Do Single’s Get A Rough Deal?

Yes, I think they do. The price that single travellers pay? I totally understand the reaction of people,  it really does get very silly indeed.  I understand that in a lot of cases the only cabins left are ones for twin occupancy, therefore the single traveller does pay double then that of a couple – not good, so I ask the question why cant they be more single cabins on ships which would solve this problem?

There are of course always single cabins on board, probably not enough! In my humble opinion, I would always look at the following ships first when checking for a single:

P&O cruises are certainly trying to make things better for the single as the Azura offers 18 single cabins whilst the Britannia has 27.  NCL cruises are a good option. The Epic for example has 128 studio cabins and the brand new Escape will have 82. I am actually going on the Escape next week and will be having a look at these!

On Royal Caribbean’s Anthem Of The Seas and Quantum Of The Seas, they have two categories of single cabins, 28 of these are the dedicated studio cabins. Fred Olsen do a little better then this, ranging from 40 on the Braemar to 64 on the Balmoral. Let’s face it though these numbers are still pretty poor.

It is also worth noting what cruise lines look after the single traveller? Not every single client is 100% confident when going on there own, and could be the first time, very daunting I am sure.  Holland America for example offer a single partners programme on most cruises. For example it will host cocktail parties just for the single traveller, a great way to meet new friends.   Fred Olsen also offer solo gatherings, gentleman hosts and also pairs single travellers for dinner, I think this is a great idea.

The luxury cruise market is also trying to do there best.  For example, Crystal Cruises are one of the most popular with approx 25% of singles on some cruises. Supplements can be as low as only 25% as well as the cocktail parties and gentleman hosts, but still is not ideal is it?

There are of course, Cruise lines who do try. For example this week I have booked 2 single travellers on a Cruise & Maritime cruise, yes they did have to pay more then a couple but the price was not that bad at all, thank you Cruise & Maritime.

Is it all down to money now? Are the cruise companies simply trying to cash in?

What do you think?