If you are a solo traveler, Celebrity still doesn't want you.

[TRLD]

5 minutes ago, Lena11033 said:

I wonder if its specific itineraries because I just did a mock booking for myself and every category came up (no second guest added). I know one I looked at the other day it only gave me veranda or retreat as a solo cruiser.

I would expect that it would be fluid based upon bookings for a given itinerary and whatever revenue maximization model they are running.  Pretty much all of the lines are getting tighter on room bookings for fewer then the number of passenger that a cabin will hold.

 

At least on other line has told passengers that if they book a 3/4 capacity cabin for 2 they might be moved to a 2 capacity cabin if they need the cabin for a 3 or 4 person booking.

 

Another stopped displaying some 3/4 cabins as being available when someone is booking 2 people.

 

Now that occupancy is up pretty much all of the lines are trying to maximize revenue.

[TRLD]

23 minutes ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

 

But I'd guess there are also couples on here (and on board) who do not spend any extra - look at the number of people on here who don't take ship-based excursions, who are elite or elite plus and use that for their drinking and internet, people who don't gamble or shop. If you're going to penalize and restrict solos, you should track those guests and once their Captain's Club number is entered make only Retreat available to them. Until they do that, they are making it pretty clear that they'd prefer to limit solo travelers to the few solo cabins on E-Class ships.

it is all based upon averages. And those numbers are pretty clear. On average having a solo on a 2 person cabin cuts revenue by 15% compared to having 2 in the same cabin.

 

The ironic thing is during school breaks when more families on board the cruiselines may be more flexible with solo passengers because you may have enough 3/4 cabins filled that they have cabins that they cannot put 2 in due to zone or ship max capacity. In those cases better to have a solo then an empty cabin.

 

The place where you are seeing the restrictions the most are on the adult focused mass market lines such as HAL, Princess, Celebrity because they deal with mostly 2 per cabin and a more limited number of 3/4s. Not enough to get close to zone or ship max capacity.

[lola2013]

1 hour ago, TRLD said:

When you stay in a hotel as a solo you are paying the same as the couple in the room next to you.

 

The limiting factor in cruise shup revenue is the number of cabins same as with hotels.

 

Most expenses for a cruise line are fixed for a given itinerary. One might argue about food costs. Even the the orders are basically fixed for an itinerary.  Even if they discounted for food. The amount that cruise lines spend on food per passenger per day is in the 15 - 18 dollar range looking at the cost as an average across all of a companies brands.

Although I don’t love paying double (who does?), I am not happy that my choice of accommodations has been taken away.  Plain and simple.  

[TRLD]

Just now, lola2013 said:

Although I don’t love paying double (who does?), I am not happy that my choice of accommodations has been taken away.  Plain and simple.  

I agree that not allowing a solo to book is not a good path.

 

I seem to recall at one point in the past Celebrity was charging very high solo supplement, in excess of the more common 100%.

 

There is always the cheat of booking 2 and having the second be a no show at the pier. Have not heard of any lines penalizing people for doing that yet.

[tfred]

56 minutes ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

 

But I'd guess there are also couples on here (and on board) who do not spend any extra - look at the number of people on here who don't take ship-based excursions, who are elite or elite plus and use that for their drinking and internet, people who don't gamble or shop. If you're going to penalize and restrict solos, you should track those guests and once their Captain's Club number is entered make only Retreat available to them. Until they do that, they are making it pretty clear that they'd prefer to limit solo travelers to the few solo cabins on E-Class ships.

 

Pretty sure that X has more data than you could imagine on who buys what on board. They can slice it every which way and have probably figured out that two people together in a room will spend more than one person in that room 

 

Not sure that X is penalizing solo travelers nor restricting them maliciously. There are just few discounts (at the moment) for solos to drive X revenue. 

[mac_tlc]

Interesting that for Apex sailings this Fall/Winter, it appears the situation the OP raised is indeed the case. However, if I look at Feb/Mar 2026 on Apex and have one person, every category that has rooms available shows as bookable. It would really s*&# if they let you book it now and then pull it away closer to sailing.

 

I really think an e-mail to LHB is in order, although I admit it is getting tiring to have to e-mail the President every month or two for some non-customer-focused policy. The last 18 months have been a challenge at/with X.

 

mac_tlc

[gold1953]

4 hours ago, d9704011 said:

Because they're not getting the potential revenue from drinks, grats, shopping, gambling, excursios and all the rest of the stuff they want to sell to passengers, not one.

My husband and I have cruised our way to elite plus.. the hard slow way and we have rarely spent money onboard, plus we always book basic  so no wifi or drink income from us. We can but we are both happy with simply things.  Not money making people for the cruise line!. I wonder if they make note on our file..lol

[Iamcruzin]

4 hours ago, d9704011 said:

Because they're not getting the potential revenue from drinks, grats, shopping, gambling, excursios and all the rest of the stuff they want to sell to passengers, not one.

Stupid move. An empty room doesn't generate any revenue.  I have 300 refundable OBC  on my next cruise with my wife. I booked AI and upgraded to the premium drink package with the OBC. I don't know if I'll even spend the rest. We don't gamble, there is nothing in the shops we want and we don't book excursions. A single person still pays gratuity. There are also experienced cruisers here who are at the top levels of the loyalty program who just take advantage of the free drinks and other perks they earned and don't open their wallet.

[mrgabriel]

5 hours ago, d9704011 said:

Because they're not getting the potential revenue from drinks, grats, shopping, gambling, excursios and all the rest of the stuff they want to sell to passengers, not one.

 

So are you saying that there is zero revenue from stateroom fares?

 

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

1 hour ago, tfred said:

 

Pretty sure that X has more data than you could imagine on who buys what on board. They can slice it every which way and have probably figured out that two people together in a room will spend more than one person in that room 

 

Not sure that X is penalizing solo travelers nor restricting them maliciously. There are just few discounts (at the moment) for solos to drive X revenue. 

It’s not as much a matter if no discounts. They are flat out restricting solos to solo IVs or Retreat (at at least double the cost) and making all other rooms unavailable to solos on multiple E-Class sailings.

[PTC DAWG]

22 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

Stupid move. An empty room doesn't generate any revenue.  I have 300 refundable OBC  on my next cruise with my wife. I booked AI and upgraded to the premium drink package with the OBC. I don't know if I'll even spend the rest. We don't gamble, there is nothing in the shops we want and we don't book excursions. A single person still pays gratuity. There are also experienced cruisers here who are at the top levels of the loyalty program who just take advantage of the free drinks and other perks they earned and don't open their wallet.

I would hit the casino before I left the $300 just sitting there and lose it..

[NCTribeFan]

I'm a solo cruiser who was bumped on my last HAL cruise from my very favorite Large Interior cabin (Vista class ship).  I never book an OV cabin.  If I don't book a verandah (and I rarely do that), I want an inside.  They "upgraded" me to an obstructed OV.

 

I met with GS twice and ended up requesting to be downgraded to a regular inside.  I was not happy  No compensation (I would've liked the difference in price I paid for the larger cabin over where I ended up) but since it was my decision to move, that wasn't offered.

 

Anyway, I'm booked on a similar ship in November, same large interior cabin.  I made sure my PCC marked me as "no upgrades" but since all but 2 of those Cat J cabins on Main hold 3 or 4 pax, I wouldn't be surprised if they again give me an unwanted upgrade.

 

In fact, I've booked two more sailings on Vista-class ships and my PCC told me that she couldn't book me in a cabin that held more than 2.  I've always known that there was a chance I'd be bumped, but I've always been able to book the cabin I want.  It's why I book up to 2 years prior to sailing, to get the cabin in the location I want.

 

FTR, my 2 upcoming X sailings are casino offers (free interior for me, pay for non-existent 2nd pax).  No issues booking as a solo.  We'll see what happens when I next want to book an E-class as a solo.

 

Hang on.  Looking at cruisedeckplans dot com for Beyond shows the ES class cabins on Deck 6.  If you hover over a cabin, it says "Second guest can sleep on sofa."

 

So they'll book 2 passengers in a SOLO cabin, making those cabins unavailable because 2 wanting to go on the cheap can book them?  Wow.  Truly not fair!

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

1 hour ago, mac_tlc said:

Interesting that for Apex sailings this Fall/Winter, it appears the situation the OP raised is indeed the case. However, if I look at Feb/Mar 2026 on Apex and have one person, every category that has rooms available shows as bookable. It would really s*&# if they let you book it now and then pull it away closer to sailing.

 

I really think an e-mail to LHB is in order, although I admit it is getting tiring to have to e-mail the President every month or two for some non-customer-focused policy. The last 18 months have been a challenge at/with X.

 

mac_tlc

Have we determined the correct email address for her?

[mac_tlc]

13 minutes ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

Have we determined the correct email address for her?

Can use executiveoffice@celebrity.com. 

[airlink diva]

I think it might be certain sailings perhaps?

The reason I say this my parents are sailing on the Beyond later this month.  I was at first was going with them and when I attempt to book cabins, looked at inside, outside and balcony, was able to not only pick a cabin and go to the deposit.  I even placed a regular balcony (because why pay more for a smaller space) instead of a solo one.

Same with a December 2025 sailing.  Had a regular balcony on hold.

As for spending.  The more I sail (over 20 plus years) there are some things I don't spend like when I first started.  Others like the steakhouse and other dining, there are times I've dine in such each day of my cruises with no heed to the cost because that's what I want to do.  Same with some get a drink package and others don't but enjoy a cocktail before dinner and at shows. Don't forget coffee because by the time the cruise is over, they all know me and what I want.

Not just Celebrity, the majority of the cruiselines need to rethink about the solo cruisers.

[Straughn]

I just looked at November and December 2024 Caribbean sailings on the E class ships. Apex does have several cruises where a solo’s only choices were either a solo cabin or The Retreat. I did not find any on Edge. I didn’t look at every single E class ship itinerary in the Caribbean, November and December, but enough to see that the restrictions were only on certain cruises.

[Sandy1975]

2 hours ago, TRLD said:

I agree that not allowing a solo to book is not a good path.

 

I seem to recall at one point in the past Celebrity was charging very high solo supplement, in excess of the more common 100%.

 

There is always the cheat of booking 2 and having the second be a no show at the pier. Have not heard of any lines penalizing people for doing that yet.

You loose the deposit for the no show if a non refundable was booked

[Iamcruzin]

1 hour ago, PTC DAWG said:

I would hit the casino before I left the $300 just sitting there and lose it..

it's refundable

[TRLD]

8 minutes ago, Sandy1975 said:

You loose the deposit for the no show if a non refundable was booked

If you are paying a 100% solo supplement. Which basically the same as the 2 per cabin total cost are you not paying the deposit and the rest of the fare in either case.

 

The only difference is the taxes and fees on the no show and from what i have seen the cruise lines refund those in case of a no show.

Edited August 14 by TRLD

[D. B.]

6 hours ago, cruisetonowhere10 said:

I’d be curious what the average expenditure is per person…I had a grand total under $20 on my recent trip (I did tip extra direct to people but that’s not what I consider a celebrity revenue line item.) I tend not to spend extra on a ship and am amazed by people’s budgets (I posted our end budget in my trip report) and am all about figuring It how to do that.  lol.  I guess my real point would be that I’m curious how much celebrity is losing by already charging singles more than for two people.

Years ago, cruise lines would post each staterooms final Bill printed out on paper outside each stateroom's door on the last night of the cruise. Walking down the hall reading some of the Grand Totals left me in shock.

  Some were way more than they paid for  the Cruise.

 So, I guess for all of us who have a cruise end balance of a few hundred dollars there are some who have Huge final balances?

 As for Celebrities Attitude towards Solo Guests. I think it's more a matter of them Not Needing us more than not Wanting us.?

 

[PTC DAWG]

7 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

it's refundable

Then in your case I would leave with it. 🙂

Edited August 14 by PTC DAWG

[Iamcruzin]

Just now, PTC DAWG said:

Then I would leave with it. 🙂

most likely that will happen. It's a 4 night cruise sailing 50 miles off the coast of Florida with one of the stops Key West. There is nothing on board that I can't get at home.

[Sandy1975]

6 minutes ago, TRLD said:

If you are paying a 100% solo supplement. Which basically the same as the 2 per cabin total cost are you not paying the deposit and the rest of the fare in either case.

 

The only difference is the taxes and fees on the no show and from what i have seen the cruise lines refund those in case of a no show.

No, my TA told me that if I booked fir 2 people (not solo) I would lose the deposit but get taxes refunded.

[TRLD]

13 minutes ago, Sandy1975 said:

No, my TA told me that if I booked fir 2 people (not solo) I would lose the deposit but get taxes refunded.

But you pay the deposit anyway. Put it another way

 

Solo with 100% supplement with x deposit.

 

(X + (fare - X))  + fare as 100% supplement + taxes and fees = 2 x fare + taxes and fees.

 

vs booking 2

 

2 ( X + (Fare -X)) + 2 (taxes + fees) - refunded taxes + fees from no show = 2 x fare + taxes and fees.

 

No difference in end amount paid as long as cruise line refunds the taxes and fees for the no show.

 

The only difference is if you book, have a non refundable deposit, then cancel. At that point you would lose both deposits. but if you make final payment you do not lose the deposit because the deposit paid becomes part of the total fare paid.

 

[ecslady]

2 hours ago, NCTribeFan said:

Hang on.  Looking at cruisedeckplans dot com for Beyond shows the ES class cabins on Deck 6.  If you hover over a cabin, it says "Second guest can sleep on sofa."

 

So they'll book 2 passengers in a SOLO cabin, making those cabins unavailable because 2 wanting to go on the cheap can book them?  Wow.  Truly not fair!

 

I also cruise solo from time to time. I am also very familiar with cruse deck plans.  There isn't even a sofa in the ES Edge class solo cabins, so that must be a mistake by cruise deck plans. Plus, those cabins never come up with I do a search for 2 in a cabin. They only come up when I search for 1 in a cabin.