Booking solo cruise

How do you book a solo cruise? do you have to book this by phone? I went into the website and put in one person however it looked like it was the two person cost less port fees. what category are the solos?

i'm probably doing something wrong knowing me. :o

How do you book a solo cruise? do you have to book this by phone? I went into the website and put in one person however it looked like it was the two person cost less port fees. what category are the solos?

i'm probably doing something wrong knowing me. :o

Most all of the staterooms would require you to pay double. A small number of cruises and/or categories have less than a 200% supplement.

There are a few Radiance class ships, plus Quantum and Anthem that have true solo staterooms.

It depends on what you want. I booked a guarantee last week and needed to have them open up a single space (otherwise it was quadruple the price). It took about 20 minutes on the phone and it was fine. If you are not booking a guarantee, you should be able to do it no problem on the website. It will not charge you double taxes.

How do you book a solo cruise? do you have to book this by phone? I went into the website and put in one person however it looked like it was the two person cost less port fees. what category are the solos?

i'm probably doing something wrong knowing me. :o

That's because the price quoted per person is based on "double occupancy." If you don't have at least 2 occupants, then you pay double the cruise fare, but taxes and port fees for only one. I think that sucks, but it's just the way it goes :(

How do you book a solo cruise? do you have to book this by phone? I went into the website and put in one person however it looked like it was the two person cost less port fees. what category are the solos?

i'm probably doing something wrong knowing me. :o

After you choose the cruise you want and the room, there is a section that reads "tell us who's sailing' or something like that. It's a drop down box. Click on that box and highlight "1". It will give you the total price and breakdown of that particular cruise.

Happy sailing.

Some web sites that will give you the approximate cost (i.e. cost without C&A discounts) for 1, 2, 3 and 4 people without needing to log in which makes it easy to see what the single supplement on a particular cruise / cabin combination is. This makes it much easier to keep up with the current pricing than logging in to the RCI web site each time. Search for an agency web site like that and it makes the process a lot simpler even if you never book using them.

Sailing solo is pricey, I'm always sailing single. I book with a large internet agency, using the same gal for 15 years and it does help. She is a top seller, wins awards, does group bookings and I always get a better price than the website.

Point of the story is, do your homework, check many sites that are available. Don't just book with the cruise website. Research, research and more research.

How do you book a solo cruise? do you have to book this by phone? I went into the website and put in one person however it looked like it was the two person cost less port fees. what category are the solos?

i'm probably doing something wrong knowing me. :o

As others have stated, cruises are almost exclusively quoted at Double Occupancy rates. In other words, you're paying "by the room" rather than "by the person".

If the room on a weeklong cruise is $200/night and port taxes are $100 per person, then a single person would pay ($200 x 7 nights) + ($100 x 1 person ) = $1500 for one person. Two people in the same category room would pay ($200 x 7 nights) + ($100 x 2 people) = $1600 for two people.

It seems unfair to the single person, but the fact remains that the cruise lines are in the business of making money, and one person doesn't bring in as much revenue as two people. The cruise line would be losing money if they only charged the single-occupancy rate on a room that will hold two (or more) people.

If there is only one person in the room, the cruise line saves the (minimal) cost of feeding and washing linens for one person, but at the same time they are losing potential revenue from on-board purchases: stores, bar tab, laundry services, spa services, excursions, etc. The mark-up (profit) on these on-board purchases is hefty, and letting a ship sail with rooms only half-full will result in the cruise line losing money. Charging "by the room" rather than "by the person" allows the cruise line to recoup some of that lost revenue.

Since most prices are listed "per person based on double occupancy" the term "single supplement" is used to describe the extra fare charged for a single person. In most cases the "single supplement" is 200% -- a single person pays 200% of the listed per-person-based-on-double-occupancy fare. As others have stated, some cruises (which are selling slowly or not anticipated to be full at time of sailing) will lower the supplement rate to entice people to cruise who wouldn't otherwise -- occasionally (rarely) you'll see the single supplement listed at 100%, but 150% is more common.

If you can afford the higher rate, go ahead and book and forget about it -- you're on a cruise! If you can't afford the higher rate, your options are to find a friend to cruise with you or do a "last-minute" cruise that's not sold out (with a reduced single supplement offered by the cruise line in an attempt to bring in any possible additional revenue -- empty staterooms bring in no money!).

All of the solo cruises I've ever taken have been booked within a month of the cruise ... if cabins are on sale, they will sometimes lower the single supplement. I typically have paid 120-150% which hasn't been too bad.

How do you book a solo cruise? do you have to book this by phone? I went into the website and put in one person however it looked like it was the two person cost less port fees. what category are the solos?

i'm probably doing something wrong knowing me. :o

Welcome to the world of solo cruising! I still do it - book cheaper rooms and have the luxury or not having to share a small space. Have sailed with a group but found I felt I missed out on the things I like to do - or maybe it is my sailing routine I like when on aboard solo.

I love cruising solo but hate paying the supplement. Once I paid only $99 extra but usually I have to pay double, which I hate. Next year I'm going to try one of those tiny studio rooms on NCL made for solo cruisers so there's no supplement to pay. It's about the size of my walk in closet at home, so we'll see how that goes!

I love cruising solo but hate paying the supplement. Once I paid only $99 extra but usually I have to pay double, which I hate. Next year I'm going to try one of those tiny studio rooms on NCL made for solo cruisers so there's no supplement to pay. It's about the size of my walk in closet at home, so we'll see how that goes!

Keep an eye on prices... I've seen regular rooms go for less than the studios, even with the 200% single supplement!

IMHO...solo cruising is awesome. It is always worth the price.

I love cruising and 'accept' the single pricing although reluctantly. I did draw the line at booking a cruise during the BOGO half price as I refused to pay more than 2 people in a room. :eek:

Lesley :)

As others have said, yes, it's possible to book a cabin just for yourself, either on the RC website or on another. It will usually default to 2 people, so just make sure you check; call them if it's not working. I think it's crappy that solo travelers have to pay double (I understand that RC is a business that needs to make money, but...) but I love cruising and I've found some reasonable deals and enjoy cruising by myself. Have fun!

I love cruising and 'accept' the single pricing although reluctantly. I did draw the line at booking a cruise during the BOGO half price as I refused to pay more than 2 people in a room. :eek:

 

Lesley :)

When I booked a solo cabin during BOGOHO, they only charged me the second-person-half-off rate.

When I booked a solo cabin during BOGOHO, they only charged me the second-person-half-off rate.

They did have a period where they were charging more than what 2 were paying. They did change that later to where the half off rate appeared.

They often still do not show availability when there are discount GTY options. When you put in 1 passenger the category does not come up.

The way to handle this is to book and pay for 2. Book the second passenger as TBA and put in a fake birth date. Then call them and have them remove the second passenger and refund the taxes and fee for the second passenger.

Here is a solo price.

https://booking.royalcaribbean.co.uk/selectItinerary.htm;jsessionid=8EBE19B96990156DED3DF2BE49B382F4?iternaryCode=13Q005&iternaryListIndex=226364

I have booked during the BOGO sale..I am paying the full 200% charge.

It's so not fair that there isnt some kind of a break given to solo travellers, even if only during these "promo" sales.

I have booked during the BOGO sale..I am paying the full 200% charge.

 

It's so not fair that there isnt some kind of a break given to solo travellers, even if only during these "promo" sales.

In the BOGO sail enter 2 people sharing cabin. that will price out the 1/2 off second cruiser. You can just go alone saying other traveler canceled on cruise.

The way to handle this is to book and pay for 2. Book the second passenger as TBA and put in a fake birth date. Then call them and have them remove the second passenger and refund the taxes and fee for the second passenger.

Don't you risk them charging you "prevailing fee" at the point you tell them the second isn't going? That's what they did to me.

In the BOGO sail enter 2 people sharing cabin. that will price out the 1/2 off second cruiser. You can just go alone saying other traveler canceled on cruise.

that was my thought to. seemed logical to me. is there a reason this could not be done?

Don't you risk them charging you "prevailing fee" at the point you tell them the second isn't going? That's what they did to me.

This is done right with the booking. You book as 2 in the GTY. You call them and state the Z inside, Y outside, X balcony or W suite was not open to book for just 1, so to secure the cabin you booked with 2. They then have to call 'revenue' to clear it up.

It takes about 20 to 30 minutes. You have to have paid for 2. You have only paid the taxes for 2 as the category was just booked.

It would be discrimination to not allow a solo to pay 200% of any published fare as that is their stated solo policy.

This does not work for standard categories as they have them restricted. This does work for GTY offers.

This is done right with the booking. You book as 2 in the GTY. You call them and state the Z inside, Y outside, X balcony or W suite was not open to book for just 1, so to secure the cabin you booked with 2. They then have to call 'revenue' to clear it up.

 

It takes about 20 to 30 minutes. You have to have paid for 2. You have only paid the taxes for 2 as the category was just booked.

 

It would be discrimination to not allow a solo to pay 200% of any published fare as that is their stated solo policy.

 

This does not work for standard categories as they have them restricted. This does work for GTY offers.

So GTY is the key and to do it right away. Great, good to know.

Don't you risk them charging you "prevailing fee" at the point you tell them the second isn't going? That's what they did to me.

Did you tell them at check-in that the other person was a no-show, or did you tell them in advance that the other person wasn't coming?