single in 40s, good experience on non-FoC ships?

[neutrino78x]

Hi, seems like the most popular cruise line for single people looking for a t-shirt and jeans atmosphere (I'm definitely a t-shirt and jeans kind of guy) are the ones that usually use Flag of Convenience ships, like Royal Caribbean.

Are there any that have a similar experience but don't use FoC ships? I'm thinking about for example Costa (most flagged in Italy), Holland America (most flagged in Netherlands), P&O (at least one is UK flag), Viking (Norway)....do all those have an older crowd with some kind of dress code?

I used to post here a long time ago, I think my account was deleted due to inactivity, lol...so I made a new one with the same username...back then people were saying that maybe cruising isn't for me since I'm not into full service restaurants and things like that. Eh, maybe they're right. I think going on one from time to time just because I was in the Navy and wouldn't mind traveling on a ship as a "rider" as we called them, lol... :)

[NSnJW]

NCL has one US flagged ship that circles Hawaii.  They are pretty laid back.  I have done a NCL cruise and never entered the full service dining rooms.  NCL also has a great solo program so you can find people to dine with if you wish.

[neutrino78x]

15 hours ago, NSnJW said:

NCL has one US flagged ship that circles Hawaii.  They are pretty laid back.  I have done a NCL cruise and never entered the full service dining rooms.  NCL also has a great solo program so you can find people to dine with if you wish.

Yeah, the NCL America would definitely be the ship I would want if I were looking for a cruise around Hawaii...I was thinking of a transatlantic one though. I'm not sure if any of the non-FoC ships offer something comparable to a typical NCL ship...but I don't want to support FoC 😞

[neutrino78x]

NSnJW,

Have you tried some of the non-FoC cruises, like P&O Britannia (I think Britannia is the only non-FoC one for P&O UK), Holland America (Norway flag), Costa Cruises (Italy), etc?

I heard on another sub-forum on here that Costa has a "young" vibe, maybe that's one I would want for transatlantic. 🙂

[NSnJW]

I have only traveled with NCL and Carnival so I have zero real data on any of the others.  You might post in the cruise line forums if no one with more info picks up this thread.

Hope you find the perfect cruise for you.