Single Partners Program

[DC225]

Does HAL still have the Single Partners Program?

 

Google brings up this fact sheet about the program from HAL's website but it might be outdated.  Nothing comes up on HAL's FAQs.

 

http://book.hollandamerica.com/pdfs/media/factsheets/SingleCruisers_FactSheet.pdf

 

[1025cruise]

If you are referring to the random assignment of a roommate, I don't believe that program exists anymore.

[Duquesmom]

On the 51 day Tales of the Pacific, HAL had single/solo lunches every sea day.  I don’t recall that happening on two 7 day cruises earlier this year.

[DC225]

21 minutes ago, Duquesmom said:

On the 51 day Tales of the Pacific, HAL had single/solo lunches every sea day.  I don’t recall that happening on two 7 day cruises earlier this year.

 

The program I was referencing had to do with sharing cabins and avoiding a single supplement.

 

"Single guests who agree to share a stateroom with another nonsmoking guest of the same sex pay only the per-person, double occupancy rate. (If a partner is not available, the guest will cruise solo at the agreed-upon double-occupancy fare.)" - From the link I cited above.

[TiogaCruiser]

The date on that is January 2007.

 

iIn 2012 I signed up for a cruise under the then Single Share Program. Under that program you still paid a single supplement, but not as much as if you took a cabin as single occupancy.

 

Apparently it depended on the specific cruise as to how much that reduced single supplement was. For the cruise I booked ( which was nearly sold out) it was about a $1000 difference between the SS program and a single occupancy rate. For the following cruise, which I looked into when it had just been announced, the price difference was only $75 less than single occupancy. Both these were for Antarctica 20 days, and the only other difference was the second was later, and it started from BsAs (to Valpo). The first was Valpo to BsAs.
 

 

[cruisemom42]

I could not imagine, in this COVID era, sharing a cabin with a stranger -- what happens if you are quarantined?

[1025cruise]

COVID or not, I believe this program was discontinued many years ago. Too many issues with incompatible roommates. Personally, if I were cruising solo, I'd pay the supplement for my own room.

[msmayor]

The very first cruise I took back in 1985 with Carnival was booked with a group called Singleworld.  I paid the price for a double-occupancy stateroom and they paired me with a same-sex roommate - if none was available, I'd have the room to myself with no supplement.

 

I ended up sharing that stateroom with a perfect stranger, but we got along just fine.  Back then, I was young (just 23) and having spent my years in college sharing a dorm room with strangers, this wasn't a stretch.  Today, not so sure I'd take that leap.

[1025cruise]

There are travel agents that hosts singles cruises where they will pair you with a roommate. I ran into one of these groups on my honeymoon cruise.

[ski ww]

My first cruise on HAL, fall 1980 on the Rotterdam I did one of these. We did get along great, don't think I'd do it these days tho.

[whogo]

On 8/22/2020 at 9:03 AM, DC225 said:

Does HAL still have the Single Partners Program?

No. The fact sheet your search turned up is dated January 2007. Little survived from the fact sheet on Holland America's last sailings and no one knows what will be available if and when HAL starts carry passengers again.

[Petronillus]

Interesting. In a supposedly current (?) article on CruiseCritic.com is an article captioned "7 Best Cruise Lines for Solo Travelers." It lists HAL in second place, with the following key sentence: "Holland America's Single Partners Program, available on most voyages, offers events for solo travelers like cocktail mixers and games, too."

Despite diligent searching I could find nothing further on the HAL website or in this forum other than this thread.

Would be interested in any further info. DW, DS, and I are taking an Alaska cruisetour in August. We're in side-by-side verandah cabins. I would like to know in advance if we can expect any special activities organized for singles on the Noordam.

[oakridger]

There may be a singles meet up listed but I haven't attended, and others report many times no one showed up.  Singles pretty much need to meet new people on their own...or not.  I cruise solo often and have no trouble meeting some really nice people, both couples and singles.  We sometimes decide to meet for a meal or at a bar, etc.

 

Thanks to Roger Jett Photography (aka "CrewNews") here are the "When and Where" daily listings for an Alaska 7 day cruise on the Zuiderdam.  You could expect something similar for your Noordam cruise.

 

Alaska Ms Zuiderdam 7-Day When & Where Daily Activities – 2022 | Roger Jett Photography (rogerjett-photography.com)

 

Listed for embarkation day is a singles meet up at 8:00pm in the Ocean Bar.  I didn't read the other days.

 

Have fun!!

 

~Nancy

 

[Crew News]

3 hours ago, oakridger said:

There may be a singles meet up listed but I haven't attended, and others report many times no one showed up.  Singles pretty much need to meet new people on their own...or not.  I cruise solo often and have no trouble meeting some really nice people, both couples and singles.  We sometimes decide to meet for a meal or at a bar, etc.

 

IIRC the Singles Meetup on the Zuiderdam attracted eight solo passengers between the early and main dining times.  A ship rep asked each of us to give our names, something about ourselves, and one word that best describes ourselves.  After 15 minutes, we dispersed to never see each other again.  No other events, happened although promised by the ship.  I did have the very good fortune near the end of the cruise to meet another solo as we unlocked our adjoining stateroom doors and we have exchanged a few emails since.

 

I have been traveling solo for a number of years and Alaska is not an ideal place to do anything but wake up early for excursions, spend the day taking photos, eating dinner, and early to bed to be ready for another early start. 

 

On the other hand, the Caribbean offers less port times and later morning docking that allows more time to meet other solos.  We did have a CC roll call Tamarind solo dinner on the Nieuw Statendam last December while in the Caribbean.

[oakridger]

@Crew News thanks for the added perspective about Caribbean vs Alaska solo meet ups.  I reference your website often!

 

~Nancy

[geocruiser]

On 8/22/2020 at 10:00 PM, msmayor said:

The very first cruise I took back in 1985 with Carnival was booked with a group called Singleworld.  I paid the price for a double-occupancy stateroom and they paired me with a same-sex roommate - if none was available, I'd have the room to myself with no supplement.

 

I ended up sharing that stateroom with a perfect stranger, but we got along just fine.  Back then, I was young (just 23) and having spent my years in college sharing a dorm room with strangers, this wasn't a stretch.  Today, not so sure I'd take that leap.

I did that too.  I did Singlesworld a few times.  I did the cruises on Home LInes Oceanica .  We had a great time.  The Singlesworld host was wonderful as so was my cabin mate.  We ate out meals together at a table for 8.  There must have been at least 20 in our single group.

Another time a friend and my self book a shared cabin with two other girls. We had so much fun.  This had to be in the 1970's or very early 1980's.

Today I don't think I would do that again.  But it was a great time.

[deck chair]

Hello!

I contacted HAL yesterday inquiring about a single share program specifically for the 74-day January 2023 South American cruise on Volendam.  I was told by the representative that there is no longer a share program.  She was not sure when it ended.

 

For what it's worth I did the single share program on QE2 (Cunard Line) for 15 sailings from 1998-2003.  I only had to share once.  I was told that it's much more difficult to match males than females.  I have heard since the program ended because of too many complaints from difficult passengers who couldn't get along with their roommate and demanded a change of cabins.  

Deck Chair.

Edited July 11, 2022 by deck chair