TessM

30 days till my next cruise (solo of course):D……..flying to Venice and sailing all around Italy with the cruise ending in Nice. It is very port intensive and all the ports except 2 are new to me:)……...first time to Venice!

Getting excited:D

I'll have to check out Silversea. Enjoy your cruise! I'm looking forward to your review.

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Booked my first cruise on a "Luxury Line":D.....normally this would never have been possible but circumstances have

given me this chance and I am taking it:D.....going on Silverseas in August from Barcelona to Rome.....itinerary is

around Spain and Italy. Now I just have to get through the summer:eek:.....LOL........should be interesting and fun:)

YAY LOIS!!! I'm so happy for you. Plus, you are going to my favorite city, Barcelona! I just know you're going to have a great time and will share a full report when you return. Enjoy!

Wow! That is an stunning price even without the OBC. Congratulations on finding such a good deal - great value.

Have you cruised Seabourn before? I haven't but it's a cruise line I'd like to try.

Reading the rulings it opens the can of worms yet again.'Not available to single(solo) .Although we acknowledge we have to pay double for the room. :(

I booked a suite last year during the three for free and I received the full cabin OBC. It was $150 pp and I got $300 OBC.

I've thought about booking this as well, but the Fathom is a different kind of ship. These are volunteerism type cruises. No casinos or big theater type production shows. My understanding is that once in port you head out with a group and do various volunteerism type things.

Thank you; it sounds wonderful. I'll look into Fathom cruises. I don't go to the production shows and I'll be alright without a casino.

Sapphire Princess - 30 December 2017

10 day Malaysian Peninsula & Indonesia round trip from Singapore

http://www.princess.com/find/cruiseDetails.do?voyageCode=H801

 

Interior - CDN$1974.40 + $149.50 taxes/port fees

 

Sadly, the interior doesn't qualify for the free beverage package. But the solo price is actually CDN$100 cheaper than the dual occupancy rate so I've booked it. Now I have a year and a half to figure out how to get to Singapore and back.

Croptop, AKA my roll call buddy, I see we got about same price (adjusted for USD). I thought it was great to see a price that was a NEGATIVE single supplement. The cabin I booked was $1539 solo and the price per person based on double occupancy was $1599. I felt like I HAD TO book this cruise.

Oh, and I checked typical airfares out of YVR (Vancouver) for me and it's around $900 USD - or less - which is totally doable.

I live close to the Canadian border actually, I live closer to YVR and to SeaTac and, I'm obviously loving the exchange these days.

Good news!! I am trying a suite for my first time in what will be over 50 cruises, most of which have been on Princess. My DH always loves a balcony but we just really wanted to check out the suite benefits without the really high price of a balcony suite. I was just wondering if anyone had ever been upgraded or more likely, offered an upsell from a window suite to a balcony suite ... and I see that it has been offered at least once. Thanks! I know these upsells and more so, upgrades are rare so we will be happy either way. :)

I'm a solo cruiser and I love the window suites. I've got one booked in February and my only option was to book it as a "guarantee" - so, who knows what kind of suite I will end up in.

I love the layout of the window suites much better than the layout in the Vista Suites - those are the only two suites I've ever booked. The window suites feel so spacious and there is a crazy amount of storage. But, even without a balcony, you will enjoy the "suite" life. -- My favorite suite perk is breakfast in Sabatini's or Crown Grill (depending on the ship).

Plus, this year I am not even booked on Celebrity. I took my first River

Cruise in April:) and I am sailing with my sister on Royal in October.

I have one cruise booked so far for 2017 but that is another River cruise:)

So I have sort of taken a break from Celebrity.

It's good to take a break but I think you'll miss Celebrity. I'm glad you've tried the river cruises. I've considered them but I'm not crazy about any of the itineraries except the Amsterdam one in tulip season. For Europe, I prefer land vacations - I love trains so maybe that's why.

Plus, airfares to Europe are so cheap right now - for all the good (low oil prices) and bad (acts of terrorism) reasons. I live in the Pacific NW in between Seattle and Vancouver, in fact I live closer to the Vancouver airport than to SeaTac. Because of the weak Canadian dollar, and low flight prices in general, flights out of Vancouver are crazy low. I thought paying $511 for a round trip, nonstop flight to Paris on Air France in February was low. But, now I'm planning my vacation for Thanksgiving week and I found a round trip flight from Vancouver to Barcelona for $357. That's not a typo. But, I found flights with a better connection time for $412. Hotels are inexpensive in late-November too - about $100/night. So right now I'm just trying to decide if I want to fly into Madrid for a couple of days and then take the fast train to Barcelona and then fly home from BCN. -- And, of course, I'm doing all this solo.

I've got a cruise to Panama Canal (partial transit) in October (my cousin and her husband are also booked on this one) and a Western Caribbean cruise in late-Feb (in a suite) so I haven't given up on cruises but if airfares stay so low into next year, my Feb cruise might be last for awhile as I'll want to take advantage of the low fares to Europe - I've got to get to Prague one of these days. :)

To give you an an example, I normally sail with Celebrity and they have 4

levels of their Capt's Club..........I am in Elite Plus.....there is Select,

Elite, Elite Plus and Zenith.

Wow Lois as much as you cruise on Celebrity, I would have thought you were maxed out.

I had to check out "Zenith" and that is a nice perk package. You must be close to Zenith by now - especially with double credits

I've sailed solo on Princess numerous times and I dine traditional. Luckily, I've never been seated with "bad" tablemates. I usually ask for large tables (8+) to increase the odds of having interesting conversation.

I've never requested to be seated with other solo passengers although you should be able to put in such a request - either thru your travel agent or a Princess rep if you reserved directly with Princess.

btw, I'm agree with you about avoiding buffets but really because I want to be waited on. I can serve myself at home.

Thanks everyone. Although double credit wouldn't be a main factor in deciding on a cruise, it does make for a good tie-breaker.

Princess

Royal Caribbean

Celebrity

Azamara

JohnS43, congrats on reaching Platinum - you'll be Elite in no time. I love getting three credits for a suite.

I know Princess gives double cruise credits for solo passengers (and 3 credits if you book a suite solo) and I know RCCL used to but I'm not sure if they still do.

Can anyone confirm if Royal Caribbean still offers the double credit? And, are any of the other lines doing so as well?

I have had good experiences in being seated with other solos. I have kept in contact with some and have met up and cruised together since.

Sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you don't. I don't seek out other solo travelers while I'm on a cruise (I don't in "regular" life either) and I've met some fantastic people.

I've only been on 13 cruises and I've kept in contact with one solo and about 5 couples. Most of my dining companions (traditional dining) have been warm and engaging. My worst experience, although not horrible was a table of solos - lol, go figure, right?

Princess gives 3 credits for solos booked in a "full" suite. It's never been four. It's unfortunate that a Princess staff member gave you bad information.

--Solos only get 2 credits in mini-suites. All other "suites" are "full suites."

Croptop, wow! Those are crazy prices. Thanks for sharing. It doesn't work for me but it could make one solo traveler very happy.

Phew! Thanks peety3!!

Truluv, don't settle for the Windjammer. See the Maitre'd when you get on the ship. Tell him your situation and ask for Traditional. You deserve better treatment - Good luck!

Thoughts....

• if you can.... BOOK IT! Of all the Alaskan excursions... this WILL BE the first SELL OUT before the cruise ship leaves the dock.
  
• the mid-cruise transfer saves you hours on 50 miles of ocean travel between Juneau and the mouth of Tracy. If you look at the Juneau return trip.... it cost more.
  
• this tour will help give you time for other Juneau activities.
  

I have already booked a similar cruise on Princess. We cruise into the fjiords and get off the ship/transfer to smaller ship (boat) so we can get closer to the glaciers. We meet up with our ship in Juneau (she Ruby Princess arrives 30 minutes before we get there). It all sounds wonderful BUT, it's listed as a 6 hour cruise from 7:30am-1:30pm and also says there is NO RESTROOM on the ship. Yikes! Really?

I'm going to confirm with Princess but I also wanted to hear from those who have take this particular excursion.

I've only booked a suite as a solo twice and both times I paid the same as if two people were in the cabin. BUT, I got a really good deal on both. Both times I paid about what I would have paid for a regular solo balcony cabin but it was only luck. I was on the right website at the right time.

I've got a suite cabin coming up in May but it will be my first time in a suite that I have to share and the only time I didn't get a great deal on the price. I'm treating my Aunt to an Alaskan cruise. It's her first cruise and her first trip to Alaska so I thought I'd make things nice for her. For the price I could have gotten each of us our own balcony cabin.

Thanks for the info Lew. I found her website but I still have a few questions if you don't mind.

How many people on your tour? (Does she have a minimum?)

Which tour did you take? (She has several listed on her website)

How long was the tour?

Thanks,

TessM

I was going to respond to your question but then I saw Lois' response and she said pretty much everything I would have said.

You've got a great attitude toward solo travel. Good luck to you and enjoy your next cruise - all of it - including dining.

On my last cruise booked with the line.They offered OBC to me but the reduction on cabin no, so couple paid less than I mine was 200% of original price then there was a special on that cabin price which was 'Not available to singles'.

I've never seen any offers that specifically said "Not available to singles." And, I get so much mail and email from them (as well as most other lines) plus I'm on their website far too often than I care to admit.

The only time I've seen anything similar to what you describe is when I get offers from Delta. They've started offering specials on cruises but they deals they offer are never priced for solo travelers. I always expect to pay twice what they offer per person per cabin - but it doesn't happen with how Delta prices cruises - I would always be paying more. But, I learned that lesson and moved on. I no longer even look at their offers.

I have to say, I no longer think about what I'm paying as a single supplement. I just care about the total price. But, I can understand leaving a cruiseline that you believe doesn't value you as a customer.

There are so many similar cruiselines and I'm sure you'll find something you like. You might want to consider looking at Crystal. They have special cruises where the single supplement is only 110% and you can also find deals as it gets closer to sail date. Don't be alarmed at the cost of the cruise. Compare the price of the Crystal cruise to other cruises you've been on - but add the cruise price and the total bill at the end of the cruise. On Crystal you're not going to have a huge final bill when you get off the ship because so many things are included. It's not quite an all-inclusive, but it comes close. I'm hoping to try Crystal maybe in 2017.

Good luck to you and enjoy the hunt for your next favorite cruiseline.

The Global Entry program is expanding so I'm sure in time, San Pedro will also be on the program. I've had my Global Entry and NEXUS pass for about 3 years now and they are wonderful.

I've been solo on Princess many times and non of the cruises was a "singles cruise." They do have a few solo get-togethers, but I don't think that's really Princess' strong suit and perhaps why I like Princess. (I don't really feel the need to meet other solo cruisers.)

First, I think you are going to have a great time and you'll probably be hooked on cruising by the time you get off the ship.

Second, search the Princess Patter and go to the first solo get-together. Even if you see that the bar or room is empty, go on in and wait if you have to. I did that on my very first cruise and only a couple of people showed up. BUT, the assistant cruise director showed up and we all chatted for a bit. After that meeting every time I saw her around the ship she would stop and talk and ask how things were going and introduce me to other crew members. She would give me advice on things she thought I might be interested in. To me, she was kind of like an older sister even though age-wise I was more like her mother's age.

I had a great time on that cruise and actually met lots of people.

Oh, and another thing to try to remember is that YOU know you are cruising solo, but no one else does. If I passed you onboard the ship I wouldn't have any clue if you were solo or not. How many people are joined at the hip with their traveling companion(s)?

Enjoy yourself and have a wonderful time. I've heard great things about the Coral and I'm booked on her for a Partial Transit Panama Canal cruise in October. I'm really looking forward to it.

Hi Kruisey

 

Just trying to understand what you mean by a Special on a reduced fare where a single passenger can not use ?

I have been cruising on that particular line for many years and don't think I have ever run into that before. Normally every offering by the line has a price for each passenger as long as there is 2 in a room and if you change the 2 to a 1 you get your rate as a single which can be anywhere from 40 to an additional 100 % of the rate with 2 people in the room. This is quite normal but it almost sounds like you are saying that they wont let you pay say even the 100 % rate.

I just experienced a large fare reduction from the original price and when I indicated as a single I only paid an additional 40% of the reduced price but this may not be what you are indicating.

Kruisey, I'm not following what you mean either. I looked at your profile and think I know what cruise line you're talking about -- unless you've changed your profile recently. I cruise that line almost exclusively and I've never paid more than what two people in a cabin would be charged. In fact, last month I booked a suite for a cruise in Feb 17 and got an incredible deal. In fact, it's a good thing I booked when I saw it because it was the last available cabin in that suite category.

Is booking a cruise different for Canadians? Why don't you drive down to Bellingham and book a cruise? I'm suggesting that because I don't know if it makes a difference. --Plus, we can meet and I'll buy you a coffee.