My Solo Cruise
Now I have travelled solo before, I have been to Australia and also a beach stay in the Med, but what would a cruise be like? I have cruised before but would travelling alone be different?
I chose P&O Britannia for my trip having sailed on her before I liked the ship the lay out and I felt comfortable, Britannia also has some solo cabins. Cruise lines are notorious for single supplements as the cabins are based on 2 sharing, but these solo cabins do offer good value for money but they are smaller than a normal cabin. On this occasion I decided to go with a standard inside cabin as you are only in there to sleep, get changed and I would be spending most of my days on deck sunbathing or ashore.
The things that went through my head in the run up to my trip, “Would I talk to anyone? “ “What would eating along be like “ “will I be lonely “ “Will I get lost “
Yes we all have these crazy thoughts and ideas and I am a travel expert so have travelled a fair bit but to put your mind at rest this is what I found:
You will talk to people! Cruising is the friendliest type of holiday, you come out of your cabin to walk to breakfast you will automatically say “Good morning“ as you walk past a fellow passenger, at lunch in the buffet the person on the next table may say “ooh that looks nice or anything nice on the there today”, next thing you know you are chatting away.
At dinner you have a choice; you can book a set dining time so have a specific time each day usually 1830 or 2030 and you sit with the same table or people each evening or you can book anytime dining where you head to the restaurant and the time you want and choose to be seated alone or with a table or others, this is a great way to meet people. Now don’t get me wrong, you will not get on with everyone at the table, there were some evenings I ate my meals quickly and other evenings we were the last table to leave, we were laughing so much others wished they were on our table. Over a few nights you will find you gel with people and you may find yourself in the bar having after dinner drinks (if you want to of course.) If you want to eat alone you can, I did a number of times when I ate in the speciality restaurants, if you are not comfortable people watching take a book or your phone with you, even if it sits on the table unread like a bit of a comfort blanket
On Britannia a few times a week there was solo meet up or solo afternoon tea, where you could meet and get to know other solo travellers. I didn't go along to these but I met a few people who did and they are a good way of meeting other solo guests. You will also keep bumping into the same people, don’t ask me how when the ships are so big but you will, I kept bumping into the same two ladies I sat next to on the plane!
You will get lost, as all the corridors look the same, but there are deck plans on the wall, just go back to where you started and start again or go find the nearest bar grab a drink. I promise you will get your bearings the day before you are due to come home.
In each port I booked an excursion, mainly the beach trips which was a transfer to the beach, a chair and transport back to the ship, but you could easily jump in a taxi to do this. I found the excursions better value for money as it was just me. If the beach is not for you there is a huge selection of trips which give you a flavour of each island. If trips are not for you, most islands in the Caribbean you dock in a port which is close to the town or a purpose area with shops and bars so you can get off the ship and wander. Just make sure you take note of what time you need to be back on board by as the ship will not wait for you!
I could go on for a few more pages about cruising but I don’t want to bore you. I can safely say that cruising is the friendliest solo holiday I have been on, I spoke to more people in one day on the cruise than I spoke to on a whole week on a beach based holiday and would not hesitate in cruising solo again!
Please feel free to give me a call 01582 809530 to find out more about cruising.