Singles holidays

toffee'n'tom

Ok. i'm ready to go on holiday alone but not quite alone as I don't have the confidence. Does anyone have any experience of, or can recommend one of the solo holiday companies and any destinations for a first timer?

thanks

Katiehound

I went on holiday with Travel One twice quite a few years ago. There was a reasonable mix of ages but more ladies than gents! (That's usual)
I had 2 lovely holidays in Dalyan, Turkey.
Then it was a buffet breakfast, help yourself , but the evening meal (served) everyone dined together at a long table so you could chat with different folk each night.
The daytime was your own to organise but there was usually someone to go with if you wanted company or you could easily do your own thing.
It is (or was!) a delightful Turkish town with river, mud & sulphur baths off a lake and the beach easily reached by boat. Scenic too. Short transfer from Dalaman airport.

One of my friends always goes with Ramblers as she likes serious walking and there is a group leader- that's UK or abroad.

Another idea is to go cruising- lots of singles do it, especially on the smaller ships. You don't give any age indication but cruisers on Fred.Olsen & Saga will be the silver surfers in the main!
Cruise specialist travel agents can advise which lines are a) nice to their singles (Fred is) and which have b) no or low single supplements.
Places to go?
Infinite but the Baltic in late June with the long days is a lovely cruise- generally overnight in St Petersberg.
Anywhere W coast of Norway, very scenic but weather?- you take your chances!
The med.

toffee'n'tom

Thank you Katie. I think I'll look into the cruises

UnionGirl

I've used Mercury Direct and G Adventures. Have been to China and Gal!pagos Islands with tours and Tenerife and Orlando on my own. I love going on holiday on my own - very liberating.

katejo

Have you looked at Explore or Exodus? They are similar but i know Explore better. Plenty of singles like myself go on them and they now do some specifically Singles dates. i haven't tried one of those yet. On my Explore trips, I always rang up first to check whether there were other solos already booked for my chosen date.

katejo

Katiehound wrote: »

Cruise specialist travel agents can advise which lines are a) nice to their singles (Fred is) and which have b) no or low single supplements.
Places to go?
Infinite but the Baltic in late June with the long days is a lovely cruise- generally overnight in St Petersberg.
Anywhere W coast of Norway, very scenic but weather?- you take your chances!
The med.

Do these single friendly cruise companies allow you to go on shore visits alone/just with a couple of others or do you have to walk round in a large group? That's the thing which puts me off cruises (together with single cabin supplements).

Katiehound

katejo wrote: »

Do these single friendly cruise companies allow you to go on shore visits alone/just with a couple of others or do you have to walk round in a large group? That's the thing which puts me off cruises (together with single cabin supplements).

Well with Fred.Olsen the port visits are at your discretion. There is always a port talk speaker- some are brilliant and tell you all the ways you can DIY , others are there to flog tours!

In kind of depends on the port concerned. Sometimes to see places of interest you really do need to buy a trip off the ship. You can often find cheaper options online to do the same trip- the only worry there is that if you are late back the ship may sail without you.Ship always waits for organised from the ship trips. However saying that I have never been on ship that left guests behind. One cruise,the guest art teacher got stranded in Malta when the HoHo bus failed to materialise!but ship waited.

The other thing on Fred. is that on port days they always have a meeting point so that you can pal up with someone- if you wish- you might want to share a taxi etc. Also the very first sea day they have a travelling alone meeting (with drinks!) and you get to meet / see all the others who are alone and you can make friends than and there.

I really love cruising- you only unpack once and each day there is a different view from the deck. On sea days there are myriad things to do- loads of talks which might relate to that particular cruise, dance classes, bridge classes, craft classes and maybe art too.All classes are free unless you use materials when a smallish charge made. Last cruise I went on I learned to play the ukelele! Or you can do the mile round deck, pilates, yoga, deck quoits, darts, putting, table tennis........ Or even do precisely nada and sit or lie in the sun with a good book.

My go to agents are: 1st choice: Ocean World Travel, 2nd: Readers Offers Limited. If you book through an agent you will get great advice but also a slight discount. If you register your interest with these two and say you are looking for singles with no or low supplement they will send or e-mail you with those offers. Sometimes lower grade outside double cabins come in cheaper than singles.

Katiehound

Have also travelled in the past with Exodus when I was more mobile (just had 2nd knee replacement.) and they were enjoyable but now I like a bit more luxury - think yummy meals etc!!
A friend travels with Toucan- similar to Exodus but possibly cheaper.

Katiehound

Forgot to give price indication!
If you can get a cruise as a single for £100 per night that is a fair deal (I'm talking outside cabin)- anything less, you have a bargain!
May sound expensive ... but.....you travel to new destinations and all your meals, evening entertainment,sea day activities included.
Think of it as an all inclusive ( less alchol!) floating hotel.
Drinkies extra 'though FOCL (Fred. Olsen) has a £10 per day all inclusive (drinks) offer.

toffee'n'tom

Katiehound wrote: »

Forgot to give price indication!
If you can get a cruise as a single for £100 per night that is a fair deal (I'm talking outside cabin)- anything less, you have a bargain!
May sound expensive ... but.....you travel to new destinations and all your meals, evening entertainment,sea day activities included.
Think of it as an all inclusive ( less alchol!) floating hotel.
Drinkies extra 'though FOCL (Fred. Olsen) has a £10 per day all inclusive (drinks) offer.

I'd like a cruise. I have been when my two were teenagers and enjoyed it. At the moment the cost is irrelevant (I don't mean it in a way that I can afford anything) as I just want to make that leap of being confident enough to travel alone. I've also looked at Friendship travel and their small hotel/house party type destinations. Anyone have any experience?

PhilA

Thanks for the great advice, I've just joined the forum today and wold love to hear about anyone's advice on single travelling especially how to avoid getting ripped off for single supplements!

I'm a 50 year old chap, newly single. I've never done a cruise before but very keen to try - I am quite well travelled and lived abroad, so thankfully confidence isn't really the issue with me, although a bit daunting maybe to make decisions on my own and suddenly finding I have no one around me on a quiet street!

Anyway, I've read up on all the cruise lines and which were recommended for solo travellers as they provide introductory meetups and meeting points for the trips etc
However, I was very disappointed to read the Fred Olsen 'no single supplement claim' is not entirely true. I've copied the link as I can't believe it, have I missed something? Should I report them?
In one example a person sharing an internal cabin pays £900 (so £1800 for 2) but a single cabin is £1600, so I'm paying 88.8% of what its costing 2 people for the same trip - how can that be sold as 'no single supplement'? - its £700!! I'm subsidising the couples!

As I'm new, MSE wont let me post the link but you'll find 10 more examples under the 'No single supplement' deals which are highlighted in yellow.

I then tried SAGA but they don't seem to do too many cruises. So, I need to find a cabin mate but I fancied going on my own for the first one.

Replies welcome!

Phil
Northampton