pink317

First time - was seated with other solos, different ages, and gender. I was the youngest by 20+ years! Had the absolute best time. Still facebook friends with one.

Second time - seated with all females much closer to my age range. Apparently, it was spring break the next state over and everyone decided to go cruising! Needless to say they were all drunk and were looking for short term love (i was not approached thank goodness!). Twas horrible but I laughed it off, ate my meal, and moved it along. Honestly it was 20-30 minutes of my life for a few days, wasn't worth trying to find another table, especially as the sailing was quite full.

I took my first solo cruise at 27. I also look very young, am female, and a minority so I felt like I had so much going against me. However, I was tired of living life on friends' time, budget, vacation allowance, and interests! My first solo was amazing, I told a few people (mostly women) I was alone and they expressed shock that I was able to do at 27 what they couldn't do until 50/60 and encouraged me to keep living life with courage and confidence and on my own terms! Second solo was not so good but it hasn't stopped me - third solo booked for Sept 2018! :)

For me the "scariest" part is embarkation, not dining. If you are on a cruise line that has traditional dining, you will be seated with other solos or a table of women in your age range. Embarkation is a group activity and it is very obvious that I'm in line alone. I usually put headphones in and bop along to my favorite jams until its my turn at the desk. Once on the ship, no one knows anything, ha! :)

Oh, you'll be fine. You are not in water the whole time anyway and when you are, usually I could touch bottom. I actually would have preferred more water. It was much easier floating than walking. Unlike other caves I've been to in the States, except for the entry, there was no manmade path. So the walking over the rock formations was challenging at time.

Thank you! This is very helpful.

I'm assuming because of the wet suits and life jackets. I'm fat. 4'9" 170 lbs. I fit into a MD wet suit and an XL life jacket. Not sure how big the wet suits go but I did see some XXL life jackets.

4'9", is that correct? I'm 5'0"...how was the experience for you? Most people are taller than me so I cant really trust their advice about the water levels.... I dont want water up to my ears the whole time.

We don't like doing ship tours so am wondering if we can contact a company directly.

I believe so, outside of the cruise it is called Secret River (Rio Secreto). According to the online chat lady at their website, you can email 'Heidi' about taking an independent tour while in port. Grain of salt needed, your mileage may vary, of course. I have yet to make contact with this Heidi and will be in port 12/14/16.:confused:

cruiselines@riosecreto.com

Just returned from a Med cruise on NCL Epic. RT from Barcelona. Pre-cruise stayed at Barcelo Raval (in the Raval was just okay), on the flipside stayed at Olivia Balmes in the Ramblas VERY close to a hop on/off stop. Was perfect and affordable. Check out tripadvisor for reviews.

Re: excursions, tried privates for the first time ( a huge mountain for me to overcome). Was very scared but found Joe Banana and now I wish Joe had tour companies in every port around the world. Italytoursharing [dot] com. Also check out more positive reviews on tripadvisor.

I wasnt jet lagged during the trip despite it being my first international trip and flying all the way from the west coast. However, I was jet lagged for a week after I returned home.

No cruise critic solos on NCL Epic W. Med 11/15 sailing? Odd considering the cabin category is sold out.

They won't be fleet wide until next year. You'll have the flat cover charge pricing on your cruise in three weeks.

Whew, ok. Thank you for this information. I dont think I'll be a repeat NCL cruiser (too many changes since I booked in Feb) but good to know. :)

Is this fleet wide? On the epic in 3 weeks and see cover/flat rates for specialty restaurants... this is the first I'm hearing of a la carte pricing. Thx

Hi All, I'm a solo cruiser who found herself with THREE cruise mates this time round. We all have separate rooms so that helps! We're traveling NCL Epic W. Med, 11/15. This cruise overlaps with the 11/11 and 11/18 sailings. Anyhow, we have one spot left on a private tour via Joe Banana Tours (highly rated on tripadvisor) for Florence and Pisa (11/19). NCL is charging an arm and a leg and if we get one more - our cost is 80 euro + museum entrance fee... so just a $200 savings! I love would to have a solo join us! And I admit, I'm a little jealous (booking travel with a group is stressful!) Click the link for details (Williams group)- https://italytoursharing.com/groups/details/545

Happened to me a few times on another cruise line. Last one was a doozy and being nice DID NOT work. The PCC told me he had to call me even after I asked to be taken off his list. So asking to be taken off the list doesnt always work either. It wasnt until I went crazy *beep* on him weeks later did he get it. Sad I had to get rude before he would stop. To seal the deal, I sent an email to customer service detailing the ordeal and I was practically (happily) erased from the database at that point.

Going in Nov....thank you for doing this!

The first part of your post throws ppl off I think- folks are hung up on the non refundable room fee opposed to the second part of your post which talks about the transfer and bank wire request (both of which are incredibly shady)

Another who utilizes the spa. There are great port day specials like 3 services (scrub, express facial, massage) for $80-$100. Serenity is empty, can always grab a great chair/spot. Also a good time to get photos around the ship, if that's your thing.

Not sure if its been posted but NCL dropped the price on Epic 11/15 7 day Western Med. RT from Barcelona. Now some folks can get it for $519 (loyalty members?). When I mock book, it teases me with $519 but then shows $539 when I select the cabin. Their $25 OBC offer is still going on, too.

Flights are about $1200 if you're west coast and $1000 if you're east. Some are under $1000 if you have flexible air dates and/or want to travel Norwegian or Aeroflot.

I live in a year round warm to hot climate and would welcome the chance to wear boots and my trench! Not a pool or tanning person so this all sounds lovely!! Big tourist sites like the leaning tower, Pompeii, and trevi fountain (assuming the construction is complete) should all be open. Thanks for the feedback.

Would to hear any thoughts. I'm a NCL newbie and doing the same cruise the week before Thanksgiving- hoping for fewer passengers and significantly less crowded tourist attractions!

THANK YOU to poster who posted NCL Western Med. solo prices on CC!

I am going in November and it will be my first int'l flight and cruise. My cousin is supposedly going too but if she flakes it will be okay since I've done two solos before. I am little nervous about flying internationally alone (female) basically navigating the whole process but I just couldn't pass up a great deal like this.

I work in a direct-to-consumer field (marketing but still very involved with the retail portion) and if we mess up, we always honor whatever was originally presented to the customer (unless its completely outrageous). And $179 for interior cabin is not so outrageous that Carnival shouldn't honor the price.

Ive seen various erroneous rates for the past week or so. The biggest (IMO) was rates that ended in 4, you go to book and then the rate jumps up (sometimes by a hundred dollars) and ends in 9. Another poster had a thread about it. He/she called Carnival and got nowhere. The other forum users also sided with Carnival saying they shouldnt honor their own glitch.

Your title is a little misleading, I thought you didn't enjoy cruising solo LOL..

Sorry about your cabin but did you enjoy the solo experience?