grantthomas

I notice that on Royal.gov.uk web site The Queen is listed as being in Hampshire on 10th March:

http://www.royal.gov.uk/LatestNewsandDiary/Royaldiary/Locationsandtimes.aspx

Now that is the same day that P&O Britannia is being launched in Southampton? Coincidence or could our Majesty really be naming P&O's biggest, new ship?

It's because attracting two passengers will be more profitable than letting a traveler cruise solo. Two people are going to shop more on board, drink more, play more bingo, gamble more, etc.

 

They are probably offering you solo occupancy in categories where there are the most available staterooms and/or where there are the most available staterooms that have a double occupancy allowance limit.

 

When I try to book one room with 4 people versus two rooms with 2 people each my choices always change based on my occupancy.

 

RCCL is simply trying to maximize their occupancy.

I hope NCL Epic flip the singles cruise market to make the cruise lines think the opposite. I understand the whole double occupancy = more revenue, but with the hike in new ships, more capacity I hope those who put in cabins like Epic and P&O Aurora actually prove that there is a untapped market and, seeing all that matters is $$$, a profitable business model .

Are you doing this via RCI's website? Maybe try checking this via an online travel agency. (Plenty of them are advertised here on Cruise Critic.) Or, try telephoning RCI to see if their reservation agents have different access. The problem you're encountering my simply be a system glitch.

Hope this helps!

Have tried 3 agents and called RCI direct, it's policy it appears.

A yo-yo or RCI's pricing structure? I am getting the hang of how lines like Cunard re-sell and discount cruises at certain points (you can pretty much set your clock by 6 months before the cruise), but RCI continues to baffle me, not least if you are a single traveler.

Currently there is a cruise on Independence where you cannot book the lowest grades if you are a single traveler AT THIS POINT IN TIME, you could last week.! Adjust the number of people to two and a plethora of standard insides become available.

Further to this irritation you can't book a guaranteed cabin as a single traveler at the time of writing, yet you can book a standard inside guaranteed if you're a couple.

This changes from week to week and day to day.

So, at present, if you want to book this cruise on your own not only will you have to pay 75-80% surcharge for being on your own but you can't book the lowest grades or even have a chance of an upgrade with a guaranteed cabin