Cruising the Pacific as a Solo Traveler

On the Road to Hana, in Maui

In This Episode…

Nervous as hell on the helicopter tour in Maui

• Why I went to Hawaii as a solo traveler 1:10

• Excursions 4:07

  • Hilo, Big Island 5:04

  • Honolulu, Oahu 5:57

  • Nawiliwili, Kaua'i 8:58

  • Lahaina, Maui 11:27

  • Ensenada, Mexico 16:42

• Formal nights 14:28

• Cruise Pros 17:28

• Cruise Cons 22:26

• What I'll Do Differently Next Time 30:52

• What I Will Do Again 33:05
  

Pros

At a black sand beach in Hana

As with any cruise, you get to "sample" locations (our stops ranged from 4-11 hours per port). This is a con to some, but you can go back later and spend several days if you like the experience there. If you don’t, you won’t be there that long, so it doesn’t matter.

Even as a solo traveler, you're not alone (unless you choose to be).

Excursions also give you a chance to meet people you may not run into on the ship (our ship has 2500 passengers).

Access to amenities (eating areas, gym, spa, pool, hot tub-- use as much as you want while they're open).

Room is cleaned twice a day, every day.

I chose an interior room, so it could be dark anytime-- no sense of time in the room (great for sea days).

They had a beautiful gym on the top deck that was next to the spa. I could stay in shape (if I used it regularly) and offset round-the-clock dining.

Also on the top deck at the other end of the ship was a nightclub that was the most modern area of the entire ship.

[This is sort of a con too in a way, but] I was able to disconnect from the world. I was able to read, make videos, and do some deep creative work without distractions from the internet.

Cons

There were multiple time changes. Flying from the East Coast to the West Coast, and two more going and coming back from Hawaii.

At the first-timer cruisers session, I didn’t get all the info I should have, but passengers filled me in. The cruise director said we would gain 1 pound for every day of the cruise. This worried me. (I've been working hard to lose weight all year, and couldn’t afford to get set back 15 pounds in 2 weeks.)

As a black woman who grew up in central New York, I've lived all my life as a minority in many situations as this was no different. On this ship, not only was the demographic predominantly over age 60, but I spotted less than 15 black passengers including myself on a ship of 2,500. Most were White and Asian. And at least four times on the trip, I was mistaken as a staff member and spoken to in a certain way.

The entertainment, programming (activities) were mostly catered to the older crowd (over age 55).

Shared tables got tiring in the second week, constantly introducing yourself at each meal. (It was rare that people didn't ask my name, where I was from, what I did for work, why I was alone, and whether it was my first cruise/trip to Hawaii.)

The formal nights or a little puzzling. There were 3 formal nights where you were supposed to dress up for dinner. I’m not a dressing up type of person.

Obligatory photos on ship and during port disembarkation. Twice, a bear rolled up on me in the hallway for photos I didn't want, and I tried, but unsuccessfully dodged photo ops when leaving for my excursions each time. Photographer came to the table during formal night and took shots of each person or couple but those cost more than the others so I didn't buy any photos.

There was a lot of paper waste. The room steward delivered a schedule and several different ads poorly-disguised as newsletters each night.

There was a scheduled time for a few days to meet independent travelers, but I was unsuccessful meeting people this way.

There were too many consecutive sea days on this cruise (I had 4 each way) and the whole cruise was 15 days.

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