goldrusher Posted September 4, 2023 #1 Share Posted September 4, 2023 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! 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoloAlaska Posted September 4, 2023 #2 Share Posted September 4, 2023 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? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dancer Bob Posted September 4, 2023 #3 Share Posted September 4, 2023 If their behaviour is so OUTRAGEOUS why would you want to travel with them? 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiseelady Posted September 4, 2023 #4 Share Posted September 4, 2023 (edited) 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 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruiseelady Posted September 4, 2023 #5 Share Posted September 4, 2023 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fan4Fathom Posted September 5, 2023 #6 Share Posted September 5, 2023 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare sambamama Posted September 6, 2023 #7 Share Posted September 6, 2023 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% ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare westcoasttech Posted September 10, 2023 #8 Share Posted September 10, 2023 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! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mailbroad Posted September 18, 2023 #9 Share Posted September 18, 2023 (edited) 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare KKB Posted September 28, 2023 #10 Share Posted September 28, 2023 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! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare ReneeFLL Posted October 3, 2023 #11 Share Posted October 3, 2023 (edited) 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 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare ReneeFLL Posted October 3, 2023 #12 Share Posted October 3, 2023 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
centma Posted November 11, 2023 #13 Share Posted November 11, 2023 I was able to book MSC solo a while ago, but now looking at other dates cannot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Morgsmom Posted January 9 #14 Share Posted January 9 It's getting very difficult indeed to book as a solo on MSC. I did it but was limited to my choice of sailings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrownMuffin1 Posted January 14 #15 Share Posted January 14 I just booked a Solo trip on their website 😄 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruising started Posted January 31 #16 Share Posted January 31 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Celandine Posted February 25 #17 Share Posted February 25 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! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
livyordrem Posted April 12 #18 Share Posted April 12 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..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellaleah Posted April 17 #19 Share Posted April 17 I checked a Celebrity for a solo and the price was triple. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Mike B Landlubber Posted May 1 #20 Share Posted May 1 I successfully booked a solo cruise on MSC last year, my first with them. After having eaten my way across the Atlantic in their MDR, I’d say it was quite a public service for them to not let people book their cruises! But different strokes for different folks… 🙂 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjt_cruising Posted July 2 #21 Share Posted July 2 I On 1/31/2024 at 5:05 PM, Cruising started said: 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. If you book a ghost person will they automatically charge you double the tips, or if you tell them the other person can't come, will they only charge you tips for 1 person? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruising started Posted July 2 #22 Share Posted July 2 Most lines will charge you gratuities, port fees, and the rest for two if you book a second person. They will refund you the different if your second person does not show up for cruise. Don't expect to see refund for some time. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare KKB Posted July 3 #23 Share Posted July 3 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 booked a solo cruise Feb. 2023 & 2 in May 2023, no supplement.🤷♀️ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edinburgher Posted July 16 #24 Share Posted July 16 On 9/4/2023 at 4:34 AM, goldrusher said: one s a single with the others with 2-3 in a cabin Could you not simply change one of the 3s and the single to 2 X2 ?. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tim_london0 Posted September 3 #25 Share Posted September 3 Sorry to reopen this so late 🙂 I booked a solo cabin on a Marella cruise for next Feb, on 12 months notice If I go back now there is still availability in that cabin class for 2, but not if you want to book as a single. I agree it's outrageous, but it seems everybody does it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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