How can you travel as a solo traveller
cheaper, better and on the best cruise lines?
Hi, I'm Gary Bembridge,
this is another of my Tips For Travellers.
I often cruise solo, and I have learned a whole lot
of tips and tricks about how to cruise solo
that I want to share with you right now,
starting with this one.
I often get asked, what are the best cruise lines
to go on as a solo traveller?
Well, there's a couple of buckets
that I think you should look at.
First of all, what I think are the absolute best
cruise lines for solo travellers.
Well, the absolute best are probably two cruise lines,
one of which is the Norwegian Cruise Line.
Norwegian Cruise Line on their bigger ships
and their newer ships,
have created a whole solo traveller area.
Now, these are all inside cabins,
so if you're not keen on inside cabins
this may not be for you.
But they have a whole area, it's card protected
so only solo travellers with a card can get into the area.
You have all these individual studio cabins,
and then they have a lounge, where you have a seating area,
You have tea, coffee, snacks, they often have whiteboards
and boards where you can start to post things
to find people to go on excursions.
So Norwegian are really focusing
on the solo traveller, big time.
The other cruise line that looks after
solo travellers phenomenally well,
is really catering for the 50 plus travellers.
So Saga Cruises, their new ships Saga Spirit of Adventure,
Saga Spirit of Discovery, they have 20%,
109 cabins on-board are solo cabins.
All of the cabins have a balcony,
and you can get various grades.
You can even get up to a suite as a solo cruiser.
Also on board, they have specific events for solo travellers.
So for example, they have cocktail parties
for solo travellers, and they have a meetup everyday,
normally in the morning or afternoon
when the ship is in port.
So solo travellers can get together and decide to go off
and do excursions together or explore together.
So those are probably the two absolute best
cruise lines for solo travellers,
because they really focus on it.
Then there's a second bucket which are cruise lines
which are catering for solo travellers
by having solo traveller cabins.
Most of the major cruise lines now have solo cabins
on their newer ships.
One big exception certainly at the time of recording
is the biggest cruise line in the world
which is Carnival Cruises,
currently don't have solo cabins on their ships.
And they have about 40 to 50% of all cruise passengers
go on a Carnival ship during the year,
so they're a really big one not to have it.
But all the other lines do, so even Cunard,
on their entire fleet have introduced solo cabins.
Royal Caribbean have it, Holland America on their new ships
have solo cabins.
You'll find many of the big cruise lines have solo cabins.
The other big exception alongside Carnival
is Princess Cruises, they are the fourth biggest
cruise line in the world based on passengers.
And they don't have solo cabins either.
MSC Cruises which is the fifth biggest cruise line
in the world, on their big new ships
they also have solo cabins.
So you'll find that a lot of the big cruise lines
do have solo cabins, although as you've seen,
not all of them.
The third bucket of those, are cruise lines
that don't have solo cabins
but do welcome solo travellers on board.
So for example, I've been a couple of the ultra-luxury lines
on different cruises, where they haven't had solo cabins,
but what they have done on certain cruises during the year,
is they've offered dramatic discounts
where you only pay perhaps 10% or up to 25% surcharge.
So I've been on Silversea, I have been on Seabourn.
And I've been on Ponant, where they do offer
those really small premium discounts.
So that's the third bucket,
is cruise lines that don't have specific cabins
catering for you, but they do have big discounts.
So those are the best cruise lines as a solo traveller
if you want to go cruising.
My second tip around how solo travellers can travel cheaper
and better and on the best cruise lines,
is to work with a travel company that really focuses
on the solo traveller.
And in the cruise area there are two
that I always take a look at.
One of which is more catering probably to the U.S. market,
and that's Vacations To Go.
They have a whole section focusing on solo travellers.
What they do is they run a whole series of cruises
both on existing cruises or very specific cruises.
But what they do is they guarantee
that you will pay the lowest price.
And they will try and match you with other solo travellers,
often to share a cabin if possible.
But they are a great place to look at
if you're looking for solo cruises,
because they know all the best deals at any particular time.
In the UK, there's a company called ROL Cruises,
and they also have a real big focus on solo travellers.
Of course, many other travel companies
do have a focus on the solo traveller,
because they are growing, and cruising's growing,
but that's the second big tip
is work with a travel company that focuses on cruising
for the solo traveller.
My third tip of course, is to then signup for newsletters
for different blogs and sites
that look at solo travelling more generally.
There's a couple of really good blogs for example.
Solotravelerblog.com, singlestravelintl.com.
Solosholidays.co.uk.
My fourth tip as a solo traveller and this is one
that I really like to focus on if I am travelling by myself,
and that's to go on smaller ships not bigger ships.
The reason for that is,
smaller ships you have greater chance to meet people,
get to know people, people are more likely to talk to you.
So it's a bit like being in a small town versus a big city.
It's much easier to be integrated.
So I always found on smaller ships
you don't get lost in the crowd.
And also it's really important
because the excursion's a little bit smaller.
The events are a little bit smaller,
and people just notice you more.
They notice you travelling by yourself,
and they will start to engage with you much more.
So that's a big big tip for me is, look at smaller ships,
I think you'll find it a massive big difference
as a solo traveller.
I certainly much prefer solo travelling on smaller ships.
Another really important tip
is choose the time of year you cruise.
As a solo traveller, I recommend you look at slightly
out of season so just the beginning of the season,
the end of the season.
So you'll find, for example, sort of March, April time,
maybe heading into June a little bit,
if you're looking at the Mediterranean.
Or you look at September, October time
again in the Mediterranean,
and the kind of the equivalent for the Caribbean.
The reason for that,
is you'll find that's when the best deals are.
So even if you're going on a cruise line
that has a larger surcharge,
the prices overall are not gonna be as great.
Also you're more likely to find
that's when you have deals taking place,
because the cruise lines find it harder to fill the ship.
Also you're probably gonna find there's more solo travellers
on-board as well for that reason.
So looking at the sort of shoulder seasons
almost slightly out of season,
is really important as a solo traveller
for finding the right cruises, finding the right deals.
So for example, I was talking about earlier
on the big ultra-luxury lines I've been on,
I've always done those slightly out of season,
the beginning or end of the season,
because that's when they do those big promotions.
If you are a solo traveller and you are looking for company,
you like to travel with someone,
another thing you could do is travel partnering.
That's something that doesn't appeal to me
to share a cabin with someone that I don't really know.
In fact, I don't even like sharing cabins
with people I do know half the time.
But there are a whole ways
that you can meet travel partners.
One of the ways to do that is take a look
at some of the cruise sites,
because they do have either forums or areas,
where you can actually meet people
to go on similar cruises with and share a cabin.
Some of the ones to look at are like cruisemates.com,
cruisetrend.com, silversurfers.com.
Cruise mate finder, and meetup.com,
which is more relate to the area you're living in.
They'll often have a specific group around solo travellers.
So there are ways that you can find people
to share a cabin with.
I have a whole bunch of tips around things to do
once you're on-board as a solo traveller.
First of those, really really important,
is use CruiseCritic, so go onto CruiseCritic,
signup for the roll call you'll find there.
Also find out if they're going to have a meet and greet
and mingle session, those are really great,
because you can be talking to people on your cruise,
they will know that you're travelling solo.
So you can also connect with them if there's not a meetup.
But a lot of the cruise lines
there's a Cruise Critic meetup,
where you can go to that event,
you'll see there's other solo travellers,
you'll get to know people and can integrate with them.
So that's a really big big important plus.
The second thing is most cruise lines with solo travellers
have meetups, so they'll have a meetup at the beginning,
often hosted by the cruise director, not always.
And that's a great chance for you to understand
who else are solo travellers and then you can then,
if you click with them you can then arrange
to do things with them whether it's excursions,
go to events, go to the theatre, whatever it is.
Thirdly, get involved, go to the various activities,
the events, the quizzes,
because that's a great way of meeting people.
So if there is a little deck games or quizzes,
or anything that's going on, go along there,
you'll start talking to people,
because people on cruises like to talk.
And it's a great way of connecting, meeting people
and hopefully clicking with people
that you're going to get on with.
Another really good thing to do once you get on-board,
is make friends with the cruise director
or people in the entertainment team.
Now, they will often host the solo get togethers,
but even if they don't, if you get to know them,
they will also help connect you with other solo travellers.
But also they will keep an eye out for you,
so if you're coming to an event,
they'll always make sure
you can get partnered up or whatever.
They are a solo traveller's best friend.
Cruise director and entertainment team.
Go on excursions as well, because that's a great way
of starting to talk to people
particularly if they've got the same interests.
And I've found often I've been on excursions,
people just start talking to you as you're going around,
and I've made some really good friends on-board
through going on excursions.
Also importantly, is about eating.
The hardest thing about a solo traveller
is actually the evening meal, because it's such a big deal.
Couple of things I would recommend,
is actually go for anytime dining
as opposed to the fixed time dining.
The reason for that is when you go on anytime dining,
you'll arrive there and say, you want to be seated
at a table with other people,
that way you get to meet loads of different people.
And again, you might connect with them.
If you're on a fixed dining table,
you're always going to be with the same people,
and so you're not gonna get to meet as many people.
So anytime dining, ask to sit with other people
is a really big plus, I've done that a lot on solo cruising,
I'm not the most sociable person,
and I find that a good way
of actually getting to meet people and talking to them.
Solo travelling is becoming a huge huge trend.
And hopefully these tips
and things I've learned have helped you.
I've loads more advice and tips about cruising in my videos.
So why don't you watch another one of my videos right now.