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Reduced single supplement or double rewards points?


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Hello

 

Newly retired and still figuring out the ins and outs

 

I'm afraid to fly, my wife is afraid of cruise ships. I will bring a friend along for free if necessary, but would love to find the best deal for solo cruising.

 

Does anyone know which cruise lines charge a lower single supplement?

 

Does any cruise line offer double points of having paid two fares?

 

Bill

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NCL often has no single supplement rates. That is the reason when I go solo only with NCL. Even better if you can do last minute cruises, you can cruise for very cheap and no single supplement.

Check on cruiseplum website often, they update it daily every morning in case there is a sailing with no supplement. It is not a site where you purchase cruise, strictly for info, you can book it any way you like.

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Royal Caribbean will give you double points for sailing solo, as long as it's in a standard room and not one of the studio cabins. I'm not sure if that applies to suites as well, or if you get the standard three points per night if you're in a suite. :)

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NCL often has no single supplement rates. That is the reason when I go solo only with NCL. Even better if you can do last minute cruises, you can cruise for very cheap and no single supplement.

Check on cruiseplum website often, they update it daily every morning in case there is a sailing with no supplement. It is not a site where you purchase cruise, strictly for info, you can book it any way you like.

 

Thank you. I've not yet seen any fares on NCL without the full supplement. But I'll keep looking. I've investigated their "studios" which cost as much as paying double in a standard cabin.

 

Any examples of your solo experiences without the supplement on NCL?

 

Bill

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Does anyone know which cruise lines charge a lower single supplement?

 

Does any cruise line offer double points of having paid two fares?

 

Princess also offers double credit for sailing solo. If you book one of their 14-day itineraries that is also sold as two separate 7-day cruises, you end up with 4 cruise credits by the end of the trip. Makes it fairly "easy" to make Elite status pretty quickly.

 

If you can afford to book a suite then you'll get status even faster since you get extra credit there too.

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Princess also offers double credit for sailing solo. If you book one of their 14-day itineraries that is also sold as two separate 7-day cruises, you end up with 4 cruise credits by the end of the trip. Makes it fairly "easy" to make Elite status pretty quickly.

 

If you can afford to book a suite then you'll get status even faster since you get extra credit there too.

 

 

Thank you. My first cruise was on Princess. Everything was excellent. I've been looking at their itineraries for future cruises. You just gave me more of an incentive.

 

Bill

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Thank you. I've not yet seen any fares on NCL without the full supplement. But I'll keep looking. I've investigated their "studios" which cost as much as paying double in a standard cabin.

 

Any examples of your solo experiences without the supplement on NCL?

 

Bill

 

Not sure how you are not seeing the no supplement sailings, like I said if you go on cruise plum website, you will see about 17 sailings with NCL that have zero single supplement.

 

But you wanted examples of my sailings, here you go. January 2nd 2017 $749 guarantee balcony for a 13 day cruise on Breakaway

A year before that Breakaway 7 days $599 guarantee balcony

NCL Pearl two years ago in March Panama 10 day cruise inside guarantee $499

 

Check the cruiseplum website, otherwise you may not know which sailings have promos for no supplement. Like I said you don't book on that site, you book with your own travel agent, or however you like. But at least you will be in the know.

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Beware the "no single supplement" prices on solo cabins -- they don't have a supplement because they're already priced higher than a "per person double occupancy" fare, and sometimes it's actually cheaper to pay the supplement and sail in a regular cabin. Do your due diligence.

 

For the time being, Crystal still offers window cabins at about 30% supplement, but they are a luxury line and virtually all-inclusive, so the actual dollar value will seem high. Definitely check out the cruiseplum site too.

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I was surprised to find that the single supplement for a Concierge Suite on Regent Seven Seas was only 40%, which makes it comparable in terms of total price to Holland America for a similar suite and same cruise length / similar itinerary (HAL charges almost 100% single supplement). Regent Seven Seas actually has the advantage of being all-inclusive: the quoted fair includes all dining venues (including specialty restaurants), gratuities, drinks including wine/beer/spirits/soft drinks, and most excursions (the only ones you pay for are the really top-end excursions: float planes, etc.), so it compares well with other more mainstream cruise lines.

 

I've traveled solo for a long time, but did my first cruise ever last September on Holland America (14 days to Alaska roundtrip from Seattle). Since it was my first cruise and since I'm a little prone to claustrophobia (not panic-attack-inducing but still ... uncomfortable), I booked a Neptune Suite for the size. It worked out well and I guess you could say I'm now hooked.

 

I have 5 more solo cruises booked, two of them coming up this year (38 days r/trip from Boston through the north Atlantic on Holland America, and a 29-day trip from Vancouver to Miami via the Panama Canal on Regent Seven Seas).

 

The bottom line for me is to decide my budget, then find the best itinerary and best accommodations I can that is within my budget.

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Royal Caribbean will give you double points for sailing solo, as long as it's in a standard room and not one of the studio cabins. I'm not sure if that applies to suites as well, or if you get the standard three points per night if you're in a suite. :)

 

I booked solo in a JS on my last Royal Caribbean sailing. It was 7 nights and I was given 21 points. It was worth it since the suite price was comparbale to balcony pricing at the time.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have found no single supplements on Windstar and Star Clipper in the last year and went on both, what a difference from main line cruise lines and it is a little more but the whole experience is more than worth it for me.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Celebrity also awards double points, although for my most recent cruise, I had to e-mail and ask that they be credited.

 

Azamara offers a 25% single supplement on some itineraries, which is very attractive given what's included.

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  • 5 months later...
On 5/16/2018 at 7:56 PM, Retired Now Traveler said:

 

Thank you. I've not yet seen any fares on NCL without the full supplement. But I'll keep looking. I've investigated their "studios" which cost as much as paying double in a standard cabin.

 

Any examples of your solo experiences without the supplement on NCL?

 

Bill

To bring this up to date, I just got back from Oct. 27th 15 night repo (NYC to NOLA) on NCL Breakaway in an inside cabin with no supplement.  The studios, although not double an inside cabin for 2, were higher as they come with 1 perk and the no-supplement solo rate was for inside, ocvw, balcony, mini suite guaranty's.  Those wanting specific cabins had to pay double.

 

Then the following leg 7 night Nov. 18 NOLA-NOLA appeared for $299 pp (plus taxes/fees) and no solo supplement so I booked it.  Also an inside gty (2 cabins away) so the move was pretty painless.

 

Long repos are often an excellent deal whether solo or with companion(s).  The average age on our cruise (Breakaway) was 61.5 yrs whereas it fell to 54 on the following 7 nighter.  

 

The studios were also full and the solo early evening gathering on the long repo drew over 50 guests.  NCL assigns a CD host to the studios - group dinners are arranged, shows with a row or two reserved, etc.  The studios have quite a following of return solos and a separate lounge.

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NCL does often deeply discount last minute bookings, and with no single supplements.    And you can save even more if you book the 'sailaway rate', which does not include any perks, but from the amount you save, you are almost always better off and paying for drinks or specialty restaurants, separately.

 

Another tip, is to not pay more to chase after double or triple loyalty points....they are just not worth the extra money you spend to get them.   You are much better off to cruise more often at lower rates and get them that way...JMHO

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In response to the two last posts, yes, I've just seen that.  There was a 14 day NCL cruise for $499 a couple of weeks before sailing, with no single supplement.  By the time it went down to $449 though, the cheap cabins were still advertised but sold out.  I'll keep checking out NCL for last minute deals. 

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17 hours ago, Retired Now Traveler said:

In response to the two last posts, yes, I've just seen that.  There was a 14 day NCL cruise for $499 a couple of weeks before sailing, with no single supplement.  By the time it went down to $449 though, the cheap cabins were still advertised but sold out.  I'll keep checking out NCL for last minute deals. 

Don't go solely on what you see advertised or online. Call up NCL direct and speak with a rep, call several times over several days at different times of day, right up till closing time to speak with someone different each time. Most of the time there is always "one" more room turning up in inventory, a cancellation or even they(NCL) we're holding back one for some reason or another. 

Edited by bones774
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  • 4 weeks later...
On 11/30/2018 at 11:03 PM, bob brown said:

NCL does often deeply discount last minute bookings, and with no single supplements.    And you can save even more if you book the 'sailaway rate', which does not include any perks, but from the amount you save, you are almost always better off and paying for drinks or specialty restaurants, separately.

 

Another tip, is to not pay more to chase after double or triple loyalty points....they are just not worth the extra money you spend to get them.   You are much better off to cruise more often at lower rates and get them that way...JMHO

 

I with Bob on the bolded. What's the advantage of paying double $$ just to get loyalty points? I am at Platinum Plus with no desire to go any higher and I only booked at low or no single supplement to get there.

Edited by IrieBajan54
correction
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8 hours ago, Shadygap said:

If you book a regular cabin on NCL rather than studio cabin and I'm solo can I still get access to the studio lounge?  Where do they have the meetup to make plans for dinner. In the studio lounge or a bar?  

The residents of Studio cabins have 24 hour keycard access to the Studio Lounge.   During the Solo get together each evening, (location is posted in the Freestyle Daily), if the Studio Lounge is used, they will block open the entrance during that time, so all solo traveler's on the ship can enter.   Sometimes they hold it in other lounges, due to capacity constraints.   At the get together, they have sign up sheets for specialty restaurants.   At the end of the gathering, which lasts from about 30 minutes to an hour, they will often invite all those not having other plans, to join the group in one of the main dining rooms, where they have a couple of large tables reserved...

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