Solo Cruisers/Travellers, Do They Get a Raw Deal?

I have been selling travel of one sort or another for more than 30 years and one of the biggest bugbears from clients are the dreaded single supplements! These pop up through all aspects of travel, from a night in a hotel, an escorted tour and particularly hefty ones on some of the cruise lines, up to 100% on some, so effectively paying for 2 people.

This is because until recently, cruise lines did not factor in single cabins on their ships so you would be paying for the whole cabin by yourself as of course the cruise lines share the cost of a cabin between at least 2 people to get the per person price.

It’s a shame, because for single travellers a cruise is an ideal holiday being very social and easy to make friends. Often people that have been cruising for years and then lost a partner really want to carry on cruising but find it unaffordable.

Here at Cruise we often get enquiries from people obviously miffed about these charges that can sometimes border on rude, saying things like  ‘don’t bother insulting me with a single supplement, I won’t pay it!’ Of course we cannot dictate what the cruise lines charge and we find it frustrating too.

Luckily some of the cruise lines are now taking notice and some of the new ships have built with a number of cabins designed for single travellers and though still slightly more than what 2 sharing a double would pay, it does become more affordable.

P&O have recently added single cabins to most of the fleet, Cunard also. Norwegian cruise Lines has funky studios on the Epic which are compact but comfortble and also have their own lounge space. Fred Olsen has always been one of the single traveller friendly lines with single cabins on all ships and often offers double cabins with little or no supplement. they also have lots of single friendly activities and dance hosts who make sure anyone that wants one has a dance partner for the evenings. Cruise and Maritime, another adult focused very British brand also caters well for solo travellers with reasonable costs and a programme of events to get singles mingling.

Thomson Cruises are another to be considered. They have expanded their fleet with more modern ships and have flights from more regional airports than any other. They do have single supplements but they are reasonable.

So, in summary, just because you have to travel alone, for whatever reason, it doesn’t have to break the bank, just pick up the phone or send me an email. I’ll be glad to help, or click on the links below…

Going Solo: Ten Essential Tips for Solo Cruising

http://www.cruise.co.uk/cruise-guides/top-10-single-cruise-deals/

Dee