Traveling Alone?

This time last year when they announced the cruise, I was scrambling to find someone... anyone who I could convince to go with me on on this trip. This was quite a struggle. I had a few friends who I had a slight chance of convincing to go, but I had to find people who could either take off work/school right before finals, were willing to go on a cruise, willing to go on a cruise with the Backstreet Boys, and then pay two to three times the price for it. I quickly realized that was a lost cause so I decided to do the roommate match program and hope for the best.

In terms of booking the roommate match program, it was incredibly easy because I did not have to give my credit card info to someone I didn’t know, nor did I have to be responsible for another person trusting me with their credit card. Plus I didn’t have to coordinate really anything with anyone, making it that much easier . I also had very few choices- interior room or exterior room. Being the indecisive person I am, it was probably a good thing I only had 2 choices last year. The only real downside for booking the roommate match program is that it costs about $50 more for the same room as opposed to if you booked it with someone you know.

In terms of how the roommate panned out when I met her on the ship, lets just say I didn’t have the greatest experience. But I won’t get into that. I think that was a very rare, most people I know who did the program had a positive experience. It turned out fine though because I had met so many people through the BSB fan club so I had plenty of other people I could hang out with.

Would I recommend the roommate match program? Yes, I think it’s a great way to meet new people and as I mentioned, most people had a good experience. One other thing to keep in mind is that you will not know who your roommate is until 1 month before the cruise. Thus it can be stressful if you want to decorate your door because you don’t know what your roommate wants to do. In my case, it worked out because she did not have any desire to decorate the door.

Overall, I really enjoyed ‘traveling alone’. I met so many people that I have continued to keep up with months after the cruise, and consider them good friends. I don’t think I would have met all of these people if I was booked with someone I knew. It forced me to be proactive meeting people in the fan community and even approach random people on the ship and introduce myself. Plus I found everyone I met was just as big of a fan as myself, which is hard to find. Another advantage I found to traveling alone is that I could do whatever I wanted, when I wanted. It allowed me so much flexibility.

I'm happy to say that this year I will not be traveling alone as I met so many great people on the first cruise to room with. Now I find myself having the opposite problem...too many people who I want to room with and too many room options! I guess I shouldn't complain though ;) But if you are traveling alone, don't stress! You'll make plenty of friends along the way. I for one would love to meet anyone who wants to say hi.