New/Solo Excursion Question

[Dawn1965]

I'm going on my first/solo cruise on Sept 4th to Western Carribean. I've been reading all the wonderful posts of people's preferences and great experiences on various excursions. I am always miliseconds from reserving the excursions after I read posts, but I wonder if I'm not better off booking them as I go, in case I meet people on board that I want to have the adventure and fun with. I wonder if I might miss out on a prebooking great deal if I don't reserve, but also think that I'm dooming myself to going each place without knowing anyone. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. :confused:

[OrangeAndBlue]

I'll be on the same cruise as you. What kinds of things do you like to do for fun? Are you into the active lifestyle or do you just want to relax?

 

You still have a little while before you really need to book any shore excursions. Most cruise lines don't start opening up their own tours for several months bfore the cruise. You can chat with others on the cruise to find out what they are doing. I figure that alot of the people going will know what they want to do or have a general idea. If you are outgoing, you will always meet people on the excursions and make friends.

 

Paul

[Dawn1965]

Hi Paul,

 

Kinds of things that I like to do? The things that probably aren't good for me, of course. Cocktails, music, open market shopping, etc... More so I want to try lots of things that I don't know if I like yet, so I can add them to the list. Stingray and snorkling are a must at atleast of of the ports. But, I'm open to most other adventures/excursions too. What I'll do is as I read the posts, I'll compile and list some of the recommendations and websites and will post here and "Not feeling good about the cruise thead" for Carrie and Sarah.

 

Sound good?

[OrangeAndBlue]

That sounds good. BTW, the stingrays are my all-time favorite shore excursion :)...

 

Paul

[trish1c]

Dawn, I wasn't cruising solo then, but on my last cruise, we booked the 2 things we just HAD to do in advance, then left the rest open. We ended up meeting people on the roll call boards & booking a private tour with them. We worked something else out with another couple we met on an excursion. We were also sorry that we didn't have the flexibility to do yet a thrid thing.

 

So my advice would be if there's something you "can't live without" book that now & play the rest of it by ear at least until the week or two prior to the cruise. Leave at least 1 port open to see what comes up.

 

Enjoy.

[OrangeAndBlue]

trish - Are you following me on the boards, or am i following you :)...

 

Paul

[Dawn1965]

Thanks Trish! That does make complete sense. I'll just have to try and control the bargin hunter within me :) . I'll venture one of the best parts of cruising is the unexpected. Some balance between planning and going with the flow is almost always the best way to go into a vacation.

[trish1c]

trish - Are you following me on the boards, or am i following you :)...

 

Paul

 

Wanna dance? I'll let you lead. ;)

[OrangeAndBlue]

Sure, that sounds like fun. Only one problem - I have two left feet ;)...

 

Paul

[caitlyn20]

Thanks Trish! That does make complete sense. I'll just have to try and control the bargin hunter within me :) . I'll venture one of the best parts of cruising is the unexpected. Some balance between planning and going with the flow is almost always the best way to go into a vacation.

 

I agree.

The best excursion I was on happened because of the message board. We had a great roll-call, and were able to charter a small boat for Stingray city (we ended up with 20 of us, and it was $25 each.)

 

So, talking to people in your roll call is one way to "meet people" in advance and make sure you get in on some bargains to boot.

 

I also ended up doing a great dive in Dominica by hooking up with a couple from my roll call who had booked a dive and were allowed to bring extras along. BTW, I was soloing both times.