Solo on Princess from San Francisco

[runner2013]

Hi all,

I've been looking at different lines for a solo trip this Sept/Oct.. I've found a couple that look very appealing to me leaving from San Francisco or Los Angeles. ( I live on the East Coast and have always wanted to see CA, I figure a cruise gives me the best of both worlds.)

Both on them are on Princess, The Crown or Grand, and my concern is the typical 'age range' ill find onboard.

I'm 47 and have sailed several times solo on RC and NCL and always enjoyed myself. I'm not a 'partier' or 'heavy drinker' so I'm not worried about finding people to 'get drunk with'. I guess I'm a little bit concerned everyone onboard will be much older than me and there won't be much in the way of onboard activities to enjoy. I tend to keep an open mind when it comes to activities and will try anything that looks like fun. I just want to avoid standing out like the 'sore thumb' if that's possible:eek:

 

Can anyone who's been on a Princess ship offer an opinion or advice, good or bad, to enlighten me?

Thanks for your help

[Croptop]

I am also 47 and have been on 5 Princess cruises. The first 3 (in the Caribbean), I was participating in a group cruise with a bunch of runners so we, as a large group, managed to skew the demographics a bit younger. Cruise number 4 was also in the Caribbean and I still didn't feel like I was significantly younger than the rest of the passengers.

 

My last cruise, a Mexico cruise on the Star, was a different story. On that cruise, there were some passengers my age and some that were obviously younger but the vast majority were much older. I'd have put the average age at around the mid 60s but that's purely a guess.

 

I think it comes down to itinerary, length of cruise and time of year. Longer cruises tend to get older passengers.

 

Having said that, I still enjoyed my cruise very much and am now planning to book a 15-day Hawaii cruise out of San Francisco for next January. I'm guessing that I'll get seated at the kids' table on that one but I'll still love it.

[Croptop]

I realise that I didn't actually answer your question:

 

The mix of activities was such that passengers of all ages could find something to take part in. There was the usual trivia and games, and shows. The ship also has a lounge for dancing that doesn't even start hopping until 1000 or so.

 

Hopefully someone else will chime in with more details. I'm somewhat of a sit back and watch type of guy so I don't really participate in too many shipboard activities.

[h20cruzer]

Hi, I did a 3 day from LA to Vancouver on the Grand in March 2015. I met a couple of girls on the cruise critic roll call. I met a lot of other people and ages varied, I would not say its all old people. There were also some famlies with children which surprised me. I havent taken a Princess cruise before and wanted to try it out and of course the price was right.

I have sailed a lot of lines and would do Princess again if the price was right.

I would say go for it, its not like you are taking a 30 day cruise and are stuck for a month. Go early and stay an extra couple of days at both ends. You will love San Francisco I am sure.

Norma

[cpcanuck]

I think you will find Princess a good fit. I just came back from a 10 day on the Grand (California Coastal) at the end of April. I managed to connect with a few other solo travellers and we ended up doing a few things together throughout the cruise which was great.

 

I'm 50 and felt quite at home. There was a wide range of ages - definitely a younger average age than what I experienced on HAL.

 

There were lots of activities that didn't include drinking/partying. I was able to join a team for trivia games - never felt left out as the solo. People were really welcoming and friendly.