What is "solo Balcony"

[happytotravel]

3 hours ago, dbrown84 said:

The NCL press release this will be on all 19 ships, up from the current 9 

Sorry if I wasn't clear.  I meant to say the ships that do not have a solo lounge already will not have one but will have the new "solo" cabins.

happytotravel

[latebuyer]

Unless prices go down for solos, it doesn’t seem like a win. Giving solo lounge access may be their argument for keeping costs high. Lets hope not.

[julig22]

I just checked the pricing on a cruise I've booked, as a solo, for next April.  Solo OV is about $200 less than OV booked as a solo BUT no option for reduced airfare - and no solo lounge anyway, even if that was something I was interested in.  I am considering arriving earlier than 2 days so might be dropping the airfare but at this point, not a chance!

 

[eileeshb]

Hmm I wonder will we be allowed to use 2 CNs if we book a solo balcony. It’s rather annoying when most of the double up promos explicitly exclude studios. 

[HowardK]

For my first cruise in 6 years on the Prima 11 nights I booked a balcony even though it was $4k + whatever charges vs. $2k for a studio + whatever charges.  I know I could book a studio as well and then gamble to see if the price drops and I can upgrade for the difference, but that seems to be happening less than 6-10 years ago.

I looked earlier at my sailing at it didn't have a single balcony.

 

I figure I would keep my balcony in case my ex-wife decides to leave her new husband. 

[insidecabin]

There have been a lot of zero solo sup on the late surplus of insides  on ones we have been looking at med/UK

 

Every studio I have looked at there was significant premium over the pp rate in and inside.

[Daruma]

They recategorized things and now offer solo balcony cabins that are for ONE guest only.

 

I know this because I just called this morning, (Friday, October 6, 2023).

 

I wanted to upgrade my solo cabin to a regular balcony, (was just planning to bite the $$$ bullet), and was told they recategorized cabins and now offer solo balcony cabins on the Escape. I booked Category BT, cabin 11122 for my April 13, 2025 cruise.

 

I was so happy and excited that they've done this... the cost for this upgrade was significantly less than had I upgraded to a "normal" balcony cabin.

[Eggs2Go]

I just booked a solo balcony on the Jewel. Thrilled to get a $300 savings on a nice balcony cabin. Thanks NCL for giving the solos a deal.

[hallux]

1 hour ago, Daruma said:

They recategorized things and now offer solo balcony cabins that are for ONE guest only.

 

I know this because I just called this morning, (Friday, October 6, 2023).

Yes, we established that earlier in the thread...

[Smitheroo]

On 10/3/2023 at 8:38 AM, TYTY said:

I did a "mock" booking and noticed if you want the solo balcony you aren't offered the airfare.  I'm currently booked as a solo in a balcony and I got half off of the "buy one get one free".

I just booked a solo balcony and got the air fare

[julig22]

On 10/3/2023 at 5:38 AM, TYTY said:

I did a "mock" booking and noticed if you want the solo balcony you aren't offered the airfare.  I'm currently booked as a solo in a balcony and I got half off of the "buy one get one free".

The no airfare option is possibly a website glitch. I mentioned it to my pcc and she said she could see the airfare option for the solo reservation I was looking at. So at the moment you may not be able to add it online but would have to call if it's something you want.  PCC has forwarded the info.

[alanstarr]

Looking at a TA in January on the Joy. For some reason, the regular balcony for one person is cheaper than the "solo balcony". Do they expect you to pay extra just for access to the solo lounge? 

 

 

[hallux]

3 minutes ago, alanstarr said:

Do they expect you to pay extra just for access to the solo lounge?

They do, but the funny thing is that that ship doesn't even have one!!  There are no Studio cabins so no lounge to go with them.

 

I've seen the same on my upcoming Panama Canal trip - they want $4700 for a solo balcony, but only $2600 for a regular balcony as a solo.

 

NCL needs to come down to earth with the 'solo' room pricing if they expect to sell any.  I booked that PC cruise in a regular inside as it cost $400 or so less than a Studio cabin...

[mistertomatoe]

Sounds like a gimmick to get more money out of solo cruises. I have a feeling the days of dropping the solo supplement are gone. I'm guessing the virtual solo cabins are just regular cabins with limited supply. This happens with studio cabins when they end up costing more than regular inside cabins if they drop the solo supplement. I've got a bad feeling about this as a solo cruiser...

[julig22]

3 hours ago, mistertomatoe said:

Sounds like a gimmick to get more money out of solo cruises. I have a feeling the days of dropping the solo supplement are gone. I'm guessing the virtual solo cabins are just regular cabins with limited supply. This happens with studio cabins when they end up costing more than regular inside cabins if they drop the solo supplement. I've got a bad feeling about this as a solo cruiser...

I totally agree. And they can always add more inventory if they feel the need, nothing stopping that if they fill up the initial cabins and see more demand.

And since it is a pseudo category, it's not eligible for upgrades using world points (NCL credit card). Hard to say what bidding eligibility will be. Or payment drops, if they decide to pull inventory.

[yakcruiser]

5 hours ago, mistertomatoe said:

Sounds like a gimmick to get more money out of solo cruises. I have a feeling the days of dropping the solo supplement are gone. I'm guessing the virtual solo cabins are just regular cabins with limited supply. This happens with studio cabins when they end up costing more than regular inside cabins if they drop the solo supplement. I've got a bad feeling about this as a solo cruiser...

 

2 hours ago, julig22 said:

I totally agree. And they can always add more inventory if they feel the need, nothing stopping that if they fill up the initial cabins and see more demand.

And since it is a pseudo category, it's not eligible for upgrades using world points (NCL credit card). Hard to say what bidding eligibility will be. Or payment drops, if they decide to pull inventory.

Sadly, as a solo cruiser myself I believe you are both right. 

[dacsmom]

I booked a solo stateroom on the POA yesterday. There are solo cabin in inside, oceanview, and balcony. All have access to the solo lounge. I got a good deal and was offered the deal on airfare. 

[Huntingdon1701]

I knocked £1000 off my sailing using this. It clearly works in some situations, but sounds like you need to pay attention to be sure it's actually a good deal. I am suspicious that we won't see any more solo supplement deals on the other cabins though, in which case booking early is the only option.

[vswan]

Am booked in a balcony solo on the Jade in Jan. 24. Went online to my acct yesterday and did a little snooping. Although I didn't receive an email for the upgrade bidding, it was available online. Not something I'm interested in, but it was there. Also, checked another website and found out that the solo balcony I was offered (and it looks like other BT category balconies) were either far forward or were "hull" balconies. Took me a some snooping to figure out what a hull balcony was, but looks like it will be okay for me. Not what I would have picked if given the full choice of options, but I'll still get fresh air and have a private space to sit somewhat outside.

 

 

[julig22]

Just a bit of info I got from CruiseNext regarding solo supplements. The new categories do not mean that they won't drop or reduce the solo supplements on "regular" cabins if they're trying to fill cabins closer to sail date.

[mistertomatoe]

Cruisenext people would never mislead us! It’s not like they’re trying to sell us something we don’t need.

 

Joking aside you can see there were way more no supplement cruises before.  Per Cruiseplum the few I see now with no solo supplement are on the expensive side. I’m pretty sure the true bargains for us solo cruises are gone. I’ll be paying more for my solo NCL cruises but it’s still better than other cruiselines.

[julig22]

5 hours ago, mistertomatoe said:

Cruisenext people would never mislead us! It’s not like they’re trying to sell us something we don’t need.

 

Joking aside you can see there were way more no supplement cruises before.  Per Cruiseplum the few I see now with no solo supplement are on the expensive side. I’m pretty sure the true bargains for us solo cruises are gone. I’ll be paying more for my solo NCL cruises but it’s still better than other cruiselines.

Of course there aren't a lot of reduced supplement sailings now. Reduced solo supplements were/are a way for NCL to fill ships. The solo cabins are a way to try to keep solos booking cruises when ships are filling to capacity when there is no incentive for NCL to lower the supplements.

Give it time, once the post-shutdown novelty wears off - or NCL oversaturates a market (like Alaska in 2023), reduced supplements will be more common. In the meantime, it's solo cabins unless you pick up a last minute deal.

[Rnlucas1]

On 10/2/2023 at 6:53 PM, dbrown84 said:

Yeah, weirdness going on.  I'm now curious to see how this will work when they get all the kinks worked out 

Make sure to change filter to 1 person per stateroom to get the solo balcony price..

[dbrown84]

9 minutes ago, Rnlucas1 said:

Make sure to change filter to 1 person per stateroom to get the solo balcony price..

Yeah, this was fixed awhile ago 

[mistertomatoe]

I am not seeing as many great deals for solo as before. Is it just me? Seems like they are pricing most cruises only slightly below double.