First hand, first time solo cruising!

My lovely client Nancy recently returned from her very first solo cruise. I'm not going to lie, for the first few days I was worried that she'd made the wrong choice and a cruise on a big ship wasn't going to be for her - the tone of her Facebook posts and messages she sent me, just made me feel nervous.

Although my suspicions were correct, fortunately, Nancy definitely began to find her sea legs, getting more and more comfortable as her cruise experience unfolded and I throught it would be great to get her thoughts on the whole experience. What follows is Nancy's account and responses to questions I asked about her holiday.

What made you choose a cruise?

I have recently become widowed and am now a single traveller. I am looking for safe ways to travel on my own to far off places and thought a cruise would be good for me, as there's lots of activities and tours available.

Why the caribbean?

I chose the Caribbean as I'd be guaranteed high temperatures - I needed sunshine!

How did you feel before departing for the cruise?

Nancy flew to Maimi, stayed overnight in a hotel and then departed from Fort Lauderdale.

I was nervous but Ali had arranged every detail for me, and was there to reassure me every step of the way. On embrakation day I had no problem getting onto the ship everything was seemless and easy.

What did you think to your cabin?

My cabin was lovely and easy to find. I was disappointed in the view from my balcony as it was completely obliterated by a lifeboat right in front of it. I did get a refund though but didn’t use balcony at all. For context here - Nancy had booked what is fairly last minute for a cruise, booking end Feb for departure in May and unfortunately only obstructed view balcony rooms were left available.

How were your first few days on board?

I admit to hating my first few days on board and felt I had made a huge mistake, as there didn’t appear to be any other solo travellers. All the other travellers were mainly Americans who weren’t friendly. I decided despite the rudeness of the other passengers to me, I would ignore them and get on with enjoying my holiday.

What was the most enjoyable part of the cruise?

The most enjoyable part of the cruise was the many activities they offered and the friendliness of the staff. I took part in keep fit classes, Karaoke, went to all the shows and indulged myself in the wonderful beauty treatments that were on offer at the spa amongst many other things.

Once I made up my mind to forget the behaviour of other guests, I had a fabulous time. Staff encouraged me to book a shared table for dining rather than eating alone. The second week there were many solo travellers so I dined with some of them and went to evening shows with them.

What was your experience of the staff onboard?

Service was amazing and many of the staff knew me by name and welcomed me when I went into the bars and dining areas.

Was your room steward helpful during the cruise?

B was my room steward, he was amazing and very helpful, getting me the correct plugs for my room so I could charge my appliances, kept my room in an immaculate condition and even took some photos of me as I’m not the best at taking selfies.

What was the biggest surprise or most unexpected thing on the cruise?

The biggest surprise was how much I really enjoyed cruising when I got used to the differences in other holiday experiences. The cruise exceeded my expectations. Big sigh of relief from me at Bags Are Packed Travel.

Did you use the cruise app - was it easy to use?

Princess cruises use an app for all things onboard. It can be used for booking excursions, restuarant bookings, spa treatments etc and is used for seeing the daily itinerary of activities.

The app was easy to use and the solo meeting place and times were shown in there, unfortunately on week one no solo's turned up, only couples.

What's your advice to first time solo cruisers?

My advice to first time solo cruisers would be to ignore negative comments from other travellers, don’t eat on your own, seek out other solo travellers and attend as many tours and activities that you can fit in in a day. Keep some time for swimming, sunbathing and relaxing too.

Top Tips for first time solo cruising include the following

1. Pick your cruise option, ship/cruiseline carefully

The itinerary, ship/cruiseline and start point of your cruise can impact the demographic of clients onboard massively. Princess cruises is a US owned cruiseline, with this itinerary departing from the US - that means a higher proprotion of US passengers. Caribbean cruises will often have a strong US and Canadian demographic as to the US market a caribbean cruise is more like a European option to us. If you want to do the caribbean but are interested in a more British clientele, Marella cruises may be a stronger choice for you and they have some great itineraries with smaller ships.

2. Be open to having a go and joining in

Have a good look through your app to see what activities will float your boat (see what I did there!). Having a good idea of what's happening when,will allow you to navigate the ship and be in the right time at the right place for all the fun onboard, Don't just sit back and watch - give things a go!

There will normally be solo meet-ups and activities arranged for solo travellers but if not, pick out options you might enjoy and head along.

3. Don't feel you have to eat alone (if you don't want to!)

Find out about shared tables. Cusromer services or the concierge desk (it could be called different things on different cruise lines) will provide information about options to join other tables for dining. This could be all solo tables or a general shared guest experience.

4. Give yourself time to settle in

Don't beat yourself up if you feel a little overwhelmed or even like you've made a mistake for the first couple of days. Just like nancy, it can take some time to settle in and find your rrythym on a cruise.

5.Consider a solo only cruise

Many cruise lines now offer solo only itineraries, which will be very focussed on individual needs. They're not designed as 'hook-up' or matchmaking cruises, which often worries some people, they are designed to give great experieces for solos looking to spend some time travelling alone but the safety, comfort and benefit of having other similar guests to spend time with and enjoy the experience.