Sailing solo with HAL prices?

[westerdam]

I can not seem to get a straight answer online about how much the single supplement is for Holland America.  I click on links on their website and it just seems to redirect me to the have it all program. Years ago I would just book the single share program they had but that has long since disappeared.

So question being is it always 200 percent occupancy for 1 person less the tax and port charges? Or something more in line between 125 and 175 percent? 

[FOPMan]

The answer is “it depends.” The Pinnacle class shopd have a number of singles cabins. A family member is sailing single on the Noordam later this summer. There wasn’t a surcharge from what I understand 

[westerdam]

18 minutes ago, FOPMan said:

The answer is “it depends.” The Pinnacle class shopd have a number of singles cabins. A family member is sailing single on the Noordam later this summer. There wasn’t a surcharge from what I understand 

I recall the Pinnacle class having a few singles all the way down forward.  I was actually looking at the Nieuw Statendam for her Transatlantic crossing this fall.  The price is great and I know it doesn't book super well hence the 499 price.  I will have to call HAL and see what they say.  Hopefully, I will not get the run around that I am getting from a travel agent.  They quoted me a fare well above the 200 percent occupancy for an inside cabin. 

[Roz]

@FOPMan, I want that deal! I've always paid some kind of single supplement. 

 

@westerdam, lately I've been paying 179-200%, depending on the cruise.  There's no standard single supplement on HAL. 

[Roz]

It also depends on the cabin class. An inside or outside may be 179%, but a balcony or suite 200%.

[lcand1923]

My experiences agree with what ROZ said, 200% for a balcony cabin, roughly 178% for an OV or inside.  The Balcony never varies, the supplement for an OV or inside has a TINY bit of wiggle room.  I once paid 173% for a cabin way forward and on another occasion paid 180% for a cabin mid-ship.

[TiogaCruiser]

You aren’t going to get a single answer on this. And you’re not getting the run around.
 

 It’s not like there’s a “set” single supplement that is added to a base fare - HAL charges by cabin, then divides by 2 to calculate per person double occupancy. (People are CALCULATING the “single Supplement”). The difference in per person cost totally depends on the cruise, cabin and the deal you book under. 

 

With the stand-by program there might be less lower fared cabins when booked for just one person.

 

And yes, some of those deals you see for double occupancy end up being more than the total of the fare for 2 when booked as a single occupancy.

Edited May 30 by TiogaCruiser

[Ottawa traveller]

It is difficult to determine any price these days as HAL uses dynamic pricing. No more looking at a cruise fare and know that it will always be the fare.  Sometimes it works in your favour.  Last winter I was looking at a cruise on the Rotterdam. I travel solo. I like a Veranda A cabin so they cost a bit more to begin with. Initially, the price was way beyond my budget. I looked a couple of times and did not pursue it. I then started getting emails from HAL to "please complete your booking."  I looked again and the price dropped almost in half. I then did book the cruise. I think they were trying to fill the ship which they did as it sailed completely full with all 4 and 3 person cabins fully occupied. 

[Oceansaway17]

nope HAL is hard to figure out. And be careful with deposits and know that the want vacation protection UP front at time of deposit.  Any deposits that are Non refundable will never be allowed to transfer or change,

YUP HAL pricing is no longer good IMHO.  Stick with Princess if you can or carnival.  same corporation and better treatment.

[Sharon in AZ]

10 hours ago, westerdam said:

I click on links on their website and it just seems to redirect me to the have it all program.

First make sure to change the number of guests to one and continue because it defaults to two. The HIA comes up because you have to select either with it or without it. Then you should be able to continue with checking various prices. 
 

Solo Pricing can be all over the place. I check online first but get the final price through my PCC. 
 

 

Edited May 30 by Sharon in AZ

[Roz]

@Oceansaway17, Princess and Carnival both charge solos double, so I'm not sure that's better treatment. 

 

With HAL's new emphasis on families and cramming 3-4 passengers into as many cabins as possible, I assume solo pricing will deteriorate. 

[Oceansaway17]

4 minutes ago, Roz said:

@Oceansaway17, Princess and Carnival both charge solos double, so I'm not sure that's better treatment. 

 

With HAL's new emphasis on families and cramming 3-4 passengers into as many cabins as possible, I assume solo pricing will deteriorate. 

I have gotten rates lower than double quite a few times.  And I like Princess policies on changes and refunds much better than HAL.  HAL is slick.

[DanielNL]

I am sailing solo this September on the Rotterdam. I have paid 200%, for a Inside cabin. 
The special solo travellers cabin were more expensive. Maby because it has a small window?

[Menocchio]

2 hours ago, DanielNL said:

I am sailing solo this September on the Rotterdam. I have paid 200%, for a Inside cabin. 
The special solo travellers cabin were more expensive. Maby because it has a small window?

Yes. The solo cabins have less of a solo supplement than the other ocean view cabins, but are (often) still more expensive than inside cabins even with the full supplement.

 

To give concrete examples, current prices for a cruise I'm taking next year at double occupancy Inside cabins start at $2059pp, OV at $2659.

 

At single occupancy Inside is $4118 (200% compared to double occupancy), single OV is $4859 (183%) regular OV $5318 (200%). 

 

But also the single rooms aren't quite the same as the other OV rooms. They're all on the lowest public deck at the extreme forward and some of them are quite small. So really it's not even correct to compare its price to other OVs. It's just a different slightly cheaper room that they'll only sell to solo travellers.

[westerdam]

Well, I called HAL today and like some of you said there is no set rate for singles. I bit the bullet and am booking the Nieuw Statendam for the westbound Transatlantic this fall.  It ended up being 200 percent for occupancy of an inside cabin. Wish they still did single share but c'est la vie!

[TiogaCruiser]

If it makes you feel any better, the old single share program wasn’t just half each of the room rate- there was an up charge ( I seem to recall paying about 50 or 60% of the “other half”.). And if you weren’t matched, you got the cabin without additional fees.

 

In today’s world I just can’t imagine how that would work now.

[Moriah]

4 hours ago, westerdam said:

Well, I called HAL today and like some of you said there is no set rate for singles. I bit the bullet and am booking the Nieuw Statendam for the westbound Transatlantic this fall.  It ended up being 200 percent for occupancy of an inside cabin. Wish they still did single share but c'est la vie!

NS has solo cabins, which should come out cheaper than the 200 percent for inside (the solo cabins are ocean view).  I had a solo cabin for two weeks on NS and enjoyed it very much.  It's a nice sized ocean view with a "mid-sized" bed (not splittable, a tad smaller than a queen, larger than a single).  It should be less than what you would pay solo for an inside cabin.  I was on a casino deal so not sure about the actual pricing.  I had wondered if I'd like the location, and turned out I loved it.

Edited May 31 by Moriah

[Will_Dieterich]

With single being the same cost as two, there are some deals that give benefits for doubles vs singles.

So what happens if you sign up as a double get the benefit(mostly obc) then when it comes to check in call them up and tell them the other person has cannot make it?  Do they grab back the benefit

I have heard they rebate you the taxes and port costs so that should bring the price to the same.

When you have two on the schedule better to not sign up for HIA but if you go sign up for HIA once you are on-board do they charge you for two people or just the one that boarded?

[sambamama]

Pretty much all HAL cruises,charge between 80 to 100 % supplement for their cabins. And yes, that includes the solo cabins on the Pinnacle ships way up at the front that are 130 feet. I think all are ocean view. Princess and Carnival have,solo deals,at considerably less than that, but there are not lots,of them. HAL has basically none. HAL has become very solo unfriendly in its,pricing. 

[Navybikermom]

3 hours ago, Moriah said:

NS has solo cabins, which should come out cheaper than the 200 percent for inside (the solo cabins are ocean view).  I had a solo cabin for two weeks on NS and enjoyed it very much.  It's a nice sized ocean view with a "mid-sized" bed (not splittable, a tad smaller than a queen, larger than a single).  It should be less than what you would pay solo for an inside cabin.  I was on a casino deal so not sure about the actual pricing.  I had wondered if I'd like the location, and turned out I loved it.

I tried to get a solo cabin for my 14-day Rotterdam cruise and it was more expensive than paying the double price for an inside cabin. That’s some creative pricing right there!

[Moriah]

11 minutes ago, Navybikermom said:

I tried to get a solo cabin for my 14-day Rotterdam cruise and it was more expensive than paying the double price for an inside cabin. That’s some creative pricing right there!

I think it’s the simple law of supply and demand. There are only 12 solo cabins per ship and they are ocean view. Other lines have inside solo cabins which would presumably be competitive with regular inside cabins but from what I’ve seen on YouTube those are usually painfully tiny. The HAL solo cabins are really quite spacious and nice, and all have a nice unobstructed ocean view. I would agree with you about the “creative pricing” if the solos were inside cabins, but they are not. 

Edited May 31 by Moriah

[Toofarfromthesea]

I booked a single Oceanview on Koningsdam and was then able to get a free upgrade to a larger double Oceanview via Club Orange.

[westerdam]

22 hours ago, TiogaCruiser said:

If it makes you feel any better, the old single share program wasn’t just half each of the room rate- there was an up charge ( I seem to recall paying about 50 or 60% of the “other half”.). And if you weren’t matched, you got the cabin without additional fees.

 

In today’s world I just can’t imagine how that would work now.

The last time I had a single share was March of 2005 on the Oosterdam.  It worked out fantastic as I ended up with a cabin all to myself that was quite large 1001 if I recall correctly.  Most of the single shares I did went fine 2 were somewhere in the middle though. 

 

It could still work today but I doubt many people would want to post covid which is understandable. I think it was already fading out by that point anyway as most of the bookings I made with it I had to he cabin to myself. 

[Moriah]

On 5/31/2024 at 6:17 AM, Will_Dieterich said:

With single being the same cost as two, there are some deals that give benefits for doubles vs singles.

So what happens if you sign up as a double get the benefit(mostly obc) then when it comes to check in call them up and tell them the other person has cannot make it?  Do they grab back the benefit

I have heard they rebate you the taxes and port costs so that should bring the price to the same.

When you have two on the schedule better to not sign up for HIA but if you go sign up for HIA once you are on-board do they charge you for two people or just the one that boarded?

 

First of all, why would you "call them up" and tell them the cabin-mate can't make it?  Are you saying you would sign up a person who never intended to come, and check them in and everything, and pay in advance for their port fees, etc?  Besides the fact that this is ridiculous, if you are going to do this, just go get on the ship because if your cabin-mate does not show up, you will still get YOUR OBC but you will NOT get theirs.  You will sail in the cabin you booked, you will be charged for YOUR port fees and taxes and get YOUR OBC, but again, not theirs.  I fail to see any "benefit" at all, because as said, you will NOT get their OBC.  If that fictitious cabinmate HAD shown up, their OBC would be on their account, and yours on yours.  Yes, they divide the amount in two and allocate it that way.  As for HIA, I have no idea.  So again, knowing you will NOT get the OBC for two people, why would you do this? 

Edited June 1 by Moriah

[Moriah]

On 5/30/2024 at 12:53 PM, DanielNL said:

I am sailing solo this September on the Rotterdam. I have paid 200%, for a Inside cabin. 
The special solo travellers cabin were more expensive. Maby because it has a small window?

The solo cabin doesn't have a "small window" - it has the same kind of window as all the other OV cabins on the ship (not the floor to ceiling, though).  It's actually a very nice ocean view cabin, although the ones furthest forward are small - it is only for one person, after all.  I like the beds that are not split down the middle - I believe it's a queen size bed, or just slightly smaller, and does not split in two.  I am not sure why everyone is so surprised that the solo cabins can be more expensive than a double inside cabin.  They are Ocean View cabins!

Edited June 1 by Moriah