Revenge Posted December 13, 2020 Report Share Posted December 13, 2020 I've never been on RC and typically travel solo. I've gone on 1 NCL cruise to Alaska where there were hosted get togethers that were actually a lot of fun. I thought it would skew older especially since it was an Alaskan cruise, but found that the range of ages of people I met were from late 20s to retirement age. It was just nice having people to eat dinner with every now and then (I don't like set dining due to wanting to see shows), see shows with, and go on excursions with. I know RC just will list in the compass something like "solo cruisers unhosted meet at Vintages at 5" and that it really isn't structured. How well attended are these gatherings, and what is a typical age range to expect? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MuttMutt Posted December 13, 2020 Report Share Posted December 13, 2020 I didn't actually go to any of the events but walked through one. Anyway I would say there was about 30 people and a good chunk were in the 30s or so. My wife had passed away 6 months before so was not really something I paid much attention to. Revenge 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted December 14, 2020 Report Share Posted December 14, 2020 16 hours ago, Revenge said: How well attended are these gatherings, and what is a typical age range to expect? Not very well attended. Revenge and ellcee 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monctonguy Posted December 14, 2020 Report Share Posted December 14, 2020 Have traveled a few times solo in the past and I would say that its rare to even find or notice them. Would be hard to say who is at the bar or meeting place that is there for the solo meets ups or just hanging out and has no idea others are there to meet up with other solo cruisers..lol. Revenge 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharla Posted December 14, 2020 Report Share Posted December 14, 2020 I've seen signs posted outside Guest Services for meets. Revenge 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fairlynew Posted December 14, 2020 Report Share Posted December 14, 2020 My husband and I were in Vintages one evening for a pre-dinner drink-around 5 or 5:30 to the best of my recollection-on Oasis. We were the only people there. After we'd been there for a while, a woman walked in and asked if we were there for the singles get together. Obviously, that one was not well attended at all. Revenge 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Revenge Posted December 14, 2020 Author Report Share Posted December 14, 2020 6 hours ago, monctonguy said: Have traveled a few times solo in the past and I would say that its rare to even find or notice them. Would be hard to say who is at the bar or meeting place that is there for the solo meets ups or just hanging out and has no idea others are there to meet up with other solo cruisers..lol. Yeah that's what I figured. Wish RC made more of an effort. I don't want to go to a bar and announce "Where are the other parties of 1??" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted December 15, 2020 Report Share Posted December 15, 2020 Royal takes a hands off approach. There are numerous groups that desire to have meetings for their unique interest. Once they do something for one group, they face backlash if they don't do something similar for all groups. The approach appears to be posting a meeting time and place and letting each group determine how or if to organize on their own. In this day of social media, political correctness, shaming and social justice warriors I can understand why a business wants to be careful. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Revenge Posted December 15, 2020 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2020 16 hours ago, twangster said: Royal takes a hands off approach. There are numerous groups that desire to have meetings for their unique interest. Once they do something for one group, they face backlash if they don't do something similar for all groups. The approach appears to be posting a meeting time and place and letting each group determine how or if to organize on their own. In this day of social media, political correctness, shaming and social justice warriors I can understand why a business wants to be careful. People are offended at meet ups for people traveling alone? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted December 15, 2020 Report Share Posted December 15, 2020 6 minutes ago, Revenge said: People are offended at meet ups for people traveling alone? If one special interest group received a dedicated crew member to entertain them then every special interest group under the sun would want the same. The "People whose name start with S" group would be offended if the "People whose name starts with W" group received a better experience. There are a number of routine special interest groups that have meetups like the solo cruiser meetup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Revenge Posted December 15, 2020 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2020 18 minutes ago, twangster said: If one special interest group received a dedicated crew member to entertain them then every special interest group under the sun would want the same. The "People whose name start with S" group would be offended if the "People whose name starts with W" group received a better experience. There are a number of routine special interest groups that have meetups like the solo cruiser meetup. Don't they host LGTPQ and AA onboard? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted December 15, 2020 Report Share Posted December 15, 2020 4 minutes ago, Revenge said: Don't they host LGTPQ and AA onboard? Same as the solo cruiser events. Royal posts a place and time but doesn't host or lead the group. That's up to the participants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MuttMutt Posted December 15, 2020 Report Share Posted December 15, 2020 4 minutes ago, Revenge said: People are offended at meet ups for people traveling alone? I think it's more of a if they do something for one group and not another then someone ends up offended. I know they listed some meetups for singles and a LGTBQ etc etc group but where do they end it? I also highly doubt many singles go on to ships searching for a relationship especially with cabins sold with dual occupancy in mind. If I was going to do a relationship search on a cruise I would probably find something that is hosted. I know a couple travel agencies offer them on dient lines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Revenge Posted December 15, 2020 Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2020 29 minutes ago, MuttMutt said: I also highly doubt many singles go on to ships searching for a relationship especially with cabins sold with dual occupancy in mind. If I was going to do a relationship search on a cruise I would probably find something that is hosted. I know a couple travel agencies offer them on dient lines. I'm not trying to be rude, but many people go on cruises alone. This is why cruise lines have started adding studio cabins when they didn't previously. In any case, I'm not trying to find a relationship. It was just nice to hang out with people who were also alone after finding them in a group knowing they were alone. Traveler, Tira04, ellcee and 2 others 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellcee Posted December 15, 2020 Report Share Posted December 15, 2020 I've cruised solo a few times and any event I tried to go to was poorly attended. The last one was a trivia where there were a bunch of couples which in my opinion is the exact opposite of what was expected. Most definitely not looking for a relationship while cruising but I do love meeting people. Revenge, monctonguy and Traveler 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpeedNoodles Posted December 15, 2020 Report Share Posted December 15, 2020 1 hour ago, ellcee said: I've cruised solo a few times and any event I tried to go to was poorly attended. The last one was a trivia where there were a bunch of couples which in my opinion is the exact opposite of what was expected. Most definitely not looking for a relationship while cruising but I do love meeting people. That was my experience as well, in that I stopped at a few and found that I was the only one there. ellcee 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MuttMutt Posted December 16, 2020 Report Share Posted December 16, 2020 7 hours ago, Revenge said: I'm not trying to be rude, but many people go on cruises alone. This is why cruise lines have started adding studio cabins when they didn't previously. In any case, I'm not trying to find a relationship. It was just nice to hang out with people who were also alone after finding them in a group knowing they were alone. There are a few who will go 100% solo but I would imagine a larger majority will take a friend since the fees for solo crusting are about the same as taking another person. If you have a friend along then you probably won't be too interested in a singles event either. As far as the studio cabins that all sounds great but starting to add them doesn't yet make them readily available and until they are the singles events will probably not be well attended outside of the ones arranged by a travel agency. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twangster Posted December 16, 2020 Report Share Posted December 16, 2020 Several cruise lines offer solo cabins or reduced solo supplements. Infrequently Royal does as well such as when Empress and Majesty lost Cuba on zero notice. Royal has built their business model around family cruising. That is the target audience. The fleet space allocated to solo cruisers is minor and probably won't grow significantly. Within the mass market space NCL seems to put the biggest emphasis on solo guests. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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