Travel Are cruises a bad idea for a semi-antisocial person like me? LOL

IntlSet

Bonjour!
Jan 29, 2006
12,369
63
I hear you eat dinner at a big table with other strangers, etc...

I'm rather reclusive when traveling, although I know part of the fun of traveling is meeting new people... I guess I must feel shy in strange places because I strongly prefer to keep to myself and my group of friends with whom I travel... much more so than when I'm just here at home.

SO is not a talkative, friendly person (outwardly at least, but I promise he is a nice guy!) and probably wouldn't fare well on a cruise if it involves a lot of forced socializing like eating dinner with others...

Any experiences to share? Many thanks...

XOXO,
Your Unfriendly, Shifty-Eyed Traveler Sitting in the Corner Alone
 
maybe not be your best bet . . .
Recently we found out we're not 'cruisers' LOL!
We weren't into all the drinking and party life that was going on.
 
Not all cruises make you eat with other people. My family and I went on a Princess cruise (the Sapphire ship) to Mexico, and we ate at our own table. Then again, we were a group of 7 or 8 people, so that could have been it, but I'm pretty sure they didn't make anybody eat with other people.
 
Hi Annie, since our first cruise,we were hooked! We are not interested in sitting with a bunch of other people either. Unless we cruise with our friends,we request a table for two.
Many cruise lines now have "alternative dining" where you pay $20.00 per person to dine in an onboard restaurant.
If you ever book a cruise;I strongly suggest a cabin with a balcony!!!
I don't like to sit around a public pool in a two piece bathing suit.
Having the balcony gives you the option to sun bathe in private.
It is also nice to have morning room service and enjoy your coffee on your balcony.
Choose the higher floor cabins,(less movement) and look forward to gaining 5 pounds.
I fought against going on a cruise feeling sure I would hate it.
Now it is my first choice in travel.
I plan to do a transatlantic crossing to the UK in 2010.
 
I am pretty antisocial too. Just want on a Princess cruise to the Panama Canal with bf recently. There's anytime dining where you can request to sit alone. Often times though, tables are close enough that you can easily talk to the next table, we sat with other people one night and had a great time, other dinners we had our own table, and we talked to the next table depending on how friendly the couple is. We got room service a lot also.

The only warning is, most people on this ship (most Princess cruise from what I hear) are old. As in, if you're 50 y/o you're young. But if you're like me and are just about relaxing and not socializing too much, it was great! Older people won't save lounge chairs at 6am and go back to the room and they usually have interesting stories!
 
My family has been on a few cruises... we've never had to eat at other tables with people, they give you a choice. I never felt like I was forced to socialize, and we pretty much stayed to ourselves, I hung out with my family, and that is it mostly... I have never felt like it was overwhelming amount of drinking and partying either.... we also don't go during the holidays, like after Christmas or during spring break monthes... maybe that has something to do with it. It isn't my favorite form of travel, but I wouldn't not do a cruise if the situation was right.
 
DBF and I are very social people but are definintely not cruisers. We like to make our own schedules to see and do what we want when we are traveling for pleasure. We've talked about trying a cruise and both of us would feel totally trapped on a huge ship with hundreds of other people, going to a few scheduled ports of call. I don't go on vacation to be surrounded with hundreds of random strangers without freedom to go where and when I want, but that's just me. I understand the ships are huge and there are lots of activities but I think we'd both go stir crazy not being able to do our own thing. But again, that's just us.

We're planning a vacation with a few other couples (all close friends) where we're chartering a sailboat and crew for a few weeks to sail around the Caribbean. This is our idea of "cruising" - spending time with close friends and being able to specify where and when we go somewhere and how long to stay and with the people we want to be with. But that's just us.

To each his own!
 
DH and I are not the most social people either when we are around complete strangers...with people we know it's completely different! We cruised with Princess and that's one thing we actually thought about...was that we didn't want to get stuck in the dining room at a huge table with a bunch of people we didn't know.
What we ended up doing was eating at the buffet most of the time, which usually I'm totally grossed out by buffets, but the food and selection was amazing! Princess also had a few different restaurants, that all you had to do was pay like an $8 cover fee I think and you could eat their. I think they had a Mexican and and Italian restaurant that we ate at a few times.

But I found out a few months after our cruise that you can eat in the dining room at your own table.
 
I laughed when I saw your heading cause that's me too. I have never been on a cruise. But we are doing one in the Med sea November on the Queen Victoria. Its suppose to be an older group & we are in port somewhere almost everyday so maybe the partying is kept to a minimum. We don't drink & it can be so uncomfortable to be around drinkers.
Thanks God we have a balcony on a higher floor, thanks Duchess!
 
We were worried about sitting with other people for dinner when we went cruising last May. We had the option of requesting a table for two but we decided it might be fun to get to know some other people on the ship. We figured that if it was really akward or awful we could always try to change to a 2 person table.

We didnt realize that the cruise lines do a lot to try to match up people of the same age, etc. They paired us with two other couples who were also in their 20s. It was great! We became really great friends with one of the couples and hung out with them all the time on the ship- it was an 8 night cruise and it was nice to have another couple to do things with when we wanted- we still talk to them and meet up with them for dinner.

We realized that people are there to have fun- everyone was very nice and happy and upbeat. We even sat with some older people one time at lunch- it was nice to meet different people. No one was ever akward because everyone was there to relax and have a good time, just like us. And its nice to know that if you are, for some reason, put with awful tablemates, the cruise line will try to accommodate you. And you always have the option of dining somewhere other than the formal dining room. I think you should give it a try! You might be surprised!
 
I'm actually in the process of booking a November South Caribbean Princess cruise for myself and the bf! I had doubts about going cruising as well since I'm not overly friendly or outgoing with strangers. I hate being in ackward situations where I feel forced to make small talk so the idea of dining with lots random people really scares me!

But, for me, cruising is the best way to be able to experience all the islands I want to see so I kept on researching it. Turns out, you can actually request to sit by yourself in the dining rooms. There are lots of activities onboard but which activities and how much you want to participate is up to you. You can also book excursions from local companies on the islands for a more private experience and its way cheaper than going through the cruise.

You should definitely look in to it some more before you dismiss it! And if people on the cruise think you are some unfriendly creepy in the corner, then so it be!
 
I've seen the commercial for a cruise line that shows exactly this. With a little boy just staring at this man while he's trying to eat. It was pretty funny.

I myself am going on a cruise in June, my first time. Luckily, I'm going with my bf and friends. I don't know if I could deal with sitting with a bunch of strangers. Heck, I get annoyed at restaurants when I'm too close to other people. But hey, there's a first for everything.
 
I've seen the commercial for a cruise line that shows exactly this. With a little boy just staring at this man while he's trying to eat. It was pretty funny.

I myself am going on a cruise in June, my first time. Luckily, I'm going with my bf and friends. I don't know if I could deal with sitting with a bunch of strangers. Heck, I get annoyed at restaurants when I'm too close to other people. But hey, there's a first for everything.

I've read that you can even request where you want to sit! So on the first day, go take a look at your dining room and assigned table. If it looks too close for comfort, talk to the front desk (I don't remember what its called exactly) and ask to be moved!

You can find more info on www.cruisecritic.com