Recent widow taking first solo cruise

:confused: I'll be traveling on the Regal Princess Feb. 22 for seven days and would love to hear from anyone who will be taking that Eastern Caribbean cruise. This will be my first cruise without my husband, so I'll have to see how it goes. Hope I can dine with a few singles rather than all married couples. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

Here is the link to the Roll Call for others who will be cruising with you. Just click on the link and you can read and post with your future cruise friends.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2099151

I hope you find this cruise to be a time of relaxation and peace.

I'm a new widow who was going to sail with friends this month but canceled.

OP, hope it works out comfortably for you and enjoy.

I wish you all the best. :)

I wouldn't worry so much about dining with other singles as much as dining with other like minded interesting folks. I am not sure if Princess does hosted tables but if they do, be sure to let the ship's staff know that you are open to sitting at hosted tables. It is great way to socialize and meet some new people.

OP janniejl, I'm sorry for your loss. I hope you find your cruise to be a time of peace, reflection, and joy for you despite your loss.

sail7seas, I'm so sorry as well. I thought I read most of your posts and had not heard of your loss until you posted here tonight. God bless, dear one.

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I'm a new widow who was going to sail with friends this month but canceled.

OP, hope it works out comfortably for you and enjoy.

I wish you all the best. :)

sail7seas, condolences, and take your time. Have loved reading your posts. Sail away again when you are ready...

OP janniejl, I'm sorry for your loss. I hope you find your cruise to be a time of peace, reflection, and joy for you despite your loss.

 

sail7seas, I'm so sorry as well. I thought I read most of your posts and had not heard of your loss until you posted here tonight. God bless, dear one.

 

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sail7seas, condolences, and take your time. Have loved reading your posts. Sail away again when you are ready...

Thank you both for your kind messages. They are greatly appreciated.

I do plan to sail again but I need a bit more time.

Sail,

I have been absent from the boards for quite some time and just read your post. I am so sorry to learn of your loss. My sincere condolences go out to you. Bill

I'm a new widow who was going to sail with friends this month but canceled.

OP, hope it works out comfortably for you and enjoy.

I wish you all the best. :)

That first cruise is hard! I have been wondering how you are doing. Go to FB and join the group for widows over 55. A lot of ladies there have booked a cruise together for this Feb. That may be a good way to "get your feet wet".

OP - keep busy. Take advantage of the activities and you just have to put yourself out there. It will be very difficult to see all the couples together. I found that at times, I was ignored by staff and really had to speak up. You can have fun, but it's just different.

It's very hard. Widowed in Feb. 2013. Didn't want to stay home at Christmas 2013 so booked a 4 night package tour to Iceland to see the Northern Lights, then a plane to Rome with a transatlantic cruise back to the USA.

Got to Rome, just couldn't get on the ship. I have no idea why-traveled all over the world by myself for business. But the ship looming without DH was just a heart breaker. Spent a few days in Italy, then flew home.

This year Xmas, flew to Vietnam by myself. Been there many times so it was nothing new but I love Vietnam and Cambodia and felt right at home. And no couples pressure right in my face.

Maybe one of these days I will be able to get on a ship by myself. But the memories of all those happy times together keep blocking the fun I might have by myself.

Hope you can do it. It is hard and I would guess, very, very different. If you can't do the cruise, get on a plane someplace you really want to go. You won't feel so alone, at least in my opinion. Lots of solo travelers on land trips. Just too many couples in my face to be able to get on a ship and be happy.

The maître'd is usually in a dining room 1 or 2 o'clock the day you get on. He is there for dining room change requests. The time will be in the daily news in your cabin or ask at guest services for the time. He can pull up names of everyone at your table and their ages. You can ask him to sit you with other singles and he will try to find a table. Often he can't to it right then but you will get a card with your new table in your cabin mailbox or under your door. A lot of ships seat singles with each other but I' don't know if Princess does this.

Sail,

 

I have been absent from the boards for quite some time and just read your post. I am so sorry to learn of your loss. My sincere condolences go out to you. Bill

Thank you, Bill. It is a devastating experience.

Good to see you posting again. You've been missed. :)

It's very hard. Widowed in Feb. 2013. Didn't want to stay home at Christmas 2013 so booked a 4 night package tour to Iceland to see the Northern Lights, then a plane to Rome with a transatlantic cruise back to the USA.

 

Got to Rome, just couldn't get on the ship. I have no idea why-traveled all over the world by myself for business. But the ship looming without DH was just a heart breaker. Spent a few days in Italy, then flew home.

 

This year Xmas, flew to Vietnam by myself. Been there many times so it was nothing new but I love Vietnam and Cambodia and felt right at home. And no couples pressure right in my face.

 

Maybe one of these days I will be able to get on a ship by myself. But the memories of all those happy times together keep blocking the fun I might have by myself.

 

Hope you can do it. It is hard and I would guess, very, very different. If you can't do the cruise, get on a plane someplace you really want to go. You won't feel so alone, at least in my opinion. Lots of solo travelers on land trips. Just too many couples in my face to be able to get on a ship and be happy.

Greatam,

I'm sorry to learn of your loss. I always enjoy your posts and this one is another particularly helpful one. All best wishes to you.

I too have recently been widowed and did not know if I could face a cruise on my own after having taken 18 cruises with my husband beside me.

I also found the single supplements put rather a damper on booking but then I came across Norwegian Cruise Line Epic who have had the inspiration to introduce studio cabins for people travelling alone. I was unable to get a studio cabin but managed to get a really good deal on a balcony cabin and the supplement was only £100!I believe a couple of their other ships also have these studio cabins. Epic is a huge ship but with the Studio Lounge area designated purely for those travelling alone it is great fun. Solo travellers would meet up in the Lounge each evening and the crew member assigned to us was superb. She would invite groups of us to join together for dinner, the shows or other entertainment and shore excursions. There was no pressure but it was lovely to meet up with others travelling alone. There was a mixed age range and I must say that the youngsters really looked after us oldies - even persuaded some of us to join them at the late night disco!!

I am still in contact with several of the people I met and there is every chance we will be meeting up on Epic again later this year.

I have written a review if you are interested and it can be found at

http://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=257253

I hope you will soon find yourself confident enough to sail on your own.

Good Luck with your plans

Suron (Bristol,UK)

What a wonderful, helpful post.

I like it so much I am going to bring it over to the HAL forum. I hope that is agreeable with you?

Thank you for sharing this.

>SNIP<

 

Got to Rome, just couldn't get on the ship. I have no idea why-traveled all over the world by myself for business. But the ship looming without DH was just a heart breaker. Spent a few days in Italy, then flew home.

 

>SNIP<

 

Maybe one of these days I will be able to get on a ship by myself. But the memories of all those happy times together keep blocking the fun I might have by myself.

 

Hope you can do it. It is hard and I would guess, very, very different. If you can't do the cruise, get on a plane someplace you really want to go. You won't feel so alone, at least in my opinion. Lots of solo travelers on land trips. Just too many couples in my face to be able to get on a ship and be happy.

(bolding mine)

Greatam, I am sorry for your loss. My hope for you is that in time you can go back on a ship.

When I started reengaging in life, meeting people for meals or doing things as part of a group, I always had an escape plan, a way of limiting my commitment. Always. I'd join them for dessert instead of the entire meal, or similar.

When you do feel maybe-ready to try another cruise, consider and plan various exit strategies. Have them in place before you board. Then you can tell yourself "If I am miserable, I can disembark xxxxx and pay whatever is needed, and fly home. Or I can disembark yyyyy and...." For me, having exit strategies reduced my anxiety about being miserable and "stuck" in some situation I could not tolerate.

I truly hope you can cruise again. Until then, I am glad for you that you are still able to enjoy some travel.

What a wonderful, helpful post.

I like it so much I am going to bring it over to the HAL forum. I hope that is agreeable with you?

 

Thank you for sharing this.

Glad you liked my post and by all means take it to the HAL forum. I think the cruise lines need to do something more for solos so let's hope more will follow NCL's example - it is the supplements for solos which put so many of us off a lot of cruises and to have a crew member assigned to the solos is great.

Hope your future plans go well

Suzanne

My heart goes out to you all, and especially to the people I know through the forum, Sail7seas, Greatam, and now two more friends.

Love and prayers for your future, as you begin to work through your grief, and courage as you take those first steps.

Jo. :)