However, on a recent trip to the Dominican Republic, I thought it might be fun to switch it up and take a cruise down to the Caribbean instead of flying.
Taking a solo cruise had always been a bucket list item of mine. So, for only about $300, I booked myself into an interior room on a one-way sailing from Miami to La Romana, Dominican Republic, on the Norwegian Sky. (La Romana is about the halfway point between Punta Cana and Santo Domingo.)
I'm no stranger to traveling alone, but I was curious how going solo in giant cities or mountain towns translated to a cruise with a set itinerary. I prefer having more room for randomness in my schedule.
But, to my relief, I didn't feel trapped on the ship, and I still got to enjoy the same freedom of choice thanks to the myriad activities throughout the three-day voyage.
Here's why I'd book another solo cruise.
I had a few hesitancies in booking a solo cruise. My main worry was being bored.
The Norwegian Sky in port at La Romana, Dominican Republic.
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I'm a very restless person by nature, so I find just lying around a pool extremely unsatisfying.
From my only other NCL cruise way back in 2014, I knew most of the main activities were at night, but I couldn't recall if I enjoyed the sea days' events.
On the myriad other solo trips I've been on, I can always find a museum or hike a new trail when I feel like I've run out of tourist hot spots.
I had to wait inside the cruise terminal for about an hour before boarding.
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I've traveled solo on backpacking trips through Europe, Asia, and South America — though I typically stayed in hostels where meeting people tends to be easier than what I was anticiapting on the boat.
This concern also stemmed from my boredom on the expedition ship I took to Antarctica in 2022, which had no casino, fancy dining, or shows.
The Ocean Endeavour with a chinstrap penguin.
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Technically, my Norwegian trip was the first solo sailing I've taken on a large vessel with all of the bells and whistles of what people think of when they hear "cruise" — like a casino, fancy pools, and multiple dining rooms.
The small Antarctic vessel was made for rough waters, so it was pretty barebones — and it was hard to keep occupied.
View of the aft deck on the Antarctic vessel. The pool was on deck 6 while the hot tub was right above it on deck 7. The pool wasn't used due to the cold and winds.
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There were several at-sea days of sailing between Argentina and Antarctica — four of which were across the Drake Passage, where waves constantly rocked the boat.
I mostly entertained myself by watching downloaded movies, going to science lectures, or playing board games with other passengers, but there were definitely spans of time where I felt time passing way too slowly.
I didn't worry too much about lacking amenities on the Norwegian Sky, despite it being one of NCL's oldest and smallest ships.
Deck 11 of the Norwegian Sky.
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The 12-deck Norwegian Sky is the company's second-oldest and second-smallest ship.
I have been on only a few cruises, so I don't really have much to compare the Sky to — yet. But I can imagine cruise fanatics would care a lot about the boat.
Fortunately, my worries were put to rest quickly after boarding when I finally got the day's itinerary and found plenty to look forward to.
Boarding was painless. I got my key card during check-in and found assembly station N to get my sticker, and then I was free.
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My cruise departed on Friday, January 26. I selected a 9:30 a.m. check-in so I could board as quickly as possible, and I ended up in Group 1 and was on the boat by noon — meaning I still had a day's worth of time to fill.
And, to my surprise, the safety briefing was just going to my assembly station to get a yellow sticker on my room key. That saved time.
NCL's daily schedule was packed from morning until late at night with events like trivia, comedy, and bingo.
The banner with Bingo card prices was put outside the Stardust Lounge about 30 minutes before the game started.
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Games like Bingo, Wheel-of-Fortune, and Deal-or-no-Deal cost extra. These seemed fun but not worth the money.
I attended travel-related things like an "airlines of the world" trivia and a "where in the world am I" game show.
The hosts were always fun and personable.
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There were other themed trivia throughout the weekend, like car logos and "airlines of the world."
I go to a lot of pub trivia at home, and there are never any aviation-themed questions — so I was thrilled to see airlines.
My favorite entertainment, though, was easily the nightly theater performances, which I didn't expect to be as good for a repositioning cruise.
The cruise director, Will, danced and sang with the performers at the end of one of the shows.
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My one-way cruise to the Dominican Republic was a repositioning sailing to get the Sky to La Romana in order to situate the ship for a proper 11-day trip island-hopping around the Caribbean.
Some people, like me, got off in La Romana, but a lot of passengers were booked to stay the entire 14 days.
As a Broadway fanatic, I love musicals, so the two shows were exactly what I'd see on a night out at home.
Each show played twice a night, which helped with the crowds.
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The first show was a sing-off style performance, while the other was a series of rock song covers.
I'm no theater expert, but I personally thought the singers were incredible, as well as the dancers — and the cruise director, Will, dancing along with the crew was quite entertaining, too.
The activities were mostly held in the lounges and bars scattered throughout the ship, while the shows were in the Stardust Theater.
The lobby of the Norwegian Sky on embarkation day.
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The NCL Sky is small, so the lounges and social spaces are not as grandiose as other ships.
The lobby on the Sky is particularly tiny, which is the only area I found annoyingly crowded.
Fortunately, I never found myself fighting for a seat — which I do think is sometimes easier when you're solo, though.
The Sugarcane lounge, which had a bar, was a great place to enjoy live music in the middle of the day.
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My sailing was apparently close to full, but I was surprised by the crowd control even though there were up to 2,000 guests onboard.
There was always an open chair outside, and getting an elevator was typically easy.
There was also a casino, spa, Starbucks, jewelry and alcohol stores, and a gift shop onboard.
If cigarette smoke bothers you, I would avoid walking through the casino.
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All of these are an additional cost, though Starbucks can be included in the drink package.
Personally, I skipped the package because there's no way I could consume enough coffee and alcohol to justify the $200+ price, though I know plenty of people who could.
Probably the best part of cruising solo was there was nobody to hold me back from eating as much as I wanted.
There were two dining rooms, but I liked the Crossings restaurant best.
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I'm extremely busy at home when I'm not traveling, so I don't have a lot of time for sit-down meals or cooking and end up eating a lot of takeout — so the restaurant-grade food was a nice change.
There was a buffet, free dining rooms, specialty restaurants, pizza, and a late-night pub.
For example, I had ravioli and scallops from the dining room, beef chili from the late-night pub, and meat cuts from the buffet.
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The specialty restaurants cost extra, while the dining rooms have rotating menus, and you can order as many appetizers, entrées, and desserts as your heart desires.
The buffet and restaurants have set hours, while the pub has food available nearly all night, opening at 6 p.m. and closing at 3 a.m.
I enjoyed the buffet food between main meals and took advantage of the option to sit outside.
Views of buffet seating. There were also tables along the sides of the pool deck.
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The main dining rooms were only available during breakfast, lunch, and dinner hours, but I could still eat in between because the buffet and pizza bar were open between noon and 4 p.m.
That may make me sound like a slob, but part of the fun of vacation is guilt-free eating.
I did pay $50 extra for sushi and Sake at an a-la-carte specialty restaurant. The add-on meal wasn't worth it, though.
I got a California, a dragon roll, and Sake.
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The sushi option was one of the cheaper specialty meals available, and I tried it just for fun.
While the food was good, it wasn't worth the money when there were plenty of free meals all around the ship.
The dining room definitely had the overall best food out of everywhere I ate. But the service was much slower.
The BBQ pork and fries I got for lunch one day in the dining room.
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I'm not sure if slow service is common on cruise ships, but my food took 45 minutes on two separate occasions.
I personally didn't mind, I enjoyed being in the restaurant and able to look out at the water. I regularly got a window table, which was nice.
Granted, sitting alone in a sea of couples and families at mealtimes was a little awkward at first, but I quickly realized nobody cared.
My lunchtime window table during the at-sea day.
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Other cruise lines with scheduled dining will sometimes put solo travelers at the same table as strangers in the dining rooms, which is not something I'd be comfortable with.
I like NCL's freestyle dining because I could go to the restaurant anytime I wanted, not at a set time. This meant I could get my own table and not have to navigate any social situations.
The one thing I didn't do was spend much time by the pool. I'm also not interested in the deck parties or gambling.
There was also a family pool in the back of the boat, but it was small with a lot of kids.
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I walked around the pool deck when I wanted some fresh air or to read, but I've never been a pool person. And I don't consider myself a party animal or a big drinker.
And that's all fine. There was plenty of other stuff that interested me.
That's one of the best things about cruises — there's something for several different types of travelers.
I parked myself at a lounge one afternoon and just read and enjoyed a $7 beer. The price wasn't as steep as I expected.
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Cruise ships have to cater to people of all ages, genders, and personalities, and I think Norwegian did a good job despite having less living space to work with on the Sky.
As far as ports, the cruise only had one stop in a coastal city called Puerto Plata on the northern side of the Dominican Republic.
Royal Caribbean's bigger Explorer of the Seas blocks the Norwegian Sky in this photo.
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The one-way cruise left Miami on Friday, had an at-sea day on Saturday, was in port most of Sunday, and disembarked on Monday morning.
Passengers could either book an excursion, stay on the ship, or relax in the port.
The river and pool were free. Note: The ship in the background is Royal Caribbean, which shared the port with NCL that day.
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The port had pools, a beach, restaurants, a bar, shopping, and even a lazy river, all a short walk from the boat.
It all looked really nice, actually, and I wish I had time to explore this area more.
I wanted to see some of the island while I was there, and I had a $50 excursion credit, so I booked a zipline and waterfall tour through NCL.
NCL left my excursion ticket in my room on embarkation day.
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Booking an excursion with the cruise line will ensure you get back to the boat on time. If you go out and about on your own, make sure to watch the clock, or the ship could leave without you.
The tour took me into the mountainous area of the island, which is more my style since I love hiking and adventurous activities.
Here, I decided to socialize a bit with the other travelers after keeping to myself most of the at-sea day, and I'm glad I did.
The excursion also included some cliff jumping, which I wasn't expecting but still enjoyed.
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My group was about 25 people, so I was kind of forced to chat. I'm glad I did, though.
And I loved meeting the locals, who were great tour guides.
I ended up making friends with another cruisegoer, and we actually went to dinner and a show together that night.
The downside of cruises is that there is limited time to see the ports. I wish I could've explored Puerto Plata more.
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Part of the reason I love solo traveling, in general, is all of the interesting people I meet. And I'm happy the cruise was no different.
Meeting her was a nice relief after an underwhelming solo meetup on the first night.
When I got to the meetup spot, there wasn't any clear indication of who was part of the group and who wasn't.
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NCL puts a daily solo meetup on the schedule. I went the first night, but it was awkward, with no clear indication of who was solo or any type of icebreaker game.
This may have just been my experience, though. My new friend said she had a great time at a solo meetup on a previous NCL cruise to Alaska.
Overall, I ended up liking the boat more than the port — which I think is the main draw for many cruise lovers, anyway.
The bars was one of the few places that was hard to find seating, but the bartenders were quick with drinks.
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I personally like cruising because of the opportunity to explore the boat and go to the shows and events. The concept just allures me.
My days were spent getting up early and going to the gym, participating in the day and evening events, and going to bed by 10:30 p.m.
The gym was empty when I took this photo right after boarding, but it was pretty busy when I went the next morning.
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I definitely needed to keep up with my morning workout, given how much I was eating. The gym was a good size and overlooked the water.
It's exactly how I wanted to spend my weekend cruise, and I had a lot of fun doing what I wanted — there was no one I had to accommodate.
One thing I love doing is just walking around the side of the boat and listening to music or podcasts. It's relaxing for me.
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When I travel alone, I love that I don't have to compromise with anyone on what to do or where to eat. Simply, there's no drama.
The early bedtime meant I missed the evening comedy, karaoke, and parties. But I don't really regret getting extra sleep.
A-Train did a show on the first night, which was easily a highlight.
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The comedy headliner was named A-Train, and I saw his first act on Friday evening.
He was truly hilarious, and I was a little bummed I missed his adult comedy on Saturday night — but it was playing at 11 p.m., and that was just too late for me.
Plus, my inside cabin made sleeping easy because it was completely blackout. I think this could bother some people, but I loved it.
The room was tiny but perfect for one person even though its intended for two — that would be a tight squeeze.
I was happy I didn't because I slept so well, and I'll keep booking an inside cabin on future cruises.
Plus, unlike solo trips to other countries, this all-inclusive trip meant all my entertainment and food was pre-paid and pre-planned.
The itinerary included times and places for each activites.
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The all-inclusive aspect is the biggest difference between solo cruising and hostel-hopping in places like Eastern Europe, which is where I spent my early 20s.
I liked that everything — food, excursions, and hotel — was already paid for when I boarded, minus the few beers I ended up buying.
Granted, the Sky has just the basic expectations and lacks the water slides, go-karts, and malls present on many modern ships.
The view of the Norwegian Sky (left) next to Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas (right), which has been upgraded with slides.
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We docked next to a giant Royal Caribbean ship with slides and other amenities poking out of its deck.
Personally, I think the Sky is perfect for three or so days. I probably wouldn't be able to stay for the next 11.
For sports, we had this court for things like soccer and basketball. There was also shuffleboard and ping pong.
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A large number of passengers stayed for the full 14 days, though I don't think the Sky is amenity-heavy enough for me to commit to a two-week voyage.
A larger ship with more to do, see, and explore might offer more to keep me occupied on an extended sailing.
The main lobby was compact and bottlenecked easily, which was probably my only complaint.
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Business Insider's Brittany Chang sailed on the billion-dollar Norwegian Prima in 2022 with 18 decks, a 10-story slide, and a three-level go-kart track.
These amenities take cruising to the next level, and experiencing a longer sailing on an even bigger ship is next on my bucket list.
