Talking to a customer today I had an interesting brain wave, why doesnt P&O or anyone buy a ship completely for single cruisers.
It seems a strange idea but on a daily basis as an agent I see a huge amount of enquiry for this, so surely this is the next new thing in the cruise market (some cruiselines are already wise to it, P&O, NCL and Fred Olsen are good examples but maybe not on the scale needed I would suggest).
NCL are undoubtably a good cruise line for single travellers. Click for NCL deals
My logic would be if the demand is there the business would be there and in the cruise market there is a total disconnect between the amount of single cabins on offer and demand. This is evidenced time and time again by exasperated people calling about advertised prices and finding that they are for 2 people sharing.
Maybe its time for a cruiseline to lead the way and get really serious about catering for single cruisers so here are some arguments for and some against (to keep things balanced)
For
- A single cabin physically could be smaller so you could get a similar amount of people on to the cruise ship
- Its a huge market, single cruising is popular and surely someone out there has the business nous to properly take advantage and not in the way cruise lines currently do? (agents don’t profiteer on this at all, I might add.. In reality cruise lines control pricing and single supplements, cabin prices whatever you want to call them and agents have no input to cabin price structures, so cant just sell for less for a single person without making huge losses and going out of business which helps no one. Cruise lines however do have some control on this….
And the slightly better! Click for info on NCL singles product
- people enjoy single cruising specifically, not everyone always has someone to travel with, I’ve travelled alone in Australia and its a fun experience as you are free to do as you want and you don’t have to worry about what the person with you wants to do. Single cruising in most cases gives you this freedom but also the possibilities of mixing in a nice environment at mealtimes, on tours etc as well, result!
The not so good for singles….
- cruiselines like NCL &Thomson/Tui are doing quite well with their product, others like P&O/Cunard are flip flopping a bit to be honest. MSC, Holland America, Princess and Celebrity/Royal have at best a limited offering as far as I can see. The trend has started, someone just needs to think outside the box and take it to the next level
- its rude to charge a loyal customer double (and a lot of single cruisers are extremely loyal customers), these cruiselines are highly profitable and laying on a few extra cabins for singles would surely not make that much of a difference. Some of the rates charged are in my opinion punitive and actually discouraging people, would a high street shop get away with that for long?
Thomson also are a good bet to get single deals but only by booking in advance Ive found…. Click for Thomson top10 deals.
Against
- to make a entire ship for singles would be risky for a cruise line, it could only be in one place at any time and not everyone would want to go to those places and there might be concerns about filling the ship, the reverse of the argument is it couldnt be only for singles so you would have to have some twin/doubles as well, would those people want to go on a singles cruise?
- to make it truly value for money + profitable for the cruise line it still could never be the same as a two sharing price on regular cruises in my opinion. I think most reasonable single travellers don’t mind paying a small supplement for the benefit, just not the cost of 2 people, so anyone wanting a singles cruise for the £500 advertised (based on 2 people sharing) would still be out of luck
- in real terms a single cabin would have to be liveable and a reasonable size and have showers/plumbings/electrics etc etc etc etc etc this is a real cost for a cruiseline to cope with and realistically has to be covered somewhere
- would a singles cruise have the same ambiance as a normal cruise, would people mix in the same way, I dont see the problem personally as people would be there for a reason but still….?
- is the demand really there? I think so but cruiselines are extremely clever business people and they are very profitable. There will be reasons they havent done this and big companies have fallen flat with this sort of thing before
Should cruise lines create a product aimed mainly at single travellers? Make a comment with your opinion if you like and take my survey (or petition if you like as cruiselines do read these things) below
Do cruiselines need to do more for singles ????? Click HERE to have your say….. Its a simple yes or no, should a cruise line create a ship aimed mainly at single travellers and would you go on it!!?
Well the results are in and a whopping 85% thought YES cruise lines should do more for solo travellers and create/refit a ship with a lot more cabins for sole use. 15% thought it was alright as it is so there we are!
And finally click HERE for cruise.co.uks current Top Single cruise deals, Id recommend to save the link to favourites as this is a selection of the best offers available for single cruisers on the most relevant cruise lines….
And to all those single cruisers out there, good night and good luck, us travel agents are on your side believe me!!