Back to cruises:
You can often ask for a roommate or to be seated with other women. Many women travel with sisters or female friends. There is often a table just for women.
On one cruise, aforementioned friend and I took a woman who was traveling alone under our wing. We'd meet up for the various shows in the evening and also say hello and make sure she was welcome to join us. She and I stayed friends until her passing.
She, in turn, met a boyfriend on that cruise. They were both in their seventies. We later learned that he had a wife who was ill and thus stayed in the cabin for several days!! That cruise gave us a lot to talk about for a long time!
