Cruising as a single female 50+

[Redrob123]

Hi all
i have recently returned from 2 cruises. Hadn't cruised before except on small ship to Antarctica which I loved. My first was with Celebrity Infinity from Vancouver through inside passage to Alaska. This ship seemed to cater for couples and there weren't any specific singles get togethers. There didn't seem to be a lot of single travellers - if there were I don't where they were. The ship and service was great and I never felt that it was crowded. Cabins were biggish.
Next was a couple of weeks later with Norwegian. From Miami to Caribbean. They definitely cater for singles with get togethers and single cabins but I felt there were too many people as everything was always crowded. I Probably wouldn't cruise with them again.
Am thinking of taking another cruise from Australia or somewhere next year. Does anyone have any experience with solo cruising. Would appreciate any thoughts.

 

[JessicaTam]

I haven't been on any cruises but keen to know what options there are for singles. So subscribing with interest.

 

[Pushka]

QM2 now has single cabins.

Love_the_life and I travel solo in our cabins. I was on the cruise we shared for a few days before she boarded and found being solo was a great way to meet new people and became good friends with another passenger who was travelling with her mother. I didn't attend any 'single' events but the singles on the cruise seemed to naturally gravitate together through shared interests. I went to events on my own and did excursions on my own and felt perfectly at ease.

They have dance escorts. L_t_L and the other companion would keep an eye out if one of them was making their way towards any of us and we would bolt. Think - creepy old gents.

 

[Bazzi]

I sometimes cruise without my partner for a bit of 'me time' and have done so with both Princess and Royal Caribbean.
I did attend a singles lunch on RC which was quite fun and ran into many of those people at other venues onboard.

Princess seated all singles together at dinner and I met some lovely, interesting, diverse people. On a 10 night RC cruise, I booked too late for anytime dining and was seated at a table of 11 for dinner - mixture of couples, a family and singles and by evening three there was just one couple and myself left on this enormous table. So, I would definitely suggest any time dining and request a 6-8 seat table or even a table for 1 - my partner and I enjoyed the company of a fascinating Canadian lady for the best part of a 17 night transatlantic cruise last year who was seated at the table next to us. On the table on the other side of ours we had a revolving door of couples of different nationalities to engage with.

I found that during breakfast, lunch etc if eating in the buffet, people have to share tables and I met some interesting people then. Trivia or games are always great ways to meet others too.

Having had a career in hospitality, I can pretty much start up a conversation with anyone (much to my partner's chagrin) and one of those conversations is ongoing - we are still in touch three years after a RC cruise.

If you sign up to Cruise Critic or similar, someone usually organises a meet and greet event within the first couple of days and the cruise lines usually put on a special lunch for CC members which is also a great way of meeting new people. You can get an idea through reading the forum posts who you might gel with and who to avoid!

 

[Dr Ralph]

'Cruising'

Is this what you meant?

Urban Dictionary: cruising

 

[tgh]

Silversea seem to take very good care of their single passengers.
Maitre 'd always finds them some suitable dinner company and they get lots of invites to officer hosted tables also.
On a smaller ship folks get to know each other very quickly and the singles always seem to be with someone.

 

[BettyB]

and the singles always seem to be with someone.

Seems to support the definition offered by DrRalph

 

[Anna]

I have done cruises by myself and I have done cruises with family. (Can't ever seem to persuade friends to go on a cruise due to the outdated stereotype of cruises being full of old folk playing bingo in the short breaks between meals ).

IME it is more fun to go on a cruise with company, but it's not terrible solo. If you go solo, I think the main thing is to be happy with your own company, and not expect that on day 1 you will meet lots of fabulous and interesting people that you will then spend the rest of the cruise with having a fantastic time. You probably will meet fabulous and interesting people, but you will probably have a few solo trips to the restaurant, gym, salon etc before you meet them. IME the singles get-togethers that the cruise lines arrange are depressing and involve groups of disappointed 30-something females who thought they were going to meet Mr Right on board immediately. When they see that the other solo travellers are generally females of varying ages and very few if any males, they sometimes even publicly sulk, which is just immature and stupid.

I think a good way to meet other people is to go to the open seating breakfasts and lunches in the main dining room and ask to be seated with others. If you like them, great and you can meet up again. If you hate them, fine, it's 30 minutes of your life and you never have to spend time with them again. Also shore excursions can be a good way to meet other people. Just because you are travelling solo does not mean you have to spend your time with other solo travellers. Many families and couples can be interesting companions for meals and excursions. Some couples are sick of each other and welcome the diversion

I don't think it really matters which cruise line you choose in terms of being solo or not. A solo-occupancy cabin is almost always going to be expensive, even if you can get a deal paying less than the total cabin price that a couple would pay. I do think that Americans are generally much more open to talking to strangers than Aussies are. In fact Americans will usually think you are quite rude if you don't chat to them So if you are concerned about being solo then maybe choose an itinerary likely to have Americans on board. Panama Canal is a good one - fascinating scenery and not the party crowd that the Caribbean attracts.

Personally I would probably not choose a Pacific island cruise ex Australia if I was going solo, unless it was a fabulous deal, an unusual itinerary and definitely during not school holidays in any state.

 

[VPS]

I've only done one cruise alone and loved it but I'm the sort of person that's very happy with my own company - I never sought out singles groups and wouldn't if they were offered - I always sat with different people at dinner and met some lovely people - one couple I still correspond with -

 

[terko]

I cruised solo on MSC around the Mediterranean last November. MSC has great deals for single cabin occupancy which is why i went with them. I had wonderful dinner companions each night in the formal dining room. And for breakfasts and lunch i either went to the buffet or dining room and met new people every day. There was a great mix of people from mostly many different European countries who all loved chatting to an Aussie. The games, trivia, and dance classes were great for meeting people too. I never once felt lonely on this cruise as the crew and other holiday makers were all really friendly and inclusive. As per others on here, i also can chat to anyone about anything, so that probably helps!