Two solo travellers hit a cruise together. Will it be smooth sailing?

What’s it like cruising with a mate? Does it offer the ultimate flexibility, letting you both do your own thing, or is it a frustrating endeavour of endless negotiation and compromise?

As long-time friends and committed solo travellers, we decide to put it to the test, boarding the Sun Princess for an action-packed seven-day cruise from Barcelona to Rome.

We’ve travelled together before, but on land.

How will we fare at sea? Will we stay the course or are we fairweather friends?

He says ...

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I board Sun Princess in Barcelona with a mixture of intrigue and concern. Intrigue, because this is by far the largest cruise ship I’ve been on – a 21-deck giant with 16 restaurants, 15 bars and 4566 other passengers. Concern, because I know I won’t possibly be able to sample every eatery, cocktail and activity on offer. I’m already suffering major FOMO before we set sail.

Thankfully, my travel buddy doesn’t share my affliction. While I’ve already been through our itinerary on the Princess mobile app and favourited dozens of classes, talks and shows, she’s happy to just turn up and go with the flow.

Exploring the ship, it’s clear that cruising has come a long way since I last boarded a Princess vessel in 2008. That trip was a partial circumnavigation of Australia on the old Sun Princess, a 2000-passenger liner that briefly held the title of world’s largest cruise ship when it launched in 1995.

Things have certainly gotten bigger, but they’ve also gotten easier. The Princess app is a lifesaver. It lets you book shore excursions, reserve specialty restaurants and order food and drinks from almost anywhere on the ship. There’s also a handy route-finder that shows you the best way to get from A to B.

Equally ingenious is the personalised Medallion, which charges purchases to your onboard account and even unlocks your cabin door as you approach.

If there’s a downside to travelling with a friend of the opposite sex, it’s that room sharing can be a bit, well, awkward – which is why we opt for separate cabins. We know it’s not how most friends would travel and, in hindsight, we could have made it work (the cabins are certainly spacious enough), but it saves Julie from having to endure my habit of taking long showers and me from her thunderous snoring.

One of the great advantages of travelling with a mate is that there’s less pressure to do everything together. So while Julie often starts her day at the gym, I opt for some gentle stretches in the fitness studio or head out early to watch us glide into port.

When it comes to shore excursions, neither Julie or I have been to Portofino, so we book the same tour out of Genoa – a fabulous trip that also visits the pretty coastal towns of Rapallo and Santa Margherita. Portofino is the rock star, though: an impossibly photogenic huddle of pastel-coloured mansions surrounding a superyacht-studded harbour.

In Marseille, while Julie heads to the wetlands of the Camargue, I join an unexpectedly intrepid e-bike tour of France’s oldest city. Port cities aren’t always renowned for their beauty, but Marseille is much prettier than I expected, particularly when viewed from Notre-Dame de la Garde, the striking Byzantine basilica on top of the city’s highest hill (thank you e-bike).

High on both our wish lists is Cinque Terre, the string of five UNESCO World Heritage-listed fishing villages that tumble down the Ligurian coastline near La Spezia.

I spend hours researching the perfect strategy, devising an itinerary that allows us to see all five using a mixture of trains and hiking paths, finishing with a sunset ride along the coast. And then, the day before we arrive, Italy’s rail workers go on strike.

Plan B is a more strenuous hike from Monterosso to Vernazza in 30-degree heat, which Julie wisely decides to abandon halfway through. I push on, safe in the knowledge that she’ll be much happier enjoying an Aperol Spritz overlooking Monterosso’s picturesque harbour.

Another potential pitfall of travelling with a mate is that you can be less inclined to socialise with other passengers. We combat this by attending an informal singles and solo travellers meet-up on the first night, where we meet Sharon from Brisbane, who has already spent two weeks onboard and is a mine of valuable information.

We learn about the best place to have breakfast (the promenade outside the Eatery buffet) and the secret lift to the Wake View Terrace, a less-visited spot at the aft of the ship with a stunning infinity pool.

Over the course of the week, we meet every combination you can imagine, from solos and couples to multi-generational families and large groups of friends. It’s hard to think of another travel style that so effectively caters to such a disparate range of ages and interests.

Despite my best efforts, we don’t have time to sample everything. But there are numerous highlights, including a fun-filled night in the specialty Umai Teppanyaki restaurant, where I need four attempts to catch a piece of omelette in my mouth. Julie, of course, nails it first time.

Spellbound is another standout – a theatrical magic show accessed via an anonymous black door. Staged in an atmospheric Victorian-style parlour, it includes some genuinely astonishing close-up card tricks by members of Hollywood’s Magic Castle.

Finally, the candlelit concerts in The Dome – a striking glass venue near the bow – are intimate and evocative, even if the acoustics aren’t perfect.

A cruise may just be the ideal holiday to take with a friend, but choosing the right companion still matters. There aren’t many people who would put up with my over-ambitious scheduling, penchant for multiple desserts or insistence on moving tables for the best view (three times in one restaurant). If you’re lucky enough to have a Julie in your life, consider a cruise. You’ll have a ball.

She says ...

As the Sun Princess pulls into the French port of Marseille, I watch in fascination from my balcony as the ship is masterfully manoeuvred alongside the wharf. Suddenly my phone pings – it’s my travel hubby Rob, texting me from another deck. “Did you watch the ship come in? Amazing bit of parallel parking!”

We may not be in the same physical space, but this shared experience has elevated the mundane into something memorable. And on a cruise, these snapshots become so much more vivid when created with a friend.

Rob and I are both currently single, creatures of habit and comfortable with our own company. But when the opportunity arises for us to spend a week together cruising from Barcelona to Rome on the Sun Princess, I jump at the opportunity. I mean, the Med – what’s not to love?

Not to mention travelling with “spreadsheet guy” means I can pack away my brain, with Rob pre-planning every second of the week down to coffee breaks on shore. Having spent the past 36 years parenting and grandparenting, I’m more than happy to relinquish control over such boring details, tagging in his lanky wake like an obedient puppy.

This week’s itinerary – one leg of a three-week round trip through the Mediterranean – is unusual in that it stops at a different port every day, with no days at sea. And that’s quite the whirlwind, with a lot of exploring and three different languages to contend with.

On the Spanish island of Mallorca, we venture into the town of Palma independently. An impromptu attendance at Sunday mass in the impressive Cathedral of Santa Maria is an unexpected highlight.

Meanwhile, the blue waters of the Mediterranean beckon in Corsica, best known as the birthplace of Napoleon, while our shore excursion to Genoa, a beautiful city with flamboyant Baroque architecture and cobbled laneways, includes lunch at Zefferino, which has been serving handmade pasta since 1939.

On the French Riviera, Rob and I go our separate ways: Rob cycles the streets of Marseille (my idea of hell in the midday heat!) while I admire flamingos and herons at a bird sanctuary in the moody Camargue, famed for its cowboys, black bulls and beautiful white horses.

Between shore visits, there’s a lot to squeeze in onboard, with very little time. We only manage one group fitness class, a video tai chi session under The Dome (Rob earnest, me inept); we spend as much time as possible in Lotus Spa’s luxurious thermal and hydrotherapy suite, well worth the additional expenditure if used daily.

For research purposes, we also while away an afternoon in the Sanctuary Club, a pool and bar exclusively for passengers staying in Sanctuary Collection suites. Less rowdy than the other pools, with a dedicated menu and waiter service, this proves a welcome taste of the high life, epitomised by a glass of champagne magically appearing upon the ring of a bell.

Perhaps as backup, should my company prove too tedious, social butterfly Rob is keen to meet other solo travellers, dragging me to a singles get-together on the night of embarkation. Interestingly, Rob is the only male in the mix, perhaps an indication that women are, in general, more adventurous and prepared to take on the challenges of travelling alone.

Having said that, I’m not a fan of the tedious “table for one”, an unavoidable malady of our profession; I welcome the opportunity to dine with a friend, with eight specialty restaurants available to passengers who’ve purchased the Premier Package.

The irony of the artistic-inspired dining experience that is Love by Britto – and its heart-shaped dishes – is not lost on us as the only non-couple in the restaurant. Did Rob mention I caught a flicked egg the first time at teppanyaki, humiliating him into a feeble fourth attempt after his first three failures? Belly laughs like this just don’t happen when you’re travelling alone.

Several of Sun Princess’ entertainment venues, such as The Dome and Princess Live, are quite intimate; we learn early in the cruise to plan accordingly or endure standing through a performance. Mind you, sit too close to the stage and you risk audience participation, as we discover at the end of the Viva La Musica stage show, when we’re dragged onto the dance floor with energetic and co-ordinated cast members.

And spare a thought for a young American lad named Stone, whose unconventional name makes him the unrelenting butt of jokes from British comedian Liam Withnail during a highly entertaining late-night comedy show.

From high-flying aerial performances to white-themed dance parties and singalongs at O’Malley’s Irish Pub, there’s no rest for the wicked on this cruise, despite my feeble efforts at escaping for an early night. With the intense shore itinerary and more onboard bars and restaurants than we can possibly conquer, I need a holiday by the end of the week.

But while this journey was, as I’m constantly reminding my friends, “work”, I honestly haven’t had so much fun in ages. And that’s all down to the company I’ve kept, with life at sea all the more enticing with my favourite first mate.

THE DETAILS

Princess Cruises’ seven-day Western Mediterranean with Italy cruise from Barcelona to Rome from $2010 a person, twin share in an interior cabin. Add-on Premier Package (unlimited drinks, speciality dining, Wi-Fi, reserved theatre seating, shore excursion credits and room service) costs $134 a day. See princess.com

FIVE MORE MEDITERRANEAN SURPRISES

Palma, Mallorca
An ornate riot of pinnacles and flying buttresses, Palma’s 13th-century Gothic cathedral, commonly referred to as La Seu, took 400 years to build and was extensively remodelled by Antoni Gaudi in the early 1900s. Admire its colourful frescoes and stunning stained-glass windows on a self-guided visit, or stay for the atmospheric Sunday mass.

Marseille, France
It’s no surprise that France’s oldest city has more than 30 museums, but two stand out. Housed in a striking lattice-clad cube, Mucem’s eclectic collection (spanning everything from Neolithic art to tarot cards) explores Mediterranean history and culture. Next door, Cosquer Mediterranee offers a theme-park-style journey through a faithful recreation of an underwater cave adorned with prehistoric paintings.

Genoa, Italy
Often overlooked in favour of shore excursions to Milan or Portofino, Italy’s largest port is an intriguing mix of narrow medieval alleyways and grand boulevards lined with 16th-century palaces. Don’t leave without trying its signature culinary exports: freshly baked focaccia and creamy pesto Genovese.

Ajaccio, Corsica
Corsica’s capital is much more than just a tribute to its most famous son, Napoleon Bonaparte. The city also boasts lovely beaches, an impressive 15th-century Genoese fortress and a lively daily market perfect for stocking up on local cheeses, cured meats and honey.

La Spezia, Italy
While it’s hard to compete with nearby Cinque Terre, La Spezia is a coastal gem in its own right. Stroll along the palm-lined seafront promenade, sample a traditional farinata (savoury chickpea pancake) and explore the city’s rich maritime history at the Naval Museum.

FIVE CRUISE ACTIVITIES THAT ARE BETTER WITH A FRIEND

Sailaway drinks
It’s all hands on deck – holding cocktails – as the Sun Princess makes its afternoon departures from its Mediterranean ports, tooting its signature Love Boat-themed horn. Grab a seat at the Wake View Terrace (by the infinity pool) to watch dreamy cities disappear into the sunset, celebrating the moment with obligatory selfies.

Dance classes
While no partner is required for Sun Princess’ free salsa, Zumba or line dancing classes, there’s nothing more amusing than watching a friend floundering under the instructions.

Dining
Let’s face it, dining alone can be a drag, particularly on a ship with such a wealth of options. Make sure your chosen restaurant satisfies dietary requirements (for instance, Julie is vegetarian, so we don’t try The Butcher’s Block) and choose at least one dessert to share. Unless you’re Rob, who orders the entire sweets menu.

Silent disco
While you dance to your own beat in a silent disco, the event is all the more hilarious as you watch friends wallow in their own musical universe.

Spellbound
In the first collaboration with LA’s Magic Castle, Spellbound elevates old-fashioned magic shows, with mind-blowing card tricks that will keep you and your friend pondering “but how?” for hours after.

The writers were guests of Princess Cruises.

After abandoning a sensible career in IT, Rob McFarland now divides his time between Sydney, the US and Europe. He’s won seven writing awards, including Australian Travel Writer of the Year, and offers writing courses for tourism operators, PR professionals and aspiring travel writers. While not averse to a 5-star hotel, his most memorable travels include scaling the mountain behind Machu Picchu and rafting Patagonia’s Futaleufu River. Follow his travels on Instagram @mctraveller.Connect via email.

Julie Miller scrapes a living writing about the things she loves: travel, riding horses and drinking cocktails on tropical beaches. Between airports, she lives in a rural retreat just beyond Sydney.