The last article we wrote about singles cruises asked the question “who should go on a singles cruise?” In answering this question, another question became immediately obvious: who should not go on a singles cruise? The answer to this second question is in many ways embedded in the answer to the first question – if a person with attribute X should take a singles cruise, for example, then a person who lacks attribute X should not take a singles cruise. However, sometimes it is helpful to explicitly state what was merely implied, and a little overlap never killed anyone. So, who should not go on a singles cruise?
Most obviously, you should not be in any sort of committed relationship if you go on a singles cruise. While the point of a singles cruise is not only to meet other singles with whom to begin relationships (whether long-term or short-term), this is certainly a large component – and the chief aim – of any singles cruise. They are singles cruises, and as an apple orchard is for apples, a singles cruise is for singles. As such, if you are in a committed relationship and go on a singles cruise, you are committing a double offense: you are not only betraying the trust of your partner, you are also misleading the other passengers on board the ship. The mentality on board a singles cruise is that everyone else on the ship is also a single – this is their primary appeal. You needn’t worry about the relationship status of the people with whom you are talking. So, it’s misleading at best and offensive at worst if you take a singles cruise when you are not actually single.
You should also not go on a singles cruise if you are intimidated by new experiences and people. Singles cruises are designed to bring people together of different personalities and various backgrounds. Everyone is funneled together on one ship and it is all but inevitable that a large portion of your time on board will be spent meeting new people. Again, this is basically the point of a singles cruise. Of course, you don’t need to be unusually gregarious and outgoing to get along fine on a singles cruise – most people will have no problem in this enviroment if they simply embrace the situation – but if you are extremely shy and uncomfortable chatting it up with poeple you just met, a singles cruise is probably not the place for you.
Although we remain convinced that there are few people who are both single and definitely not suited for a singles cruise, such individuals exist. A singles cruise isn’t some sort of crazy new ordeal during which the general rules of social interaction are abandoned, but they definitely involve novel experiences, and one must be prepared for these. And speaking of novel situations, check out our article on the appropriateness (or lack of appropriateness) of taking a singles cruise if you are in an open or polyamorous relationship.