Solo on Princess?

[latebuyer]

Has anyone gone on princess as a solo recently? Are there any solo activities? Is there shared dining now there is only my time dining? I found a good deal for a caribbean cruise.
 

I’m debating between a cruise on caribbean princess or norwegian encore.

[LRY229]

I’m interested in the answers you get. I’ve been on several Princess cruises but have my 1st solo with them in Nov. and it’s 11 nights. 

[MaryMc19]

I just sailed solo for the first time on the Regal Princess to the Eastern Caribbean. There was a solo get together every night set up by the cruise staff. We met for drinks and then whoever wanted to continued to dinner. We dined with 8-12 every night. I too was worried about having to eat alone, but that was not a problem. 

[latebuyer]

Thanks, thats good to know. And i posted to princess board and even though there is only my time dining there is still shared dining.

[caribsun]

I sailed solo on the Sky January 2023. There was a gathering every night but it was scheduled at dinner time so I did not attend. On the second night I went to the main dining room and asked for a share table. The host said none available and seated me at a table for two. The lead waiter was fine but the assistant took forever to fill glasses with water and deliver bread and never once made eye content or spoke. For the rest of the cruise I had dinner in the buffet which was very good. I booked this cruise just 3 weeks before sail date for 750.00 with 250.00 OBC in a interior cabin. 

[Dancer Bob]

I was also on Sky last January. I was with a group but except for group activities, spent little time with them. Attended solo meet first night, very well attended, but it quickly became apparent there was no one who shared my interests (which do not include sitting in bars consuming alcohol).

Always ate at the buffet (over the years, I have become less than enchanted with cruise ship restaurants. Also there was only one good band, the scheduling often conflicted with meal times.)

Other than group activities and that one good band, I found everything pretty lowest-commom-denominator, not very interesting.

[MaryMc19]

On Regal Princess, we asked them to move our solo get together to earlier time. Once you meet some other solo travelers, you can arrange for dinner,  excursions, drinks, etc.

[RagDadTX]

Hi Mary.  I'm on the Regal Princess next January out of Galveston.  Never sailed solo before so a little apprehensive.  What time did the solo travelers group meet on your saiing?  Thanks

[MaryMc19]

• First meet up was at 6pm, I think; then it was 5pm. Plenty of time to get into dining room for dinner after.

[chefchick]

I sailed solo on the Royal Princess to Alaska just a couple of weeks ago.  There was a solo meet up in the Crooners Lounge on the first night.  I was sitting there, having my customary pre dinner martini when a crew member/ entertainment staff member came up to me and asked if I was there for the solo meet up and was interested in meeting others?  I said, sure and was introduced to two others solo cruisers.  The crew member said he was just there for the one night and if we wanted to we should make arrangements for other nights.  We had a nice time and saw each other a few times around the ship which is always nice to see a familiar face, but it was clear that on this particular voyage at least, that solo cruisers were not their focus.  I still had a lovely time.

[cruiser3775]

I was solo on Coral Princess.  They had a regular solos meet up in one of the bars, hosted by a crew member for the first two or three nights.. I went a couple of times and did meet some people I saw again.

Shared dining was always available in the MDR. I tried not to get there at peak times, and just said I'd like to share. Mostly it was on tables of six or eight, and we would wait until the table was filled before they took our orders. Groups on the shared tables varies from solos to two and threes.

I had complimentary dinners at the two speciality restaurants, and found that they would not do shared tables. However, they usually had tables for two in a group close to each other, so you could talk to the solo on the adjacent tables.

At the buffet, if it was crowded, I usually asked someone else dining alone if I could join them at their table, and met some interesting people that way.

[RagDadTX]

12 hours ago, MaryMc19 said:

• First meet up was at 6pm, I think; then it was 5pm. Plenty of time to get into dining room for dinner after.

Thanks Mary.  That gives me some idea when to schedule dinner in the various restaurants on board.  

[RagDadTX]

Thanks everyone for sharing your experience traveling solo.  Much appreciated.

[Ombud]

I cruise solo a lot and just on Princess. In addition to the solo evening mtg, we also arrange a solo lunch table in the MDR open to whomever shows up. Start with those in your Meet and Greet then mention it at the pre-dinner mtg. They were quite accommodating and everyone is friendly.

[oakridger]

On 7/8/2023 at 5:11 AM, RagDadTX said:

Thanks everyone for sharing your experience traveling solo.  Much appreciated.

 

@RagDadTX Welcome to Cruise Critic!  You will get lots of great information and...some not so great, 😉, but it's really been worth my time to show up here and read the forums that I'm interested in.  

 

Have a wonderful cruise!

 

~Nancy

Edited July 11, 2023 by oakridger

[Honolulu Blue]

On 7/6/2023 at 6:22 PM, latebuyer said:

Has anyone gone on princess as a solo recently? Are there any solo activities? Is there shared dining now there is only my time dining? I found a good deal for a caribbean cruise.
 

I’m debating between a cruise on caribbean princess or norwegian encore.

My solo cruises on Princess were December 2021 (Regal), April 2022 (Majestic), and April 2023 (Ruby).  The only solo activity that I know about are the various singles meet ups that were scheduled most days on all three of my cruises.  I assume all Princess cruises have them.  I haven't attended any of them, so I can't tell you how they are.  I did attend several trivia sessions solo on the Regal and my presence was well tolerated.  in fact, they actually let me win.  Twice.  Other places around the ship were much the same - the vast majority of cruisers around me were couples (and older, but that's not the point of your post, so I won't go further) but everyone was fine with the fact that I wasn't part of a couple or a group.

 

I haven't sailed on either of the ships you mentioned, but I can say that Princess is a good cruise line that will probably treat you well if you let it.  

[paulco]

Did Crown Princess last fall Vancouver to LA with a friend. Both traveling solo. Dining was just a mess every night. Long lines if.you had a res, we asked to share and one time we we actually ended up sharing a  6 top, another night they put me alone at an empty 6 top.  The waiters were really nice though,  they felt sorry for me I think.  Other than dinner the ship was fine.

Edited July 11, 2023 by paulco

[latebuyer]

Seems like reviews really vary. Thanks for sharing. I had heard on princess board that people are unhappy with the removal of traditional dining
 

. Has anyone else found they no longer give double obc but just for one person?

[latebuyer]

Current promo lasts until sept 5th. I’m going to still wait and see if obc is included in next promo.

[RagDadTX]

I'm getting a $200 obc with my princess cruise next Jan., but I only discovered it when I rebooked my sailing with an upgraded drinks package.  

[MaryMc19]

1 hour ago, latebuyer said:

Seems like reviews really vary. Thanks for sharing. I had heard on princess board that people are unhappy with the removal of traditional dining
 

. Has anyone else found they no longer give double obc but just for one person?

I got double on board credit last April. 

[latebuyer]

This is weird as a recent promo only has 100.00 obc. I wonder if it depends if you do princess plus?

[Gogoddess5]

Sailed on Majestic Princess in May.  Single & Solo Travelers Get-Together was held at 5:30pm each day.

Only the first Get-Together was “Hosted”. Shared dining option was available…I was able to select  select table size (2, 6, 8…).  I received double credit as solo, but am already at Elite so I stopped counting.This was my 8th solo sailing on Princess. Have also sailed solo on Royal Caribbean, Holland America & on Norwegian. 
Norwegian puts the most effort into hosting solo/singles cruisers.  On ships with Studio Cabins - there is the Studio Lounge, avail. only to solo/single passengers and a dedicated host, who coordinates the initial meet & greet, and then shows up each evening to arrange dining and show seating.  I met lots of nice people on my NCL sailings, many of us still cruise together several times a year.  
 

[Anastas617]

On 7/6/2023 at 6:22 PM, latebuyer said:

Has anyone gone on princess as a solo recently? Are there any solo activities? Is there shared dining now there is only my time dining? I found a good deal for a caribbean cruise.
 

I’m debating between a cruise on caribbean princess or norwegian encore.

I sailed as a solo on Caribbean Princess in April (my first ever cruise). I know there were a couple of meet-ups on the schedule for solos, but I didn't go to any of them. There was one in the Wheelhouse Bar that seemed to have 12-15 people gathered when I grabbed a few drinks at the bar.

 

As for the dining in the MDR, I was always asked if I wanted to sit alone or share. I sat alone because sitting at a table with strangers is a bit out of my comfort zone. (although I am about to get on an MSC cruise and I think I'm going to need to get over that discomfort 🙂)

 

I wasn't actively looking for solo "events", so I apologize if there was more stuff I just didn't know about.

[latebuyer]

Is there anyone who has sailed on ncl vs. princess who can speak to the difference between them? I am really struggling as there are cruises around the same price with both lines. I get the-sense you don’t really know until you are on board what it will be like.