Going on a cruise to... ahem... hook up?
 

So I'm leaving on a Princess cruise to Alaska in a few days, and my girlfriend and I were having this debate: do people actually book cruises to hook up while they're there?

I know people will hook up just about anywhere these days, but cruises seem like an odd place to me - expensive drinks, small rooms (and bunk beds!), travelers usually in a group...

Have you ever seen (or been) someone seeking action on the ocean? I'm really curious if this phenomenon exists.

I have seen this on the shorter 3 and 4 day cruises, but not on an Alaska cruise.

I've never seen it on the Disney Cruise Line!

of course.. how frequent depends on the cruise..

all-inclusive cruiselines = free alcohol

bunk beds? besides on easycruise? :confused:

There was a late-night reality TV show called Shipmates that was a dating show on a cruise ship.

I don't know about hooking up, but there was a lot of action, but not much lasting attraction.

Considering your room is right there i'm sure it wouldn't be hard to hook up if you wanted.

hooking up here and there
 

i used to work for the producer of entertainment for several major cruise lines - i assisted in the casting of singers and dancers who did the big production shows, not the lounge acts, but the big Broadway and Las Vegas stylel shows. Besides the expected lurid tales of shop girls and assistant cruise directors, the kids club director and the shore excursion CREW, there were ALWAYS tons of fun stories passed around about watching the passengers hook up...and the places they would find for nooky was not always as private as they thought it might be....

good times.....

ITTIA

I've been on one cruise to Mexico (7 day) and yes, this happens.

just like Vegas....what happens on the ship, stays on the ship :D

Yeah, I think most cruise lines have drop down secondary beds in some rooms for large families.

All-
That's really interesting. I've only been on a few cruises (with parents, family) so I've never really been paying attention, but I will on this trip. It seems like if there was romance, it'd be of the summer camp sort: tons of face time leads to tons of time for other things, but it's gone the moment camp is over (or the boat docks).

Yes it happens, and the later in the cruise the more desperate people will become.

I would hate to think the general crowd on Princess in Alaska would be in line with that (say over Carnival in the islands), but I'm sure there are people out for some, there certainly were on our Princess to Mexico.

The best parties I've been to on any ship were in the crew bar belowdecks.

I was on a Disney Cruise last month, and everyday they had a function for ‘single cruisers’, I was wondering if anyone actually attended, since that is about the last cruise I would pick if I was single.

Also I think almost all the cabins had a bunkbed type setup.

We were always in port at the same time as 1,2 or 3 Carnival ships. Those are the Party ships. People doing Tequila shots at 9 in the morning, and practicing for Girls Gone Wild everywhere we went.

To be perfectly clear - while it does happen I would never recommend GOING on a cruise (as the OP title suggests) in order to hook up. Most cruises are couples and familie traveling together, and a single will often have a hard time finding other singles. Now, once you find them it will likely be late at night in the disco as their parents or kids are asleep. So, you might "get lucky" but don't expect a lot of cuddling the next day, because there is a good chance you won't see them again until the next night. My point is, it is a little like going to DisneyWorld to hook up - plenty of people, but not the right kind.

The exception is singles group cruises. there are plenty of singles curise operators who put together groups, matching up same sex roommates, and then making sure there are plenty of singles and activities daly to get them mingling. THIS is a good bet for "hooking up" or just meeting someone nice, or at the least having companionship on a cruise instead of being alone.

How would I know all this? I worked on cruise ships for 2 years (like a poster above, I was a JAR, and he will know what I mean). And today I am the editor of cruisemates.com - one of the leading online cruise guides. We have a large section just for singles cruisers (articles and message boards) if you want to research this further.

To be perfectly clear - while it does happen I would never recommend GOING on a cruise (as the OP title suggests) in order to hook up. Most cruises are couples and familie traveling together, and a single will often have a hard time finding other singles. Now, once you find them it will likely be late at night in the disco as their parents or kids are asleep. So, you might "get lucky" but don't expect a lot of cuddling the next day, because there is a good chance you won't see them again until the next night. My point is, it is a little like going to DisneyWorld to hook up - plenty of people, but not the right kind.

The exception is singles group cruises. there are plenty of singles curise operators who put together groups, matching up same sex roommates, and then making sure there are plenty of singles and activities daly to get them mingling. THIS is a good bet for "hooking up" or just meeting someone nice, or at the least having companionship on a cruise instead of being alone.

How would I know all this? I worked on cruise ships for 2 years (like a poster above, I was a JAR, and he will know what I mean). And today I am the editor of cruisemates.com - one of the leading online cruise guides. We have a large section just for singles cruisers (articles and message boards) if you want to research this further.

jswadley, so youre agreeing with me right?

murphy beds (dropdown) etc are not "bunkbeds" (stacked vertically)

Murphy beds refer to beds that fold up against the wall, into a bookcase, etc.

While the beds on cruise ships do fold up against the wall, the fold up bed, once open, is well off the ground. While technically it's not a "bunk bed" in the traditional sense of the word, meaning it is not attached to the bed below it, the bed is off the ground several feet with no legs.

http://www.ncl.com/nclweb/fleet/stat...?shipCode=DAWN

If you look at the images of the Oceanview stateroom, for example, on one wall you can see a fram hanging. On the other wall is the fold down bed. The two beds on the ground can be brought together to form a queen, but the third person would sleep on a bed the flips down from the wall, but would sleep several feet above the others.

fuzz

It absolutely happens, and it does happen on Princess. The guy and girl who fell into the Gulf last year had just met in the club a few hours prior. The news didn't say it, the girl fell overboard because the guy pushed a little too hard, leading her to grab onto him and taking them both over the rail.

Here's a hint for any girls out there: if you wanna take a guy back to the cabin and have sex on the balcony, that's cool. But do yourself a favor and employ a smart position in which to do so. Sitting on the balcony with your back to the sea will result in us overzealous men pushing you over the rail.

On our Alaskan cruise there were only about a dozen people under 80 years old. We hung out, and even did a few shore things, with the cruise director and staff (more our age). One of the best cruises I've ever done!

Not much hooking up on that one....or at least any hooking up that I'd want to think about.

Interesting....

WE just did an Alaskan cruise on Princess at the end of May.... and we were commenting about how many "younger" people were on the ship..... it was actually a great mix of people.

We walked up to where they do teenager programs... and saw their numbers on the wall.... 142 kids betewen age of 12 - 17.

The ship staff also held "single" and "GLBT" welcoming event. We went to the GLBT event just to be friendly.... and there were about 28 people there... and all but two were couples....

We thoroughly enjoyed the trip....

Put a tie on the door to keep your roommates out, ok?

I can't speak for Alaskan cruises but most Caribbean cruises are hook-up central. Lots of divorces, bachelorette parties and real shortage of single men. Most activity happens after dinner > disco or port of call in a party zone. There is really nothing else to do in the late hours (if no family obligations) except consume alcohol and scan the sites.

That's just sad :)

I'll support this statement.

We were on the Grand Princess this past February and were docked across the way from a Carnival ship. Many people were out on their balconies to watch the Carnival ship sail away and during this we were flashed by several young women out on their balcony (on the Carnival ship).

I was equally amused and horrified, especially when people on our ship started snapping photos of the flashers.

If you check out the cruise critic boards, you will find two boards, one for singles and one for solo travelers. Both are interesting reading.
Bob

When I went on a Royal Caribbean cruise about 10 years ago, I heard the rumor was the hot-tubs at 2am were hook-up and swinger central. Could never stay up that late to test out the theory.
Went on a Singles Cruise and certainly did hook up, but that was a group travel thing specifically for singles, so it was sort-of implied (but not mandatory)

As a female I have hooked up on every single cruise that I went on. I didn't deliberately plan my trip around it though lol. I am going though on my first legit singles' cruise though in May.

Good advice for the boys, too.

In this case it was preplanned, but we once met a charming older gentleman who was onboard with his "secretary."

Yeah, I'd say what cruise line you're on and how long the trip is matters the most. Destination might matter a little.

We have a single friend who goes cruising with us occasionally. She's been hit on that I saw on our last cruise together. It wasn't, uh, subtle, but that guy was on the WRONG ship for it. Cruise line not known for partying (and a slightly older population in general) and in Alaska, where everyone was pretty covered up.

Now, a cruise to the Caribbean, Mexico, or Mediterranean... especially a shorter trip... On something like Carnival or Norwegian... I expect a lot of hooking up.