Let's start thinking about 2021 solo sailing

[farmersfight]

23 hours ago, firefly333 said:

Lol I found a current list I think of rcl solo cabins. One ship only has 2 per this list. Grab em when first released, the price jumps fast.

 

Not sure I can post that site, but I did find a list. Slim pickings indeed

 

 

 

 

Wow, and I thought when you mentioned (posted) an RCL ship having 5 or 3, that that was a minuscule # of solo cabins. But only 2? That's worse than the PoA only having 4 studio cabins.

 

At least RCL's Quantum-class ships have 12 studio balcony cabins (and I'm not sure about other studio cabins on these ships, i.e. OV or interiors).

[farmersfight]

23 hours ago, firefly333 said:

Not sure I can post that site, but I did find a list.

 

Yeah, you can't post the name of that site here on CC. Could you shoot me an e-mail with that site?

 

martycp60@gmail.com

 

 

[coastcat]

Help me, Solo Cruisers forum, you're my only hope!

 

(I never could get my hair to stay in those side buns)

 

Er, anyway, opinions are needed. Between late June and late October, my calendar is wide open. I'll only be using two weeks + one day of vacation time for the four 2021 cruises I've got booked (the Christmas/NYE week cruise coincides with the annual company holiday week). I can easily take another 5 or 7 day cruise with the available vacation time - goodness knows I'm not going anywhere until next summer, right?

 

So I'm thinking about booking a second Alaska cruise, for late August or early September. I'd love to do a one-way between Vancouver and Seward/Whittier to compensate for the June 2020 one that went poof.

 

In a normal year, it would make the most sense to hang tight and wait for the last-minute solo discounts. Shoulder season starts just before Labor Day, with lower fares reflecting lower demand, so that's normally a good time to bargain hunt if you can drive or grab a cheap flight to port. But of course, 2021 is not going to be a normal year for cruise pricing.

 

I know the ship and itinerary I want to book. There's a specific cabin location I want, although it won't break my heart if it's not available - but there's plenty of availability right now. The current price is typical for the itinerary and cruise line. It could even go down a bit during Wave Season. But will it plummet as usual by early July or so, or will demand for late-season Alaska cabins be so strong (especially with early season sailings very likely to be cancelled) that there will be little availability and no bargains?

 

All I can do is guess at this point. Will cruise lines struggle enough to fill cabins that they'll offer lower pricing and/or lower solo supplements during the fall Alaska sailings, or will demand be high to the point where I'll never get a lower price than what's available in the next few weeks? What would you decide to do?

 

(the sailing in question: Coral Princess, northbound from Vancouver to Whittier although I might change my mind and pick the southbound version)

Edited December 21, 2020 by coastcat

[farmersfight]

46 minutes ago, coastcat said:

Help me, Solo Cruisers forum, you're my only hope!

 

(I never could get my hair to stay in those side buns)

 

Er, anyway, opinions are needed. Between late June and late October, my calendar is wide open. I'll only be using two weeks + one day of vacation time for the four 2021 cruises I've got booked (the Christmas/NYE week cruise coincides with the annual company holiday week). I can easily take another 5 or 7 day cruise with the available vacation time - goodness knows I'm not going anywhere until next summer, right?

 

So I'm thinking about booking a second Alaska cruise, for late August or early September. I'd love to do a one-way between Vancouver and Seward/Whittier to compensate for the June 2020 one that went poof.

 

In a normal year, it would make the most sense to hang tight and wait for the last-minute solo discounts. Shoulder season starts just before Labor Day, with lower fares reflecting lower demand, so that's normally a good time to bargain hunt if you can drive or grab a cheap flight to port. But of course, 2021 is not going to be a normal year for cruise pricing.

 

I know the ship and itinerary I want to book. There's a specific cabin location I want, although it won't break my heart if it's not available - but there's plenty of availability right now. The current price is typical for the itinerary and cruise line. It could even go down a bit during Wave Season. But will it plummet as usual by early July or so, or will demand for late-season Alaska cabins be so strong (especially with early season sailings very likely to be cancelled) that there will be little availability and no bargains?

 

All I can do is guess at this point. Will cruise lines struggle enough to fill cabins that they'll offer lower pricing and/or lower solo supplements during the fall Alaska sailings, or will demand be high to the point where I'll never get a lower price than what's available in the next few weeks? What would you decide to do?

 

(the sailing in question: Coral Princess, northbound from Vancouver to Whittier although I might change my mind and pick the southbound version)

 

Hi @coastcat,

 

I 've predicted that cruising may get back to "normal" by the 2nd half of 2021 (July). With that being said, I wanted to be on the safe side so I booked my 1st 2021 cruise for Oct 23 - 30, 2021 (PoA). Then, I have the Mardi Gras out of Port Canaveral, Fla Dec 18 - 26, 2021. In early 2022, I have 3 RCL cruises booked. The timeframe you mentioned, between late June and late October might be a "go" but I would lean more toward late Oct, like I did (to be on the safe side).

 

I did the one-way cruise from Vancouver to Whittier on Diamond Princess. We did the full CruiseTour through Princess which included riding trains and staying at lodges in different Alaskan towns. It was a great experience; Princess really knows how to do Alaska right.

 

With regard to pricing, I think the pricing is going to remain high due to pent up demand. There will be no impetus for cruise lines to discount (incl the solo supplement), since the demand will be so strong. Just my opinion.

 

Hope you can and will indeed "pull the trigger" on another Alaska cruise. Oh, btw, I just booked the Norwegian Encore (in a studio cabin), departing Seattle on Oct 23, 2022 and arriving Miami, Fla on Nov 13, 2022 (21 day Panama Canal, "ocean to ocean" cruise). I've always wanted to visit Seattle, so now I will be doing just that (I plan on spending 4 days/nights in Seattle pre-cruise). So, it looks like I'll be headed your way in Oct 2022! (Btw - NCL really has their schedule far out and available to book, like in 2022. RCL doesn't).

 

Take care,

 

Marty aka farmersfight

Edited December 22, 2020 by farmersfight

[coastcat]

24 minutes ago, farmersfight said:

 

Hi @coastcat,

 

I 've predicted that cruising may get back to "normal" by the 2nd half of 2021 (July). With that being said, I wanted to be on the safe side so I booked my 1st 2021 cruise for Oct 23 - 30, 2021 (PoA). Then, I have the Mardi Gras out of Port Canaveral, Fla Dec 18 - 26, 2021. In early 2022, I have 3 RCL cruises booked. The timeframe you mentioned, between late June and late October might be a "go" but I would lean more toward late Oct, like I did (to be on the safe side).

 

I did the one-way cruise from Vancouver to Whittier on Diamond Princess. We did the full CruiseTour through Princess which included riding trains and staying at lodges in different Alaskan towns. It was a great experience; Princess really knows how to do Alaska right.

 

With regard to pricing, I think the pricing is going to remain high due to pent up demand. There will be no impetus for cruise lines to discount (incl the solo supplement), since the demand will be so strong. Just my opinion.

 

Hope you can and will indeed "pull the trigger" on another Alaska cruise. Oh, btw, I just booked the Norwegian Encore (in a studio cabin), departing Seattle on Oct 23, 2022 and arriving Miami, Fla on Nov 13, 2022 (21 day Panama Canal, "ocean to ocean" cruise). I've always wanted to visit Seattle, so now I will be doing just that (I plan on spending 4 days/nights in Seattle pre-cruise). So, it looks like I'll be headed your way in Oct 2022! (Btw - NCL really has their schedule far out and available to book, like in 2022. RCL doesn't).

 

Take care,

 

Marty aka farmersfight

Wow, a Panama Canal cruise! That will be amazing. Wonder if they'll open the bow deck for canal viewing? 

 

Seattle is a fabulous city (despite the recent bad press). Visiting Pike Place Market to watch the fish tossing is cheesy, but hey, that's part of the fun. The iconic view of the city can be seen from Kerry Park - Space Needle to the left, Mt. Rainier to the right.

 

Agreed on the pent-up demand. I can book the cruise + airfare for under $2k (even less if I cash in frequent flyer miles for Anchorage->Seattle). I'm nerdy enough to book Princess just for the Ocean Medallion tech! We'll see if they do any Wave Season deal, although if they price the way NCL does, I might as well grab the cabin now instead of waiting for discounts that might not be actual discounts...

[farmersfight]

22 hours ago, coastcat said:

Wow, a Panama Canal cruise! That will be amazing. Wonder if they'll open the bow deck for canal viewing? 

 

Seattle is a fabulous city (despite the recent bad press). Visiting Pike Place Market to watch the fish tossing is cheesy, but hey, that's part of the fun. The iconic view of the city can be seen from Kerry Park - Space Needle to the left, Mt. Rainier to the right.

 

I think I posted in another thread that my dad (now passed) was a Panama Canal pilot and I used to go down to Panama every summer to visit him. He took me on numerous transits with him and/or hooked me up to go with one of his pilot buddies. So, I've done the Panama Canal numerous times. But, imo, you can't see this engineering marvel too many times, so I'm happy to be transiting the Panama Canal again. I think the Norwegian Encore may be too big for the old locks and need to use the new locks? Not sure...

 

Yeah, as I said, I've always wanted to visit Seattle. I love the way the city looks, is a major metropolitan city, the adjacent scenic beauty (Mt. Rainier, as you mentioned, etc) and the strong maritime heritage & presence. The famous fish tossing at Pike Place Market? You bet, I'm there! Do they allow tourists up in the space needle?

 

Who knows, I'll be in Seattle in late October, so it will be football season. Maybe I'll be able to attend a Seahawks home game! My oldest son Ryan (22) attends Washington State Univ in Pullman, WA. I'm going to try and plan for him to drive up to Seattle to meet up with me pre-cruise (or, I'd even drive to Pullman, if he can't come to me. I'll have a rental car).

 

As you may know, I very much prefer to be in a balcony stateroom, even as a solo cruiser. However, I thought I'd be fair and go ahead and experience NCL's studio stateroom and studio lounge (the studio lounge on the Encore should be pretty nice, maybe even with a full bar. Also, the studio staterooms may have those video screens on the wall with a live video feed looking out from the side of the ship, simulating a "window" in your studio stateroom. That would be cool).  So, I will find out how the NCL solo experience is.

 

Oh, speaking of studio staterooms with balconies, I'm doing a little research of Celebrity's single infinity veranda staterooms on the Celebrity Edge. I want to book a cruise for Feb 2023 but Celebrity's schedule does not yet go that far out. I'm looking at a 7 night cruise on Celebrity Edge in a single infinity veranda stateroom going to San Juan, PR; Tortola (BVI) & St. Maarten. The ship departs from Port Everglades, FL. I know Celebrity is more upscale than the "big 3" mainstream cruise lines (NCL, RCL & Carnival), so I'll have to "step up my game", lol. I may need to buy some new clothes, lol.

 

Take care,

 

Marty (aka farmersfight)

Edited December 22, 2020 by farmersfight

[coastcat]

9 minutes ago, farmersfight said:

 

I think I posted in another thread that my dad (now passed) was a Panama Canal pilot and I used to go down to Panama every summer to visit him. He took me on numerous transits with him and/or hooked me up to go with one of his pilot buddies. So, I've done the Panama Canal numerous times. But, imo, you can't see this engineering marvel too many times, so I'm happy to be transiting the Panama Canal again. I think the Norwegian Encore may be too big for the old locks and need to use the new locks? Not sure...

 

Yeah, as I said, I've always wanted to visit Seattle. I love the way the city looks, is a major metropolitan city, the adjacent scenic beauty (Mt. Rainier, as you mentioned, etc) and the strong maritime heritage & presence. The famous fish tossing at Pike Place Market? You bet, I'm there! Do they allow tourists up in the space needle?

 

Who knows, I'll be in Seattle in late October, so it will be football season. Maybe I'll be able to attend a Seahawks home game! My oldest son Ryan (22) attends Washington State Univ in Pullman, WA. I'm going to try and plan for him to drive up to Seattle to meet up with me pre-cruise (or, I'd even drive to Pullman, if he can't come to me. I'll have a rental car).

 

As you may know, I very much prefer to be in a balcony stateroom, even as a solo cruiser. However, I thought I'd be fair and go ahead and experience NCL's studio stateroom and studio lounge (the studio lounge on the Encore should be pretty nice, maybe even with a full bar. Also, the studio staterooms may have those video screens on the wall with a live video feed looking out from the side of the ship, simulating a "window" in your studio stateroom. That would be cool).  So, I will find out how the NCL solo experience is.

 

Oh, speaking of studio staterooms with balconies, I'm doing a little research of Celebrity's single infinity veranda staterooms on the Celebrity Edge. I want to book a cruise for Feb 2023 but Celebrity's schedule does not yet go that far out. I'm looking at a 7 night cruise on Celebrity Edge in a single infinity veranda stateroom going to San Juan, PR; Tortola (BVI) & St. Maarten. The ship departs from Port Everglades, FL. I know Celebrity is more upscale than the "big 3" mainstream cruise lines (NCL, RCL & Carnival), so I'll have to "step up my game", lol. I may need to buy some new clothes, lol.

 

Take care,

 

Marty (aka farmersfight)

IIRC, the Breakaway+ class was designed to go through the new locks. Bliss has done that transit as well. Yes, on Encore (and Bliss), the Studios have that virtual window. You can "close the window" but I just left mine open. You won't have a bar in the Studio Lounge, just a wine dispenser (not included in any beverage package). There are many other bars on board! So, so many bars. 

 

I have booked the same itinerary you're looking at - Single Infinite Veranda cabin on Edge, going to San Juan, Tortola, and St. Maarten! Mine is early March 2022. 

 

At the moment I'm waffling on that Princess cruise - squeeze it in late in the Alaska 2021 season or wait until 2022? I'm also looking at a Mediterranean cruise in the summer of 2022. It would be fun to try MSC in its home turf, and the prices even for a solo on a ship with no solo cabins are pretty good. Based on what I've heard about the food on MSC, well, I can live on pizza for a week...

[farmersfight]

14 hours ago, coastcat said:

IIRC, the Breakaway+ class was designed to go through the new locks. Bliss has done that transit as well. Yes, on Encore (and Bliss), the Studios have that virtual window. You can "close the window" but I just left mine open. You won't have a bar in the Studio Lounge, just a wine dispenser (not included in any beverage package). There are many other bars on board! So, so many bars. 

 

I have booked the same itinerary you're looking at - Single Infinite Veranda cabin on Edge, going to San Juan, Tortola, and St. Maarten! Mine is early March 2022. 

 

At the moment I'm waffling on that Princess cruise - squeeze it in late in the Alaska 2021 season or wait until 2022? I'm also looking at a Mediterranean cruise in the summer of 2022. It would be fun to try MSC in its home turf, and the prices even for a solo on a ship with no solo cabins are pretty good. Based on what I've heard about the food on MSC, well, I can live on pizza for a week...

 

Hi @coastcat,

 

Thanks for the info on the Encore. Glad to hear about the virtual windows in the studio cabins (it should help combat claustrophobia, not that I have it, lol). O.k., with no bar in the studio lounge. Even though there are wine dispensers in there, I'll probably pass since it is not on the FAS beverage package. Like you said, so many bars. So many bars (lol).

 

Wow, that's so cool that you booked the exact same itinerary on the same ship (Celebrity Edge) as me, just a year earlier! Yeah, I was looking for another shorter (7 day is short enough for me) caribbean cruise for Feb 2023 (to again escape the Michigan winter) and I saw this Edge cruise. I've been to San Juan multiple times, so I'll probaly just stay on the ship there but I heard Tortola is beautiful and I want to take that short ferry over to Virgin Gorda and visit/swim) at the famous "Baths". For St Maarten, I have a plan for there also. I will have been there on my Anthem OTS 11 day cruise (out of Bayonne, NJ) Jan 20-31, 2022. For this 2nd time (on the Edge cruise) I intend on visiting the French half of the island (I'll stay on the Dutch side during my Anthem OTS cruise). So, it'll be like visiting a new island! Very cool that you'll be in one of those Single Infinite Veranda staterooms (request a full report upon your return, lol). Fyi, I chatted with a Celebrity cruise planner online and was asking about the 2023 schedule. I also asked about the note on their website that some of the SIV cabins have a partially obstructed view. Got to be the lifeboats. From the deck plan, it looks like all the SIV cabins are on deck 6, there are 16 of them (good amount of them). 8 in the fwd part of deck 6 (4 port, 4 stbd) & 8 more further aft on deck 6 (again, 4 port & 4 aft). The Celebrity rep was telling me what % obstructed the cabin was when I told him the cabin #. He said some were no obstruction, some were 10% obstructed and some were as high as 50% obstructed (which would stink, imo). If you haven't, you may want to check with Celebrity and see if your booked SIV cabin has any obstructed view or not.

 

Well, time flies and I've got to run (coffee time with my mom & nephew at my mom's house, lol). Take care and I'll catch you on the CC boards or via e-mail.

 

Marty (aka farmersfight)

 

 

[HowardK]

@coastcat @farmersfight  hello!

I had the bliss booked August 2019- but then made other plans but in your opinion is 3 days before for Seattle good? It's still on my 2023 radar.  

Also, even if you do book a studio on NCL sometimes the week before you can call an upgrade for the price difference for a balcony- I did it a few times for $100-$250. And you can still use the lounge for the gatherings. 

- I end up booking based on my work schedule which is on a cycle that I can track a few years in advance.

Hence I normally do middle of the month. One time I did my birthday on the Breakaway it was the last day and it was great from what I remember. 

[coastcat]

4 hours ago, farmersfight said:

 

Hi @coastcat,

 

Thanks for the info on the Encore. Glad to hear about the virtual windows in the studio cabins (it should help combat claustrophobia, not that I have it, lol). O.k., with no bar in the studio lounge. Even though there are wine dispensers in there, I'll probably pass since it is not on the FAS beverage package. Like you said, so many bars. So many bars (lol).

 

Wow, that's so cool that you booked the exact same itinerary on the same ship (Celebrity Edge) as me, just a year earlier! Yeah, I was looking for another shorter (7 day is short enough for me) caribbean cruise for Feb 2023 (to again escape the Michigan winter) and I saw this Edge cruise. I've been to San Juan multiple times, so I'll probaly just stay on the ship there but I heard Tortola is beautiful and I want to take that short ferry over to Virgin Gorda and visit/swim) at the famous "Baths". For St Maarten, I have a plan for there also. I will have been there on my Anthem OTS 11 day cruise (out of Bayonne, NJ) Jan 20-31, 2022. For this 2nd time (on the Edge cruise) I intend on visiting the French half of the island (I'll stay on the Dutch side during my Anthem OTS cruise). So, it'll be like visiting a new island! Very cool that you'll be in one of those Single Infinite Veranda staterooms (request a full report upon your return, lol). Fyi, I chatted with a Celebrity cruise planner online and was asking about the 2023 schedule. I also asked about the note on their website that some of the SIV cabins have a partially obstructed view. Got to be the lifeboats. From the deck plan, it looks like all the SIV cabins are on deck 6, there are 16 of them (good amount of them). 8 in the fwd part of deck 6 (4 port, 4 stbd) & 8 more further aft on deck 6 (again, 4 port & 4 aft). The Celebrity rep was telling me what % obstructed the cabin was when I told him the cabin #. He said some were no obstruction, some were 10% obstructed and some were as high as 50% obstructed (which would stink, imo). If you haven't, you may want to check with Celebrity and see if your booked SIV cabin has any obstructed view or not.

 

Well, time flies and I've got to run (coffee time with my mom & nephew at my mom's house, lol). Take care and I'll catch you on the CC boards or via e-mail.

 

Marty (aka farmersfight)

 

 

 

I just found a document on RCCL's site listing Edge cabins and their obstruction percentages. Naturally my cabin is not on the list! I've just sent an email to my TA to check on that, thanks for the warning... Not that I'm as concerned about it for a Caribbean trip as I would be for a scenery-intensive Alaska trip, but still. Also, we should start referring to this cabin category using Celebrity's abbreviation of ES.

 

Since we can't actually travel yet, it's a good time to research port activities. I've got a good handle on the options for the Pacific Coastal and Mexican Riviera ports, so no worries there. The western Caribbean trip is just a 5-day one to CocoCay and Cozumel; I've booked the Coco Beach Club and rescheduled my Nachi Cocum reservation (which was supposed to have been last week but...). Tortola, St. Maarten, and San Juan are all new to me! 

 

Don't know about y'all, but I am so looking forward to cruising and not just planning.

[coastcat]

6 minutes ago, HowardK said:

@coastcat @farmersfight  hello!

I had the bliss booked August 2019- but then made other plans but in your opinion is 3 days before for Seattle good? It's still on my 2023 radar.  

Also, even if you do book a studio on NCL sometimes the week before you can call an upgrade for the price difference for a balcony- I did it a few times for $100-$250. And you can still use the lounge for the gatherings. 

- I end up booking based on my work schedule which is on a cycle that I can track a few years in advance.

Hence I normally do middle of the month. One time I did my birthday on the Breakaway it was the last day and it was great from what I remember. 

Three days is plenty for Seattle. I recommend spending one of those days in the natural beauty of the region, such as a visit to Olympic National Park or Mt. Rainier National Park. FYI, you can see Rainier from quite far away. I live about 75 miles NNW and on a clear day I see it while driving home from McDonald's! 

 

Well, I use the lounge for free espresso and don't attend many organized solo gatherings. Sticking with a Studio would work out better. The Waterfront is a fine balcony substitute. I'd be more inclined to upgrade out of an interior cabin to a balcony on the older NCL ships.

 

The one time I won't cruise is my birthday - it's two days after Valentine's Day, one day after our wedding anniversary, and two days before my husband's birthday.

[HowardK]

I really liked the Waterfront on my 2 Escape cruises- it was fantastic. Some of the Seattle things I had  been interested in were the computer museum, and isn't there a ferry to a nearby island? 

[coastcat]

4 hours ago, HowardK said:

I really liked the Waterfront on my 2 Escape cruises- it was fantastic. Some of the Seattle things I had  been interested in were the computer museum, and isn't there a ferry to a nearby island? 

Not to get too much into the Seattle touristy stuff (there's more info on the West Coast ports forum), but... you can take a ferry from downtown Seattle to either Bainbridge Island or Bremerton. Bainbridge is more tourist-oriented with many restaurants/pubs/shops within an easy walk of the ferry terminal. Bremerton is a naval base and, while there are tourist attractions, is better visited if you have a car available.

[farmersfight]

8 hours ago, coastcat said:

 

I just found a document on RCCL's site listing Edge cabins and their obstruction percentages. Naturally my cabin is not on the list! I've just sent an email to my TA to check on that, thanks for the warning... Not that I'm as concerned about it for a Caribbean trip as I would be for a scenery-intensive Alaska trip, but still. Also, we should start referring to this cabin category using Celebrity's abbreviation of ES.

 

Since we can't actually travel yet, it's a good time to research port activities. I've got a good handle on the options for the Pacific Coastal and Mexican Riviera ports, so no worries there. The western Caribbean trip is just a 5-day one to CocoCay and Cozumel; I've booked the Coco Beach Club and rescheduled my Nachi Cocum reservation (which was supposed to have been last week but...). Tortola, St. Maarten, and San Juan are all new to me! 

 

Don't know about y'all, but I am so looking forward to cruising and not just planning.

 

Hi @coastcat,

 

You wouldn't happen to have the name of that document (listing Edge's cabins and their obstruction %'s) on the RCCL website?

 

I'll have to get back with you and ask for recommendations on port activities on a Pacific Coastal & Mexican Riviera cruise, since I will be doing both on the same cruise; Norwegian Encore, 21-day Panama Canal (coast-to-coast)  fm Seattle to Miami. We'll be stopping in SF, LA, SD then in Mexico, Cabo San Lucas, Puerto Vallarta & Acapulco.

 

Speaking of CocoCay, I've got on my radar another Odyssey OTS cruise (Dec 26, 2022 - Jan 2, 2023) that goes to CocoCay, Labadee (Haiti) then San Juan, PR & St. Thomas, USVI. I'm interested in this cruise for RCL's private island (CocoCay) and property (Labadee, Haiti). For San Juan, PR & St. Thomas, USVI, I've been to both ports so, I'll probably just stay on the ship during those 2 port calls. This cruise will be very similar to the Carnival Mardi Gras cruise I have booked where she first stops at Grand Turk (Bahamas) and Amber Cove (Dominican Republic), both Carnival private properties then she goes on to (you guessed it), San Juan, PR & St. Thomas, USVI. I'll be staying on the ship on San Juan & ST. Thomas.

 

Yeah, I am looking forward to cruising and not just planning. But, at least we have these discussion boards/threads here on CC. Better than nothing and allows one to meet & make new friends!

 

Marty (aka farmersfight)

[farmersfight]

8 hours ago, HowardK said:

I had the bliss booked August 2019- but then made other plans but in your opinion is 3 days before for Seattle good? It's still on my 2023 radar.  

 

8 hours ago, coastcat said:

Three days is plenty for Seattle. I recommend spending one of those days in the natural beauty of the region, such as a visit to Olympic National Park or Mt. Rainier National Park. FYI, you can see Rainier from quite far away. I live about 75 miles NNW and on a clear day I see it while driving home from McDonald's! 

 

I plan on spending 4 nights (3 full days) in Seattle prior to my Norwegian Encore cruise. I'm hijacking your tips for @HowardK, @coastcat, lol. Thanks! Seriously, I've never been to Seattle and I've always wanted to visit there, so I'm really forward to Seattle. I think I mentioned before, I'm going to try and get my son to meet me in Seattle (he can drive over from Pullman, WA where he attends Washington State University - Go Cougars!).

 

8 hours ago, HowardK said:

Also, even if you do book a studio on NCL sometimes the week before you can call an upgrade for the price difference for a balcony- I did it a few times for $100-$250. And you can still use the lounge for the gatherings. 

 

8 hours ago, coastcat said:

Well, I use the lounge for free espresso and don't attend many organized solo gatherings. Sticking with a Studio would work out better. The Waterfront is a fine balcony substitute.

 

I have to agree with @coastcat. I've got plenty of balcony cabins booked (with more to come, lol), so I'm not too worried about upgrading from a studio to a balcony. Plus, I want to try the full "solo experience" on a larger, newer NCL ship (like the one I'm booked on; Encore). I also, plan on hitting up that free expresso in the studio lounge. And, as I understand it, if you are a solo who is not booked in a studio, you can only access the studio lounge when they have solo meet-ups and not 24/7 like if you were booked in one of the studios. I plan on taking your advice @coastcat and spending a lot of time on The Waterfront (hopefully within steps of a good bar, lol) and The Observation Lounge (especially during the Panama Canal transit).

 

Marty (aka farmersfight)

[farmersfight]

7 hours ago, HowardK said:

and isn't there a ferry to a nearby island? 

 

3 hours ago, coastcat said:

you can take a ferry from downtown Seattle to either Bainbridge Island or Bremerton. Bainbridge is more tourist-oriented with many restaurants/pubs/shops within an easy walk of the ferry terminal.

 

I like ferries and pubs, so the ferry to Bainbridge it is! That's what I love about Seattle, all the maritime stuff...

[coastcat]

12 hours ago, farmersfight said:

 

Hi @coastcat,

 

You wouldn't happen to have the name of that document (listing Edge's cabins and their obstruction %'s) on the RCCL website?

 

I Googled "celebrity edge obstructed view cabins" and it was the first non-ad search result (goes to the RCCL domain). Of the aft group of ES cabins, only 6222 and 6223 are on the sheet!

[farmersfight]

@coastcat;

 

On 12/22/2020 at 6:48 PM, farmersfight said:

Oh, speaking of studio staterooms with balconies, I'm doing a little research of Celebrity's single infinity veranda staterooms on the Celebrity Edge. I want to book a cruise for Feb 2023 but Celebrity's schedule does not yet go that far out. I'm looking at a 7 night cruise on Celebrity Edge in a single infinity veranda stateroom going to San Juan, PR; Tortola (BVI) & St. Maarten. The ship departs from Port Everglades, FL. I know Celebrity is more upscale than the "big 3" mainstream cruise lines (NCL, RCL & Carnival), so I'll have to "step up my game", lol. I may need to buy some new clothes, lol.

 

O.k., BIG course change (pardon the ship handling pun), I've nixed the Celebrity Edge because I just found out that Carnival has another new ship coming out, Carnival Celebration (sister to Mardi Gras).

 

So, I've got a "hold" (reserved without having to put a deposit on) on a 7-day Western Caribbean (Cozumel Plus, Costa Maya and Mahogany Bay) round-trip out of Miami, FL; Jan 22-29, 2023.

 

I've got until Monday (12/28), 3:30 pm to make up my mind and put the deposit down.

 

Btw, you may be asking, "what is Cozumel Plus"? Apparently, Carnival ships (on designated cruises) are spending more time in port in Cozumel. This is allowing for longer shore excursions, even shore excursions over on the Mexican mainland, across from the island of Cozumel. Even though I've been to Cozumel multiple times, this intrigues me because I can take an excursion to the Mexican mainland and see an entirely new area of Mexico. Also, Costa Maya is Carnival's privately developed "port" in Mexico and Mahogany Bay is another Carnival owned and developed property in Roatan, Honduras. I've never been to either place.

 

I'm 95% sure that I'm going to "pull the trigger" and put down the deposit on this Carnival Celebration cruise. I've noticed a trend; even as I solo, I'm able to again cruise with Carnival (who is not very "solo-friendly") on their new Mardi Gras class ships. This is because these ships have "Jr. balcony staterooms", which have the same balcony size as a regular balcony stateroom, they are just a little smaller (sq ft) in the stateroom itself. Because these are smaller, Carnival is not pricing them as high as regular balconies, so they are "within reach" of a solo cruiser, even with the 100% solo supplement.

 

Well, I may not have to buy new clothes after all for the fancier Celebrity Edge. I think I'm more of a mainstream cruise line (Carnival, RCL & NCL) type anyway.

 

Marty (aka farmersfight)

Edited December 25, 2020 by farmersfight

[coastcat]

6 hours ago, farmersfight said:

@coastcat;

 

 

O.k., BIG course change (pardon the ship handling pun), I've nixed the Celebrity Edge because I just found out that Carnival has another new ship coming out, Carnival Celebration (sister to Mardi Gras).

 

So, I've got a "hold" (reserved without having to put a deposit on) on a 7-day Western Caribbean (Cozumel Plus, Costa Maya and Mahogany Bay) round-trip out of Miami, FL; Jan 22-29, 2023.

 

I've got until Monday (12/28), 3:30 pm to make up my mind and put the deposit down.

 

Btw, you may be asking, "what is Cozumel Plus"? Apparently, Carnival ships (on designated cruises) are spending more time in port in Cozumel. This is allowing for longer shore excursions, even shore excursions over on the Mexican mainland, across from the island of Cozumel. Even though I've been to Cozumel multiple times, this intrigues me because I can take an excursion to the Mexican mainland and see an entirely new area of Mexico. Also, Costa Maya is Carnival's privately developed "port" in Mexico and Mahogany Bay is another Carnival owned and developed property in Roatan, Honduras. I've never been to either place.

 

I'm 95% sure that I'm going to "pull the trigger" and put down the deposit on this Carnival Celebration cruise. I've noticed a trend; even as I solo, I'm able to again cruise with Carnival (who is not very "solo-friendly") on their new Mardi Gras class ships. This is because these ships have "Jr. balcony staterooms", which have the same balcony size as a regular balcony stateroom, they are just a little smaller (sq ft) in the stateroom itself. Because these are smaller, Carnival is not pricing them as high as regular balconies, so they are "within reach" of a solo cruiser, even with the 100% solo supplement.

 

Well, I may not have to buy new clothes after all for the fancier Celebrity Edge. I think I'm more of a mainstream cruise line (Carnival, RCL & NCL) type anyway.

 

Marty (aka farmersfight)

 

Costa Maya isn't exclusive to Carnival, although IIRC they maintain their own dock for their brands while other lines use a different dock. I was supposed to visit Costa Maya a couple weeks ago via NCL Breakaway!

 

Um... so you prompted me to look at the Carnival website, and I started thinking about the Cove Balconies since it would be so interesting to be that close to the water, and...

 

Yeah. I just booked another solo cruise. May 1 2022, 6 days on Carnival Magic in a deck 2 cove balcony, sailing out of Port Canaveral to Grand Turk, Amber Cove, and Half Moon Cay.

[farmersfight]

7 hours ago, coastcat said:

 

Costa Maya isn't exclusive to Carnival, although IIRC they maintain their own dock for their brands while other lines use a different dock. I was supposed to visit Costa Maya a couple weeks ago via NCL Breakaway!

 

Um... so you prompted me to look at the Carnival website, and I started thinking about the Cove Balconies since it would be so interesting to be that close to the water, and...

 

Yeah. I just booked another solo cruise. May 1 2022, 6 days on Carnival Magic in a deck 2 cove balcony, sailing out of Port Canaveral to Grand Turk, Amber Cove, and Half Moon Cay.

 

Thanks. Yeah, I saw that Costa Maya wasn't exclusive to Carnival when I saw it on NCL's web site.

 

Congrats on booking another cruise! Those cove balconies do look very cool. I'm sure you're going to love it. You're itinerary on Carnival Magic is very similar to mine on Carnival's Mardi Gras (Dec 18-26, 2021; X-mas cruise!). 8-day cruise out of Port Canaveral to Grand Turk, Amber Cove, San Juan, PR & St. Thomas, USVI. As I may have previously mentioned, I'm booked in one of Mardi Gras' "Jr. balcony staterooms". Same size balcony, just the stateroom is just a tad smaller (sq ft). The price is a tad smaller also, which makes it "within reach" of a solo cruiser (me).

 

Oh, btw, while you're on your Carnival Magic cruise, I'll be half way in to my 14 day TA on the Allure OTS (fm: Port Canaveral, FL to Barcelona, Spain; April 24 - May 8, 2022). I'm booked in a Central Park view balcony stateroom (where else but on an Oasis-class ship do you have interior balcony staterooms?). For some reason, the Central Park view balcony stateroom on this cruise was $840 less than a regular ocean view balcony stateroom. I opted for the $840 savings.

 

Man, being cooped up at home during this covid "lock down", I've been planning my a#$ off and now have "on my radar" 2 cruises in 2024! (note: since 2024 is so far out, the cruise line's booking schedule is not yet out that far, so I had to use 2022, just to get an idea). Both cruises are with NCL; 1. - Jan 2024, Norwegian Star, 14 day South American cruise from Santiago, Chile to Buenos Aires, Argentina. This cruise goes "around the horn (Cape Horn)" and through the Strait of Magellan. I'm even contemplating taking a flight from Buenos Aires to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil after the cruise and spending 4 nights in Rio. 2. - May 2024, Norwegian Dawn, 10 day Ireland, Scotland & British Isles from Southhampton, England to Amsterdam, Netherlands.

 

Oh also, I'm planning on doing a "make up" on either the Celebrity Edge or Celebrity Apex in one of those Single Infinite Veranda (SIV) staterooms in Nov 2023. Did you know that the Edge has 16 SIV's and that the Apex has 24 SIV's? This gives the impression that Celebrity is increasing the marketing for solo cruisers. Yaaay!

 

Well, got to run. Take care and I hope you are having (or have had) a very Merry Christmas.

 

Marty (aka farmersfight)

 

[debenson0723]

On 12/14/2020 at 2:13 PM, All-ready2cruise said:

For this one though, if the new Leonardo class ship is scheduled to do a TA in that time-frame, I'll be all over that one and cancel the Bliss cruise. 

So, for now that it. 

 

I am hoping to do the new Leonardo TA also in fall 2022.  I thought that was going to be my next cruise but was convinced to book the Escape TA from Rome to NYC in November of this year (I can say that now that it is 2021).  We have a varied group of about 12 solos so far booked, great people of all ages that I have sailed with on my Baltic cruise and a few others.

Happy New Year...let''s hope we will all be able to sail this year!

[farmersfight]

4 hours ago, debenson0723 said:

I am hoping to do the new Leonardo TA also in fall 2022.  I thought that was going to be my next cruise but was convinced to book the Escape TA from Rome to NYC in November of this year (I can say that now that it is 2021).  We have a varied group of about 12 solos so far booked, great people of all ages that I have sailed with on my Baltic cruise and a few others.

Happy New Year...let''s hope we will all be able to sail this year!

 

Happy New Year Deb,

 

Your NCL Escape TA from Rome to NYC in November sounds great, especially with a group of 12 other solos that you have sailed with before. I've got a TA booked myself; on Allure OTS, a 14 day TA from Port Everglades, FL to Barcelona, Spain on April 24 - May 8, 2022. My 1st Oasis-class ship!

 

Marty (aka farmersfight)

[All-ready2cruise]

6 hours ago, debenson0723 said:

I am hoping to do the new Leonardo TA also in fall 2022.  I thought that was going to be my next cruise but was convinced to book the Escape TA from Rome to NYC in November of this year (I can say that now that it is 2021).  We have a varied group of about 12 solos so far booked, great people of all ages that I have sailed with on my Baltic cruise and a few others.

Happy New Year...let''s hope we will all be able to sail this year!

It's definitely 2021 now! Happy New Year! 

I've been looking at TAs as well. I've only done 3 so far and I've read a lot good things about the Escape. Your TA this fall sounds like a great plan. 

 

And yes, for the Leonardo class ship we'll have to keep watching for the date of the TA.   

 

Cheers 🥂

[debenson0723]

2 hours ago, All-ready2cruise said:

It's definitely 2021 now! Happy New Year! 

I've been looking at TAs as well. I've only done 3 so far and I've read a lot good things about the Escape. Your TA this fall sounds like a great plan. 

 

And yes, for the Leonardo class ship we'll have to keep watching for the date of the TA.   

 

Cheers 🥂

I had the 3 E ships (Encore, Epic and Escape) booked in 2020...made it to the Encore, got off on March 1st and had a really great cruise. Sailed with about 5 others that I had met on my Bliss Panama Canal cruise in 2018, plus met several others that I had meals with over the week.  I had been to all the ports multiple times so spent those days on the ship, either in the Observation Lounge or Thermal Spa (they had day passes available for $59...well worth it).

 

Never been on a TA but really looking forward to it. New ship (for me), all new ports, old friends...couldn't be better.

[All-ready2cruise]

5 minutes ago, debenson0723 said:

Never been on a TA but really looking forward to it. New ship (for me), all new ports, old friends...couldn't be better.

I'm sure you'll love the TA, especially since you'll have some friends around to set up some games in the afternoons when you're not on shore excursions.  Just had a look at the itinerary and it looks great. NCL has booked the same itinerary for both 2021/22. 

 

Hope you enjoy your cruise. 

Cheers