No solo cruise fares anymore

[emmas gran]

I'm travelling solo today , booked in March!! YC balcony

Edited May 12, 2023 by emmas gran

[Elkins45]

I've only cruised solo on MSC, and not in a dedicated solo cabin. Twice on Divina and once on Meraviglia.  Two were in fall 21 and the third in spring of 22. In all three cases the fare I paid was substantially less than for two persons. IIRC it was around maybe 115% of the quoted double occupancy rate.

 

Sadly, these bargains seem to be going away on the MSC and other third party websites. Not having to pay 2x to travel alone was a big reason that I started sailing with MSC.

[CruizinSusan70]

23 minutes ago, Elkins45 said:

Not having to pay 2x to travel alone was a big reason that I started sailing with MSC.

NCL, RCI and Celebrity all have solo cabins on many of their newer ships, some even have balconies.

[davecttr]

On 4/30/2023 at 6:47 PM, CruizinSusan70 said:

I mentioned a dozen besides NCL, after factoring out the 3 from Virgin, the remaining 9 are:

Anthem OTS 26, Ovation OTS 28,  Quantum OTS 28, Spectrum OTS 28, Celebrity Beyond 32, MSC Bellissima 32, MSC Meraviglia 32, P&O Arvia 32, P&O Britannia 27.  And the Celebrity Apex has 24.

P&O also have 18 solo cabins on Azura and Ventura but they are the noisiest cabins I have experienced and they moved me without argument after the first night. I have 4 cruises booked on P&O Britannia in solo cabins at the lower 'early saver' fare meaning you don't get to choose the cabin. However all those cabins are in the same location on deck 16 forward so why pay the full fare! I have a cruise booked on Virtuosa for next year and the solo fare for a fantastica inside is 90% of what 2 would pay. The single cabins on Virtuosa have sofa beds, no thank you. There are bargains to be had. Last week I booked a 21 night cruise on P&O Arcadia in a double balcony cabin with NO solo supplement.

[CruizinSusan70]

3 hours ago, davecttr said:

I have a cruise booked on Virtuosa for next year and the solo fare for a fantastica inside is 90% of what 2 would pay. 

Wow.  NCL's solo cabins are nowhere near 90% of what two would pay and seems to be the best solo value.

[Elkins45]

9 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

NCL, RCI and Celebrity all have solo cabins on many of their newer ships, some even have balconies.

MSC, at least on the two ships I sailed, were just regular rooms sold at a reduced rate.

[Greygooser]

On 4/30/2023 at 8:31 AM, 8420PR said:

Some data I found:

 

MSC is offering 3,162 cruises to solo passengers, out of a total of 3,390 cruises offered to 2 passengers.   

 

Solo passengers:

 

Two passengers:

 

If you dont mind me asking, is that a consumer travel site? Or a travel agent tool of some sort? It's hard to filter down specific cruise results with MSC. Looking for solo rates in the YC.

[Nikita4]

On 4/30/2023 at 2:31 PM, 8420PR said:

Some data I found:

 

MSC is offering 3,162 cruises to solo passengers, out of a total of 3,390 cruises offered to 2 passengers.   

 

Solo passengers:

 

Two passengers:

 

But the price is often the same like for two persons....
It was like that before COVID. During COVID there were very good solo Prices. And since this year, there are no more really Solo-Prices, not for Bella or YC!
So you have to pay from 180 - 200% the price!

[Elkins45]

8 hours ago, Nikita4 said:

But the price is often the same like for two persons....
It was like that before COVID. During COVID there were very good solo Prices. And since this year, there are no more really Solo-Prices, not for Bella or YC!
So you have to pay from 180 - 200% the price!

Just as an example I looked up the December 3 sailing of the Seashore from Port Canaveral. Changing the number of occupants from two to one increased the per person rate from $219 to $358. That’s a 163% increase.
 

Right after Covid singles were maybe 110% at most. I guess when they were sailing with only 800-1000 passengers per trip they were just happy to get a warm body in the room.

[mackfam]

The solo rates with low single supplement were for cruises sailing by May 31st, 2023 as stated on the website.

I was planning a family cruise where we needed one single cabin and were originally planning for April or early May. For these dates the solo cabin was only slightly more than the price for one person. Due to conflicts with family members work schedules we ended up booking early June and I had to pay basically double (less the port fees) for the solo cabin. As we’re all in YC that was a major ‘ouch’.

[awatt]

Does MSC run solo specials periodically? Looking at a November cruise, and I will have to pay the 200% rate. Wondering if they may run another soecial after May 31.

[CruizinSusan70]

6 hours ago, awatt said:

Does MSC run solo specials periodically? Looking at a November cruise, and I will have to pay the 200% rate. Wondering if they may run another soecial after May 31.

If you don't stumble across a sale, book the solo cabins on NCL

[CarolnLarry]

My TA just tried to book a solo in the Yacht club on the Seascape on three different dates in Sept and Oct.  Though there are vacancies for those dates none of them would accept a solo cruiser.

She will call them to see if there is any way to book a solo..  She like other TAs does not like to work with MSC but has been able to always get us what we want, not this time. She also offered us other cruise lines who always have solo cabins available.  

[Essiesmom]

I e also had this problem on Celebrity and Carnival, but today I see them complaining about this on the Princess board.  EM

[KKB]

Cruiseplum lists solo fare deals. 
Not a TA & not always 100% accurate but I’ve stumbled across many

[Elkins45]

Vacations to go used to list the MSC single rates but now nothing shows up when you sort by cheapest singles rates. This changed quite recently.