hello everyone my name is zach i am the travel man and if you've watched my videos here on the
channel you've probably already noticed that i most of the time i'm a solo traveler i've
gone on six cruises solo out of the 14 cruises almost half of my cruises have been solo cruises
i've flown across the world so low i've flown across country solo a lot of folks have reached
out to me on social media primarily on instagram and if you've not followed me yet on instagram i
invite you to it's exact the traveling man and you can send me messages on there you can get behind
the scenes looks at what i'm doing where i'm going uh weeks before it ever hits the channel so make
sure you give me a follow over there exactly travel men on instagram but folks have sent me
messages over there hey i noticed that you're a solo traveler i'm thinking about booking a solo
cruise what can you tell me and i'm always happy to share my experiences with those folks but
i thought why not make a video of some of this stuff to share with a much wider audience and let
folks know what it's like so in this video today i want to provide 10 tips for solo cruisers if
you're thinking about booking that next cruise by yourself maybe it's going to be your first cruise
by yourself maybe you have fears anxieties about it just not knowing what to expect maybe some of
these will help you i was in the same boat the first time i booked my first solo cruise not
knowing what to expect i've actually done this now six times and all my cruises that i currently have
scheduled into the future are all solo that's how much i've enjoyed it so let's jump right
into these 10 tips for solo cruisers my first tip i have for you tip number one is buy the internet
package most cruise lines do offer some sort of internet package you get a certain amount of data
per day maybe it's unlimited data all the way up to like streaming packages where you can literally
just sit in your cab and bring your ipad or laptop and just stream netflix all throughout the crew so
it's a wide range of internet options on the cruise but if you're traveling solo i highly
recommend that you purchase the internet whatever package might be best for you because there might
be times during your cruise that you have downtime not selling with someone so you don't have 24 7
conversation with someone you know you wake up and there's someone there there might be down times
when uh you might feel a little bit bored honestly and you know you just want to set out on your
balcony and scroll through social media or you want to message someone back home so it's good for
that purpose but it's also good to keep in touch with someone especially if you're traveling solo
you want to have contact with folks back home and buying the internet is a great way to do
that of course if you're on a cruise and way out on the ocean you're not going to have cellular
data anyway so you're going to have to depend on that internet package to have communication and
anytime you're traveling solo i highly recommend you to have a source of communication so of course
if you buy the internet package you'll be able to text someone uh you'll be able to you know
go on social media and send messages to folks you can even post your pictures and make folks
back home jealous that you're traveling all by yourself on a cruise somewhere and they're not
so a lot of pluses to that but one thing i found and one of the big benefits i think to buying
internet is that you can make wi-fi calling if you enable wi-fi calling on your phone
most of the time you can make phone calls i have you know talked for hours to folks you know back
on land from a cruise ship using wi-fi calling so it's a great way to keep connected to folks
so i highly recommend that you buy the internet package tip number two is dying without hesitation
and what do i mean by that well a little bit of a backstory that first solo cruise i took by myself
uh probably the biggest concern i had the biggest worry and the biggest like embarrassing moment
like no one looked at me you know because i'm selling by myself came in the main dining room
and i was at dinner and i thought everyone in this dining room must be looking at me i'm sitting
at this table by myself i remember being sort of uh embarrassed the first few nights in the
main dining room they'd set me at a table and i just felt like everyone was looking at you but i
quickly learned that folks don't care that you're by yourself they're at their own tables they're
doing their own thing you know so down without hesitation go to the main dining room go to the
specialty restaurants if you feel uh that it's too much for you maybe uh you know you don't want
to eat by yourself or you feel weird about it then maybe try going to the lido or something like that
because there's so many people in there no one even notices if you sit at a table by yourself
in the lido or you know like if you're on carnival and you go to a guy's burger somewhere like that
no one cares but down without hesitation because believe me no one else is looking at you and i
don't even think about it now when i'm on a dinner by myself now i love going to the main dining room
i love you know putting on nice clothes at the end of the day going to the main dining room and
being waited on i love it i use that time to you know look at pictures i've taken on my phone maybe
i'm going to post to my social media and catch up on social media a little bit answer some messages
that some of you have sent to zach the traveling man on social media platforms i just use that
as time to sort of you know me time you know i'm going to eat a nice dinner i'm going to be waited
on my great staff but feel free to take your phone like i said it goes in with tip number one buy
that internet package take your phone to dinner you can scroll you know social media the news
just take time for you and and you'll figure out you know what you enjoy doing uh to make up some
of that time where you normally would be speaking to someone else across the table at dinner
but you're just there by yourself but down without hesitation enjoy all that your cruise has to offer
and don't let the fact that you're selling solo hold you up or cause you not to do something you
know don't let it hold you back from going to the dining room if you enjoy going to the dining room
my third tip for solo travelers is to look for solo supplements and if you're new to
solo cruising you might be like what does solo supplement mean i'll tell you this so when you're
gonna sell solo on a cruise ship most of the time you're going to be charged double because they
charge and book the rooms based upon double occupancy so based upon two people in the room
so the solo supplement is sort of a reduction in that double rate so instead of them charging you
100 extra uh maybe it's only 75 percent or only 50 and here uh during the pandemic you
know these cruise lines have really been trying to fill these cruise ships with as many people
as they can they've completely well some of them have completely cut them on certain dates
just depending on how many people are booked on that cruise but you can find really good deals
sometimes i know i booked a cruise on celebrity coming up the celebrity edge that should cost me
over two thousand dollars easy as a solar traveler and i'm barely paying a thousand dollars for it
because they slash the solo supplement so much because they're trying to fill the ship one
easy way to look for these solo supplements is a website i'm not sponsored by this website but it
is one that i use and i want to share with you as a tip it's cruiseplumb.com and i'll put the
link right here on the screen at the very top of their website they have a little tab in the
menu that says solo just click on that and it'll show you all the cruises from here to
however far out schedules are made they currently have some sort of a deal or some sort of reduction
in the solo supplement and typically once i find a cruise that i want to go on on cruise plum
i'll just go to the cruise lines website itself and book directly from there my fourth tip for
you is to go at your own pace and this is sort of just highlighting one of the benefits of going on
a cruise solo what i mean it go at your own pace well i mean dime when you want to don where you
want to you are the only one in your travel party making these decisions so if you wanted to go to
the same specialty restaurant four nights in a row on your cruise you know what as long as
there's reservations available you absolutely can you can go uh to dinner whenever you want
you can go to shows when you want you can go to comedy whenever you want you can go on whatever
excursions you want to go to you know you're like hey i just want to stay on the ship and hang out
you can do that you don't have to feel like you have to go on an excursion just because someone
else in your travel party is you can do absolutely whatever you want to do so take advantage of that
another benefit in this and going solo is that you typically can always find seating
in shows or comedy i've been on uh carnival cruise ships plenty of time solo including most recently
on the carnival mardi gras or mega ship and going to comedy most nights when you first walk in you
know there are no seats available but i guarantee you 99 of the time there's going to be one seat
somewhere in the audience like someone has kept a seat clear between them and the party next to them
you can slide right in being that solo cruiser my fifth tip for you is to inform others about
your travel plans and this is sort of a little bit broader than just cruises anytime you're
going to be traveling by yourself whether that's a cruise whether you're on a flight uh you know
especially if you're traveling international make sure that someone knows of your itinerary you know
give someone a listing of like each day i'm going to be here i'm going to be staying here here's
contact information for my hotel here's contact information for this ship i'm going to be on most
of the time you can go on the cruise lines website just do a google search is what i typically do
and you can find out the ship's phone number that way if something happens there's an emergency back
home or something and a family member's trying to get a hold of you they can simply call that number
and tell someone hey i'm looking for my relative who is on this cruise ship maybe even give them
your room number and they can then call the ship and locate you and get a hold of you so make sure
that you give any type of travel information to a trusted contact that is staying at home this also
applies to any air travel there are great websites one i use very frequently again not sponsored
is flightaware flightaware you can go on and find your flight information it'll show your
like live location as you fly like if you're flying safe from new york to l.a there'll be
a map there showing the entire time exactly where you are it's a good way for folks to see you know
that your flight's arrived and that you've safely landed in whatever city you're going to so make
sure that you hit up flightaware next time that you're going on a flight solo and they actually
have easy sharing options available inside their app and i think they even have a website version
of that you can easily email or text your flight information it's also important to maybe remember
uh some of the travel documents that you're taking with you your passport birth certificate any visas
or anything like that maybe make a photo copy of those and leave those with that same trusted
contact back home now this might be important and helpful if somewhere along your trip perhaps
you lose your travel documents say you lose your passport somewhere it falls out of your bag and
you don't have it well now you have someone who actually has a copy of it who can then send you an
email or pdf or something of that travel document that you now need so it's always important to
let a trusted contact know where you're going when you're going to be at certain places how to get a
hold of you in each of those places leave copies of your travel documents just so there's always
someone who can you know sort of be your advocate if something bad were to happen or someone didn't
hear from you in days and i know that sounds kind of morbid and dire but it's very important when
you travel alone that you have contact with a trusted someone back at home my sixth tip
for solo cruisers is say hello to new folks make new friends there's many ways to do this of course
once you're on board there are plenty of ways to meet new people but i'm even talking about
before the crews there's a lot of facebook groups in fact i think there's probably a facebook group
for every cruise that you could possibly take and that's one of the first things i do when i book a
new cruise i go on facebook to see if there's been a group made for it i don't interact a lot but
it's just cool to see like what other people post a lot of times they'll post helpful information
things that they've heard through their travel advisors and they share it with the group but
i also see a lot of folks that go into those groups and they say hey i'm a solo traveler on
this cruise does anyone want to meet up you know when they make friends and establish relationships
with folks before they ever even go on the cruise of course a lot of folks know about cruise critic
and the message boards they have over there and their cruise critic forums i visit that a lot and
i've met a lot of folks through that so there's a lot of methods out there for you to meet other
people who are going to be on your same cruise you can chat with them and sort of get to know
them before the cruise but if you're on the cruise itself also a lot of ways for uh to meet folks you
know i've met folks all over the world every time i travel you know just say hello to folks
when you're traveling that's one of my favorite parts of traveling is just meeting new people
maybe that are on my cruise or just other people that i meet on a beach somewhere that are maybe
staying at a local resort just say hi to people number seven explore ports freely but be aware
now there are so many options especially if you're selling in the caribbean for excursions for your
cruise vacation the most popular uh and easiest being to book excursions directly through their
cruise line now these are typically going to be more expensive you're going to pay more for these
but it's going to ensure you that you're sticking to the cruise ship time because if you are on a
cruise ship sponsored excursion when you purchase through the cruise line and say at the end of the
day the excursion is running late getting you back to the ship the ship's gonna wait on you
they're gonna make sure that you are on board the ship before they leave that port so that's one way
to sort of ensure that you know hey i'm going on a cruise ship sponsored excursion i know that i'm
going to get back to the ship on time but you also are going to be on that excursion with people from
the ship so that's another layer of safety that might make you feel better about
cruising solo and being solo on an excursion is that you're surrounded on this excursion by people
from your actual crew so i highly recommend at least the first time you go on a cruise by
yourself that you book an excursion through the cruise line for all your ports of call that way
you don't have to worry about or feel weird about being out you know on this island or this port of
call or out in this new country to you totally alone you technically are alone because you're
selling solo but you're with people from your actual cruise from your same ship and
i'll say this i because i have gone solo so many times now i don't always book through the cruise
line i actually just book whatever's cheapest or whatever i want to do you know i'll usually just
do it and go off on myself and do it but i feel very very comfortable in that if i go to europe
most of the time or somewhere i've not been before a country i've not been before and there's going
to be a lot of that coming up i'm going to be going to japan i'm going to be going to australia
if it's somewhere new like that that i don't know where in the world i'm at i mean you know once i
get in the port and i can't i don't feel like i do a good job of navigating myself around i will look
through the cruise line even me considering myself pretty experienced at selling and traveling solo
i still want to be with the cruise ship excursion because there's just so many things that could
happen and i just like that safety of knowing that there is a tour guide out there who has my
number literally like they've got they know they got 30 people on this excursion if one of them
wanders off they got to go find them or figure out where they're at so it's a good safety layer that
someone always knows where you're at and they'll get you back to the ship my number eight tip and
this is sort of a benefit of booking and selling solo is enjoy the schedule flexibility you have a
lot more schedule flexibility when you sell solo because you don't have to wait on anyone else you
don't have to figure out if your vacation lines up with their vacation if they can get off when you
can get off so just enjoy that and take advantage of that there are times the year seems to be in
february but definitely in september and october when you can book cruises cheaper than you can any
other time of the year so you can save yourself quite a bit of money you can get those good solo
supplements when you sell at a certain time of the year and when you're not beholden to someone
else's schedule only your own you get to go whenever and as often even you don't have to wait
to collect people either or wait and ask around hey do you want to go on a cruise hey you want to
go on a cruise just book it and go if you want to go on one and i think that's why we've seen
a lot more people selling solo in the past couple of years as folks just want to travel
they want to get out there and they don't want to wait on anyone else so that's a big perk of
selling and traveling by yourself tip number nine i have for you if you're thinking about if you're
considering sailing by yourself just do it just go for it just get out there and try it perhaps
try a three or four day cruise first just to see if it's right for you to see if you're going to be
totally comfortable but just do it there are a lot of things in your mind there's a lot of probably
questions and doubts you have but the only way you're going to overcome those is to just get
out there to book that cruise start planning that cruise to start going on social media
uh if you want and making friends before the cruise just just get out there and start planning
your next cruise vacation solo and finally my last tip tip number 10 for you is have fun again it can
be very intimidating to sell solo especially the first cruise you go on you can have so much fun
sailing by yourself traveling by yourself just go out and explore the world there's so much to
see out there and i've had so much fun traveling by myself six cruises out of 14 so almost half
have been solo and i have had probably the most fun on those trips i've gone on by myself it's
just amazing the people that you meet the places that you'll see all the flexibilities
that you have in your schedule to me it's my preferred way of traveling i enjoy going on trips
with people but i have really come to prefer sailing and traveling by myself i don't feel
off-put by it i don't feel awkward about it or weird about it i just enjoy all the flexibility
that it gives me and it allows me to have a great time no matter what the vacation is so have fun
go out there book that trip and if you have any questions let me know down in the comments below
or send me a message on instagram or social media thank you so much for watching this video i hope
you have found it useful in booking your next trip or your next cruise vacation make sure you go down
below and subscribe to the channel and until next time i'll see you on the next adventure
one way you can allow others to know where you are is using a tracking device sort of like a
tile or even an air tag put it in your luggage or put it in your clothing put in your pocket
when you go out for the day and let someone else back home share that location with them
so they can see where you are that way if you go off the grid um again not trying to be
morbid or anything they're going to be able to see hopefully where you're at and and find you