Single traveller / last minute

[Dale P]

I am hoping to catch a 4 or 5 day cruise out of Charleston SC this Feb or March to the Bahamas on the Carnival line.  Trouble is I'll be travelling alone and so the price doubles. I have been trying to find a downtown Chrleston travel agent thinking they might have the inside track on last minute cabins to save me a buck.  They must be busy -nobody will talk to me.  I called Carnival direct and they said to call them back a couple days before each sailing.   Is that my best option? 

[shof515]

you can book now online using the carnival website. yes singles sometimes pay double but even if you use a travel agent you still gotta pay the same rate

[Elaine5715]

That is prime time so deals are rare

[Jasonsterling]

9 hours ago, Dale P said:

I am hoping to catch a 4 or 5 day cruise out of Charleston SC this Feb or March to the Bahamas on the Carnival line.  Trouble is I'll be travelling alone and so the price doubles. I have been trying to find a downtown Chrleston travel agent thinking they might have the inside track on last minute cabins to save me a buck.  They must be busy -nobody will talk to me.  I called Carnival direct and they said to call them back a couple days before each sailing.   Is that my best option? 

I'm not sure how common last minute cabins are BUT it used to be the case that maybe two days before the cruise the newspaper for the town the ship left from would have an ad from Carnival with a deal on leftover rooms at literally the last minute. I don't know if they still do that and it would only be in the Charleston paper if they still do, there were never many left and they went fast. My guess would be that you could try Carnival say two days before instead of looking in the paper and if you get lucky then you get lucky, much as they suggested. The other option is not to sail last minute, sometimes you can land an interior bunk bed set up room w/o at just a single price but you have to book well in advance as they go fast. Good luck. 

[luv2kroooz]

For solo rates, better to look on MSC or NCL. Carnival not usually very solo friendly. Of course, you can't sail from Charleston on MSC or NCL and you wouldn't get the Fun Ship experience.

[notscb]

On 12/21/2022 at 10:03 PM, Dale P said:

this Feb or March to the Bahamas on the Carnival line.

 

There are plenty of TA's who would be happy to take your call and help you if that's the route you're wanting to go. *carnival's website is definitely not solo cruiser friendly, nor did they really build in enough interior solo cabins on their newer ships*

 

In my experience, prices for travel tend to drop right after the holidays and I've gotten some great deals during those first few days of January. YMMV.

Edited December 23, 2022 by notscb
*

[cruisingguy007]

You can check the online cruise discount sites for last min cruises as well, they can be a valuable resource for exactly what you are looking for. If the ship still has plenty of availability, booking a pack and go rate a few days before direct with the line can work as well. Either of these will generally yield good results if you don't really care much about cabin location/type.  

[Dale P]

Thanks for the input everybody.   I am new at this. 

[spleenstomper]

I paid double when I went solo to Alaska in September on HAL but it was very last minute so still a deal. That is also late season though so it’s a generally discounted time to sail. 

[CruiseScrooge]

I have booked less than 48 hours before the cruise but that was before covid. MSC is the cheapest if you don't have to go out of Charleston. Personally if i was booking within 30 days of the cruise i'd go with booking with the cruise line directly unless i was getting a incredible once in a life time deal. When you book with a travel agent 99% of the time the cruise line says work it out with your travel agent when you have questions or problems.

You "I don't have my cabin assignment and paperwork yet" to the carnival phone rep

Carnival rep "call your travel agent"

[maryann2]

16 hours ago, spleenstomper said:

I paid double when I went solo to Alaska in September on HAL but it was very last minute so still a deal. That is also late season though so it’s a generally discounted time to sail. 

There was no solo supplement on the Splendor to Alaska in July and August this year.

[spleenstomper]

8 minutes ago, maryann2 said:

There was no solo supplement on the Splendor to Alaska in July and August this year.

Nice. As I said, mine was still a deal so it was still worth paying double. If I went solo again, I would absolutely look for one with less than 100% single supplement. Why not? It makes good sense. 

[maryann2]

1 hour ago, spleenstomper said:

Nice. As I said, mine was still a deal so it was still worth paying double. If I went solo again, I would absolutely look for one with less than 100% single supplement. Why not? It makes good sense. 

Actually it was only for inside cabins. Found the good prices by accident!

[spleenstomper]

1 hour ago, maryann2 said:

Actually it was only for inside cabins. Found the good prices by accident!

I’ve never done an inside or an ocean view. I wouldn’t be opposed to one, and will likely try it out at some point. I love a balcony though and I spend a lot of time out on mine 

[Itried4498]

Some ships have very small single occupancy cabins (just a twin bed).  I doubt there’s many and this they sell out quickly (years in advance sometimes).  Sometimes you can score a cancellation.

 

Otherwise, unless there’s a sale offering single occupancy the same rate as double, there is no inside track or other secrets.

[CruiseScrooge]

You will be put in whatever cabin category they have available.  I have been in outside cabins that slept 4 and i was solo and booked inside guaranteed. When a ship isn't near capacity close to sailing 1 passenger is better than a empty cabin to the cruise line.

 

[firefly333]

Carnival isnt friendly to solos. During covid there were some deals but dried up now. I'd like to book jubilee and keeping a eye on prices. Maybe last minute after final payment prices will drop. They used to do the 1As for less supplement, but that's long since gone.

 

Rcl I pushed to the 340 level with the double pts, so now they give me 25% off on top of the balcony discount. Any rcl cruise now is cheaper for me as a solo than carnival. .. I keep watching though. I'd even do last minute. I have to assume solo isnt their target audience.