Single Supplement Info

[billylen]

I am looking to book a cruise in the next few months on Princess. This will be my first cruise on the line. I tend to travel solo and was wondering if anyone can give me info regarding discounts for solo travelers. As many of you know when traveling solo you pay twice the price. Some other lines will have specials that offer a reduction. Should I wait closer to sailing or does Princess rarely offer these sorts of discounts?

 

Thanks for any info/advice

[Pam in CA]

No discounts for cruising solo. Whether you pay 150% or 200% usually depends on the cabin category. Your best bet is to find a good discount TA who has group rates. The closer you get to your sail date, the chances of getting a group rate from a TA diminish. I always cruise solo and, for instance, got an excellent group rate for my cruise next March. People are posting on my roll call that they've gotten price reductions. I checked with my TA and my rate is still several hundred less than the reduced rate. Unlike other cruise lines, Princess allows TAs to discount prices from the moment they open for booking, sometimes two years in advance. Often, this original rate is less than close to sailing.

 

You can always wait until the last minute and hope the cruise isn't sold out and Princess is running a "flash" sale for new bookings. But there are no guarantees there will be a flash sale and if there is, the choice of cabins will generally be in a less desirable location.

 

No matter what you do, it's a gamble you may win or you may lose.

[billylen]

I appreciate the feedback!

[LoveThisCruisingThing]

No discounts for cruising solo. Whether you pay 150% or 200% usually depends on the cabin category. Your best bet is to find a good discount TA who has group rates. The closer you get to your sail date, the chances of getting a group rate from a TA diminish. I always cruise solo and, for instance, got an excellent group rate for my cruise next March. People are posting on my roll call that they've gotten price reductions. I checked with my TA and my rate is still several hundred less than the reduced rate. Unlike other cruise lines, Princess allows TAs to discount prices from the moment they open for booking, sometimes two years in advance. Often, this original rate is less than close to sailing.

 

You can always wait until the last minute and hope the cruise isn't sold out and Princess is running a "flash" sale for new bookings. But there are no guarantees there will be a flash sale and if there is, the choice of cabins will generally be in a less desirable location.

 

No matter what you do, it's a gamble you may win or you may lose.

 

I agree with Pam. Find a good TA. If that TA can book you into a group rate, you really save money. And you don't have to socialize with the people (in fact you don't usually know who they are). I also do a lot of solo traveling and found that cruising offers the most for the price. In fact, compared to a land tour, it is actually less when take into account three meals a day, hotels, etc. Plus I find that I do more on a cruise (not afraid to go out after dark. LOL) Have a great cruise.

[silvercruiser]

I find that for the Caribbean, Princess charges 100% single supplement on all cabin categories. However, on longer cruises farther away from the U.S., such as TA's etc., the 100% supplement is only for balconies or higher. Insides and Oceanviews tend to be a 60% single surcharge.

[duck addict]

Solo cruiser, too. Very few cruise lines give a break for us. (Hotels don't either :rolleyes:--) The most savings I see us the second set of 'port fees' and sometimes a little difference.

 

Princess does :D give you TWO cruise credits :D in the frequent cruiser program.. so you can advance categories fastet :)

[pablo222]

No discounts for cruising solo. Whether you pay 150% or 200% usually depends on the cabin category.

 

I paid 150% for an upcoming cruise.

Then, princess dropped the 2-person price, but not the single

price. I'm back to 200%

[jpg1747]

If there's a formula for the single supplement, I've never figured it out. For my upcoming Crown cruise, I'm paying 150% for an obstructed OV cabin. I only know because I took the time to figure it out. I don't pay much attention to the percentage; only the price of the cabin. I either want to pay it or I don't.

[Pam in CA]

Usually, I book balcony cabins on longer cruises so when estimating my costs before contacting my TA, I assume it's going to be 200% and if it's less, that's great.

[billylen]

The cruise I am looking at does not sail for about 6 months so I guess my "strategy" is to keep an eye out for the next month or so and see how the rates go. I have also started to factor in other issues such as airtfare (there will be none for this cruise) in order to determin what the actual cost/savings willbe.

 

Maybe the rate is not so bad after all. But I sure hope the price comes down a bit.

 

Thanks everyone!