Cruising experience

Dempie, it is absolutely fine as a solo cruiser! Obviously, I would rather have my DH with me, but things being as they sre, if I want to cruise, it has to be on my own.

On Saga single cruisers are well looked after; there is a social get-together in the bar before dinner if you wish to attend, and you can eat with other singles or not; I just tend to turn up at the restaurant, say I don't mind sharing a table, and let the maitre d' seat me. Sometimes they put me with other singles, sometimes a couple, and I have usually had excellent company. Never felt discriminated against because I am on my own.

An advantage is that I don't mind doing things on my own - not afraid to go to the bar on my own, sometimes I'll sit on a bar stool, order a drink 🍸 and very often find I soon have someone to talk to. You have the choice to have company or not.

I hope you feel you can take the plunge!

Blue Sapphire, can I ask, is it Ok cruising as a widow? Do you have to be seated with other solo travellers at dinner? I am tempted but terrified!

I truly hope you will enjoy Saga cruising as much as I do! The whole experience is just amazing; have been cruising with them since 2008, first with my darling late Dh, but now on my own.
I can tell you that as soon as I board the ship I take a deep breath of contentment and know that I am in my happy place.
Excellent caring crew, 5* food, good entertainment and a happy atmosphere, what more could you want?

We have been on large and small.
On smaller ships we got to know a lot of people. It easier to keep to yourself on a bigger ship.
Everything is well planned, such as giving you time slots for disembarkation. You'll get loads of information...put aside time to read and plan for the next day.

All their boats begin with a B. They had the Balmoral stretched which I had not Heard- of before , which made it their largest at that time,
Yes we were very happy with Olsen.

silverlining Bolette formerly belonged to the Holland America line but now belongs to Fred Olsen and is named after one of his relatives. Lovely ship and the crew couldn’t be more helpful.

Any tips on essentials to take?

A highlighter pen is useful.

If Saga are like the cruise lines we've been on, there will be a daily news sheet delivered to your cabin during the evening for the following day's programme.

I found it helpful to read through everything that would be happening and highlight the activities, shows, films, talks etc that we wanted to do so we didn't miss anything special.

Pantglas I've been a regular on GN for 10+ years! Your chamberpot habits were a big surprise and made wonder if your en suite left something to be desired!

The Bolette must be a new ship
Since we travelled. The largest ship we travelled on was the Balmoral. Will
Will have a look.

I've never been as DH is not a fan, but I think I would love it. Hope you have a great time!

I love Fred Olsen cruises especially on the Bolette but we like to go from Southampton and as only a limited number of their cruises go from there we usually find ourselves with P&O. We have been on the bigger liners but I prefer smaller ones like the Aurora. Last year we went on a cruise which went through The Bay of Biscay in October and it was very turbulent so I would be very wary of going at that time of year again.

We have always been with Olsen who have smaller ships some leaving from Dover which suits us and which we were very happy with in all respects.
Our last one was with P and O on Britannia which was a much bigger ship, but apart from the queue in Barbados on arrival from airport there was never a delay either getting off or on.
Britannia had a very nice theatre for the evening entertainment but it was huge and we never saw anyone we chatted to again, so on balance probably prefer Olsen.
Think these apart from saga, are the only two ‘British ’ ships so there were few travelling from other countries which would have made it interesting perhaps but we liked paying in sterling rather than dollars.
Plan to look at saga next. They pick you up from home too. Saves all the getting to the airport stress.
As fir tours onboard they are expensive and we usually do our own thing at the ports, even taking local busses from the boat on the Caribbean islands we stopped at, which made things much cheaper, but also more interesting and memorable. Would recommend.

Our ship MSC Virtuosa was beautifully clean with so many helpful staff. The ship can hold around 5,000 passengers but on our cruise it was half full and that was enough people for me.

I’m curious to know how big a ship you’ve enjoyed the most folks…we chose Saga because it’s under 1000 passengers as I was scared of going astray on something the size of a town! I’ve only ever lived in villages of around 1400 pop so didn’t want to feel lost

One reason we love Viking River Cruises is the low number of passengers. It seems I remember as low as 110 and as high as 250 people.

One of my favourites was Portugal (river Douro) 100 people or so. We're introverts, 100 is a perfect cruise for us - we eat at a table for 2.

Well you’ve all surpassed yourselves in your helpfulness and capacity to excite an already enthusiastic cruising novice and I’ve still got 17 sleeps to go!😂

Those mentioning my early morning use of the chamberpot aren’t regulars on the GM thread as it’s my double entendre on the size of my wake up infusion of Yorkshire Gold tea ☕️- and yes all cabins on Saga (Spirit of Discovery) have balconies so looking forward to many sun ups and downs there with a drink in my hand!

Those descriptions of river cruising are intriguing as we did the Nile one three decades ago and we’ve talked about European inland ones before deciding on the Canaries with Saga as they do the included transfer to Portsmouth (we only just got in at 298 miles door to ship)

Mr PG has been persuaded to buy a MandS dress shirt to go with his first new suit in 35 years (how lucky is he to have kept his waistline although he swore the previous one shrunk due to lack of use…). Add some new shoes and a regimental tie and cufflinks, he'll pass muster!

We didn’t want to splash out on DJ 🤵🏼‍♂️until we see if we like this type of holiday! I’ve had fun choosing a couple of glittery tops and a posher dress for evenings (in the sales of course 😇) - my daughter will take them off my hands if it’s a case of first and last!

I’m curious to know how big a ship you’ve enjoyed the most folks…we chose Saga because it’s under 1000 passengers as I was scared of going astray on something the size of a town! I’ve only ever lived in villages of around 1400 pop so didn’t want to feel lost…. What a baby I sound ! Be kind 🙏

Love cruising, always since the first learning ones have chosen the ones with longest port visits to optimise our tour. Also more picky about who we go with, Celebrity are favourites of ours.
Highly recommend joining cruise critic and finding roll call for whichever cruise you choose. Join in with others and you can make great plans before you begin. Most of of shore excursions have been sorted this way.

We went on our first standard cruise 18 months ago. Cunard QMII to Norway for a week.

This is a high luxury cruiser and I have no complaints about anything. Everything was perfect and packaged and i felt like a widget on an assembly line with automatic arms reaching out and screwing bits on me. We had our allotted times for meals, which were all portion controlled. The crew were so well trained they were like robots.

As I said every thing was pitch perfect, but to be honest I was rather bored. The best bits were the places they took you where you could walk and explore.

There was plenty of entertainment on board but it was all too general and mid-market. It was the perfect holiday for those who just like lying back and relaxing on holiday - and i am just not that sort of person.

Love cruises - been on 4 - loved the Baltic Cruise and the HolyLand. Sadly, my cruising companions are not in the best of health - so our cruising days are over. The best thing is that you see so many places in one go. be it just for a day. And the 24 hour dining is a bonus, especially when you return from a day of sight seeing. Nice cakes and tea, before you go to your cabin. You can even take packed lunches for your day trips - what’s not to like ! The evening entertainments, some of which are West End standard, are not to be missed. Royal Caribbean is my choice. Enjoy your cruise ! Btw my son’s parents-in-law went on their first cruise last year and have already booked another for this June. They swear they will only be doing cruises in the future. They loved it so much .

Aveline

The food! People board as passengers and disembark as freight!

🤣🤣

The food! People board as passengers and disembark as freight!

I've been on several cruises. Mostly around the Med. What I like best is departing from Southampton so not having to fly. Going for about 10-14 days and visiting about 10 different ports. You sail away often between 6-8pm and wake up in a different country. You don't have to do the excursion on offer. You can just get off the ship and get a bus or taxi into the nearest town and potter about. On the formal excursions you can find out the level of fitness you need to manage it. You don't have to get off the ship at every port. The ship is quieter when at port as many have gone on excursions. Most cruise ships have swim pools, jacuzzi pools and well being spas. You can book for a relaxing shoulder and back massage or a facial. There are quizzes, sudoku, ballroom dancing lessons and other entertainment during the day. In the evenings there are multiple entertainment from ballroom dancing shows to full caberets or magic shoes. Book as soon as you board because as paces are limited. We saw some the Beatles (fake) but nonetheless very good. Lots of singers and piano and jazz bars. The food is good and very plentiful. Take a couple of outfits you can wear if you put on a pound or two. You often meet very nice friendly people we ho you can meet up with another day to go on an excursion with. We met lovely people from Ireland and had breakfast with them most days. They felt like friends by the end of the 12 days. There are gyms if you like exercise and a cinema and also blu rays you can view from your stateroom. I'd say if you can afford it go for a balcony. It's lovely to have a glass of wine sitting on the balcony as you sail away from port in the evening. There are lifts so no having to climb stairs.

You'd love Viking Ocean Norah- give it a try. We've done two and loved every minute of both. Currently just trying to work out which river cruise to do next.

We love love Viking River cruises, every aspect - boat size, food, day tours. I'm nervous to boats failing in an ocean - so we don't cruise oceans.

Aveline

I'm very worried about the early 'chamberpot' on you balcony Pantglas!!

As am I! A different kind of ‘ensuite’?

I'm another Viking fan. Both Viking Ocean and River cruises are excellent.