MSC solos

[CruisinLJ]

Does anyone know if there are solo/single meet ups on board?  I have always sailed Carnival and they always have some sort of organized meet and greet (they were hit or miss but it was always nice knowing that I am not the only solo on the ship :-)

[mef_57]

On 9/25/2019 at 10:26 PM, BeachinLar said:

Does anyone know if there are solo/single meet ups on board?  I have always sailed Carnival and they always have some sort of organized meet and greet (they were hit or miss but it was always nice knowing that I am not the only solo on the ship 🙂

You can look at the Roll Call for your dates. You might find some solos already posted there.  As to scheduled solo meet ups, you may want to head over to the MSC boards here and ask for a recent daily sheet for the ship (and maybe the itinerary?). I suspect more solos on Caribbean cruises as it draws more North Americans, but that is a wild guess.  I am booked for next April 3 week repositioning cruise Dubai to Venice and there are several posted on the Roll Call.

Often it isn't always solos keeping company. It seems couples are just as happy to chat or hang out with a solo person.  I gave up feeling self conscious about being solo decades ago and as an confident introvert I make my own plans of things to do and see, so my happiness or travel satisfaction doesn't have an 'others' quotient. Hope you find yours.

[SandraDJ]

I have limited experience on MSC.  I was on the Bellisima maiden from Southampton to Barcelona, and there were no meet ups.  I did recognise some passengers that I met on an RCI ship, and of course met people from the boards here.

 

I've just been on a 3 night cruise on Meraviglia, and again there were no no meet ups.

[tbone77]

I was on an MSC cruise this past December 2018 as a solo traveler. There was a solo meet and greet scheduled one time that I can remember.  It was by the champagne bar about 10am.  The bar wasn't open, no signage if this was the correct location and no representative from MSC.  The ship was beautiful, but for me, that's as far as it went.  The balcony cabin was small, MDR seating was very "class" driven. I was seated at a table for two with a much older retired male.  I went two nights and didn't care for the looks we were getting from the near by tables.  I felt they were assuming we were a couple.   I'll never go on a MSC cruise again.

[Rosebud5t]

I've been on MSC Seaside twice and didn't notice anything geared toward solo travelers and honestly didn't notice any on the ship.  While that doesn't deter me personally (I'm traveling on the Seaside twice again in February) it would be nice if they had something a little more put together for solos.  I'll provide that feedback when I'm on the ship in a few weeks.  🙂

[LandlockedCruiser01]

19 minutes ago, Rosebud5t said:

I've been on MSC Seaside twice and didn't notice anything geared toward solo travelers and honestly didn't notice any on the ship.  While that doesn't deter me personally (I'm traveling on the Seaside twice again in February) it would be nice if they had something a little more put together for solos.  I'll provide that feedback when I'm on the ship in a few weeks.  🙂

 

I'd consider it a blessing that you were able to sail on MSC to begin with.  They're not a solo-friendly cruise line; their target market is families and maybe couples.  In fact, until recently, solos weren't even allowed to book with them.  There were workarounds, but it's pretty clear that MSC didn't want solos on their ships, and probably allows them now only reluctantly.

[Rosebud5t]

All cruise lines target more people per cabin as it equals more money for them, but I hear what you're saying.  I didn't have experience with MSC until the Seaside, but I've heard there were restrictions on solos booking certain cabins on other MSC ships in the past.  A couple of MSC ships have solo studio cabins, which I would love to see on more ships across all cruise lines! 

[skings]

On 1/11/2020 at 3:40 PM, LandlockedCruiser01 said:

 

I'd consider it a blessing that you were able to sail on MSC to begin with.  They're not a solo-friendly cruise line; their target market is families and maybe couples.  In fact, until recently, solos weren't even allowed to book with them.  There were workarounds, but it's pretty clear that MSC didn't want solos on their ships, and probably allows them now only reluctantly.

MSC new ships have SOLO cabins

[LandlockedCruiser01]

9 hours ago, skings said:

MSC new ships have SOLO cabins

 

That's interesting.  I wonder what persuaded MSC to change their tune.  Other than NCL's success with Studio cabins, that is.

[gerryuk]

I think the beds on MSC solo studios are sofa beds that you convert into a single bed. 

This type of accommodation is available on MSC Seaside, MSC Seaview, MSC Meraviglia and MSC Bellissima.

 

 

 

Available only with the Bella Experience

[skings]

A review made by a gentlemen that sailed on MSC Merviglia  has said that they are comfortable and are not quite a sofa bed that we are familiar with.  He tried to open it and could not, needed the room steward to do it because of the design . I am booked on MSC Meraviglia in a solo cabin for 20 nights. I will post my experience. 

[mef_57]

On 1/14/2020 at 4:35 PM, LandlockedCruiser01 said:

 

That's interesting.  I wonder what persuaded MSC to change their tune.  Other than NCL's success with Studio cabins, that is.

Most likely due to building ships to compete with top 5 cruise lines and knowing North Americas have solo cruisers. It is jo secret they are trying to get a strong foothold in the north American market. NCL is also not the only line with single cabins.  Costa started adding them in 2006.  RCI is starting. Cunard has some. Granted NCL does take the prize for dedicated solo social space, if it matters.

[LandlockedCruiser01]

5 hours ago, mef_57 said:

Most likely due to building ships to compete with top 5 cruise lines and knowing North Americas have solo cruisers. It is no secret they are trying to get a strong foothold in the North American market. NCL is also not the only line with single cabins.  Costa started adding them in 2006.  RCI is starting. Cunard has some. Granted NCL does take the prize for dedicated solo social space, if it matters.

 

This feels good to read: a (formerly) solo-hostile cruise line is buckling under social pressure.  It's just capitalism playing itself out, but still.  Funny how I first cruised solo before designated solo cabins (and possibly solo cruising in general) became mainstream, and even back then, most non-solo passengers treated me with nothing short of full respect.  They even "adopted" me, and made my cruise.

 

The attitude is even spreading into Customs.  Early on in my cruising "career", an agent looked p*ssed when he found out I was solo, and detained me for 40 minutes.  Last year, the agent just glanced at my passport and waved me through.

Edited January 16, 2020 by LandlockedCruiser01

[mef_57]

5 hours ago, LandlockedCruiser01 said:

 

This feels good to read: a (formerly) solo-hostile cruise line is buckling under social pressure.  It's just capitalism playing itself out, but still.  Funny how I first cruised solo before designated solo cabins (and possibly solo cruising in general) became mainstream, and even back then, most non-solo passengers treated me with nothing short of full respect.  They even "adopted" me, and made my cruise.

The cruiseline doesn't create the social dynamics of a cruise, the other passengers do...and those dynamics are totally outt of your control or the cruiseline's. It is like going to any event. You might click, you might not. But understanding the general targeted demographic (family oriented Europeans vs more diverse North American passengers) may help with success. I have no interest to mix and mingle, so I choose on price and itinerary but there are lines and passenger demographics I avoid.

[LandlockedCruiser01]

7 hours ago, mef_57 said:

The cruiseline doesn't create the social dynamics of a cruise, the other passengers do...and those dynamics are totally outt of your control or the cruiseline's. It is like going to any event. You might click, you might not.

 

That's true: the cruise line doesn't create social dynamics.  And it's not going to hold any passenger's hand in meeting people; it's not elementary school.  But it certainly enables social dynamics.  The ways a cruise line sets up its pricing and onboard activities affect how welcoming it is toward solos, which affects the onboard atmosphere. In other words, if a solo can engage in activities without feeling like a fish out of water, they have a better chance of fitting in.

[Rosebud5t]

Hi all!  I just returned from two weeks on MSC Seaside (solo the 2nd week) and thought I would post a few things I paid more attention to after being a part of this thread:

• Seaside does not have solo cabins.  These are specific to a few of their other ships.
• I was treated absolutely wonderfully, no staff ever flinched about my being solo, including in the dining room and the three specialty restaurants I visited.
• There were 4 different single/solo meet-ups during the week.  They were unhosted, but published in the daily planner and at the Champagne bar, which is in a public area but otherwise mostly unpopulated so it was very easy to know who was there for the meet-up.  
• There was also a "traffic light" party one night.  Perhaps more for singles than solos, at this party you take a glowing wristband based on your status - green if you're single, red if you're taken, yellow if you're somewhere in the middle.  😉

Hope this helps a little.  Happy cruising! 

[brillohead]

On 10/31/2019 at 2:40 PM, tbone77 said:

I was seated at a table for two with a much older retired male.

Did you bother asking to change to a different table?

I was seated at a table for six, all solo.  On the 13-night cruise, one person only came twice (she was traveling with family members and usually ate with them) and one person never came at all.  This worked out, because I knew someone else on the cruise who was traveling solo, and he just joined us at our empty spot (he also changed it on the books so his gratuities went to our servers).  

I'm still in regular contact with a few of the people I met from that dining assignment (we also spent time together outside the dining room), and we're all going to try to get together for a reunion cruise in the future.

[Dancer Bob]

I found MSC Divina very similar to Carnival Dream-class ships I have been on. The Dream class has a number of cabins which due to an odd shape, the beds can't be put together to make a double, and must be sold as either “upper/lower berth only” or “single occupancy”. Upper/lower is just about unsellable these days, so I expect that's where advertising as “solo” came from, Double bed configuration might not be available, unlike a regular single occupancy.

[Ms.T]

On 2/20/2020 at 11:54 PM, Rosebud5t said:

Hi all!  I just returned from two weeks on MSC Seaside (solo the 2nd week) and thought I would post a few things I paid more attention to after being a part of this thread:

• Seaside does not have solo cabins.  These are specific to a few of their other ships.
• I was treated absolutely wonderfully, no staff ever flinched about my being solo, including in the dining room and the three specialty restaurants I visited.
• There were 4 different single/solo meet-ups during the week.  They were unhosted, but published in the daily planner and at the Champagne bar, which is in a public area but otherwise mostly unpopulated so it was very easy to know who was there for the meet-up.  
• There was also a "traffic light" party one night.  Perhaps more for singles than solos, at this party you take a glowing wristband based on your status - green if you're single, red if you're taken, yellow if you're somewhere in the middle.  😉

Hope this helps a little.  Happy cruising! 

Thanks for your feedback! I'm cruising solo for the first time & on Seaside. I'm looking forward to it.

 

[FenixRising]

On 1/15/2020 at 10:54 PM, LandlockedCruiser01 said:

The attitude is even spreading into Customs.  Early on in my cruising "career", an agent looked p*ssed when he found out I was solo, and detained me for 40 minutes.  Last year, the agent just glanced at my passport and waved me through.

Wow. I thought I was the only one that had this experience. I was coming back through customs one time and answering the questions. As soon as I said that I was traveling solo, you could see the resentment in his eyes. That's when it was decided that I needed "further looking into". I sat in their office for 20 minutes before someone came along to search my luggage. They found nothing of course and I was on my way. But still, trying to make into some sort of villain for being single.

[latebuyer]

They are actually catering to solo travellers

 

https://www.msccruisesusa.com/cruise-deals/solo-traveler

 

sale before next may and no single supplement

[PhD-iva]

On 10/3/2022 at 5:47 PM, latebuyer said:

They are actually catering to solo travellers

 

https://www.msccruisesusa.com/cruise-deals/solo-traveler

 

sale before next may and no single supplement

I’d say they are catering to anyone who has money and is willing to spend it on a cruise!