle before boarding the ship?

The cruise lines have land tours of the interior of Alaska before your cruise or after your cruise.  We did a 4 day land tour.  We stayed in a hotel in Anchorage and did a tour of the city, stayed in a resort at the base of Denali and was able to see the entire Mt Denali.  We also took a 120 mile tour of Denali National Park.  It was an 8 hr tour and we saw Moose, Deer, Mt. Sheep, Bears.  Check with your travel agent you used to book your cruise and ask for the details on the land tours.

[sweetp0618]

5 hours ago, shipper50 said:

Thanks for the tip. But with me spending $3108 on the cruise alone, and being a lowly retired steel worker not sure that will happen.😊

 

Hi! My friends and I spent several days on a land tour in Alaska, and then took a cruise from Sewerd to Vancouver. We were able to do it on our own for about a third of the cost of a cruise led land tour.

 

We flew into Anchorage and took a dome train to Denali. We stayed at the Denali Dome Home B&B. The owners booked our train - they knew the best train to take and got our tickets at a discount. We also rented a car from them. We took a bus tour of Denali, which was very inexpensive and we saw tons of wildlife, including bears. After we returned back to Anchorage, we took a train to Seward, which is one of the top rated train trips in North America. We stayed in an AirBnB in Seward and spent a couple of days whale watching, visiting the Sealife Center, and doing other tours before getting on the cruise.

 

Everything was very safe and I wouldn't hesitate to do it on my own. We got to do what we wanted, stayed in very nice places, and never had to wait for other people to board buses, etc. 

[shipper50]

4 hours ago, shippmates said:

The cruise lines have land tours of the interior of Alaska before your cruise or after your cruise.  We did a 4 day land tour.  We stayed in a hotel in Anchorage and did a tour of the city, stayed in a resort at the base of Denali and was able to see the entire Mt Denali.  We also took a 120 mile tour of Denali National Park.  It was an 8 hr tour and we saw Moose, Deer, Mt. Sheep, Bears.  Check with your travel agent you used to book your cruise and ask for the details on the land tours.

I guess no one is reading my comments? When one is retired on a fixed income and paying probably over $4000 for this one cruise, me checking with my agent is not going to help.

[grobma]

19 hours ago, shipper50 said:

 Not sure what you mean do the land tour before my cruise? I will be in Seattle before boarding the ship?

11 hours ago, shipper50 said:

I guess no one is reading my comments? When one is retired on a fixed income and paying probably over $4000 for this one cruise, me checking with my agent is not going to help.

I think that people were responding to your question about doing the land tour before the cruise. It sounded like you were asking for information.

 

[Midwestern Cruiser]

@shipper50 I've read your comments & know you didn't ask about a land tour (pre- or post-cruise).

Hope you enjoy your 'cruise only' trip! I've done that seven times & can just about guarantee you will :-}

[shipper50]

1 minute ago, Midwestern Cruiser said:

@shipper50 I've read your comments & know you didn't ask about a land tour (pre- or post-cruise).

Hope you enjoy your 'cruise only' trip! I've done that seven times & can just about guarantee you will :-}

Well at least one read my comment. Thank you very much, oh not to scare you, but I am from Gary born and raised, The Region as we called it back in the day.

[Midwestern Cruiser]

4 minutes ago, shipper50 said:

Well at least one read my comment. Thank you very much, oh not to scare you, but I am from Gary born and raised, The Region as we called it back in the day.

Gary is north of my southern Illinois, metro St Louis location, but I've visited The Region a few times!

[Pami1968]

Sailing solo on Enchantment of the Seas on 11/11/22.  If anyone else is going, say hi!  I always sail solo and while I am perfectly happy on my own, I’m such good company that I also enjoy making new friends. 😎

[Mrs. H.]

I'm cruising on 10/30/22 & 11/26/22.

[RedgeToo]

I'm cruising over Christmas on Bellissima and 03/23 on Britannia to Southampton

[tpooleinjax]

Heading out November 5th for my first solo cruise to the Western Caribbean.  Plenty of other cruises under my belt but this is the first one alone.  A little nervous but looking forward to it as well.

[jimdlt19]

Solo on the Celebrity Silhouette Dec 15-18 out of Miami. 

[nesila]

Apologies for the duplicate....

 

Anyone traveling on Apex Dec 17 out of FLL? I got the move-up to Aqua and hoping to find a nice dinner partner to come with me to Blu.

[Mrs. H.]

I just returned from my first solo cruise, NCL Breakaway.  I had no idea there was someone from NCL who was 'in charge' of the solo folk.  It was pretty damn nice!

 

Ready for my 2nd solo cruise in 16 more days.  

[eileeshb]

On 11/10/2022 at 1:10 PM, Mrs. H. said:

I just returned from my first solo cruise, NCL Breakaway.  I had no idea there was someone from NCL who was 'in charge' of the solo folk.  It was pretty damn nice!

 

Ready for my 2nd solo cruise in 16 more days.  

I definitely missed it when I cruised on Epic in October last year, the solo meet-ups and the hosting were still suspended due to covid restrictions back then.  All the other cruises I’ve done had the host and a very varied collections of solos. 

[Mrs. H.]

1 hour ago, eileeshb said:

I definitely missed it when I cruised on Epic in October last year, the solo meet-ups and the hosting were still suspended due to covid restrictions back then.  All the other cruises I’ve done had the host and a very varied collections of solos. 

Wow. I wonder why on some ships they have the solo meet-ups and others they don't.

[eileeshb]

1 hour ago, Mrs. H. said:

Wow. I wonder why on some ships they have the solo meet-ups and others they don't.

On that cruise on the epic is was due to European covid restrictions at the time, there were less than 2,000 guests aboard. But I was on Epic again in March on a Caribbean itinerary and the solos program was back to normal on that one. AFAIK NCL run the solo meet-ups on all their ships but there are a lot more solos on the ships with studio cabins. I don’t know about any other cruise lines.

[RedgeToo]

On 11/11/2022 at 10:53 PM, eileeshb said:

I don’t know about any other cruise lines.

Royal Caribbean have hosted meet ups (at least in the UK), although the last one I went on the host showed up very late and left as soon as he realised he wasn't needed.

 

MSC don't do anything afaik.

 

P&O group solo cabins together and have an early morning (!) meet up in the nearby bar

 

Princess seem to have an unhosted meet up

 

The most fun I had with solo meet ups was on Allure of the Seas out of Southampton

[Steeler Nation At Sea]

Greetings all!  Just booked my first MSC cruises.  Will be sailing S2S next October from Rome on Sinfonia to the Holy Lands and then a Seashore transatlantic and excited for something new.  Please say hello if you're going, too, as MSC Europe roll calls are usually very, very quiet.

[RedgeToo]

On 11/17/2022 at 2:39 PM, Steeler Nation At Sea said:

Greetings all!  Just booked my first MSC cruises.  Will be sailing S2S next October from Rome on Sinfonia to the Holy Lands and then a Seashore transatlantic and excited for something new.  Please say hello if you're going, too, as MSC Europe roll calls are usually very, very quiet.

I'm on Bellissima over Christmas - no one else going as far as I can see 🤣🤣

 

Then onto Britannia for a TA from Barbados to Southampton

[hallux]

I just made my final payment - I'm going on the Norwegian Escape March 18-25 next year.  I booked a Studio cabin (double occupancy cabins are just outrageous right now for a solo traveler) but have hopes to get a price-drop upgrade to a balcony as the cruise nears.  I'm looking forward to trying a different NCL ship, having been on the nearly-identical ships Joy and Bliss 3 times so far.