Solo Cruise – Advantages Of Solo Cruising
The biggest disadvantage of solo cruising is you might get to like it too much!
People nearly always say to me “I wish I knew you were going on this trip, I would have come with you! – trying to get people to understand that a solo trip is an active decision is something I really do struggle with! Don’t you get lonely? You are so brave! I could never do that! These are phrases I often hear from my friends and family. But they are coming from a good place, and when I explain why I love solo travel so much they understand in the end.
There are so many advantages to solo travel, the first one being you are on your own timetable, and can literally do what you want! Obviously, this goes the same for if you actually want to do nothing, you don’t have anyone pressuring you into going somewhere and wasting your precious time on something you don’t get value from. An example might be regarding dining. Several of my friends are very much into this, whereas I can take or leave food – and the idea of spending 3 hours in a fancy restaurant leaves me cold. These same people wouldn’t dream of eating from a food truck whilst on the go, but eating a slice of pizza from a hole in the wall on the way to a museum is my idea of heaven.
Speaking of museums, I could easily spend a day in a museum or art gallery. My friends would be bored after an hour, they would be itching to get out and sit drinking wine in the sun. I would feel obligated to cut my visit short, and it’s likely I would be resentful of this. Obviously I do understand that staring at a painting for 15 minutes is not everyone’s idea of fun, but it is mine, so if I am on my own I can indulge myself in this, my main passion.
Do you like sitting on a beach all day? Does your travelling companion want to go shopping for shoes? Who will win in this battle? Neither, because you will compromise, and nobody will get to spend the day how they would if they could please themselves!
MONEY is always an issue if you are with somebody. Let’s say you are on your cruise vacation and one of the ports of call is Le Havre. One of the biggest trips the ships offer is a bus tour around Paris. It is very likely my girlfriends would want to book this trip because they can’t see further than the idea of “seeing the Eiffel Tower” They couldn’t care less that they will be sitting on this bus for 4 hours there and 4 hours back, and it won’t be cheap, and the view of the Tower would be from the bus! I would look at the $150 for this trip and would not justify it. Conversely, they might think paying to enter the Pantheon in Rome is a waste of $6. Again, it comes down to priorities, and when you are on your own you can prioritise your own needs.
TIME When you are with people, you also seem to spend a lot of time waiting for them! If I was with my daughter, I can guarantee we will be leaving our cabin at least an hour later than we would be if I was on my own. I know it takes a long time to look that good, but it’s certainly boring for the people sitting waiting while those nails dry or the last coat of mascara gets applied.
FITNESS I am a very slow walker – mainly because I am middle aged and fat! But also because I like to stop and look around, I reckon this gets boring very quickly for my young fit husband who thinks nothing of walking up that big hill just to see what the view is! Interestingly, some of the best things I have seen on vacation are places I have come across more or less by accidentally strolling past them.
If you have had a very busy day and find yourself exhausted, you can give yourself the treat of an early night instead of having to go and “do” something your companion wants to take part in. Towards the end of a cruise vacation I often treat myself to an evening in the cabin watching tv or reading my book, and as relaxation is just as important as fun, it is something I get a great deal of benefit from. The other side of this coin is if I decide I want to stay at a nightclub or casino until the ship is closing down for the night, well I can! (and often do!)
The big concern a lot of people have about travelling solo is that they think they might find themselves lonely. I think on a ship the opposite is actually true. People who cruise tend to be very sociable, and it is extremely easy to make friends on board. In a land based resort, you don’t tend to see the same people very often, on a ship you will see the same people again and again and it’s amazing how quickly people build up friendships purely by dint of being “in the same boat”, so to speak. In fact, cruise ships actually go to the effort of organising solo get-togethers. These might be a defined hour in a cocktail lounge before you go to dinner, or they may be something much more fun like a solo pub crawl around the ship. You will probably have a designated table for dinner and will sit with the same people every night, these people will be solo travellers too so there’s a little group of people to chat to straight away! What to talk about to strangers? Well, you could start with what you have been up to that day, or your plans for tomorrow or you could show them photos of your dog or your grandchildren. And when you have enough social time, you can retire to the blissful solitude of your cabin!
Would you go to a nightclub on your own in a city? I wouldn’t. Would I go to a nightclub on my own on a ship – of course I would! Also, it’s very likely I would spot people I have met earlier in the trip so I would have people to chat to and dance with.
Cruise ships also have dedicated entertainments teams, whose job it is to encourage you to join in. You will be actively encouraged to take part in the quizzes, or the arts and crafts or the games that are being played. This is not something I have really seen on land based trips where the entertainments staff tend to focus on children.
Security. There is probably nowhere safer for a lady on her own to be than a cruise ship. Cameras are everywhere in public areas, everyone on the ship is accounted for and there is nobody there that shouldn’t be. If I was on a land based solo trip, it is 100% certain that I would not go out after dark and walk back to my room or apartment. But I wouldn’t have the slightest worry about walking back to my cabin on my own at 3am.
So, I have talked a lot about the advantages. What are the disadvantages? The only real one is cost. Like everywhere else, a person in a room on their own will pay considerably more – generally double
Some people may think of being on their own as a disadvantage. But it really isn’t! On a ship you are only ever truly on your own when you choose to be, and there is nothing quite as luxurious and self indulgent as Me-Time, but if you do want company go and sit by the pool or in a lounge. You will always find a Chatty Cathy like me who will be more than happy to talk the ear off you!
You also need to plan things more. You can’t really just get off the ship and wander about the same as you could if you were with somebody. Mainly because you can’t take the risk of getting lost in some strange port. A person on their own is also arguably more of a target to undesirables than someone who is in a large group. We all know some places are less safe than others, but if it’s somewhere you have never been before you would be well advised to plan your route, and don’t deviate from that. Lots of solo travellers choose to take advantage of organised trips through the ship which can be slightly more expensive than DIY, but again you have the benefit of being with others and having a guide telling you what you are looking at. This is always money well spent if it is a place you don’t know well, and something I will take advantage of if it’s the first time I have been in that port.
You don’t have someone to fall back on if things go wrong. A person on their own should always have emergency money to hand (and a spare credit card kept in their safe on the ship). Please make sure you have good travel insurance and your phone can be used wherever you are. Each day your cabin will give you a daily planner. There will be a phone number at the bottom of this for you to phone if you get into difficulties whilst off the ship.
Be brave, take risks. Nothing can substitute experience……Paulo Coelho
