Single Cabins on the QM2

[Smitheroo]

When I got on the shuttle bus in Southampton to London I got into a conversation with a man who "commuted" from California to London regularly on the QM2 (he had a problem with jet lag) He asked me what I thought of the single cabins on the QM2. Huh? He said that Cunard has designated "a few" cabins to be single occupancy because of the complaints received and they were being reserved for frequent travelers. He then said the QV has always had some singles. Anyone know anything about this?

[Scrapnana]

Single cabins do not show up on the deck plans. I was under the impression that only the old QE2 had singles.

[Jimsgirl]

Having travelled on both QM2 and QV, there are NO single cabins on either, (or on QE).

 

In fact as many others will confirm solo passengers usually have to pay the same amount as if there were two people in the cabin.

 

There were some singles on QE2, very small and yes I did travel in them.

[Salacia]

Having travelled on both QM2 and QV, there are NO single cabins on either, (or on QE).

 

In fact as many others will confirm solo passengers usually have to pay the same amount as if there were two people in the cabin.

 

There were some singles on QE2, very small and yes I did travel in them.

 

(excuse me for going off thread)

 

Mrs. Jimsgirl, if you are sailing soon, I hope you have a wonderful voyage. Looking forward to reading about your voyage when you return. -Sadly, for the first time in years, I have no cruises planned.

Regards, -S.

[Salacia]

When I got on the shuttle bus in Southampton to London I got into a conversation with a man who "commuted" from California to London regularly on the QM2 (he had a problem with jet lag) He asked me what I thought of the single cabins on the QM2. Huh? He said that Cunard has designated "a few" cabins to be single occupancy because of the complaints received and they were being reserved for frequent travelers. He then said the QV has always had some singles. Anyone know anything about this?

 

Hi rootsmith. No, I haven't heard anything about "single cabins"

on QM2. But of interest might be this Cruise Critic article titled 10 Best Cruise Lines for Solo Travelers http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=419

[pepperrn]

When I got on the shuttle bus in Southampton to London I got into a conversation with a man who "commuted" from California to London regularly on the QM2 (he had a problem with jet lag) He asked me what I thought of the single cabins on the QM2. Huh? He said that Cunard has designated "a few" cabins to be single occupancy because of the complaints received and they were being reserved for frequent travelers. He then said the QV has always had some singles. Anyone know anything about this?

Hi rootsmith,

As far as I am aware there are no "single" cabins for passengers on QV (or QE). Nor on QM2.

However, any cabin on QM2 (QV/QE) can be used by a passenger travelling alone. It seems to me that there is no need for certain cabins to be reserved just for sole-occupancy, that would unnecessarily restrict cabin flexibility reacting to demand, as all passenger cabins were built to take at least two passengers. He may well routinely book "single" cabins, and pay the supplement (which ranges from 75-100% (depending on grade) on top of half the double occupancy fare).

One way to avoid the supplement, should you wish to, for those with family or friends… is to suggest someone comes with you and offer them a discounted berth, that way you pay less than the full supplement and they get a cheap cruise! I’ve done this more than once :) .

(Of course, if you know of no-one who will travel with you… )

 

He may have struck a deal, if he's a very regular passenger, where he doesn't pay the single supplement, maybe that is what he meant? But frankly I can't see Cunard being that generous :eek: .

Another thought crosses my mind, If he said he was regularly travelling from California on QM2 (avoiding jet-lag) I think he was pulling your leg… ;)

Having travelled on both QM2 and QV, there are NO single cabins on either, (or on QE).

Quite right!

In fact as many others will confirm solo passengers usually have to pay the same amount as if there were two people in the cabin.

Not "usually" on this side of the pond; it is 75% in Britannia (or 100% in the "grills"). Easily overcome by finding a friend and offering them a discounted cruise (as mentioned above).

There were some singles on QE2, very small and yes I did travel in them.

Not all singles on QE2 were "very small"; “single” cabin 2122, for example, was wonderfully spacious with a large bathroom, see here...

 

I’ve just (Dec ‘12) crossed the Atlantic on QM2 as a single passenger in a sheltered balcony cabin on deck 5, marvellous! :)

 

All best wishes :) .

[moniquet]

That single cabin looks very nice, real cosy:) Shame they don't do singles anymore. Not as if single people are in a minority.

 

I have friends and family who I love dearly but would not want to share a cabin with them:D

[Smitheroo]

Thanks for the responses. I will look into some of the suggestions.

 

I just traveled 1/3-1/10 2013 on the QM2 as a single. The price for one was $647 (I booked in the summer). I paid double that, traveling alone. I met two women who paid $495 each, same room (booked in November) but that's straying from the topic.

 

I got on the shuttle to London and don't remember telling this man I was a single but he probably figured it out as I was alone. That's not something I would normally discuss with a stranger. He said "How did you like what Cunard has done for singles? Its about time" So I said "what was that?" and he explained. I got the impression he may have been in one of them. I asked how much and he said "$800" but didn't sound real sure so either he had someone book his travel details and didn't bother with that or he was just repeating what he had heard. Well, we know how that goes LOL. Seriously though, he sounded like he knew what he was talking about. It also sounded like it had just happened so if you haven't traveled on the QM2 recently you may not be aware. Its also possible that it was a case of wishful thinking on his part.

[Jimsgirl]

(excuse me for going off thread)

 

Mrs. Jimsgirl, if you are sailing soon, I hope you have a wonderful voyage. Looking forward to reading about your voyage when you return. -Sadly, for the first time in years, I have no cruises planned.

Regards, -S.

 

Thank you for your good wishes. I booked direct with Cunard, had to pay double for solo use of inside D7/8 Gty. cabin, but after a few weeks saw a flash sale, my sales person at Cunard , rebooked me , I received extra OBC so saved $400. Very good indeed.

 

As the icing on the cake, received free upgrade to D2, which is larger than average and in my opinion the layout allows more walking space in the cabin. So very pleased indeed.

 

Only just over 5 weeks.

 

Poor you not having a cruise to dream of this year. Hope you find you can manage something after all.

 

Found the article on solo cruising interesting, whilst I would give the world to have Jim at my side ( he was the love of my life for over 50 years, and we travelled the world) being able to just please myself , where I have my drinks, or which function to attend is pleasing.

 

I am often amused by the comments of some of my neighbour here in the condo community in which I live.

Being a person of "senior years" these comments are "You could DIE on the cruise" (could I not die in my condo????)

My reply is "well if I do it will not be my problem, it will be that of the steward whofinds mewhen he comes to clean, and the ship staff who have to decide which locker to store me in until end of voyage."

 

This always stops them "dead"

 

Lynn

[pepperrn]

I am often amused by the comments of some of my neighbour here in the condo community in which I live. Being a person of "senior years" these comments are "You could DIE on the cruise" (could I not die in my condo????) My reply is "well if I do it will not be my problem, it will be that of the steward whofinds mewhen he comes to clean, and the ship staff who have to decide which locker to store me in until end of voyage."

This always stops them "dead" Lynn

Well said! This made me laugh! :) . Sometimes people don't think, do they? :) .

[seasidegal]

Thank you for your good wishes. I booked direct with Cunard, had to pay double for solo use of inside D7/8 Gty. cabin, but after a few weeks saw a flash sale, my sales person at Cunard , rebooked me , I received extra OBC so saved $400. Very good indeed.

 

As the icing on the cake, received free upgrade to D2, which is larger than average and in my opinion the layout allows more walking space in the cabin. So very pleased indeed.

 

Only just over 5 weeks.

 

Poor you not having a cruise to dream of this year. Hope you find you can manage something after all.

 

Found the article on solo cruising interesting, whilst I would give the world to have Jim at my side ( he was the love of my life for over 50 years, and we travelled the world) being able to just please myself , where I have my drinks, or which function to attend is pleasing.

 

I am often amused by the comments of some of my neighbour here in the condo community in which I live.

Being a person of "senior years" these comments are "You could DIE on the cruise" (could I not die in my condo????)

My reply is "well if I do it will not be my problem, it will be that of the steward whofinds mewhen he comes to clean, and the ship staff who have to decide which locker to store me in until end of voyage."

 

This always stops them "dead"

 

Lynn

 

You have a remarkable attitude and good for you to continue seeing 'the world' on your own after such a long and happy marriage.

 

So happy:) to read about your upgrade and also that Cunard reduced your payment to the lower sale offering.

 

Hope your trip is wonderful.

 

seasidegal

[Ab Ovo]

I've traveled single on all four ships. The QE2 did have single accommodations for all dinning rooms/price grades and cabins so designated. Yes, Queens Grill and Princess Grill single staterooms were quite nice. As was E-grade space in Columbia, on down to inside cabins for Tables of the World (I was along after the room originally sailed as the Britannia). Until she went to Dubai, through all her dinning room placement and name-changes, QE2 had single cabin accommodation.

 

The three new ships now are all of a two-person cabin build/occupancy. When one books as a single, no matter the dinning room, your fare includes the supplement and you are booked in a cabin with two beds. Possibly smart agents press and have the second bed removed. Doable.

 

These past few months I have heard "stories" … single travelers getting great fares, the single supplement waived, AND some on-board credit! I'd say, rootsmith, perhaps your coach companion was a sea-dog who liked to talk, who lives in California and "commuted" to England via Cunard once he got to the Cunard docks! As for his saying Cunard has designated cabins to be single occupancy because of the complaints received and they were being reserved for frequent travelers, possibly he was told this by a travel agent upon making the sale/booking.

You know he certainly was incorrect in saying "the QV has always had some singles," meaning cabins, … as the QV never has, the QE never has, nor the QM2. Yet all have always sold singles.

 

By now, old salts are used to this new Cunard system; those new to booking and sailing now only know it as this way, two to a cabin, singles pay a supplement. But as a marketing ploy many here feel needed, to make Single Cabins, where would you put them? Dead-center on the best deck? Why lose that revenue from two people? Yet on a ship where all cabins within a price range are equal, are not some more equal than others? And some less? A cabin very to the bow, or the stern, might not sell easily, often sails empty; pull it and convert the space into a fancy single. That could work. But then solos would fuss about the placement. Still, take hard-to-sell cabins and fancy them up. QM2 solved the pitch and roll Deck 12 cabin problem by raising rates and putting all into a one-sitting Britannia Club. Now they sell.

 

Well, not to worry … with the accumulated knowledge on this site, IF Cunard ever had Single Cabins on offer on QM2, or V. or E., I'm sure you'd read of it here first.

[Whitemarsh]

These past few months I have heard "stories" … single travelers getting great fares, the single supplement waived, AND some on-board credit!

 

Whilst it's true that there are no designated singles cabins, Cunard has offered deals that available for singles only. I know of a couple who took up one of these deals and Cunard would not put the two of them in the same room. Even though they were happy to pay the 'singles only' fare each and stay in the same room, the only way they could get the discounted solo fare was to take a cabin each.

 

And I can confirm that this isn't a story as I got the same deal myself.

 

Still, take hard-to-sell cabins and fancy them up. QM2 solved the pitch and roll Deck 12 cabin problem by raising rates and putting all into a one-sitting Britannia Club. Now they sell.

 

Oh, I didn't realise that was one of the reasons they introduced Britannia Club. Well they certainly solved the problem, usually when I am checking out different voyages Britannia Club is often sold out.

[Smitheroo]

That may very well have been the situation - a special deal for singles and not a regular "singles fare" offered all the time. Maybe his reference to the QV was based on these deals more often on that ship. I don't blame Cunard for not putting them in the same cabin, they weren't singles in that case. With my friends who paid $495 each (for a shared balcony stateroom on the QM2) I doubt the singles special, whatever it was, would be better than that. But I see where it might be possible that this special deal fare could work out less than the fare for sharing a stateroom in the normal situation. The figure given by my bus passenger was $800.

[DaddyWarbucks]

Has anyone been in a hotel built in the last 20 years or so that had a room with just a single bed?

 

The economics of a hotel prohibit this. Modern ships are similar. On Cunard, a hotel manager is in charge of accommodations and it is run as a hotel.

 

That is not to say that deals can't be offered to single inhabitants of a room built for two.

[Smitheroo]

I didnt think of the "special offer for singles" explanation. Makes sense. I am thinking that my bus passenger meant this. Perhaps he wasn't aware of these single specials that Cunard runs , it may have been his first experience with it.

 

I don't know why the two passengers (earlier post) minded Cunard putting them in different cabins for the "single special". Even if I were traveling with someone else (except maybe a spouse) and I had the offer of my own cabin I'd grab it. Why share if you don't have to.

 

 

I traveled on two different Cunard liners in 1966 and the practice then was to fill the cabins up with unrelated people. My mother and I shared a cabin with another elderly woman we didn't know on the Sylvania. That was a lovely cabin (bunkbeds though) but coming back on the QM2 the cabin was miniscule and yet we shared with another woman. No bathrooms either. As a teenager at the time, I thought this was barbaric. (not having had any camp experience LOL) The QM cabin was on C deck.

[Colin_Cameron]

I had a conversation with a lady on QM2 on this topic a number of years ago when QM2 was still new.

 

She claimed that, "It's not true that there are no single cabins on QM2. There is ONE. Unfortunately both my husband and I are in it!"

 

I was speaking with Kim Warwick, wife of Commodore Warwick, and she was not impressed with the size of the captain's cabin compared to that on QE2. :D

 

Regards, Colin.

[Dancer Bob]

If I recall correctly, the price for a single on QE2 and Caronia was about 150% of the double occupancy rate, so a single supplement was in fact built in. NCL Epic has single studios- I stayed in one, it was smaller than a regular cabin, and the price was the same as a cabin with single supplement on one of their other ships.

I have also stayed in some cabins where because of an oddball configuration, the beds couldn't be pushed together, and they were sold as "single" with a smaller supplement than normal.

[Jimsgirl]

It is true that in the past Cunard did have ships that had single cabins, but the three ships now in operation do not have this facility.

 

All cabins in all three ships now are for 2 or more passengers, and if you are solo, almost al lthe time you will have to pay as though you are two passengers.

 

Over and over again although you see the fare listed as per person, look at the really small print and you will see the pp price does not apply to solo passengers, the supplement is often not listed, you have to call for that.

 

Legal but very sneaky.

[3rdGenCunarder]

If I recall correctly, the price for a single on QE2 and Caronia was about 150% of the double occupancy rate, so a single supplement was in fact built in. NCL Epic has single studios- I stayed in one, it was smaller than a regular cabin, and the price was the same as a cabin with single supplement on one of their other ships.

I have also stayed in some cabins where because of an oddball configuration, the beds couldn't be pushed together, and they were sold as "single" with a smaller supplement than normal.

 

You're right. A single cabin cost more than half of a comparable double cabin. I did the math one time, and IIRC, the inside single Mauretania cabin on QE2 was about half the price of the highest grade outside Mauretania cabin.

[fantasy51]

Unfortunately all the information above about single supplement is changing!

 

I have been doing some research and singles will now be paying more than 200% of the shared price (i.e. over 100% supplement).

 

Cunard has decided that solo travellers can only purchase Vantage fares. They cannot buy the cheaper Getaway offers. I checked out one cruise for May this year. In an Oceanview cabin, a solo traveller forced to buy a Vantage fare would pay £2448. A couple choosing a Getaway fare would pay £2108 between them. (A couple who chose a Vantage fare would pay £2708.) The relevant figures for an obstructed-view balcony cabin are £2886, £2398 and £3298.

 

Without the Getaway fares, it is going to be even more difficult for solo travellers to afford cruises.

 

(By the way, I have only seen one last-minute fare where there was no single supplement, and I couldn't take advantage of it as I was booked on another ship at about the same time. What a waste of a deal! I keep looking in hope.)