Traveling Solo - My first Princess cruise, my first birthday cruise, and my first solo cruise!

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I don't know how many of you are in this same situation, but I love to cruise and it is difficult to find someone else that either - 

1. Wants to go at the same time that I do
2. Wants to do the same trip that I am interested in
3. Has the vacation time to go
4. Can get away from the spouse
5. Has the money to go

When I turned 50, I wanted to go on a cruise for my 50th birthday.  Since my birthday is in April, it is not the most accessible time to travel.  My sister, who also loves cruising, couldn't go because she either can't get off work or it was too close to Easter.  My best friends, doesn't like cruising. Don't get me wrong, I went on at least 1 cruise a year, but they were typically convention trips for the business.  

So my 50th was in 2010, and this was my cruise timeline

1. October 2010 - Norwegian Epic
2. October 2011 - Royal Caribbean Allure of the Seas
3. September 2012 - Royal Caribbean Enchantment of the Seas
4. September 2013 - Norwegian Breakaway
5. November 2014 - Royal Caribbean Quantum of the Seas
6. November 2015 - Royal Caribbean Navigator of the Seas
7. November 2016 - Royal Caribbean Harmony of the Seas
8. February 2017 - Royal Caribbean Independence of the Seas
9. October 2017 - Norwegian Escape
10. October 2018 - Norwegian Getaway
11. March 2019 - Regal Princess

Oh my I went on 10 cruises from the time I turned 50 until the time I finally went on my birthday cruise.  What changed in 2019?  Well, I finally decided that if I wanted to go on a birthday cruise, maybe I should take myself and not wait on someone else.  So that is what I did.  I picked my cruise, I had never been on Princess, so this was a little frightening since I was not already familiar with the cruise line.  But I decided that this is exactly what I needed....and than one month prior to my cruise, I was informed that I was loosing my job and my last day at work was going to be March 15th!  WHAT?  Now what am I going to do, how can I go on vacation when I don't have a job?

I decided that it didn't matter, I was going anyway!  Oh boy, so, I had already paid off my cruise, my cruise gratuities, my drink package on the ship, paid for my internet package, my airfare, and had deposited money for my On Board Account!  If I didn't have money, than I could still enjoy myself with nothing out of my pocket.  So yep, I'm cruising.  Luckily, my company did move me to a different contract so I did not loose my job!  But that is a very scary thought that I was turning 59 and would not have a job.

Anyway, this blog is not about my day job as a Government Contractor, but about the fact that I traveled all by myself and had a great trip! 

Typically, when I go on a cruise, I fly in the day prior and stay at a hotel, so I am not rushing around on the day of the cruise and do not have to worry about a late flight.  Since this cruise was going to be solo, I opted to not have to pay the extra cost for that overnight prior to the cruise.  Princess has a program called Princess Air, that if you book your flight through them, they will guarantee that you will make the ship.  If the flight is late and the ship leaves without you, they will get you to the next port at their expense.  OK, I'm trying the Princess Air!  So, I booked, my flight to leave Dayton Airport on the morning of March 31st with a connection to get to the ship.  YEA, I made it with no issue!  

I also, pre-booked and paid for my transfers with Princess (again they guarantee you will get to the ship).  Upon arrival at Ft. Lauderdale airport, I went to baggage claim to get my bags.  The Princess Transfer station was set up next to the luggage carousel.  So, I checked into the transfer and they gathered us together to walk out to our bus.  Onto the bus our luggage was loaded, and we were whisked off to the port.  At the port, we did not have to touch our luggage, and we lined up to get into the cruise terminal.  From arrival at the cruise terminal at We got on the bus and were at the port by 1145 and on the ship by noon.  This was the fastest check in process I have ever experienced!  

 

Princess just rolled out the Medallion Class service.  This allowed us to ‘pre-check in’ at home with our passport photos, numbers, credit card information and everything.  They than sent us our medallion’s in the mail so when we arrived at the port, it did not take the normal length of time to check in.  I hope this is a process that more cruise lines will go to.  Plus one point to Princess!

 

When I walked on the ship, I was right next to Alfredos and decided to have lunch there.   It was wonderful, this was my typical go to restaurant for lunch for the week. Once I finished lunch I went to my cabin since they were already or us!  Again a plus one point to Princess!  I was booked in a balcony cabin that was about 7 down from the elevator bank.  With the Medallion, that most of us wore around our neck, when you are close to your cabin, the door unlocks and your photo shows up on the display by the door.  That took some getting used to!   

 

My cabin is great, nice size balcony, about a 45 inch flat screen on the wall by the bed, separate area for the closet.  Home for the next 7 days, I am so excited!  If you decide to travel by yourself, you will find that you can do whatever you want at the time you want to do it, without waiting on anyone else.  I did things on this cruise, that I have never done in all my previous cruises!  I actually watched movies…well I think at the end of the week, I actually saw about 6 movies and 2 on-screen concerts.  The reason I saw so many movies, they were played outside at the pool!  How great is that, you can lay out and enjoy a movie while tanning!  I also saw several in my room at night when I would try to sleep.

 

I had never been to a English Tea, one afternoon I went to English Tea.  If you go on Princess, please take the time to enjoy this.  The waiters are all in their tuxes and have on white gloves and first they bring around hot tea and cream.  Then prepare yourself for all the food.  Finger sandwiches, cookies, cakes, pastries, so much food…and they keep bringing it around.  Not a event to miss!

 

They offered a series of 3 Go Pro classes and I attended.  They were so helpful with my Go Pro and they helped me with some of the features on the camera.  So much fun!  This was the first class that I sat through on a cruise. 

 

I came in 2^nd place in the Slot tournament on my birthday!  Not first, but close!  Again, a fun way to spend some time.

 

I went to a wine tasting event.  Oh my, this was a very proper wine tasting.  You had your white place mat that with your 5 different wine glasses and a little plate of cheese and crackers.  The wine concierge would start by telling you what to expect with the wine and about the region that it came from and then they would be around to pour the wine.  He would than tell you what you were looking for when you swirled it in your glass, what the fragrance would be when you sniffed it, and how to taste.  Then we would repeat the process for each wine.  So much fun!

 

I did get off the ship in St Thomas and enjoyed myself of a tour!  Again, this cruise was the best, because I was able to do what I wanted, when I wanted, and if I wanted without having to check in with anyone else!

 

I have my next solo cruise scheduled for October 6^th of this year and I will be on the Norwegian Bliss doing a Mexican Rivera cruise!  Don’t get me wrong, I love traveling with friends and family and I will do so in the future, I just found out that I don’t have to wait for anyone else to have fun!

 

 

Are you ready to book?  If so, give me a call – 937-848-2000 or drop me a email cmontgomery@cruiseplanners.com