A TALE OF FOUR CRUISES
A CRUISE FOR EVERYONE
IONA’S ATRIUM
It was a grey and showery sea day, heading down the North Atlantic from Southampton to the Canary Islands aboard the P&O Cruises cruise ship Iona.
The beds might have been neatly aligned out on the sun terrace, but the sun was lacking and the deck was sparkling with a sheen of newly fallen rain.
But it was only day two of the cruise, so of course the task of exploring the ship was still underway.
Every time you set foot outside your cabin its an adventure on a new ship for the first couple of days. You always see something new. Or make discoveries. “That’s where that bar is!”. “Oh, they have a gym!”
On day two aboard Iona I wandered into the three storey atrium. The silver spiral of the central staircase rose three floors high, naturally lit by walls of glass on either side of the ship.
There was something odd though. It took me a while to work out what I thought was wrong.
Every seat seemed to be full. There were couples sitting amiably. There were groups sitting together. I couldn’t put my finger on it. Were they waiting for something, there wasn’t any entertainment listed in the daily Horizon cruise news.
And then I realised it was quiet. The place was full of people just sitting, quietly.
I was a bit confused because this was only my second P&O cruise. I’m used to finding activities. People trying to cajole you to join in. Music. Noise.
Here people were content to just sit. I wasn’t sure that was what I wanted from my day, but I was hit with a realisation that it takes all sorts. There is a cruise for everyone.
On this day, on the ocean, aboard Iona, if you wanted to sit for a while in companionable silence with your other half, this was the ship for you.
CRUISE SHIPS
The brilliant thing about a midlife career break is that you have the time and flexibility to travel. I can write “A tale of four cruises” because in 2022 I made it onto four of them.
Of course when you choose not to work you need to have a pot of savings to provide your income, and that is a finite resource, so you have to look out for deals. “Budget cruising” is difficult, but cruising on a budget is definitely possible.
There’s a cruise for everyone’s budget too.
CABIN CHOICES
Royal Up
When I booked an adventure cruising around Denmark and Norway aboard Royal Caribbean’s cruise ship Voyager of the Seas the sensible accountant in me kicked in.
Yes, a balcony was only a couple of hundred pounds more than an ocean view. But an inside cabin was even cheaper than that, much as I like a window.
I decided that I would save the money on the cabin upgrade and that would pay for an extra night in a hotel in Copenhagen before the cruise began. It was the right decision.
Royal Caribbean do a thing called “Royal Up” though. Its a bit like an auction, and seems to be random whether or not you get an invite.
Maybe my loyalty status kicked in, I was newly promoted to their Platinum tier. Maybe there were lots of better cabins available. A short while after booking I was invited to bid how much I would pay to upgrade my cabin, if I wanted to. There was a minimum bid, but for every cabin type it was still cheaper than if I had paid for that grade in the first place.
No guarantee you will be lucky though. I’ve read lots of stories of people who have never been offered a “Royal Up”, and even more whose bids were not accepted.
My extra night in Copenhagen was already booked, so my “saving” had been spent. But I really do like a window cabin. I ummed and ahhhed about it. Well you only live once.
I went for it and won my bid. I would sail with an Ocean view.
A type of cabin for everyone
Once again whatever you want there is a cabin for you if you are willing to pay for it.
I have friends who always book an aft (back of the ship in cruise lingo) balcony cabin because they love the wake view as they sail.
Other friends have to consider the kids and go for as much space as possible.
Someone I know booked a junior suite once and can’t go back to a lesser grade now.
For me I had a late booking on Iona, so an inside cabin for solo use was my only option. But you sleep and change there. As a solo traveller the last thing you want to do is spend all day in your cabin anyway. Perfectly fine and ideal on a budget.
Marella Cruises have a limited number of cabins available for solos, but I was in time to book an ocean view, so got a window on Marella Explorer.
But sometimes you just get lucky. On Celebrity Beyond an infinite veranda cabin, with floor to ceiling windows that dropped to give a virtual balcony wall, was amazing. Actually one of my favourite cabins that I have sailed in.
The best bit was it had no single supplement, so was actually affordable on my budget. Once again its a case of hunting the deals.
How do I find them? Well I just keep an eye on the websites when I know where I want to go, and see what offers pop up.
I’m throwing in a fifth cruise here, but in 2021 I even had a balcony to myself aboard Princess Cruises’ Sky Princess, though I might have covid restrictions to thank for that deal.
Solos Tip: Keep an eye out for deals with no single supplements, especially if you can travel outside school holidays. Some travel agents specialise in solo deals too.
SOLO TRAVELLER MEETS
In February I was sailing on my birthday for the first time ever, aboard Marella Explorer.
Having sailed with Marella Cruises a few times I knew to expect a solo traveller’s meeting. For this cruise you signed up at reception, but it was hosted by two “social hosts” (the job titles change from ship to ship).
Hosted meetings
The best thing about a hosted solo meeting is that you are guaranteed to have someone to talk to. The crew members hosting will at least make sure the conversation starts before leaving the group to it.
I arrived at the Coffee Port on the morning of our first sea day and joined four other solos. It was a mixed group. I had met Sheila briefly on another cruise. A repeat cruise buddy was a new thing for me. Then I already knew Paul and I shared a birthday from chatting on the pre cruise Facebook group.
Do not underestimate the power of social media, especially as a solo, for making friends. On my Voyager of the Seas cruise I met new friends in a Copenhagen pub before I even saw the ship, whilst someone came up to me in Oslo and said hello because they had recognised me from my posts on that cruise’s Facebook page.
Back on Marella Explorer our group decided to meet for dinner, so we weren’t eating alone. We obviously clicked as we stayed together for the theatre show, and then ended up in the disco, where we saw in the two birthdays as midnight came and went. It was a late night, or should that be early morning!
I had no expectations from this random group of people I met at a coffee morning, and yet we met every evening, even if we did our own things during the day.
And our social hosts got together with us for drinks later in the week too. Marella really did a good job of looking out for their solo travellers on board.
Solos Tip: Look out for the solos meeting in the cruise newspaper, or ask at reception. There’s usually something on the first full day of a cruise.
Unhosted meetings
When I set off to the Crow’s Nest bar on board Iona for their solo’s meeting I knew it was a case of do it yourself.
No cruise staff to host the event, but the meeting in the bar was advertised in the Horizon and so I set off not knowing what to expect, assuming there would be a handful of people.
The unhosted event on Voyager of the Seas had been a non event. I sat at the bar for a drink. I think there were two elderly people sitting on their own in other parts of the venue, but they might have been there “just sitting”. No one came to say hello. I didn’t make an effort either. It was fine, plus I had my friends from the pub and I gathered acquaintances everywhere I went on that ship.
When I entered the Crow’s Nest there was a buzz of noise, despite the bar being closed. This bar wraps around the front of the ship. The place to sit with a beer and watch where you are going as you cruise along.
Except in one corner there must have been at least fifty people gathered for the solo meeting.
Weirdly this was too many solos. I was a bit later arriving so sat on the edge of a group and chatted to some people, who had their own social media contacts to catch up with. We had the usual introductory conversations. “Have you cruised before?”, “Have you been on this ship?”, “Where are you from?”. But there was no chance of getting to know everyone.
I didn’t make any meaningful friendships there and then, but I did realise I was on a ship full of solos. Actually as the fortnight progressed I met more and more of them. I met a lot who hadn’t been to the solo travellers meeting too, so who knows how many solos were on that ship.
Iona was another ship where I was never short of friends when I needed them, but actually I was quite content with my own company too. That calm, quiet atmosphere was working on me!
Then again on Celebrity Beyond I was so busy being wowed by the ship I never even noticed if there was a meeting for solo travellers. If there was I didn’t miss it.
So even when dealing with the quandary to meet other solos, or not, there’s an option for everyone on a cruise.
A TABLE FOR ONE
The dining room on Voyager of the Seas reminded me of a West End theatre, with a central area and columns supporting ornate balcony levels. Each level was filled with more tables looking down, along with a beautiful crystal chandelier. A pianist was occasionally playing a grand piano at the foot of the swirling staircases.
I asked for a table for one and followed the waiter to where there were maybe twelve tables, formed in rows of four, to fill one corner of the restaurant.
A solo American lady sat to my right by the window at her own table. I was facing her, but on the next table along, while a Canadian couple were to my left on their own table. The gaps between us were wide enough for the waiters to pass by, but not so wide that we couldn’t chat amongst ourselves. So we did.
In fact those became our tables for the cruise. Without formally agreeing we generally turned up around the same time each night. Some a bit sooner, some a bit later. We caught up.
We compared notes on our day’s activities. Our three different countries, sharing a common language and similar cultures prompted conversations on politics and our local histories and where else in the World we had travelled.
And I discovered there are other ways to enjoy a cruise.
Sandy, the American lady, loved the casino. I will dabble with twenty quid on the roulette table. I’ve even come away with money in my pocket before now. I’ll save my trip to Vegas for another post. But she was a serious poker player and travelled on cruise ships for the nights in the casino. Her winnings paid for her onboard cruise bill on that sailing.
My Canadian friends were more active. They had a boat at home in Vancouver. I’ve been there, so could place the geography as they talked of days on the water around Vancouver Harbour and English Bay. Where I got off the ship in Skagen, on the Northernmost coast of Denmark, and walked for miles they had hired bikes and cycled the route. I learned a tip for next time as my feet were still aching.
I don’t think I really saw any of them during the days, and we went our separate ways at night, but our dinner conversations were highlights of my cruise.
Cruise Tip: Search on Facebook or Cruise Critic for a group for your specific cruise. A great way to get to know your cruise buddies, even if you don’t always meet on board.
A TABLE FOR SEVERAL
I’ve written about my dining experiences on Celebrity Beyond and Iona before.
Celebrity Beyond had a multitude of restaurants to enjoy. I wanted the freedom to eat when and where I wanted on that wonderful ship, so it was always a table for one.
In contrast aboard Iona it was easier to share a table than go solo. That was less structured than on Voyager of the Seas though. You sat with the people arriving when you did, so I mostly met different people every night, although it was always nice when you met someone you’d dined with before.
The conversations were easy, but you always stick with the basics.
Back on Marella Explorer our solos group met for pre-dinner drinks in the Squid and Anchor lounge each night. If you wanted to dine together you could meet there at 7pm for drinks. No pressure if you had other plans.
I still have my “Squids” alarm on my phone. I never missed. Neither did anyone else. In fact we gained solos as the week went on.
They had to play catch up with the conversation, as after a week with the same people we knew about each other, and picked up where we left off the day before.
The thought of formal dining, where you dine with the same people on the same table every night doesn’t really appeal to me. I don’t like the feeling of having my routine that formally controlled. And yet here I am writing about some of my best dining experiences, meeting the same people every night. Perhaps I don’t know myself as well as I think.
What’s your favourite dining option? Let me know in the comments below. Whatever it is yet again there’s a dining experience for everyone on a cruise ship.
Cruise Tip: If you like your waiters or dinner companions ask to book the same table each night. Or keep a note of the table number and ask to be seated in that area when you arrive.
INSTAGRAMABLE FEATURES
Cruise ship designers want to wow you, so every ship has that one thing that you’ve hopefully not seen before. That thing that gets posted to the Instagram feed of every person that sails on the ship.
My own Instagram feed (@gary_t.ravels – if you’re not already following my holiday photo spam, why not!) is no exception.
I think everyone I follow who has sailed on Celebrity Beyond has the photo of the elephant balancing on an acrobat, that is the central artwork on the modern resort deck, with its wrap around running track.
But probably the unique feature of this beautiful ship is the Magic Carpet that rides up and down the side of the ship, converting from bar to restaurant, to boarding platform dependant on its deck level. I had more than one glass of wine while flying over the Mediterranean Sea.
Royal Caribbean on the other hand like to throw entertainment options at you. From the outside of the ship you see water slides snaking down several deck levels, whilst inside is the Royal Promenade, a jaw dropping entertainment street, with bars, shops and pizza!
But just to be different they also have an ice rink at sea. I wasn’t risking my ankles with ice skating, but I was happy to watch the professional ice show there. In fact I went back twice.
Marella have slightly older ships. No less attractive, but their Insta feature is a bit more subtle. On Marella Explorer they have big, colourful ducks. I’ve collected penguins, llamas and even cows on their other ships. Quirky and fun if nothing else, especially when you notice them having moved around the ship.
Iona have gone for the Sky Dome in the centre of their top decks. An indoor pool that doubles up as the aerial show venue. When the seas are calm enough the dome lights up and a few different shows are performed over the time of the cruise. When the show was cancelled due to rough seas one night, we still got a light show under the dome.
CRUISING FOR EVERYONE
Inevitably once you’ve been on more than one cruise you can’t help but compare with other cruises and cruise ships.
They can’t all be the best ship ever, but even so every single cruise has something different to offer.
I have to say that I was more a fan of cruise director Luigi coming on stage on Celebrity Beyond to a musical intro and whooping up the audience. “Yes, I was having a good time.” I like that style of entertainment.
They would have hated that on Iona, so the intro was much more low key. The theatre shows were just as good, just presented in a different way.
That contrast, between low key and loud. Between big ships and small. Between UK cruise lines, with their British passengers, and US lines with a multi national contingent. A table for one or lively dinner conversations. I realised that there is a cruise for everyone, whatever you like.
In fact these differences work for anyone if you go with the right attitude.
Whilst sailing back to Southampton aboard Iona on our last, yet again grey and rainy sea day of the two week cruise I found myself in the solarium. Sitting. Quietly. Watching the World go by.
Maybe I’d found what I needed then after all.
