Solo Amenities/Studio Questions

[Ant@sea]

I sailed on the Getaway several years ago in a studio and was impressed with the attention single guests were given..a cruise  staff member arranged group table reservations when we gathered each night in  The studio lounge so I never had to dine alone. 
I'm looking at booking another trip but have noticed on many that the Studio cabins are more expensive than sole occupancy of an inside cabin.  Does anyone know if you still get access to the studio lounge? I’d reached out to my “personal cruise consultant” who contacted me from NCL but they were useless.  I’m also puzzled why some sailings are priced that way. Any insight would be appreciated. 

[eileeshb]

The pricing varies by cruise, if there’s higher demand for studios they will be more expensive, generally the inside prices you’ll see before drilling in are the sail away prices without Free at Sea. 

Access to the studio lounge if staying in a cabin other than a studio is hit and miss, it seems to depend on the policy of individual managers or coordinators on the ships. 
Sometimes the coordinator will wedge open the door into the studio lounge for the daily meet-ups, others will set a meet up location at one of the bars because they’re not allowed to give access to the lounge.  Generally the very first meet-up on embarkation day will be set for a bar accessible to everyone and then migrate to the studio lounge to collect the solos hanging out there. 

there aren’t studios on all the ships and the ships without studios do still have a solos meet-ups in one of the regular public venues. 

[Cheesegirl23]

In my experience, if you are in a non-studio cabin, they will usually prop the door open to the studio lounge for the nightly meet-ups. 

[Ant@sea]

Thanks for advice. Access to the activities and mingling in the solo lounge with the cruise staff is the deciding factor in my decision as well as the studio vs sole occupancy rate for the inside doubles. 

[MRDIAL]

I just got off the Breakaway and loved both the studio cabin (which was $250 less than an inside) and the convenience of getting morning coffee in the lounge and tea and cookies at night. I decided to book a cruise on the Prima and the studio was $36.00 more than an inside. I chose the studio again for the coffee and snacks. All of the solo meetings were held in bars and no one could access the studio lounge without their keycard. The studio cabin was well arranged and very comfortable. I’m a small person so the size wasn’t a problem for me. It might be for someone who is large, however.

[CoffeeGoddess]

1 hour ago, MRDIAL said:

I just got off the Breakaway and loved both the studio cabin (which was $250 less than an inside) and the convenience of getting morning coffee in the lounge and tea and cookies at night. I decided to book a cruise on the Prima and the studio was $36.00 more than an inside. I chose the studio again for the coffee and snacks. All of the solo meetings were held in bars and no one could access the studio lounge without their keycard. The studio cabin was well arranged and very comfortable. I’m a small person so the size wasn’t a problem for me. It might be for someone who is large, however.

 

 

I'm on the Breakaway right now and at the solo meeting in Bliss the director brought up how they stopped giving access to the studio lounge to solo cruisers who didn't have a studio.  Not sure if this is fleet wide but wouldn't be surprised if it was.

[hallux]

2 hours ago, CoffeeGoddess said:

the director brought up how they stopped giving access to the studio lounge to solo cruisers who didn't have a studio

When I sailed in a Studio on the Bliss in 2019 they wouldn't give keycard access to non-Studio passengers but they did prop open the door for the nightly meet-up.  Are you saying they stopped propping open the door too?

[reeinaz]

My 1st cruise after startup, september 2021, had the solo gatherings in the lounge. The door was just propped open at that time. My 3 cruises after that all had the gatherings in a bar. 

[kelib]

In regards to price are the insides you are looking at have the FAS benefits? If they don't then they will frequently be less than a solo with the FAS. 

[dbrown84]

I was on the Getaway in October and the solo meetups were in Bliss.  I asked the organizer why they weren't in the lounge, and she said they stopped using the lounge to stop propping open the door.  I thought maybe it was just for the Getaway, but I see folks reporting the same from other ships so this is probably fleet wide.

[KansasTexan]

I'm confused as to how access (other than that first night solos meetup) would be given to non-studio guests. I realize I'm paying for a VERY small cabin, but thought that studio access was one of the perks of my fare. 

 

[hallux]

1 hour ago, KansasTexan said:

I'm confused as to how access (other than that first night solos meetup) would be given to non-studio guests. I realize I'm paying for a VERY small cabin, but thought that studio access was one of the perks of my fare. 

 

Studio Lounge access was ONLY given for the meet-up, and that access was only through the one door being propped open to allow non-Studio solo passengers access to the lounge just for the meet.  As the solo host left with the group going to the MDR for dinner they would remove the wedge and allow the door to the Studio section to close and re-secure it to Studio guests only.

 

It's not a secure area like a computer server room, with 'anti-tailgate' sensors to ensure only one person per swipe goes through.  There's nothing preventing a Studio guest from bringing another solo they met elsewhere on the ship into the lounge/Studio area at any time during the cruise.

[Portia!]

As a resident of a Studio cabin, you will have direct access to the Studio Lounge any time, day or night. 

The Studio complex as a whole is only accessible from a ship main hallway with a Studio cabin Key Card unless the door is propped open (or the outside door is not latched securely). On some ships the Studio Lounge itself requires a Key Card even within the complex, on others it is a non-lockable door or open (such as when entering via stairway from another level of the Studio complex).

On some ships, the door closest to the lounge is propped open for the evening Solo gathering so that non-Studio residents are able to attend the gathering, on others, someone monitors the door near the gathering start time, on still others, all Solo gatherings are held in public places.

I believe they have stopped propping open that door on some ships for security of Studio residents and of the Lounge amenities. I have noticed couples and family groups coming in to use the coffee machine and take snacks on ships with more relaxed policies or where Studio residents don't shut the door to the hallway completely. 

Enjoy your cruise!

[graphicguy]

11 hours ago, CoffeeGoddess said:

 

 

I'm on the Breakaway right now and at the solo meeting in Bliss the director brought up how they stopped giving access to the studio lounge to solo cruisers who didn't have a studio.  Not sure if this is fleet wide but wouldn't be surprised if it was.

That Director would be “Handsome Rob”.  Great coordinator.  The solos would meet in Bliss every night and he’d block off seats for the MDRs as well as the main shows if you gave him advance notice.  

 

Don’t know if they had another coordinator in the Solo Lounge, or not.

[dbrown84]

they cycle thru the coordinators.  I had someone else as a coordinator when I cruised but it was her last cruise.  She was taking a month off and her next contract was going to be on another ship

[hallux]

1 hour ago, dbrown84 said:

they cycle thru the coordinators.  I had someone else as a coordinator when I cruised but it was her last cruise.  She was taking a month off and her next contract was going to be on another ship

I was once told that they try to have someone different each week, or every second week.  When I sailed in April 2019 the solo host had been the host the week before but he ASKED for the second week as a bunch of the solos ended up being B2B cruisers.  When I sailed in October of that year the solo host was different but the solo host from April was still on board.

[eileeshb]

Use of the studio lounge for the daily meet-ups has always varied, even before covid. Way back any solo on the ship could have their keycard enabled to access the studio lounge but that stopped around the mid 2010s I think. On the cruises I’ve done it’s been 50:50 as to using the the lounge v’s a bar for the evening gatherings.  On one of my cruises I noticed one of the doors into the studio area rarely closed properly so anyone at all could get into the lounge, but that was on Epic which needs quite a bit of general maintenance. 

[ChiefMateJRK]

On 12/18/2022 at 6:04 PM, MRDIAL said:

The studio cabin was well arranged and very comfortable. I’m a small person so the size wasn’t a problem for me. It might be for someone who is large, however.

Is this a joke?  Do you really think that somebody's size would in any way impact the suitability of a studio cabin?  🤣  I'm fairly certain that the door to the cabin is the same width, so if I can fit through the door, then what?

[kelib]

6 hours ago, hallux said:

I was once told that they try to have someone different each week, or every second week.  When I sailed in April 2019 the solo host had been the host the week before but he ASKED for the second week as a bunch of the solos ended up being B2B cruisers.  When I sailed in October of that year the solo host was different but the solo host from April was still on board.

My first solo cruise had a designated solo coordinator who was on week to week. 
since then they started the solo coordinator rotation and found it can be a gamble. I had one one that felt it was a punishment and another who was like he won the lottery. 

[hallux]

23 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

Do you really think that somebody's size would in any way impact the suitability of a studio cabin?

It doesn't.  I'm by no means small (but smaller than Tony from a YouTube channel) and I had no problems with space in a Studio cabin.  I'm even going back to one in March..

[shof515]

I stayed in a studio on the breakaway a few years ago and my only issue i had with it was the lack of a desk area. they was a small table under the tv but it was filled with a lot of unnecessary junk taking up space

 

i had to use the stool under the small desk and my suitcase as a makeshift table

[cruiseny4life]

9 hours ago, hallux said:

It doesn't.  I'm by no means small (but smaller than Tony from a YouTube channel) and I had no problems with space in a Studio cabin.  I'm even going back to one in March..

And Tony certainly made good use of his studio cabin, based on his YouTube videos when he was onboard the Getaway. I'm a big guy too and don't think I'd have any issues, except that studios are interior rooms (nothing wrong with the size, just the location on the ship). 

[hallux]

Just now, cruiseny4life said:

And Tony certainly made good use of his studio cabin

Not just made good use of it, he actually seemed to like it and the entire concept!  He has stayed in RC's solo balcony rooms before...

[reeinaz]

I’ve certainly framed my experience in the studio cabin around the fact that I’m 4’ 10”. I don’t think that I’ve ever commented on the suitability for a bigger person, but I have said that a bigger person might find the space tighter than I did. 

[CoffeeGoddess]

On 12/18/2022 at 11:34 PM, hallux said:

When I sailed in a Studio on the Bliss in 2019 they wouldn't give keycard access to non-Studio passengers but they did prop open the door for the nightly meet-up.  Are you saying they stopped propping open the door too?

 

Yep, they're not doing the solo meetings in the studio lounge now. At least on the Breakaway.  They're having them in Bliss so no propping open doors.