When I was younger, I did some solo traveling.  Somehow I always managed to find people to hang out with.  I never thought about loneliness. I feel like you need to be adventuresome and fairly outgoing. Here's the thing, you need to do a little research before you go. Once you go on a solo trip or two, you will gain the confidence to make the most of the city on your own.  Each situation is a little different.  You may find it easy to meet people in an English speaking country, but once you cross over to a country where you don't speak the language, it will be different. Here are some ways to help you alleviate the loneliness.

Seek Out Others
Usually I join in on some group tourism activity, like a walking tour or a cooking class—something where like-minded people are around. All it takes is a quick 'hello' and you're making new friends. More often than not people are really open to solo travelers, and I’m regularly taken under people’s wings. Sometimes when I’m lonely, I’ll go someplace that’s really crowded like a market or local mall; a few hours spent wandering around in crowded spaces is enough to make me happy and grateful to return home alone.

Use Meetup to Find Others with Common Interests
 Meetup is a social media platform that's about locals finding people who share their interests, but it can be used by travelers to the city as well. For instance, look for a Meetup that concentrates on the area you are going to.  You may find others going to the same spot at the same time.  If not, you will find people that have an interest in that area and can give you a lot of good tips. For example, if you like hiking, you may get a lot of good information about trails in the area you are visiting. They may even give you names of people to connect with when you get there. 

Find Friends at Mealtime
Make friends at breakfast. Breakfast is a wonderful meal to linger over when you’re traveling alone. Read a book, plan for the day, chat with the staff—that’s when they're likely to be much less busy. Make lunch lighter, as you’re on the go, and make dinner, which can feel so self-conscious, a snack at the bar with a glass of wine. It’s quick, casual, and very much lets you merge into the crowd in ways that sitting alone at a table in a dining room might make harder. Happy Hour is also a great time to meet people. 

Become Part of the Neighborhood
Take advantage of the time you have to meet people from the area. Go for a walk and visit neighborhoods. Sit in cafés and local restaurants. Even go to supermarkets or street markets and pick out groceries for your hotel room. It is a part of everyday life and can be comforting.

Enjoy Alone Time
It’s about changing your mindset. Instead of focusing on all the activities your not doing or moments you are not sharing with someone, focus on all the things you get to do because you are solo. Lounge in a bathtub for 30 minutes? Read a book at a café? Make an itinerary that’s 100 percent filled with what you want to do? Sleep late or get up early and enjoy the sunrise. Lounge around for the morning without feeling guilty. 

​No matter what you do, challenge yourself to do something different.  Something you may not do when you are with a friend. You may want to climb a mountain, try new foods, a cooking class or a biking expedition.  Classes are a great way to meet people and share the culture.  People may even take you under their wing. If safety is a concern, join a group tour.  

Judy Peterson,
Peterson Travel Pros
​#Solo Travel

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There are some great value inside cabins, but you have to be careful. While some insides are hardly more than dark closets with a bed and bath, others are downright spacious or have cool decor and nifty technological features. And if you time it right, you can snag an inside cabin for less than $75 a night.

These days, not all inside cabins are the bottom-of-the-barrel inventory. Creative cabin designs -- such as insides that sleep as few as one or as many as six, staterooms with virtual views or interior-facing windows, and Zen-like boudoirs with spa perks -- may not be the cheapest options, but they're usually more affordable than similar cabins with actual ocean views or balconies.

And, don't forget about oddball cabins -- like the one-of-a-kind, 281-square-foot accessible cabin 4479 on Norwegian Spirit -- that aren't going to be listed separately from the standard cabins in the same category, but can net you more space. (To find these, you'll want to pore over cruise line deck plans (as well as Cruise Critic's cabin reviews and message boards.)
For a general overview of the highlights and lowlights of inside cabin categories across mainstream mega-ship cruise lines, here are our picks for the nine best inside cabins -- and three you may very well want to avoid.

1. Best Standard Inside Cabin Winner: 
Carnival Cruise Line's Standard Insides, 185 square feet
What You Get: Carnival, that every man cruise line, does not believe that those who pay less for inside cabins should suffer in tiny digs. While other lines average about 140 square feet of cabin to those booking the lowest category of inside cabin, Carnival starts off with a comfortable 185 square feet. (A close runner-up, size-wise, is Celebrity Cruises' Solstice Class, with insides starting at 183 square feet.)
Just like their suite-living shipmates, passengers in Carnival's standard insides get bathrobes for on-ship use, flat-screen TVs and comfy beds and bedding. Carnival Breeze adds some nifty storage options, such as bureau shelves that fold down or up for custom space.

2. Best "Deluxe" Inside Cabin Winner:
Holland America's Large Interior staterooms, 200 square feet.
What You Get: Cramped and claustrophobic are two words not typically associated with HAL's Large Interior staterooms. Eurodam, Nieuw Amsterdam, Noordam, Oosterdam, Westerdam and Zuiderdam each offer more than two dozen of these cabins; most other ships (excluding Prinsendam) feature just a handful. On Koningsdam, there are 18 of these cabins; the line's newest ship, Nieuw Statendam, has even more Large Interior staterooms than Koningsdam, each of which offers up to a whopping 266 square feet.

These spacious digs tout tasteful design schemes, and some feature roomy L-shaped layouts. HAL also offers gratis robes and shoeshine service to all passengers, a nice touch for a line that keeps one foot in the classic cruising camp. One key reminder: There is some cabin category overlap -- i.e., Standard Interiors and Large Interiors might be labeled in the same category. Consult your deck plan or ask your travel agent to be sure.

3. Best Inside Cabin With a View


Winner: Royal Caribbean's Promenade Cabins, 194 square feet
What You Get: Royal Caribbean invented the concept of the cabin with an interior-facing window. These promenade cabins look out onto the Royal Promenade, an enclosed shopping street lined with stores, restaurants and watering holes. Whether you love an inside cabin with a view or hate the lack of privacy (your across-the-way neighbors and promenade wanderers can see in when the shades are up), you will find the biggest of the promenade cabins on the Oasis-class ships. (Smaller versions are also found on the line's five Voyager-class ships and three Freedom-class ships.)

4. Best Inside Cabin with a Virtual View


Winner: Royal Caribbean's Virtual Balcony cabins, from 101 square feet

What You Get: These industry-first Virtual Balcony inside cabins come equipped with 82-inch LED, HD, floor-to-ceiling screens that stream real-time views and sounds of the sea and ports -- everything but the ocean breeze -- right into passengers' rooms.

Every single interior stateroom (nearly 400 of them) aboard Quantum of the Seas, Anthem of the Seas and Ovation of the Seas feature the virtual balconies -- including the single-occupancy Studio (measuring 101 square feet), Standard Interior (166 square feet) and Large Interior staterooms (measuring 178 to 187 square feet). The line's newer ships, Harmony of the Seas and Symphony of the Seas, feature virtual balconies in several of their interior cabins, and Navigator of the Seas, Explorer of the Seas and Voyager of the Seas also each have a number of Virtual Balcony cabins.

5. Best Solo Inside Cabins


Winner: Norwegian Cruise Line's Studio staterooms, 100 square feet
What You Get: Norwegian's pint-size Studios, found on Norwegian Bliss, Breakaway, Getaway, Escape, Epic and Pride of America, make a big impression for numerous reasons. They're dedicated as solo cabins (and priced for solo travelers as well, with no single supplement fee), a concept that Norwegian pioneered in the mainstream cruise industry that is largely based around couples and families. The staterooms feature funky, multicolor lighting effects and a round window that looks onto the corridor, and contain a full-size bed and lots of storage you can hog all to yourself.

But even better is that residency in these cabins gives exclusive access to the Studio Lounge, a hip hangout where cruise travelers can watch TV, hang out with a coffee or beer, and socialize with other solos.

6. Best Accessible Inside Cabin


Winner: Celebrity Cruises' Accessible Insides, 245 square feet
What You Get: Six roomy inside cabins on each of the line's five Solstice-class ships -- Celebrity Solstice, Celebrity Eclipse, Celebrity Equinox, Celebrity Silhouette and Celebrity Reflection -- feature cabin doors that automatically open with a card swipe, roll-in showers, grab bars and ramped bathroom thresholds.

Celebrity's newest ship, Celebrity Edge, has three accessible inside cabins featuring a sleek design, but they're slightly smaller than those in the Solstice class. The line's other ships also feature accessible insides, but they're even smaller and don't have the automatic doors.

7. Best Standard Family Insides


Winner: Disney Cruise Line's Standard Insides, 164 square feet (larger Deluxe Family Inside units measure 200 square feet)

What You Get: Always in a category of its own, Disney just does things differently than the other lines. Its Standard Inside staterooms are family friendly without being special family cabins. On all four ships, they offer the line's famous bath-and-a-half, featuring a room with a shower/tub and sink, and another with a toilet and sink -- great for avoiding fuss at bed and bath time. (Deluxe Inside staterooms offer all the same amenities, with a bit more space.)
A convertible sofa and a pull-down upper berth house the extra guests (kids or friends) and a curtain divides the room in half so Mom and Dad can stay up reading or chatting with the lights on while the wee ones snore away, visions of talking mice dancing in their heads.

While Disney Magic and Wonder have the bigger cabins (184 square feet for Standard, 214 square feet for Deluxe), Fantasy and Dream get the nod for their fantastic touches: raised beds for easier luggage storage, iPod docking stations and "magical portholes" -- faux windows that show a real-time video of the view outside the ship, enhanced with animation of Disney characters swimming or flying by
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8. Best Special Inside Family Cabin


Winner: Royal Caribbean's Family Interior Staterooms, 324 square feet
What You Get: You can squeeze a family of four in a regular inside cabin, but it isn't pretty. If you've got a family of five or six, you could book two cabins -- or nab one of Royal Caribbean's special Family Interior cabins instead. The biggest we found are on Freedom of the Seas, Liberty of the Seas and Independence of the Seas; they sleep up to six on two twin beds that convert into a queen, a pullout sofa for two and a double pull-down bed. (Oasis-class family insides have a separate bunk room for the kiddos, but are significantly smaller at 260 square feet.)

The cabins feature plenty of storage space, but only have one bathroom. Mom and Dad, consider leaving the bathroom squabbles to the young ones and shower at the spa.

9. Best Inside "Spa" Cabin


Winner: Costa Cruises' Samsara Spa Cabins, from 149 square feet
What You Get: Costa Cruises pioneered the "spa" cabin: specially designed accommodations clustered around a ship's wellness area. The spa staterooms are available on the seven Costa ships equipped with a Samsara Spa, and include inside configurations (as well as outsides and suites) with bamboo-effect doors and restful decor. Expect orchids in vases, aromatic diffusers and calming colors combined with more sumptuous bedding than the standard cabins, as well as eco-cotton bathrobes and Elemis goodies in the bathroom.

Beyond the accommodation, we love the perks: The spa cabin package includes unlimited access to the spa complex with its thalassotherapy bath, aromatherapy-focused Tridosha Sanctuary (with Turkish bath), meditation and R&R haven Temple of Peace, and the Japanese Tea Room. (Guests who book a Samsara spa cabin on Costa Diadema also gain access to the ship's Solarium.) Spa cabin passengers get exclusive access to the Samsara spa restaurant, but dining there does incur a fee; spa treatments also cost extra.

And Three to Avoid Too Small Cabin: 
Standard Inside Cabins on Majesty of the Seas, 114 square feet
What You Get: Feel the squeeze in the smallest standard cabins offered by Royal Caribbean (and among the very smallest industrywide). At 114 square feet, these insides are glorified closets -- but Royal Caribbean manages to stuff a lot into these cabins, including a vanity table with extendable working space. With pull-down beds forming bunks, you could even sleep four in these tiny digs -- just don't all stand up at once.

Hit or Miss Cabin: Carnival's Category 1A Cabins
What You Get: Carnival says its 1A cabins measure 185 square feet, but Cruise Critic members with measuring tapes beg to differ. Booking a 1A is a bit of a crapshoot: Some have pull-down bunk beds, while others have a bunk and pullout sofa. Some, surprisingly, have porthole windows, meaning they're technically outsides. Many of the 1A's are odd-shaped, squeezed-into-corners cabins that come lumped into one cheap category, so their layouts vary by ship and even by cabin number.
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Awkward Cabin: Family Inside Cabins on Norwegian Epic, 128 square feet
What You Get: While the snug solo Studio cabins aboard Norwegian Epic (and other Norwegian ships) get high points for their design and perks, many Cruise Critic members have warned that the same ship's Family Inside Staterooms on Decks 13 and 14 aren't nearly as boast-worthy. Complaints vary but largely hone in on the cabins' small size, awkward layout (including poor TV positioning) and in-cabin noise from the bathroom. Another reviewer griped that despite being billed as family-friendly, the cabin wasn't large enough to fit in a cot for a baby on a recent sailing; the general overall consensus was that this "family-friendly" cabin wasn't truly suitable, space-wise, for more than two passengers.

Cruise Critic
By Erica Silverstein 
​11/6/2018

In the past most cruise line charged extra for a single. Now there are at least five ships that have made accommodations for a single. They may even build some comradery for singles.

Holland America Line
Individuals are not only welcomed to book with Holland America, but are encouraged to with their Single Partners Program. The offer includes mixers and cocktail parties, various activities including wine tastings, exercise classes, and line dancing lessons, and dinner seating with other singles requested in advance. And to make the trip more convenient, the cruise line provides same-sex stateroom pairings for the duration of the trip, so each only pays the per-person double occupancy rate.

AmaWaterways
AmaWaterways river cruises rolled out their Solo Traveler Program giving passengers a single supplement break. Although space is limited, the choice of trip isn’t; solo travelers are able to pick from any weeklong river cruise. Sail on Melodies of the Danube cruise that takes you from Budapest to Vilshofen, or book a round-trip Amsterdam journey on the Tulip Time Cruise. No matter what destination you choose, additional fees for flying solo won’t be in your future.

Norwegian Cruise Line
Studio staterooms are currently offered on five of the Norwegian cruises, specifically designed to sleep parties of one. Each of these 100-square-foot spaces are equipped with a single-styled shower, personal TV, and other guestroom essentials, plus room service for those nights of staying in. Solos have access to the Studio Lounge, a private hangout shared exclusively by Studio guests, where solo travelers can easily meet one another.

American Queen Steamboat Company
Steamboat Company finished renovations to two paddle wheelers, including the American Queen a huge steamboat that keeps all party sizes in mind. Eight inside cabins and four outside staterooms (with open verandas) accommodate single travelers, positioned near each other for easy meet-and-greets. Not to mention the intimate size of riverboats allows a natural openness among passengers, whether they’re with a group or alone.

Grand Circle Cruise Line
They have an entire website page dedicated to solo travelers. They especially have the services to back it up, such as free to low-cost single supplements, a free roommate matching service, and even program directors specifically catering to single passengers. And for those still wary about going alone, Grand Circle has a Travel Companions online community that connects voyagers before departure.

Solos are being catered to more and more. Try one of these options or let me know if you've experienced another travel program that has catered to singles.
​Afar Nicolette Richardson 3-31-16
​http://www.PetersonTravelPros.com