Does MSC not allow solos?

Forgive me, I'm a newbie to MSC but have cruised with Princess numerous times.

I was tempted to give MSC a try since they offer status matching for their Voyagers Club. I tried to do a few mock bookings on various itineraries and ships (MSC Divinia in the Med and MSC Seaside in the Caribbean as two examples) but when I set the number of adult passengers to "1", every stateroom category came up as "Fully booked, please select another stateroom category". If I backed up and chose 2 adults, pretty much every stateroom category became available.

Does MSC not allow solos?

Access for solo travelers is very limited. I have three trips booked over the next two years, but it was very hard to find them. I have been told they only have so many spaces for single travelers and they fill up. I don't buy this. There seems to be no real explanation for why some cruises have space and others do not. The one thing that is certain; over the last year openings have become very limited. From my experience it appears the new ship Bellissima will only allow singles to travel in the new studio staterooms. MSC is definitely much less friendly toward single travelers than NCL, Celebrity, Royal Caribbean. It has never been an issue with these other cruise lines...never!

Yes, they allow solos.

Solo fare isn't available on all cruise dates and only a limited number of solo fares are sold per market area (MSC allots a certain number of cabins to market areas around the world to make sure that each sailing has a good mix of passengers).

Call a travel agent who may be able to help you find a sail date with solo pricing.

I am a solo and have cruised with MSC twice.......and have another 3 cruises booked :)

.........but, it can be a challenge to find cruises that will be accepted for solo bookings. I do not know why this, but I suspect it is a capacity control business plan that puts limits on solo occupancy :confused:

I’m off on Divina at the end of January......l.cant wait!

Keep searching, and I’m sure you’ll find something. I had only ever cruised with one line before trying MSC ........and was hooked immediately. Beautiful ships, and a really great cruise experience :)

If there is a ship and date you really want but no solo rate is offered, just make your reservation as two people (you being the primary guest), and let the second person no-show at the pier. You will receive a refund for their taxes after the cruise. Of course you will be paying double, but that is not so unusual.

I recently had to do this on Royal Caribbean (Harmony of the Seas) as they also have a limited number solos per cruise then block it out.

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Much appreciated.

It's disappointing that MSC limits solo bookings in this way but that's the way it is so I'll deal with it. That'll just make it that much harder for them to make me switch from Princess. :)

If you do the double fake booking to finagle a solo, you may be paying more than you would under a solo rate.

When my sister has booked solo, her fare was more than 1/2 of a double cabin, but less than the fare for two passengers in a cabin.

The paying double thing I'm pretty used to (most Princess cruises charge a 100% solo supplement but then they give me double credit (i.e. 1 cruise counts as 2 for my Captain's Circle status)).

But if I decide to get tricksy and book as 2 passengers instead on just little ol' me, aren't they going to catch on when I can't supply any personal or passport information for the second passenger? Or do you all just convince a loved one to fork over their information for the sake of the booking? (Note to self: get some loved ones.)

The paying double thing I'm pretty used to (most Princess cruises charge a 100% solo supplement but then they give me double credit (i.e. 1 cruise counts as 2 for my Captain's Circle status)).

 

But if I decide to get tricksy and book as 2 passengers instead on just little ol' me, aren't they going to catch on when I can't supply any personal or passport information for the second passenger? Or do you all just convince a loved one to fork over their information for the sake of the booking? (Note to self: get some loved ones.)

Honestly you can just make up all the information. Remember it doesn’t matter as they won’t be showing up.

Forgive me, I'm a newbie to MSC but have cruised with Princess numerous times.

 

I was tempted to give MSC a try since they offer status matching for their Voyagers Club. I tried to do a few mock bookings on various itineraries and ships (MSC Divinia in the Med and MSC Seaside in the Caribbean as two examples) but when I set the number of adult passengers to "1", every stateroom category came up as "Fully booked, please select another stateroom category". If I backed up and chose 2 adults, pretty much every stateroom category became available.

 

Does MSC not allow solos?

This is exactly what happened to me when I looked into cruising solo with MSC. I posted and was told that MSC is not solo cruising friendly. I wonder what happens if you book for 2 and have a no show upon embarkation?

Yes they do but it's limited, you have to book real early.

This is exactly what happened to me when I looked into cruising solo with MSC. I posted and was told that MSC is not solo cruising friendly. I wonder what happens if you book for 2 and have a no show upon embarkation?

Nothing. You have already paid double. By law they have to refund the port charges on the no-show. That is the extent of it.

We're doing the 'extra person on the booking' for our Seaside cruise next year. I was up front with the TA about what we were doing. We're in YC, and the entire YC is sold out. I asked the TA when we should cancel the ghost passenger and she recommended at final payment. Then we would get a refund of the fare, and there would not be any penalties instituted. MSC could theoretically try to switch our room at that time, but if the whole YC is sold out, there isn't a lot of opportunity to move us.

The reason I want to cancel the person is because I have heard rumors of penalties being charged for no-show guests. In our case, we want a 5-person cabin with 4 of us (my 2 adult-sized teens won't do well sharing a double sofabed) and I guess a lot of people will have a 5th person 'no show' at boarding, hence the penalties. There's a thread around here on that somewhere.

I'm not sure if they have the same penalties for a double-become-solo cabin.

I’m not sure legally what penalties could be imposed beyond a forfeiture of the fare paid. That is all they can do.

Now if you cancel in advance who knows what they could do. Least of all I suppose force you to move to a cabin with the occupancy equal to the amount of pax remaining. Seems they would only do this if your original higher occupancy cabin was needed.

Personally I would go with the no-show. I’ve done it in the past on more than one cruise line and it never been an issue. They just keep the fare paid and refund the taxes. Mind you I’ve only done this double occupancy, never more than that.

Going the 'no show' route means you are also paying double for any upgrade in service level you request. I guess there is some benefit to receiving the double loyalty credits, but for casual cruisers there isn't much benefit. I realize one has to adapt but it is unpleasant.

Going the 'no show' route means you are also paying double for any upgrade in service level you request. I guess there is some benefit to receiving the double loyalty credits, but for casual cruisers there isn't much benefit. I realize one has to adapt but it is unpleasant.

Paying double and having to no show a person is never ideal for a single traveler, but it's a last resort if single rates are not offered. I suppose it depends on how badly you want to go on the sailing.