unpleasant single fares

[vistaman]

I did inquire about the cheapest single fare for a balcony cabin on a 6 days cruise in June 2025 Marseille tot Lisbon  : 6055€

the single cabin is 3900€    - I am not going to pay some 2000 € for a balcony !

[History&Wine]

Well...as Keith says...Choice is good.

 

Old Crystal used to have a 25% single supplement for the single window rooms and a 50% supplement for balcony rooms.  So this is actually pretty much in line.

 

I remember a wealthy woman  (Tommie Campbell, a wonderful person now deceased) said she saved over $25,000 by switching to a window room from a balcony on a world cruise.  She could afford it, but could not justify it.  I agree that i would not pay the supplement for a balcony, but others might. 

[Keith1010]

Dwight, as you say and Tommie could afford it.  She was one of the ladies who at point was living on-board Serenity.  A lovely person.

 

Keith

[Texas Tillie]

51 minutes ago, History&Wine said:

Well...as Keith says...Choice is good.

 

Old Crystal used to have a 25% single supplement for the single window rooms and a 50% supplement for balcony rooms.  So this is actually pretty much in line.

 

I remember a wealthy woman  (Tommie Campbell, a wonderful person now deceased) said she saved over $25,000 by switching to a window room from a balcony on a world cruise.  She could afford it, but could not justify it.  I agree that i would not pay the supplement for a balcony, but others might. 

 

If you check a few cruises you will notice that the single cabins have about a 20% supplement to the per person charge for the double windows. The old Crystal had a 25% single supplement increased to 30% toward the end based on the double occupancy per person fare for the window cabins. So, the new fares are not in line to the old way of calculating a single supplement. There's no doubt that the new Crystal is not as single friendly as the old Crystal. As an FYI, some of the other "luxury" cruise lines have a 50% single supplement with 25% on a selection of cruises.

 

Patty

[BWIVince]

1 hour ago, History&Wine said:

Well...as Keith says...Choice is good.

 

Old Crystal used to have a 25% single supplement for the single window rooms and a 50% supplement for balcony rooms.  So this is actually pretty much in line.

 

I remember a wealthy woman  (Tommie Campbell, a wonderful person now deceased) said she saved over $25,000 by switching to a window room from a balcony on a world cruise.  She could afford it, but could not justify it.  I agree that i would not pay the supplement for a balcony, but others might. 

+1…. I posted this in another thread, but I’m booked on a cruise next year where the solo window cabins were significantly cheaper than was quoted for my last pre-Covid cruise in 2019, and the balcony doubles were roughly the same surcharge as was charged in 2019.  It may SEEM more glaring because the solo cabins are now sometimes at a lower surcharge than some sailings in the past, and fares/rates across the entire travel industry are dramatically higher than they were pre-COVID in the US market almost universally, but that doesn’t mean the surcharge itself on the double verandas is out of whack.

 

Vince

Edited October 5, 2023 by BWIVince

[USCAdventurer]

I have booked five cruises over the next two years.  on each cruise, i booked the single oceanview cabin because the price for the balcony cabin was more than double the price for single cabin.  i think cryustal's pricing for a single passenger who wants a balcony is obscene and not single passenger friendly.

[ChatKat in Ca.]

To upgrade categories from a window cabin to a veranda cabin for 2 people is that much more and always  has been.  I think the 25% solo upcharge was  a good value but we are in a new era - not just Crystal but all the fares are up for the luxury lines.

[BEAV]

22 minutes ago, USC Adventurer said:

I have booked five cruises over the next two years.  on each cruise, i booked the single oceanview cabin because the price for the balcony cabin was more than double the price for single cabin.  i think cryustal's pricing for a single passenger who wants a balcony is obscene and not single passenger friendly.

I’d keep an eye on pricing as time goes on. If a certain sailing isn’t selling well, I can’t help wonder if the supplement to a balcony may be reduced? 🤔

[happy cruising]

The big problem for singles who want the single rooms is that there are only 14 rooms designated singles on the Serenity snd only 18 on the Symphony. A friend and I tried to book 2 single rooms for several segments of the 2025 World Cruise and our wonderful travel

agent called at 9 am the first day that crystal society members could book. We could only get 1 room and 1 of us is wait listed. With only 14 single rooms it’s highly unlikely that we will clear the wait list which will result in 2 lost bookings for crystal. 

[USCAdventurer]

i wouldn't mind paying 25% of 50% more for a balcony cabin for myself but i will not pay double or more for the privialge of a balcony even though i would like one.

[BWIVince]

8 minutes ago, happy cruising said:

The big problem for singles who want the single rooms is that there are only 14 rooms designated singles on the Serenity snd only 18 on the Symphony. A friend and I tried to book 2 single rooms for several segments of the 2025 World Cruise and our wonderful travel

agent called at 9 am the first day that crystal society members could book. We could only get 1 room and 1 of us is wait listed. With only 14 single rooms it’s highly unlikely that we will clear the wait list which will result in 2 lost bookings for crystal. 

 

I think people get hung up on the number of solo cabins being fixed somehow now just because we have specifically marked cabins on a deck plan.  The solo cabins are exactly the same as the double window cabins for a reason.  Crystal has had a threshold for selling solo cabins at a supplement for as long as I can remember, and that remains true today -- it all depends on the popularity of the voyage.  New Crystal will sell as many "extra" cabins beyond that threshold (as guarantees) as they feel balances demand for the double staterooms, EXACTLY the same way Old Crystal did.  Unfortunately in this case -- as has always been true -- popular voyages only get so many solo or single supplement cabins.

 

8 minutes ago, USC Adventurer said:

i wouldn't mind paying 25% of 50% more for a balcony cabin for myself but i will not pay double or more for the privialge of a balcony even though i would like one.

 

YMMV, but on my Alaska cruise the single supplement for a double veranda isn't double, it's close to 50%.  I think the double-across-the-board thing is a misconception.

 

Vince

 

[USCAdventurer]

that may be true for alaska and caribbean cruises since they are the least expernsive of all the cruises due to the competition.  unfortaunately i'm not going to either one of those destinations

[BWIVince]

27 minutes ago, USC Adventurer said:

that may be true for alaska and caribbean cruises since they are the least expernsive of all the cruises due to the competition.  unfortaunately i'm not going to either one of those destinations

 

It seems to be more than just North America sailings, but to your point, just as in the past, peak sailings like holiday cruises, world/grand voyages, unique sailings, etc. will either have limited solo inventory or unique pricing.

 

Vince

[jjs217]

8 hours ago, vistaman said:

I did inquire about the cheapest single fare for a balcony cabin on a 6 days cruise in June 2025 Marseille tot Lisbon  : 6055€

the single cabin is 3900€    - I am not going to pay some 2000 € for a balcony !

Okey-dokey.

[travelberlin]

2 hours ago, ChatKat in Ca. said:

To upgrade categories from a window cabin to a veranda cabin for 2 people is that much more and always  has been.  I think the 25% solo upcharge was  a good value but we are in a new era - not just Crystal but all the fares are up for the luxury lines.

However, some cruise lines are having zero solo supplement. I have received two days ago a mail from Silversea in which they send me the offers with zero solo supplement.

Ivi

[FlyerTalker]

29 minutes ago, BWIVince said:

 

It seems to be more than just North America sailings, but to your point, just as in the past, peak sailings like holiday cruises, world/grand voyages, unique sailings, etc. will either have limited solo inventory or unique pricing.

 

Our old friends Supply and Demand, hard at work.

 

Econ 101.  TANSTAAFL

 

 

[FlyerTalker]

3 minutes ago, travelberlin said:

However, some cruise lines are having zero solo supplement. I have received two days ago a mail from Silversea in which they send me the offers with zero solo supplement.

 

Bet you dollars to donuts they are sailings with weak demand, thus the adjustment to try to boost interest.

 

 

[AtA]

17 minutes ago, travelberlin said:

However, some cruise lines are having zero solo supplement. I have received two days ago a mail from Silversea in which they send me the offers with zero solo supplement.

Ivi

On which of their ships?

[History&Wine]

34 minutes ago, travelberlin said:

However, some cruise lines are having zero solo supplement. I have received two days ago a mail from Silversea in which they send me the offers with zero solo supplement.

Ivi

lvi,

Details please!  I talked to a Silversea rep last week and he promised to notify me if there were any zero supplement offers.  I've not heard anything.  Maybe you're being offered something unique to you? 

[travelberlin]

41 minutes ago, AtA said:

On which of their ships?

On several. As far as I can see: Muse, Whisper, Cloud, Explorer, Origin, Endeavour, etc. For selected voyages 2023-2024

Edited October 5, 2023 by travelberlin

[travelberlin]

21 minutes ago, History&Wine said:

lvi,

Details please!  I talked to a Silversea rep last week and he promised to notify me if there were any zero supplement offers.  I've not heard anything.  Maybe you're being offered something unique to you? 

Maybe this helps? I had to retrieve the email from the trash because I was not interested…

 

https://www.silversea.com/lp-singles-fares.html?cid_email=em_UK_EM2307196465_OTHER_AGN_DEM_LINK&utm_campaign=UK_EM2307196465&utm_source=UK&utm_medium=Email&cid=144247&mid=370888302

[History&Wine]

@travelberlin

Thank you!  Looks like Silversea is offering the zero supplement on sailings over the next five months. That won't work for me due to my world cruise booking.

 

Sales must be slow at Silversea....

[ryndam]

27 minutes ago, travelberlin said:

Maybe this helps? I had to retrieve the email from the trash because I was not interested…

 

https://www.silversea.com/lp-singles-fares.html?cid_email=em_UK_EM2307196465_OTHER_AGN_DEM_LINK&utm_campaign=UK_EM2307196465&utm_source=UK&utm_medium=Email&cid=144247&mid=370888302

Thank you for the link. The per diems appear to be in the $650-$2000+/-/day range, depending on the vessel and its itinerary. These are pricey voyages to expensive locations.

 

Rob

[Stickman1990]

5 hours ago, History&Wine said:

lvi,

Details please!  I talked to a Silversea rep last week and he promised to notify me if there were any zero supplement offers.  I've not heard anything.  Maybe you're being offered something unique to you? 

No it was a widely circulated offer to those on the Silversea mailing list. I’m not a solo traveller but also received it. I’d ask your TA to check what’s on offer. I could imagine it’s a popular offer for solo travellers

[Stickman1990]

4 hours ago, ryndam said:

These are pricey voyages to expensive locations.

Certainly not all of them fall into that category - as an example this one is at a fare level that is very much standard for this very common route on a luxury line (I haven’t reviewed all 21 cruises on offer by Silversea)

 

This one’s around US$400 per day based on the port to port fare - so well below the $650 you’ve mentioned 

 

https://www.silversea.com/destinations/australia-new-zealand-cruise/auckland-to-sydney-sm231207014.html

Edited October 5, 2023 by Stickman1990