Solo Cruisers and Others - Please describe your day on a Princess Cruise

[MsSoCalCruiser]

Hello, cruisers. Please describe your day/evening on a Princess cruise. What do you do on your cruise? How do you fill your days and evenings?  Please share everything you can think of, dining included.  If you don’t cruise solo but you know how you would fill your days and evenings please share.  I’m trying to get some ideas for my next Royal Princess solo cruise.  Thank you so much.

Edited January 20, 2020 by MsSoCalCruiser

[snoozecrooze]

If you haven't checked out geoherb's live report here (albeit on a different ship), do check it out here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2715888-live-geoherbs-solo-cruise-on-the-caribbean-princess-dec-10-20-2019-partial-panama-canal/

 

Also, JennyB1977 did a great review of how she spent her time solo on the Royal Princess two weeks ago: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2724969-review-royal-princess-cabin-l109-mexican-riviera/

 

Hope this helps a bit!

 

Edited January 20, 2020 by snoozecrooze

[MsSoCalCruiser]

1 minute ago, snoozecrooze said:

If you haven't checked out geoherb's live report here (albeit on a different ship), do check it out here: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2715888-live-geoherbs-solo-cruise-on-the-caribbean-princess-dec-10-20-2019-partial-panama-canal/

 

Also, JennyB1977 did a great review of how she spent her time solo on the Royal Princess two weeks ago: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2724969-review-royal-princess-cabin-l109-mexican-riviera/

 

Hope this helps a bit!

 

Thank you!  This will be my third or fourth solo cruise but I am always open for suggestions.

[drsel]

Thank you!  This will be my third or fourth solo cruise but I am always open for suggestions.

How much solo supplement do you normally have to pay?

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[vampiress]

i don't solo cruise, but during the day my bf and i go our own ways.

 

we look at the patter before bed, find the trivia and plan to meet up at trivia.  we decide if we want to lunch together, i love lunch in the main dining room.  we also plan some time to walk around the promenade together.  we also look to see if any of the enrichment activities about the port are available.  some of the hawaii talks were fabulous and not just entirely a shopping pitch.  i'm hoping they have similar talks for alaska on my upcoming cruise.

 

i love the craft activities, so i look for those.  otherwise i have a WIP bag with my knitting, and kindle on my phone, and i find a place to chill.

 

we also like to take a day, usually first sea day, but sometimes later in the cruise, to take the paper map we got during embarkation and visit everything on the map.  our own scavenger hunt if you will.  you think you know a ship, but we were on the ruby a second time and found several places we had missed on our previous cruise.

 

i always pack a swimsuit, but somehow on all of my cruises, i have only gone swimming twice. 

 

 

[MsSoCalCruiser]

33 minutes ago, drsel said:

How much solo supplement do you normally have to pay?

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You pay double the cruise fare but you pay the port fees and taxes just for one cruiser.

[drsel]

You pay double the cruise fare but you pay the port fees and taxes just for one cruiser.

You should try Norwegian. they often have a zero or very low single supplement.
They also have single studio cabins and a separate lounge for singles to meet and mingle

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[MsSoCalCruiser]

1 minute ago, drsel said:

You should try Norwegian. they often have a zero or very low single supplement.
They also have single studio cabins and a separate lounge for singles to meet and mingle

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I was on the NCL Bliss once but with a friend so I did not have an opportunity to check out any of the single studio cabins. Is that where you stay?

[drsel]

I was on the NCL Bliss once but with a friend so I did not have an opportunity to check out any of the single studio cabins. Is that where you stay?

I would love to stay on a Norwegian ship in any cabin!

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[MsSoCalCruiser]

2 minutes ago, drsel said:

I would love to stay on a Norwegian ship in any cabin!

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I liked their new ship but I’m not so sure that I would like their older ships.

[drsel]

I liked their new ship but I’m not so sure that I would like their older ships.

I love their shows, entertainment and activities on board, especially at night

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[SLC1954]

I love solo cruising and do not feel a need to “fill” my days and evenings.Doing what I want when I want is the ultimate vacation.  I do tend to people watch, which is quite entertaining in itself.

[cruisequeen4ever]

I’ve cruised semi-solo twice, where I spent the majority of my time alone.

 

I’d eat all 3 meals in the buffet/grill. I’d participate in the onboard games, lounge by the pool, play slots, and watch the evening show. Basically, I’d do most of the same things I do on sea days when I cruise with my DH, but I’d spend more time enjoying the sea on the balcony or up on deck. 

I took Princess shore excursions in ports I wasn’t familiar with or didn’t feel safe doing independently, and I explored on my own in the safe, familiar ports. 
 

Cruising with my hubby is my favorite, but I wouldn’t hesitate to cruise solo! It’s very relaxing having 100% freedom to choose how you spend your time.
 

 

[jimdee3636]

My wife and I typically cruise together (about 25 so far, with two more booked, mostly fairly long cruises on HAL, Cunard, Oceania, and Silversea). But once a year or so we each take a "solo" vacation, my wife usually to some big city, and me on a Princess ship. I've done three short (four or five day) solo cruises over the past few years, on the Crown, Emerald, and Ruby, and all three times I booked an inside cabin, partly to save money but mostly to get me out of the cabin for most of the day.

 

I'm an early riser, so I'll start every day lingering over espressos and breakfast sandwiches at the International Cafe, watching the ship come to life and chatting with some of the other breakfast regulars there. I'll also have my lunches there, and hang around the Piazza to chat and people-watch.

 

I'll go to the gym every day, sometimes more than once (I'll do weights for, say, a half hour, then go walk around the outside decks, then return to the gym for another half hour or so). In the early evening I'll have a martini or two in Crooner's or a glass of wine in Vine's. For dinner, I'll eat alone at a table for two in one of the specialty restaurants, which I think are (on Princess) head-and-shoulders above the MDR. I love conversation but I also love being alone with my thoughts and enjoying the great food---and more people-watching. I might go back to Crooner's for a quick after-dinner drink before heading back to my cabin.

 

I've never been bored.

[getting older slowly]

A average sea day......

 

Get up watch the sun rise and go for a walk round the top deck.... after which Breakfast

 

very relaxing, next wander round then go back to cabin sit on the balcony, possibly read a book

 

Go and check what is on the lunch menu in the MDR, go for walk, get ready for lunch

 

Eat Lunch,  relax, read and wander

 

Next get ready for dinner.... go to canapés.... then to Dinner...... eat talk and be merry..

 

After which catch some live music... relax... go to bed

 

Cheers Don   

[geoherb]

I've now done three solo cruises while DH had to work. There may be more in my future since he's decided he doesn't want to leave his 93-year-old mother for a long period of time. Snoozecrooze posted the link to my live thread from last month's cruise to the Panama Canal. I had a fun time, although being quarantined for a day and a half wasn't that fun. I made friends with the people on my trivia team. I also moved from a bad fit of a table in traditional dining to anytime dining. I ate breakfast and lunch in the dining room whenever possible. I missed dinner in the dining room three nights--the first when I started feeling bad and then the two when I was officially quarantined. After I was feeling better, I participated in the other activities around the ship. I met folks through the solo and singles group, the LGBT group, and the Cruise Critic gathering. On some cruises, we meet people with whom we stay in touch. I didn't meet anyone like that on this cruise.

 

Fortunately, I found a last-minute deal on this cruise where the single supplement was just $150. I ended up paying less for it than my share of our cruise to the canal three years ago with DH. Last summer, I found similar savings on the Alaskan cruises I took. Such deals aren't frequent. I've been watching prices on a few spring cruises and haven't seen any deals for solos.

 

I start back to work tomorrow--called back to my old job after three years of retirement. I'll be working 20 hours or so a week. My boss said she'd work around my cruise schedule.