MSC does not want solo travelers and REFUSE to book one person in a cabin- OUTRAGEOUS!

[goldrusher]

MSC is refusing to allow a single to book a cabin on their ships.You can go on and book a cruise and there are lots of cabins available, but then backup and change the  passenger to one and  it says no cabins available!!!   It will not let you boo a cabin even  if you pay double the rate!!!!  Have heard they want more people on board to buy drinks and spend money,  We usually book 7-9 cabins and one s a single with the others with 2-3 in a cabin and many are 1 or 2 cruises from black status..  If they will  not allow singles, they will lose all our bookings for the other cabins.   Shame on you MSC   Looks like discrimination!

[SoloAlaska]

There’s a thread on Celebrity right now about them charging WAY more for solos. It seems the trick is to book a ghost companion. Right now I have my RCI cruise booked with a ghost and I will either change the name or cancel the second person before final payment. 
 

I wonder if the ghost is a no show if MSC will refund the second guests port fees?

[Dancer Bob]

If their behaviour is so OUTRAGEOUS why would you want to travel with them?

[cruiseelady]

15 hours ago, goldrusher said:

MSC is refusing to allow a single to book a cabin on their ships.You can go on and book a cruise and there are lots of cabins available, but then backup and change the  passenger to one and  it says no cabins available!!!   It will not let you boo a cabin even  if you pay double the rate!!!!  Have heard they want more people on board to buy drinks and spend money,  We usually book 7-9 cabins and one s a single with the others with 2-3 in a cabin and many are 1 or 2 cruises from black status..  If they will  not allow singles, they will lose all our bookings for the other cabins.   Shame on you MSC   Looks like discrimination!

You can just put two people and pay double as you said.  Then One fictional person can be a no show or you can call them before you sail and tell them the person cant make it. 

 

They offer fall and winter cruises though and you can book for one.  They don't charge double for a solo in most fall and winter cruises.. 

 

They fares are pretty much unbeatable for solos. 

 

Edited September 4, 2023 by cruiseelady

[cruiseelady]

2 hours ago, SoloAlaska said:

There’s a thread on Celebrity right now about them charging WAY more for solos. It seems the trick is to book a ghost companion. Right now I have my RCI cruise booked with a ghost and I will either change the name or cancel the second person before final payment. 
 

I wonder if the ghost is a no show if MSC will refund the second guests port fees?

they will.  

[Fan4Fathom]

20 hours ago, goldrusher said:

MSC is refusing to allow a single to book a cabin on their ships.You can go on and book a cruise and there are lots of cabins available, but then backup and change the  passenger to one and  it says no cabins available!!!   It will not let you boo a cabin even  if you pay double the rate!!!!  Have heard they want more people on board to buy drinks and spend money,  We usually book 7-9 cabins and one s a single with the others with 2-3 in a cabin and many are 1 or 2 cruises from black status..  If they will  not allow singles, they will lose all our bookings for the other cabins.   Shame on you MSC   Looks like discrimination!

It could be a glitch.  I booked a single cabin for a May TA. No problem.

[sambamama]

You could use a TA to get around that problem. Usually its a website glitch. It isn't them refusing. If you look on a well known website, MSC has the lowest single supplements around. NCL, Costa, and RCCI aren't too far behind. Princess has some long reposition ing cruises at zero supplent. I looked and all of HAL's were 79-100% !

[westcoasttech]

Celebrity have been doing this (certain cheaper categories not bookable by solos) for a long, long time!  1st cruise I tried to book on Celebrity (20+ years ago) advertised a late bookable guarantee rate of around $750, cheapest available to a solo was $2100+ … they seem to be doing it even more now!

 

I’ve seen RCCL do it more recently.  On MSC in 2017 the only way I could book a certain category (in this case YIN in YC) was to make up a ‘pretend’ companion who then ‘couldn’t come’ at the last minute!

 

Yes it makes me 😡😡😡 … I’ve accepted that for a cruise I really, really want to do I’ll pay the 200% but now it’s getting ridiculous.  I’ve got several next cruise deposits for RCCL which I’m struggling to use due to their solo “overpricing” … I’ve started looking for alternative cruise lines that offer lower percentages for their solo pricing and just booked my 1st Azamara - the base price might start higher but the lower solo supplement gives you a better price for a better product!

 

In the past I have found that there will be solo deals on the more unusual repositioning routes, and/or last minute timing, but of course then you might have less choice of cabins!

[mailbroad]

On 9/3/2023 at 11:34 PM, goldrusher said:

MSC is refusing to allow a single to book a cabin on their ships.You can go on and book a cruise and there are lots of cabins available, but then backup and change the  passenger to one and  it says no cabins available!!!   It will not let you boo a cabin even  if you pay double the rate!!!!  Have heard they want more people on board to buy drinks and spend money,  We usually book 7-9 cabins and one s a single with the others with 2-3 in a cabin and many are 1 or 2 cruises from black status..  If they will  not allow singles, they will lose all our bookings for the other cabins.   Shame on you MSC   Looks like discrimination!

There are some cruises, in December of this year for example, that you cannot book as a solo now but there are some that you can.I am actually booked as a solo on two in December. I booked them over the summer. I was looking at a cruise in January as a solo and one in April and was able to book those if I wanted to. 
I just cam back from a solo on MSC and took one in May. I think it is weird that you can't book as a solo for some of them even with a supplement.
It is not discrimination.

Edited September 18, 2023 by mailbroad
forgot to mention my cruises in December

[KKB]

On 9/3/2023 at 10:34 PM, goldrusher said:

MSC is refusing to allow a single to book a cabin on their ships.You can go on and book a cruise and there are lots of cabins available, but then backup and change the  passenger to one and  it says no cabins available!!!   It will not let you boo a cabin even  if you pay double the rate!!!!  Have heard they want more people on board to buy drinks and spend money,  We usually book 7-9 cabins and one s a single with the others with 2-3 in a cabin and many are 1 or 2 cruises from black status..  If they will  not allow singles, they will lose all our bookings for the other cabins.   Shame on you MSC   Looks like discrimination!

Huh.

I sailed solo B2B on MSC in Feb & again in May, booked myself online.

Now, have determined I'm no MSC fan at any price (one cruise was free!), so take that for what you will.

I'm gonna say it's a message to NOT book MSC!

[ReneeFLL]

On 9/4/2023 at 3:34 AM, goldrusher said:

MSC is refusing to allow a single to book a cabin on their ships.You can go on and book a cruise and there are lots of cabins available, but then backup and change the  passenger to one and  it says no cabins available!!!   It will not let you boo a cabin even  if you pay double the rate!!!!  Have heard they want more people on board to buy drinks and spend money,  We usually book 7-9 cabins and one s a single with the others with 2-3 in a cabin and many are 1 or 2 cruises from black status..  If they will  not allow singles, they will lose all our bookings for the other cabins.   Shame on you MSC   Looks like discrimination!

That’s not true and it was explained to you what was going on when you posted the same comment on the MSC forum.

 

Edited October 3, 2023 by ReneeFLL

[ReneeFLL]

For others saying to book a ghost companion be careful with that. Some are saying that the cruise lines are catching on to it. Even if you pay for 2 people and 1 is a no show then the line misses out on what money that second person might spend on board. I have done it many times after the restart when prices were really good.
 

DH gets his schedule a couple of weeks before the next month so I didn’t know if he’ll be able to make it. I was just reading about this the last couple of days on the MSC board where it was reported. I spend most of my time on the Royal board and I haven’t read about it there so I don’t know which lines/line are doing this. Please look into it first to be safe.

[centma]

I was able to book MSC solo a while ago, but now looking at other dates cannot.

[Morgsmom]

It's getting very difficult indeed to book as a solo on MSC.  I did it but was limited to my choice of sailings.

[BrownMuffin1]

I just booked a Solo trip on their website 😄

[Cruising started]

I do not like paying for two whole people to travel solo but what is worse is when they charge you more than two people for the trip. Was told they think they are losing on the second persons upcharges such as spas and excursions but I do not do any of that. Paying for two whole people keeps me from spending that money on those type things.

[Celandine]

I had that issue back in 2014! There was a cruise on MSC I really wanted to take but ai couldn’t book it and I reached out to a TA I used at the time and she could not either. A few years later I had no problem booking a solo cabin and even got upgraded to a balcony (I booked and inside)! It might be some specific sailings, but I will definitely try a ghost second pax if I encounter this again! 

[livyordrem]

I did an MSC cruise last year. I originally wanted to do 27 nights but they would not let me book a solo cabin. When I called, they said they had various limits for each portion and the limit for the full 27 nights was met. So I booked a solo cabin for the first 3 nights and one for the 24 nights and there was no problem with that. I even called and they gave me the same cabin too. Turns out, I changed my plans and cancelled the 3 nights anyway so it worked out better for me in the end.....

[Ellaleah]

I checked a Celebrity for a solo and the price was triple.