Solo Cabin questions ....

Hi,

Our family cruise is this month out f Miami. Our son was able to join us, so we booked his Interior Cabin last month. Our cost $1,048 plus $200 taxes. Quite expensive for an interior cabin on Empress Deck IMO.

If this should happen again....booking a solo cabin a month prior to cruise...is there a better way to book? I just called Carnival this time. Is there some step or plan to use so that we can avoid this high rate?

Thank you guys!

:)

ive always heard they charge single people more because all cabins are at least double occupancy and they have to make up for it. i could be totally wrong, but thats my understanding.

my mom also didnt understand why she was charge so much more when she booked her a room with my sister and her family when they went on their cruise.

I always book using http://www.carnival.com. For the best rate it helps to be flexible with your dates. The cost for a solo traveler to sail 7 nights on the Carnival Glory starting August 30th is $471.02 inc. taxes.

ive always heard they charge single people more because all cabins are at least double occupancy and they have to make up for it.

This is true. Most of the time, solos pay 200% However, on some select sailing, Carnival offers a lower single supplement or they even waive it. The best way to find those sailings is by searching the Carnival site with the number of travelers set at one. There is also a list on a site they have for travel agents that makes its way onto this site.

In the OP case, this may not have been helpful since they were already booked on a sailing and their son was joining them.

For the most part, Carnival charges solos the same cruise rate as if 2 people were in the cabin, and then just 1 gov't taxes. So no break at all for solos. Carnival makes out like bandits on those, because port fees are built into the cruise fare, not the gov't taxes. That's a secret that most people don't know about. Most other cruiselines will allow solos to pay closer to 175% or so, reduced by approximately the amount that the cruiseline is saving by only paying 1 set of port fees. But Carnival pockets that extra money.

Before 2010, the lowest category of cabins (the bunk bed rooms) were offered to solos at 150%. They did away with that, and everything has been 200% until late last year. On select sailings, for a limited time, you can find some room types that have no solo supplement at all. Unfortunately for you, you don't have the kind of flexibility to wait & look for one of those sailings. They usually will do this within about 3 months of sailing, for a limited time, and only on certain sailings, and only for certain room types. This seems to be done with sailings that are having a hard time getting booked up. It was done on my last cruise, but only on oceanview rooms, not interiors or anything else. Solos could book OVs at about 60% of what they would've paid for an interior.

Hi,

Our family cruise is this month out f Miami. Our son was able to join us, so we booked his Interior Cabin last month. Our cost $1,048 plus $200 taxes. Quite expensive for an interior cabin on Empress Deck IMO.

If this should happen again....booking a solo cabin a month prior to cruise...is there a better way to book? I just called Carnival this time. Is there some step or plan to use so that we can avoid this high rate?

Thank you guys!

:)

I don't know why you have that rate, but it sounds high. The cabin must be in a prime location even though it's an interior. What ship?

Hi,

Our family cruise is this month out f Miami. Our son was able to join us, so we booked his Interior Cabin last month. Our cost $1,048 plus $200 taxes. Quite expensive for an interior cabin on Empress Deck IMO.

If this should happen again....booking a solo cabin a month prior to cruise...is there a better way to book? I just called Carnival this time. Is there some step or plan to use so that we can avoid this high rate?

Thank you guys!

:)

I would guess the reason the cruise fare seems high is you booked fairly close to the sail date and the ship could be selling well which may also increase the cruise rate. I book as soon as I can with the ES(early saver) rate that way if the cruise rate does go down you would get the lower rate or up but you would be price protected.

Gary

For the most part, Carnival charges solos the same cruise rate as if 2 people were in the cabin, and then just 1 gov't taxes. So no break at all for solos. Carnival makes out like bandits on those, because port fees are built into the cruise fare, not the gov't taxes. That's a secret that most people don't know about. Most other cruiselines will allow solos to pay closer to 175% or so, reduced by approximately the amount that the cruiseline is saving by only paying 1 set of port fees. But Carnival pockets that extra money.

Very very true.

And there are some other shenanigans, closely related, that CCL pulls as well.

.

I would guess the reason the cruise fare seems high is you booked fairly close to the sail date and the ship could be selling well which may also increase the cruise rate. I book as soon as I can with the ES(early saver) rate that way if the cruise rate does go down you would get the lower rate or up but you would be price protected.

 

Gary

Even if ES, the rate will still be double for a solo. The solo person is paying for each individual bed in the cabin. They are not just paying for a cabin. It stinks, because I go solo. Can you imagine if every cabin gave a solo discount? The ship would be full of one person per cabin. Some people here have expressed that people have done this on purpose when there was a no supplement booking, thus tying up 2 cabins for their own space. That is 2 people in 2 cabins vs. 4 people in 2 cabins. Less spending.

I guess I lucked out :) Snagged a cove for $449 with an awesome Cdn. res. rate for my Breeze cruise for Sept. 21st. Great way to welcome fall!

Sent from my phone. Typos are inevitable.

i did a mock booking on a cruise i hope we take in December. one for 2 people and one for 1 person. the single booking was just $100 less than the double booking.

Very very true.

And there are some other shenanigans, closely related, that CCL pulls as well.

 

.

Shenanigans - how about paying double, yet only granted 7 nights for VIFP? Another ripoff!

Even if ES, the rate will still be double for a solo. The solo person is paying for each individual bed in the cabin. They are not just paying for a cabin. It stinks, because I go solo. Can you imagine if every cabin gave a solo discount? The ship would be full of one person per cabin. Some people here have expressed that people have done this on purpose when there was a no supplement booking, thus tying up 2 cabins for their own space. That is 2 people in 2 cabins vs. 4 people in 2 cabins. Less spending.

That is true guests that book solo get screwed because they pay double but if you book ES the rate could go down which is exactly what my October 26 cruise on the Conquest did it went down $100.00. However there was a time when the cruise rate for a solo guest was 150% over the cruise rate for a category 3 or less.

Gary

I don't know why you have that rate, but it sounds high. The cabin must be in a prime location even though it's an interior. What ship?

Our son is with us on the Glory sailing August 23rd. My husband and I booked a 9C,Empress Deck back in January on ES Rate. We've had over $400 in price drops on that 9 C.

IDK if our son's Aft Interior room is a "prime location". I just found the cost ridiculously high! That's why I posted here....I guess I was hoping there was something I missed. Appears not.... We are very happy he can join us.

Thank you all for the answers..... :)

Carnival is doing some offers of reduced single supplements but they are capacity controlled. So I too was able to get a lower price than you paid for your son, but had to book in advance. There is a sweet spot usually about 2-3 months, and when they put them out, they go quickly, again because of capacity issues. It might be a better deal to see if son wants to bring a friend. Have friend pay the difference between 1-2 people and he would then have someone to hang out with. Just an idea....

Thanks for replying Jenna. Junior College starts up the week of our cruise. His buddies are going back for Fall Semester. Our son ended up signing up for online classes, so he could go with us. No girlfriend this year either. He's always made friends on the ship. You know, we set sail next weekend ....so all is good. Pricey but good.:)