Need advice from an experienced solo cruiser

[oasisorbust]

I will be taking my first solo cruise on the Breakaway in November. I will be staying in a studio cabin. I’ve read that people gather in the solo lounge to make dinner plans and such but are there available reservation time slots for the specialty restaurants? I’ve always done them in advance. Secondly it doesn’t appear that there isn’t a mini fridge/ minibar in the studio. Is this correct?

[kelib]

40 minutes ago, oasisorbust said:

I will be taking my first solo cruise on the Breakaway in November. I will be staying in a studio cabin. I’ve read that people gather in the solo lounge to make dinner plans and such but are there available reservation time slots for the specialty restaurants? I’ve always done them in advance. Secondly it doesn’t appear that there isn’t a mini fridge/ minibar in the studio. Is this correct?

There is not a mini bar/ fridge in the studios.

You can always get reservations for specialty restaurants. If you make the reservation always make it for 2 since the system does not recognize table for 1.

On board you can do the following. If you have a reservation already you can ask if someone else would like to join you when you have the solo meetup.

Also depending on the solo host, sometimes they will arrange a group to go to one of the specialty restaurants. (Some solo hosts are better than others)

I would either make your reservations that you want before the cruise or right when you get on board, and then cancel if you make other arrangements. 
Hope this helps.

[Coastalbreezes]

There is also a nightly Solo Travelers Meet-Up usually at one of the bars. You'll see the time listed in the Freestyle.  I'd suggest going the first night and possibly make some dining arrangements. I sail alone most of the time and never feel uncomfortable dining solo.

[cmecruise1962]

I sailed pre-pandemic in a solo lounge on the Breakaway.  As I recall, there was a whiteboard in the lounge that would have notes about upcoming events, such as group dinner plans.  Also, there was always a bartender in the lounge from 5-6 for "happy hour".  This bartender would be in the casino later and would always bring me drinks while playing the slots!  🙂

[oasisorbust]

11 hours ago, kelib said:

There is not a mini bar/ fridge in the studios.

You can always get reservations for specialty restaurants. If you make the reservation always make it for 2 since the system does not recognize table for 1.

On board you can do the following. If you have a reservation already you can ask if someone else would like to join you when you have the solo meetup.

Also depending on the solo host, sometimes they will arrange a group to go to one of the specialty restaurants. (Some solo hosts are better than others)

I would either make your reservations that you want before the cruise or right when you get on board, and then cancel if you make other arrangements. 
Hope this helps.

Thanks. This helps a lot 😊

[oasisorbust]

7 hours ago, Coastalbreezes said:

There is also a nightly Solo Travelers Meet-Up usually at one of the bars. You'll see the time listed in the Freestyle.  I'd suggest going the first night and possibly make some dining arrangements. I sail alone most of the time and never feel uncomfortable dining solo.

I’m not uncomfortable dining solo either and as kelib said I can make advance reservations for 2. Thanks for your help. 

[jcscv]

I've traveled solo quite a bit, and the reason I'm partial to NCL. They do take care of the solo travelers and treat them like valued customers.  There are nightly solo traveler meets (the first night is usually in one of the bars/public areas, and then more to the solo lounge for the rest of the week). Usually, the dedicated crew member will circulate a sign-up sheet nightly for everyone who would like to attend a group dinner at one of the dining rooms the next night and take care of all the reservations.  Even if you sign up for dinner, it's no big deal if you decide to go elsewhere.

 

For specialty dinners, I reserve mine ahead of time for 2 people (I try to reserve before the cruise, but if times are not available, I just make my reservations when I first get on board), and if anyone is interested in joining me, that's great, if not, that's fine too.  If a group is interested in a specialty dinner, the crew member will try and make a group reservation for everyone who's interest (but, be warned, they might not be able to get a reservation if everything is booked up.)

 

FYI, they will also book a section for group shows if anyone's interest.

 

Hope you enjoy your trip!