#1 Benefit of Solo Cruising

[Leo Jay]

Dining seems to be the biggest hurdle for most solo cruisers. Is it because you don't always have the option of being seated with other solo diners? If you knew you always had that option, would dining in the formal dining room still feel somewhat awkward?

[leashyloo69]

I really want to do this solo thing for all of the reasons that y'all have mentioned! Can anyone tell me if there's one specific cruise line that has lower supplements than others?

 

I know this question is from months ago but for those who will read this thread I can help with this..Even though I am a complete novice at cruising I can tell you ..NCL cost a bomb to travel solo .. Close to 200% ..

 

I have been looking into Alaska cruises and I found Regent Seven Seas have got some great single supplement offers for Sept 09. I am pretty sure that I will be taking my next cruise with them. The overall cost is worth it for what you get with the cruise line

 

Alicia :)

[wdw1972]

Dining seems to be the biggest hurdle for most solo cruisers. Is it because you don't always have the option of being seated with other solo diners? If you knew you always had that option, would dining in the formal dining room still feel somewhat awkward?

 

I've cruised solo twice, and many more times with a travel companion. When I'm solo, I don't have any interest in wanting other solos for dinner companions. I could care less whether they're solo, part of a couple, or part of a group. My only requirement is no children at my table! But, I'm not on board to "meet" anyone, so people are just people to me regardless of who they're with.

 

I thought I would hate the open seating on my last solo HAL cruise, but I decided to just suck it up and give it an honest try. Well, I'll never go back to traditional dining! I met so many more people than I would have with traditional, and the few times the people were less than wonderful it was no big deal because I never saw them again. I especially loved being able to eat whenever I felt like it (never had a wait) instead of at the same time every night regardless of whether I was hungry then.

 

Sue/WDW1972

Westerdam 1/11/09

[brc1978]

What's your favorite benefit of cruising solo?

 

I got back from my first cruise yesterday. I wasn't sure what to expect. I cruised on the NCL Majesty to Bermuda. The environment was very conservative. Lots of older couples and families. I think I was the only solo 30 y.o woman on the ship. All of this was fine with me. I didn't plan on being very social. I was fine doing the excursions "solo", chatting with the people there, then heading to lunch "solo".

 

Cruising solo is definitely for me. I was on my own schedule. A "freestyle" environment works best for me. I don't wear a watch, so the last thing I want to be is stuck to a schedule. I am very comfortable with eating alone. It didn't take long for the dining staff to realize I was alone. They made the dining experience a pleasure. My plan for cruising is wake up early, enjoy the sunrise while drinking coffee (I will be bringing a mini-press next time, the coffee wasn't great), eat breakfast, lie in the sun and either leave the ship or read and take a nap. The evening activities, unless its listening to a band, don't interest me.

 

Needless to say, I am already looking for my next cruise. ;)

[slidergirl]

I got back from my first cruise yesterday. I wasn't sure what to expect. I cruised on the NCL Majesty to Bermuda. The environment was very conservative. Lots of older couples and families. I think I was the only solo 30 y.o woman on the ship. All of this was fine with me. I didn't plan on being very social. I was fine doing the excursions "solo", chatting with the people there, then heading to lunch "solo".

 

Cruising solo is definitely for me. I was on my own schedule. A "freestyle" environment works best for me. I don't wear a watch, so the last thing I want to be is stuck to a schedule. I am very comfortable with eating alone. It didn't take long for the dining staff to realize I was alone. They made the dining experience a pleasure. My plan for cruising is wake up early, enjoy the sunrise while drinking coffee (I will be bringing a mini-press next time, the coffee wasn't great), eat breakfast, lie in the sun and either leave the ship or read and take a nap. The evening activities, unless its listening to a band, don't interest me.

 

Needless to say, I am already looking for my next cruise. ;)

 

Be sure to include Princess when deciding on a next cruise. Their Anytime dining worked great for me. I walked in for dinner when I wanted, the staff would ask if I wanted a single or did I want to share. No pressure. My share table was very good, though. We ended up going to the nightclub together 2 nights in a row. I ate solo at one of the specialty restaurants, Bayou. It has a good jazz trio playing, so it made dinner very enjoyable. I did a short Pacific Coastal with them, as my first cruise. It did make me realize that solo cruising is a vacation that I can put in my planning portfolio. My next cruise is another Pacific Coastal, this time a 6 day down from Vancouver, on NCL. I'm looking forward to comparing the two lines.

[mbarnaby99]

I know this question is from months ago but for those who will read this thread I can help with this..Even though I am a complete novice at cruising I can tell you ..NCL cost a bomb to travel solo .. Close to 200% ..

 

Alicia :)

 

 

This is not always the case. NCL just recently had repo cruises with no supplement. With NCL and other lines, you have to keep looking for low supplements to show up. RCCL has them sometimes also. My two RCL cruises were both without a single supplement as has been the majority of my NCL cruises. It would be much easier if all lines would just list the sailings with no or little supplement but I don't think that will happen anytime soon.