No solos on Carnival?

I've never looked at Carnival before, but someone in another thread mentioned a good deal on a New York - Canada round trip in September, so I took a look out of curiousity. I was using my usual go-to travel agent site, where it defaults to 2 passengers when you search, and you can change it to 1 when the results come up.

So it listed a bunch of Carnival cruises for that area during that timeframe, no problem. As soon as I changed it to 1 passenger, all those cruises showed up as Sold Out for all cabin categories.

Is this just a temporary quirk, or does Carnival not accept solo passengers?

I've never looked at Carnival before, but someone in another thread mentioned a good deal on a New York - Canada round trip in September, so I took a look out of curiousity. I was using my usual go-to travel agent site, where it defaults to 2 passengers when you search, and you can change it to 1 when the results come up.

 

So it listed a bunch of Carnival cruises for that area during that timeframe, no problem. As soon as I changed it to 1 passenger, all those cruises showed up as Sold Out for all cabin categories.

 

Is this just a temporary quirk, or does Carnival not accept solo passengers?

I'm almost certain it's a glitch of some kind. I've booked and traveled on Carnival several times, all solo. They've always been happy to take my money.

If your using a travel site it will do that. On carnival you can switch to one person and the price will double. You pay for two on Carnival at the moment.

Cool. It doesn't do it for any other lines, so it may just be a glitch :)

Have you checked the "fine print"? Some promotions are for double occupancy only. The business model is based on two people per cabin spending money on board.

Cool. It doesn't do it for any other lines, so it may just be a glitch :)

Its not a glitch. They are trying to tell you you have to pay for two (rooms are priced at double occupancy)

Have you checked the "fine print"? Some promotions are for double occupancy only. The business model is based on two people per cabin spending money on board.

Its not a glitch. They are trying to tell you you have to pay for two (rooms are priced at double occupancy)

Paying for two (or more) is normal. What I usually see is, for example, price per person listed at €1,000 and then when you change it to one person, it changes to price per cabin at €2,000.

Showing all cabins as sold out when you change to one traveller is not the same at all.

Paying for two (or more) is normal. What I usually see is, for example, price per person listed at €1,000 and then when you change it to one person, it changes to price per cabin at €2,000.

 

Showing all cabins as sold out when you change to one traveller is not the same at all.

Doesn't it hurt to see it double like that for solos??

It makes me mad but I still pay. I just can't afford the balcony... (lol):mad:

I booked Carnival Magic 5/10/2016 solo, I went thru carnival to book. Total cost for a porthole cabin was only $503 including gratuities. 7 day eastern carib. Hard to beat. I always deal directly with carnival and now they call me when a good deal pops up.

It would seem like a good business model for cruiselines to send deals to past passengers who have cruised solo! I was curious as to whether Carnival is solo-friendly and older-passenger friendly (widow early 60s). Our family had enjoyed Carnival cruises when our kids were young but we had eventually switched to RCL. I'll be taking my second solo on RCL this summer. It was restful and I enjoyed it, but there wasn't any way to meet other solos. I was also required to eat alone in main dining room since forced into MyTime dining, and there was no sharing of tables in MyTime dining on my cruise last year. This time I'll be paying 200%, but last year I had cruised with one of RCL's buy one-get one free promotions. They just ran a 150% promotion, so it's a question of waiting for the deals with them.

I am also going to take a short escorted trip in Europe this summer with a kid. The brochure showed a low solo supplement, and I'll be interested in seeing if there are solos on our bus. If I have to pay 200% for cruising, I might as well consider options offered by the tour industry for 120%. Cruiselines should get on-board (no pun intended) with the trend.

I've done 4 solo cruises on Carnival. All 4 times there was no problem booking as a solo. It used to be they would offer the 1As and sometimes the 4A cabins to solos at 150%. I miss those days! It makes Carnival less competitive with other lines when it come to solo pricing. For instance, HAL will offer inside and outside cabins in the Caribbean to solos at 130-160%. This is sometimes less than paying double on Carnival, even though the base price is more. I like Carnival, but HAL offers a more upscale product.

Roz

I've cruised solo 3 times on carnival so I know they do have solos. I got a really good deal my first time but these last two times I pretty much paid double the fare....And that's what It's going to be next time as well. The cruises I'm looking at for the fall are coming out to exactly double the advertised per person rate. But it's cheaper to pay that than it is to fly to South Florida.

They still do offer lower rates but it's rare and they are within about 50 days of when offered. Haven't seen one in a while.

50 days out doesn't work for me in terms of requesting leave at work and booking airfare and a hotel room, but it's nice for those retired and/or close by a departure port.

Roz

They still do offer lower rates but it's rare and they are within about 50 days of when offered. Haven't seen one in a while.

That's true. I booked a 7 day Carnival Dream cruise out of New Orleans 2 years ago for $400! They were running some type of solo deal that I booked 4-6 weeks out. When I got on the ship I met a fellow solo passenger who booked the cruise less than a week out for $250!

That's true. I booked a 7 day Carnival Dream cruise out of New Orleans 2 years ago for $400! They were running some type of solo deal that I booked 4-6 weeks out. When I got on the ship I met a fellow solo passenger who booked the cruise less than a week out for $250!

The one I booked was a 5-day in July 2014 for $450. I booked 2-3 weeks out. Now I can't get a 5-day in early fall under $600....and for July now you're looking at $1000 for interior cabin as a solo.

Summers in the Caribbean are problematic because there aren't that many ships (most are deployed to Alaska or Europe), but kids are out of school and there's a high demand for cabins from families.

Roz

Rare, but they are still out there. Lately, if I check for solo cruises I am only finding 100% supplement rates. However, don't let that stop you. Last year October, I booked a 21 day cruise for $1800CDN! Yes, I paid for two people but it still came to less than $100 a day.

Also, in the December the year before I paid just over $400 for a six day cruise in an inside cabin that only had a single bed - talk about having room to spread out.

And I just missed out on a 11 day cruise at the end of May that would had came out at about $800 (50% supplement), I had a doctor's appointment on June 2, and by the time I sorted out whether I could change the appointment someone else had taken the last remaining cabin at that price.

Which does bring up the point, when they do become available grab them right away because they go fast. That is why last year I ended going on a NCL cruise ($560 for 7 days), there was a good Carnival cruise at the time, yet between the time I saw it and an hour later when I went to book it the final cabins had already been taken.

Move it, or lose it.

Earlier this year, I booked a 6-day Western Caribbean out of Miami on the Splendor for early December. It works out to about $130/night even though I'm paying double the rate.

cruise Carnival last year as well, solo, good times

It would seem like a good business model for cruiselines to send deals to past passengers who have cruised solo! I was curious as to whether Carnival is solo-friendly and older-passenger friendly (widow early 60s). Our family had enjoyed Carnival cruises when our kids were young but we had eventually switched to RCL. I'll be taking my second solo on RCL this summer. It was restful and I enjoyed it, but there wasn't any way to meet other solos. I was also required to eat alone in main dining room since forced into MyTime dining, and there was no sharing of tables in MyTime dining on my cruise last year. This time I'll be paying 200%, but last year I had cruised with one of RCL's buy one-get one free promotions. They just ran a 150% promotion, so it's a question of waiting for the deals with them.

FWIW, being "forced" into MTD had zero to do with your being solo and everything to do with traditional dining being "sold out". You could have asked to be wait listed for one of the two traditional dining times as well as checking as soon as you were aboard to see if anything had opened up.

Though from reports I have read even in traditional you could still have been placed at a 2-top as more and more people want to eat just with their families/groups. And even at bigger tables a) there are people who assume they will be just their group and are at best indifferent to others at the table and at worst rude and/or b) with all the specialty dining options some people don't bother with the MDR.

My pet-peeve as a solo traveler is when they automatically dump all the solos at one table. Just because we travel solo does not mean we have ANYTHING else in common and IMHO can be more uncomfortable than "being forced" to sit alone.

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