first cruise solo and first widjammer

[liv2vac2]

I just got back from my first solo cruiser following spouses passing. I did not want to pay a supplement and ran across Island Windjammers on one of these forums. I thought its sounded interesting and at the same time different form past cruises. One thing to note is this was one of the solo sojorn cruises, which means everyone was solo. I would highly recommend this as a first solo cruise for a number of reasons which I will list below and that seem to be on the minds of a lot of first timers;

1. Meal times are all one sitting and everyone just picks a table. If you are particularly fond of your table you can switch at the next meal as there are only 3 or 4 tables.

2. You will have an enjoyable time. You will also avoid being down as you are having all new experiences not in the same routine your used to when cruising.

3. The staff will keep you as busy as you want with tours etc or let you do absolutely nothing if that is what you want.

4. All stops were nice and very few normal cruise stops, so Diamonds Intl. is not the first thing you see at every stop. Good luck Finding Diamonds Intl at

more than one stop besides you embarkation point.

5. On the trip I was on there were 2 widowers,2 single people never married

about 4 married people travelling alone, 1 married couple, and the other 6 were divorced. They ranged in age from mid 30's to mid 70's.

6. The ship (Saggita) holds max. 24 Passengers. There are 2 other ships they sail the Diamante holds 18 and the Vela which holds a max of 30 Passengers.

This was nice in that you really get to know your fellow passengers.

7. The food was excellent better than most mainline cruise lines. Let the chef know about allergies and dislikes and he will work with you.

8. to keep your cost down you can share a cabin, they will match you up with someone of the same sex. If you prefer there were 2 single cabins or you could pay for 2 and have a regular cabin to yourself. I did a share and it worked out just fine we were only there to sleep.

 

If your asking yourself would I do it again the answer is yes. I have already been looking at next year, and for sure one and possibly 3 others from this trip are looking for a time that we can sail together again.

My best advice for anyone thinking of cruising solo whether mainline cruises or a Windjammer cruise is just go ahead and do it, it is not as scary as it seems. I am also not a very social go out and meet everybody type of person, which if you are it should be easier yet.

[mrobstad]

I'm glad u had a good time! It appears you did pay a supplement since you said you could lower the cost by sharing a room. Also, you called it a single something cruise. How do u know that designation? Did u find your cruise on the online TA we all GO TO?

[liv2vac2]

They have single cabins or shared cabins. The single cabins are very small the people in the single cabins called them their coffins, they do have the advantage that you will not get tossed around if the seas are real rough. I actually took one of the shared cabins.

On island windjammers website is how you can tell which sailings are the solo sojourn sailings they are listed as such and the other special cruises are also marked accordingly.

Some of the other specials are the rum cruise, a food cruise, and pirate week. Hope this answer all the questions you had.

[mrobstad]

Thanks liv! I'll check it out!

[DaytonCruiser]

Thanks for the post. I always wanted to sail on one of the windjammer type cruises.

 

If anyone is curious about the size of Sagittahere is a video

 

[mrobstad]

Thanks for the video! I'm surprised it's very much like my brothers sailboat. I'm also surprised it's as expensive as it is....

[calliopecruiser]

......they do have the advantage that you will not get tossed around if the seas are real rough.

 

LOL! Reminds me of my reaction when seeing the sleeping berth I had on a train once.

[Iwannasailaway]

I have sailed several times with Island Windjammers as a solo and with a relative. Every experience was wonderful!! Cabins are cozy, food is excellent and crew amazing. As a solo I have booked the solo cabin and also shared. You are only in there to sleep and shower. Keep in mind that the price is all-inclusive...no nickel and diming at all. You can bring your own booze aboard and they provide mixers. There is plenty of beer and soda on ice at all times for helping yourself, wine, rum, etc. Very different experience from the big cruiseships. Pack light and casual and be ready to relax and have fun!!

[emmak8]

Glad you had a great cruise. This is an experience I haven't considered. Thank you for posting.