Room Share Program

Have any solo cruisers tried the Room Share program and what was the experience like. The price is appealing but a week could be very long with a serious mis-match. Thanks

Some cruiselines still offer a room share program?

I, for one, would not even consider a room share, but I know that they are out there. As you stated, I would be extremely concerned about my cruise being ruined from the get-go with a mismatched roommate. I have too many quirks to try to spend a week with anyone other than myself alone or my husband (who is a real quirk!)...hence, I travel alone. Good luck in your endeavor.

If you are referring to HAL, I would recommend doing some price checking on some on-line sites, etc., and not booking with HAL. I sometimes solo cruise, most recently on HAL in Feb., and can find solo rates for about 120%-140%. Even my longer TA cruise in the Fall on HAL, is solo. There is no way I would consider the share program, but that is just me. Heck, I've become so spoiled with solo cruising that the only one I am willing to share a room with is dh!

Marie

There's no way I'm spending a ton of money for a vacation just to take the chance of getting the roommate from hell. I cannot imagine sharing anything with a complete stranger for a week. My luck I'd get a roommate who wants to do nothing but drink or hook up every night, so I'm stuck sleeping in a deck chair.

To each their own I suppose, but I would not take the chance on an unknown roomie. There are some who have had great success with this program but I'm not willing to risk it. Check this board for a thread on single supplements to get an idea about bargains. I'd rather pay a little more (even a lot more LOL) and know that I was going to enjoy my companion (me).

To each their own I suppose, but I would not take the chance on an unknown roomie. There are some who have had great success with this program but I'm not willing to risk it. Check this board for a thread on single supplements to get an idea about bargains. I'd rather pay a little more (even a lot more LOL) and know that I was going to enjoy my companion (me).

Hi Sandy:) could not have said it better myself.

Sharing a cabin with a stranger? I think not. I haven't even

shared a clicker with anyone at home for over 10 years;)

I defintely won't be sharing a cabin with someone I have never

met.

Paying the price for my own space is sooo worth it to me.

I am so wary of this. What happens if you get a roomie that you can't stand. I think, for myself, it is worth the added expense to get a single room.

Good luck if you decide to do this.

Is HAL the only cruiseline that offers this? I understand that many of you are wary of the matching program, but it wouldn't bother me at all. I am used to sharing a room (fresh out of college ;) ) and have lived with all types...Obviously some people are better roommates than others, but for 7 days, I can live with anyone.

Is HAL the only cruiseline that offers this? I understand that many of you are wary of the matching program, but it wouldn't bother me at all. I am used to sharing a room (fresh out of college ;) ) and have lived with all types...Obviously some people are better roommates than others, but for 7 days, I can live with anyone.

I don't know if other lines do this. I know Royal and Celebrity

don't offer it. I can't tell you about Princess or Carnival.

When you say you can live with anyone for 7 days....what if

this person is not hygenically clean? What if they snore?

What if they bring back someone to the cabin?

And remember the average cabin size is about 200 sq feet.

What if they are just not courteous? Or they want to be

tied to the hip?

There are soooooo many scenerios. Hard to set ground rules

with someone you don't know.

Maybe that is the age difference. You are younger and would

deal with those things.

I am 50 and have no desire to deal with them. I am on vacation

and having my own space is an important part of that time:)

Good luck with whatever you decide:)

I don't know if other lines do this. I know Royal and Celebrity don't offer it.

When you say you can live with anyone for 7 days....what if this person is not hygenically clean? What if they snore? What if they bring back someone to the cabin? And remember the average cabin size is about 200 sq feet. What if they are just not courteous? Or they want to be

tied to the hip? There are soooooo many scenerios. Hard to set ground rules with someone you don't know. Maybe that is the age difference. You are younger and would deal with those things.

I am 50 and have no desire to deal with it. I am on vacation

and my space is an important part of that time:)

I completely understand your concerns. And you're right, I would much prefer to have my own space...but when it comes down to the bottom line, I'd rather save the money and vacation more frequently (I am sure there are plenty of people who would feel the contrary is better!) It helps that for me, a room is simply a place to sleep and nothing else. I've done my fair share of sleeping on floors at friends' apartments, cots in hostels, and camping...I'm guessing even a lounge chair by the pool would be more comfortable than some of the places I've slept:rolleyes: It's certainly not ideal to room-share, but I've had 8 roommates over the past 4 years (including one currently), and I've experienced it all.

I'm not necessarily even booking a cruise (though I am actively looking for a short cruise this September), just wanted to know what cruise lines offered this for future reference.

I completely understand your concerns. And you're right, I would much prefer to have my own space...but when it comes down to the bottom line, I'd rather save the money and vacation more frequently (I am sure there are plenty of people who would feel the contrary is better!) It helps that for me, a room is simply a place to sleep and nothing else. I've done my fair share of sleeping on floors at friends' apartments, cots in hostels, and camping...I'm guessing even a lounge chair by the pool would be more comfortable than some of the places I've slept:rolleyes: It's certainly not ideal to room-share, but I've had 8 roommates over the past 4 years (including one currently), and I've experienced it all.

 

I'm not necessarily even booking a cruise (though I am actively looking for a short cruise this September), just wanted to know what cruise lines offered this for future reference.

Good luck to you my dear:) sleeping on the floor is not

something I care to do;)

I am guessing you are in your 20s.....and I know when I was

in my 20s I probably would have been in the same genre.....

but as I have gotten older.....no thanks.

Short cruises happen out of Port Canaveral and of course

South Florida too. Carnival and Royal Caribbean both offer

weekend cruises.

... When you say you can live with anyone for 7 days....what if this person is not hygenically clean? What if they snore?

What if they bring back someone to the cabin?

And remember the average cabin size is about 200 sq feet.

What if they are just not courteous? Or they want to be

tied to the hip?

There are soooooo many scenerios. Hard to set ground rules

with someone you don't know.

Maybe that is the age difference. You are younger and would

deal with those things.

I am 50 and have no desire to deal with them. I am on vacation

and having my own space is an important part of that time:)...

I'm convinced. I'll shell out the extra cash and get my own room. But just out of curiostiy are there any good room sharing experieces out there? Thanks for your input everyone.

You are so right Lois. It's a generational thing. I think once you get into your late 30's and beyond, your views change completely. I roomed with people in college, took a 6 week camping vacation with a friend with only a two man tent and a sleeping bag, slept outside to buy concert tickets, but that was all before I was 30. Now, that I'm older, that kind of stuff is not for me either. I think that a lot of people who don't have the cruising experience that you or I do, don't realize many things about cruises and the cabins---how tiny they are, the tiny bathrooms, and the fact that you really do spend more time in a cabin than you realize. Plus, I'm not going to pay money to have to sleep in a deck chair. I know there are a lot of people who want to save money, and that entirely valid, but there are some very inexpensive cruises out there where you don't need to share to save money. I just got an internet offer for a 5 day cruise for under $500 and that includes the single supplement.

You are so right Lois. It's a generational thing. I think once you get into your late 30's and beyond, your views change completely. I roomed with people in college, took a 6 week camping vacation with a friend with only a two man tent and a sleeping bag, slept outside to buy concert tickets, but that was all before I was 30. Now, that I'm older, that kind of stuff is not for me either. I think that a lot of people who don't have the cruising experience that you or I do, don't realize many things about cruises and the cabins---how tiny they are, the tiny bathrooms, and the fact that you really do spend more time in a cabin than you realize. Plus, I'm not going to pay money to have to sleep in a deck chair. I know there are a lot of people who want to save money, and that entirely valid, but there are some very inexpensive cruises out there where you don't need to share to save money. I just got an internet offer for a 5 day cruise for under $500 and that includes the single supplement.

Yup, definitely a generational thing. I'm 21 and I'm guessing I am used to a very different lifestyle than most cruisers. That's to be expected - I'd hope you had a higher standard of living by the time you're 30, 40, 50...or even 25! Like I said, I'd rather go solo, but finances are tough and I refuse to just "charge it".

I've got my eye on a Royal Caribbean cruise in September. Now I just need the single supplement to come down just a touch, the base fare down a bit, or convince a friend to come with me (easier said than done, I've tried). And ideally within the next week before the fuel surcharge goes up! :D My backup plan is to do a land vacation, but that doesn't sound nearly as much fun!;)

Yup, definitely a generational thing. I'm 21 and I'm guessing I am used to a very different lifestyle than most cruisers. That's to be expected - I'd hope you had a higher standard of living by the time you're 30, 40, 50...or even 25! Like I said, I'd rather go solo, but finances are tough and I refuse to just "charge it".

 

I've got my eye on a Royal Caribbean cruise in September. Now I just need the single supplement to come down just a touch, the base fare down a bit, or convince a friend to come with me (easier said than done, I've tried). And ideally within the next week before the fuel surcharge goes up! :D My backup plan is to do a land vacation, but that doesn't sound nearly as much fun!;)

If you book directly with RCI and there is a price drop before final payment they will adjust your rate. However, you need to notify them of the drop. When I've cruised on RCI I would check daily. Just a thought so you could secure a rate now.

Marie

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Please remember, if anyone has any good CRUISE LINE bargains for single/solo cruisers, post them on the thread titled CRUISE LINE Single Supplement Bargains -- Post Here at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=851324.

Kat

Yikes - ladies all y'all have gone soft with age.:D

Camping with 41 noisy scouts on Texas limestone in the company of crickets, killer bees, wasps, scorpions and the occasional tick and leech - now that's the life! Ship cabins are MacMansions compared to two man tents. Guess what doesn't kill you keeps you young.:D

Qualified for AARP, but still alive and enjoying the view.

You are so right Lois. It's a generational thing. I think once you get into your late 30's and beyond, your views change completely. I roomed with people in college, took a 6 week camping vacation with a friend with only a two man tent and a sleeping bag, slept outside to buy concert tickets, but that was all before I was 30. Now, that I'm older, that kind of stuff is not for me either. I think that a lot of people who don't have the cruising experience that you or I do, don't realize many things about cruises and the cabins---how tiny they are, the tiny bathrooms, and the fact that you really do spend more time in a cabin than you realize. Plus, I'm not going to pay money to have to sleep in a deck chair. I know there are a lot of people who want to save money, and that entirely valid, but there are some very inexpensive cruises out there where you don't need to share to save money. I just got an internet offer for a 5 day cruise for under $500 and that includes the single supplement.

HAL is the only one that I'm aware of the room share program. I only met one person on a HAL ship in the room share program.

I met Sandra on the Westerdam in 2005. She was the odd number on the number of people in the room share program and end up with a room alone.

Frankly, I much rather have a room alone or share with a very select number of people. I enjoy having the cabin to myself. I work hard and my cruises are my reward!

Happy sailing!!

Second time around and my 40th birthday cruise (yes I'm cruising solo!!) on the

MAASDAM

10/24/08-11/07/08

G'day from Sydney

30 years ago (I was 20), I cruised overnight between Helsinki and Stockholm - my first ever cruise.

To save money, I decided to rough it and sit up all night. After dinner, I'd had enough of all the boozing, drunk backpackers so went to the purser to see if I could get a cabin...I had to share because there were none left solo. I'd never done this before and couldn't face sitting up all night.

So I went to my cabin and no one was there...I went to sleep and during the night my roomie turned up, blind drunk with someone she'd picked up. She and the guy were extremely pissed off to find me there. The guy left and she finally got into bed and went to sleep, snoring her head off...later was when the fun & games began, she suffered terrible nightmares and was literally screaming in her sleep. I hardly got a wink of sleep all night!

Needless to say, this put me off cruising for quite some time.

I would never risk sharing with someone I don't know ever again, that little overnighter was enough to put me off for life and I was only 20!

Cheers

Ging466

I've done this a few times over the years to save money on longer more expensive trips. I lucked out and had no problems.

That said, I haven't shared a cruise cabin or hotel room in recent years. I witnessed two really bad roommate situations to take this chance again.

Faith

I completely understand your concerns. And you're right, I would much prefer to have my own space...but when it comes down to the bottom line, I'd rather save the money and vacation more frequently (I am sure there are plenty of people who would feel the contrary is better!) It helps that for me, a room is simply a place to sleep and nothing else.

I have to agree with bqkali (though I know most people on cruise critic generally don't agree! :)), and I am in my mid-30s. If the choice is a roommate or not cruising at all, I'm all for the roommate.

Now, I have to admit - more for safety concerns, though - I am a bit hesitant to look for a roommate in someone I don't know. I have only done one cruise so far, with a second one coming up. Both of these were/are with friends. I am willing to expand to friends of friends, but so far I have not looked further than that. I don't know how far I'll have to look for next year's (I'm being hopeful here!) cruise. :rolleyes:

There is only one person I would feel secure enough to share a cabin with and that is a gay guy I met on my last 11-day in December. He even flew from Albuquerque to Philadelphia just so that he could meet me first and fly with me to SJU for our cruise. We had a blast. He is contemplating taking me on a 2 week b2b in November (compliments of him) and I am seriously thinking of taking him up on the offer. We had so much fun together and he wasn't in his room half the time anyhow! He's a partyer and I'm not. I'm a 61 y/o napping granny :D ! He is also very respectful of other people.

Once upon a time I worked for the company that owns both Trafalgar Tours and its sister company Contiki Tours. Contiki caters to 18-35 yearolds while Trafalgar tends to have a more mature crowd. Both offer a roommate share program.

For Trafalgar, I heard many complaints about roommates, ranging from stealing to snoring. One poor woman I remember was accused of stealing and her roommate made such a huge deal out of it that the complainer was actually removed from the tour, but not before involving the police and others. At least the woman who was accused was able to enjoy a hotel room to herself for the remainder of the tour.

From Contiki, there were very few complaints in general, but none that I remember about the roommate program. I think this is partly due to the fact the youths on these tours spend very little time in the room...

I do remember one young woman who was appalled that there was so much drinking and promiscuous behavior on the trip. She managed to complain so loudly that she was moved to a similar Trafalgar trip that was on the same schedule.

That's why I would rather pay the extra money to have my own cabin than to put up with such stuff!!