World Cruise as a solo traveller

Has anyone any advice taking a word cruise as a female solo traveller.. I do not fly,so do not want to just do segments.

I have cruised on Cunard P&0, Celebrity, and just recently

Fred Olsen.

I have booked myself on the world cruise on the Black Watch,,I am now having serious reservations, as I was on the Balmoral in June, and found my 10 days too long, with the majority of passengers falling asleep in the morning, and no one around after 10.30 pm. I done a 30,20,10% deal, so have the Braemar to go on the 1st August.

I have also discovered that by the sound of it, my obstructed single cabin, does not rate very good, that was the only one available when I booked.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

It might help to ask this question and do a search on the board for world cruising which you can find here http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=833

I would ask about the specific cabin on the boards for the cruise line you have booked.

Has anyone any advice taking a word cruise as a female solo traveller.. I do not fly,so do not want to just do segments.

I have cruised on Cunard P&0, Celebrity, and just recently

Fred Olsen.

I have booked myself on the world cruise on the Black Watch,,I am now having serious reservations, as I was on the Balmoral in June, and found my 10 days too long, with the majority of passengers falling asleep in the morning, and no one around after 10.30 pm. I done a 30,20,10% deal, so have the Braemar to go on the 1st August.

I have also discovered that by the sound of it, my obstructed single cabin, does not rate very good, that was the only one available when I booked.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

I'm not female, but I am a solo cruiser and sailed on the 2008 HAL World Cruise aboard the Amsterdam.

I am not acquanited with the Fred. Olsen Line, so I do not know to what clientele they try to market to. If you found the guest mix on a short cruise to be not to your liking, I would be concerned about what one might find on such a long cruise. You might address your concern on the Fred. Olsen Line Message Board and see what response you receive.

Personally, on the Amsterdam, I found plenty of activities and met many interesting (and, to be honest, not so interesting) people.

If you are interested in a world cruise, maybe you ought to consider a different cruise line.

Fred Olsen tend to do a slightly cheaper cruise than most that seem to be marketed in the UK. They have an age demorgraphic of 10 years older and far fewer children. I should have thought that more people do sectors than do the entire world voyage on all lines and in this respect I think it likely you may be upgraded. So that is a plus point I feel.

If your issue is simply "not flying" there are many places you can reach without flying. Transatlantic cruises take you to USA and some go the Viking route; Shetlands, Lofoten Islands, Iceland, Greenland and Canada before New York. Once you are in USA the trains do nice cabins to get you to the ports that embark for Caribbean or South America. Eurostar also accesses Europe with the cruise market there, just need the stop overs.

There are a lot of alternative options to world cruises with sensible travel at reasonably affordable prices incorporating cruises without flying. This would enable you do to do shorter trips without flights. The internet allows anyone who can organise detailed travel arrangements the means to do so.

Regards John

A world cruise seems a major commitment of time on a ship you do not feel too sure about. It should be possible to come up with segments - linking cruise itineraries with Cunard trans-Atlantics.

I did a solo World Voyage on Cunard last year and loved it. I know the UK has different laws about canceling a cruise. Not sure how much you would lose if you cancelled.

Going on a world cruise is a wonderful experience. I hope you can work something out.