Just finished my first solo cruise

[KKB]

DH sailed with me week 1 & I stayed another week on the Caribbean Princess.

The hardest part was that we played pretty hard the 1st week...so the pace was a 180.

On turnaround day I found a quiet corner to take advantage of data.

Day 2 I went to grab breakfast at the buffet & realized I was OVER crowds & noise. (noticed this before when I have done Vegas solo--tougher to find quiet there!)

I sequestered in the room...movie...read on the balcony...movie. Grabbed meals at burger grill/buffet.

Refreshed by Day 3 I pretty much did same as week one if a bit slower paced.

 

I ate with others which was fun. Others invited me to play trivia/game shows with them, sometimes those I had dinner with but sometimes not.

But I was perfectly happy enjoying things on my own as well, especially after a very social 1st week.

It was also nice that several crew members knew me well also.

But there didn't seem to be a lot of people truly sailing solo.

 

In 2 weeks I will be doing 2 weeks solo on NCL Getaway. There are a lot of solos on those cruises as there was no single supplement.

It will be interesting to see the different feel truly doing it myself for 2 weeks with a number of folks sailing solo.

Edited July 31, 2022 by KKB

[rkacruiser]

16 hours ago, KKB said:

It was also nice that several crew members knew me well also.

 

This is an important advantage of sailing on two or more consecutive cruises.  There is increased familiarity with the crew and that, sometimes, results in improved service.  

[KKB]

One thing I forgot to note.

DH & I like a balcony but we agree that we just don't use it often enough to justify paying much extra for it. (a couple hundred total? Worth it)

BUT I did use it much more the week I was solo, not surprisingly.

This month I am 1 week in a Solo Studio & 1 week on a balcony (for $90 more than that Studio!).

I had put in an upgrade request on the studio; $150 for a balcony.

BUT after watching a recent video about the studio, I decided I wanted to try it for myself. 

PLUS that coffee maker in the solo lounge sold me. 

I find coffee on a cruise to SUCK. And I truly am fine with coffee in nearly any land restaurant. But I find buffet coffee to be like sludge on pretty much all lines. I got a couple Starbucks gift cards for retirement so they can get me thru part of week 2. 

So, hey, I saved $150 by dropping the potential upgrade plus the potential extra in a daily large Starbucks!

[luvs2beachit]

On 7/31/2022 at 3:03 PM, rkacruiser said:

 

This is an important advantage of sailing on two or more consecutive cruises.  There is increased familiarity with the crew and that, sometimes, results in improved service.  

I agree!  I just completed a b2b in July and many crew members knew me.

Also, by the second cruise I knew my way around the ship and where all the good hiding spots were!

Edited August 1, 2022 by luvs2beachit

[rkacruiser]

20 hours ago, luvs2beachit said:

Also, by the second cruise I knew my way around the ship and where all the good hiding spots were!

 

Some of the ships have become so large that there are places on the ship that I never visited on a 7 day cruise.  

[coastcat]

On 8/1/2022 at 7:18 AM, KKB said:

One thing I forgot to note.

DH & I like a balcony but we agree that we just don't use it often enough to justify paying much extra for it. (a couple hundred total? Worth it)

BUT I did use it much more the week I was solo, not surprisingly.

This month I am 1 week in a Solo Studio & 1 week on a balcony (for $90 more than that Studio!).

I had put in an upgrade request on the studio; $150 for a balcony.

BUT after watching a recent video about the studio, I decided I wanted to try it for myself. 

PLUS that coffee maker in the solo lounge sold me. 

I find coffee on a cruise to SUCK. And I truly am fine with coffee in nearly any land restaurant. But I find buffet coffee to be like sludge on pretty much all lines. I got a couple Starbucks gift cards for retirement so they can get me thru part of week 2. 

So, hey, I saved $150 by dropping the potential upgrade plus the potential extra in a daily large Starbucks!

 

Cruise buffet coffee is pretty awful. The Studio Lounge espresso machine is super easy to use and oh boy, can I drink a lotta lattes... But balconies are also tempting. I definitely used the balcony a ton in Alaska, not so much for the Mexican Riviera. 

 

3 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Some of the ships have become so large that there are places on the ship that I never visited on a 7 day cruise.  

I've now spent 21 days on NCL Bliss. There are still parts of that ship that I've yet to see.

[KKB]

15 hours ago, coastcat said:

 

Cruise buffet coffee is pretty awful. The Studio Lounge espresso machine is super easy to use and oh boy, can I drink a lotta lattes... But balconies are also tempting. I definitely used the balcony a ton in Alaska, not so much for the Mexican Riviera. 

 

After 18 Caribbean cruises I don't NEED a balcony.

I definitely did use it more as a solo than when I travel with DH.

But I suspect that even as a solo I will still want to do more activities the 1st week & chill more the 2nd week (when I have a balcony) SO this would seem to fit my needs.

We shall see. One thing I try to do is to experience different things to report here.

I seriously contemplated a Haven bid for week 2. At one point it was $750 more potentially.

I decided a 2nd week of cruising was more important to me!

Now I see/have heard Haven is completely sold out, but Getaway will be sailing about 75% full.

 

[DaisyGoldberg]

On 8/3/2022 at 10:36 AM, KKB said:

 

But I suspect that even as a solo I will still want to do more activities the 1st week & chill more the 2nd week (when I have a balcony)

 

If it's a back to back with identical itinerary it will give you so much freedom - plan to see a show or have a certain dinner but just plain don't feel like getting up from your nap and dressed for the evening?  Roll over, sleep til 8, hit the buffet, go back to your room and watch a movie, make it an early night and maybe start the next day earlier than you would have.

 

The freedom of solo travel is doubled when everything is scheduled twice for you! 

[KKB]

41 minutes ago, DaisyGoldberg said:

If it's a back to back with identical itinerary it will give you so much freedom - plan to see a show or have a certain dinner but just plain don't feel like getting up from your nap and dressed for the evening?  Roll over, sleep til 8, hit the buffet, go back to your room and watch a movie, make it an early night and maybe start the next day earlier than you would have.

 

The freedom of solo travel is doubled when everything is scheduled twice for you! 

Oh I SLEPT in...determined that I do NOT like early excursions...

The 2 weeks felt a little long--was it too long to sail solo? Or the the same itinerary?

I will just have to sail 2 weeks with DIFFERENT itineraries to find out!😉

[rkacruiser]

21 hours ago, KKB said:

I will just have to sail 2 weeks with DIFFERENT itineraries to find out!😉

 

Good idea; cruises with a repetitive itinerary, particularly if one is interested in getting off and visiting the ports, can be less interesting than one with an alternating itinerary or with just a few ports being repeated.  

 

What can be even more interesting is a cruise on Ship A with whatever itinerary followed by a cruise on Ship B with either the same or a different itinerary.  My last series of cruises I hopped from Volendam to MSC Meraviglia to Eurodam.  All with a variety of ports.  (On MSC, I even experienced for the first time their Yacht Club.)  Good variety and I enjoyed them all!