rj59

I just posted on the Celebrity boards about this discrimination. I'm used to paying 200%, but on a Mexico trip in November they want $1400 for a solo, versus $300 per person for an inside, which is 450%. Has anyone tried booking a phantom person and having them as a no-show? I would imagine the port fees/taxes would be refunded? I love Celebrity, since they have a more youthful vibe and innovative ships than the HAL and Princess ones I've been on mostly for the past decade, but their pricing is very opaque--visiting the future cruises desk on Apex was like a car sale, with all sorts of codes and discounts and 'working the numbers' (I expected them to say 'what do I have to do to get you into this shiny new ship?').

I noticed on several Celebrity cruises that instead of a 200% charge for a solo, that the solo rate is 450% or higher. For instance, a November 6-nt to Mexico is $300 per person for an inside, but a solo inside is $1400. I see it on several Celebrity and RC cruises I look at, so I can only imagine they want to discourage me from going, since they have confidence the room will be booked by a couple. Has anyone tried booking a phantom roommate, paid the usual charge and port fees for two people, and had a no-show for the second person? I presume the second person's port fees would be refunded? Will they ban me from the cruise, like the people who get caught skiplagging flights? I know Jason Liberty keeps saying he wants to make cruises more comparable in price to land resorts, but I just looked at an all-inclusive in Cabo, and the price is the same for a single, and they even have cheaper single rooms.

it depends on the ship and season and itinerary. If you go to Alaska out of Seattle during the summer, or anywhere during school holidays, everything is going to feel slow and crowded and understaffed, particularly for Alfredo's or room service. But if you do a coastal, N/S Alaska, or one-way Hawaii, it will feel much different. For MDR, you can simply adjust your dining times to try to get quicker service--I usually eat at 8, or whenever the early show starts, although on a Cunard cruise I tried showing up at 5:30 and got a window seat and quick service, since my order got put in before crowding. I also find that I get too tempted by an early buffet visit if I eat later, particularly on Princess German or Italian nights. Generally, though, there are fewer travel restrictions and labor demand has slowed a little worldwide, so I'm seeing quicker response times from cruise customer service. High inflation around the world probably makes cruise contracts more attractive, fuller ships means a bigger tip pool, and cruise lines probably tried to up salaries somewhat to attract more crew. Plus, I noticed on Celebrity and Princess growing numbers of crew from Zimbabwe, where the per capita income is $1200, versus $3500 in the Philippines, and a maitre'd I spoke to said Ukrainian and Eastern European crew are decreasing, but are being replaced by Africans and others.

It will always be there, mainly because they make money from people getting photos taken. That was especially true on every Carnival ship I've been on, where they have backdrops and photographers everywhere. I finished my first Cunard cruise last week, and if you want to be in a tux-majority place, that's your crowd, although they at least go with themes now (ours was Ice White, with an Alaska glacier theme). Some wore suits on Cunard, as I did, and I dined in an Asian restaurant that night, where the dress code didn't apply, and the buffet was full of people not dressed up. So choice and freedom are good things, and not imposing your beliefs on others or judging them. My parents stayed in suites and took tons of luggage so they could dress up on RC cruises, but I go with a backpack or duffel and stay in solo insides. The cruise lines are also aiming towards the future, especially Royal and Celebrity, which I think is indicated in their innovative ships designs and younger demographic, and their stock price seems to show it's paying off. Am I the only one who hates the term Dressy Night?

Having done a one-way to Hawaii on HAL, I would have gone insane without being able to walk laps around an outside promenade. I'd think Skywalkers would also be lovely, day or night, on Emerald. Discovery is beautiful, but I found it way too stressful when full last summer in Alaska, where even the late productions shows were completely full (likely where I picked up Covid, showing up half an hour early to get a seat). With Alfredo's no longer being free, or being limited in the times you can visit, that removes a big plus for Discovery. If you want a real low-occupancy Hawaii trip, I'd look at a one-way as it's going to or from Australia--Royal was about 30% occupancy coming over from Australia last Spring, and the ridiculously cheap price for the September Royal sailing to Honolulu shows it has to have very low occupancy.

If you're close by number of cruises, just do some quick and easy Pacific Coastal cruises out of Seattle or Vancouver. I'm doing a 2-night on Royal from Seattle to Vancouver in 3 weeks, and then Crown does a 3-night in the NW before going to SF, so you could easily get two cruises for 6 nights, usually quite cheap too. If you go solo, you also get double credits. If you do a quick cruise between Vancouver and SF, you also get the enjoyment of sailing under two bridges, with some unusual itinerary times arriving or leaving Vancouver for Royal-class ships to make tides low enough to fit under the bridge. The drawback, other than iffy weather sometimes, is that once you end up as Elite you might end up like me, with dozens of minibottles of booze on top of your fridge.

Another free secret I found on Apex was an automatic espresso machine in the Solarium Cafe. I honestly have never found anything compelling in the Al Bacio sweets, since they're just little things thrown in a bag, and the ice cream buffet station offers more pleasure for the sugar and calories. The buffet dessert station on Solstice was mostly cakes and other junk (except for baclava on Greek day), but Apex had some quality desserts in their buffet. To me the worst cutback was the experiment with the Incredible Shrinking Evening Buffet, which was offensive to both passengers and the crew who had to eat there. A $2 cookie also pales in comparison to the fare increases recently, which are 5x higher that what I paid last year to go to Mexico, and their last Mexico cruise out of LA before they completely abandon it is more than double what I paid for it a few months ago. On the positive side, I managed to get 5 solo inside cruises on Solstice for an average price of $50/nt or so the first year after restart, and I bought their stock at $40 to get a shareholder benefit, and sold it at over $100, so my 7 Celebrity cruises will all be covered by my RCL stock sale. The only really compelling cookies I've had on ships were on Ovation of the Seas, because they cooked them in the buffet and you could get them gloriously fresh and warm, with the incredible smell from the oven.

I got there 45 minutes early or so on Joy, but the time before that just stood in the crowd in the back. You can also hear the show by standing outside on the Oceanfront with a drink. If you don't want to do that, they usually do a mainstage show, which is more entertaining, because from farther away it's easier to preserve the illusion of them being the Beatles, and they have interesting videos going on behind.

Until recently, talented developers could get rich through stock options by working at tech companies, and then work from home if they wanted. If you work for a cruise ship IT, you're not going to get rich through salary or stock appreciation, especially since tech companies have billions in cash, versus billions in debt for cruise companies. The financial motive also plays a huge part, since they tried to put so much into the app, including gambling, and they have to deal with limitations, like poor bandwidth and wifi at sea, with a app demanding huge resources. Now they have to deal with tiered privileges--only some people get access to OceanNow delivery, and regular room service. The only solace I take is that many of its functions I use are easier on the stateroom tv, and its useless activities calendar usually has a Princess Patter to show things in a format I can actually use. The only usable apps are on Royal/Celebrity, which have useful functions that are easy to use and that don't try to do too much, and menus and activities are designed to be readable on a small phone screen. The last time I use mine on board Princess is when I start the endless safety video, mute it, and set my phone on the table during embarkation lunch until it's finished. Unfortunately, the app and services weren't really tested or thought through--like what would happen when 3000 people are ordering drinks and slices of cake and fries delivered all over the ship, with frustrated, overworked crew trying to track people down (I saw some idiot having a slice of cake delivered to him in the buffet). Or the effect on app usage if most people have an unlimited wifi plan and are sucking up most of the available bandwidth, so app functions have to try to compete.

I've had the Lavazza from urns on various Celebrity ships, and Lavazza espresso in their cafes. I don't think it's anything terribly special, having tried a dozen or so Lavazza varieties over the years, so I suspect they're using a cheaper bean, and a brand partnership usually means higher espresso drink prices for the non-Plus proletariat. You can usually find 2-lb bags of their coffee for good prices online, which are usually better than their American-styled brands sold in supermarkets, and I used to bring back bricks of their ground coffee from trips to Europe. I'm not much of a fan now, and prefer to try different types of fresh beans, freshly ground. A Ruby cruise last year brought to mind the three things I really dislike about some older Princess ships--syrup coffee, cattle-pen buffets with a single entrance, and an outside promenade deck where you have to climb stairs at the bow and then walk through a smoking area to do laps.

I had weird shortages on K-dam last Dec in Mexico. None of the Dutch beers were available in the cafe. None of the Coke freestyle machines were working. Worst--no ship tiles! I found I prefer the older ships--wraparound promenades, more buffet seating with chairs that don't weigh 200 lbs with torn covering. The only thing I really loved about it were the spacious showers, with actual glass doors. The theater is nice, but deafening, and just makes me sad they don't have any production shows, as they once did. Bigger ship also meant more stressful embarkation, dining, and buffet experiences. I'm going on them again in October on the coastal to SD, though, and they have some Mexico trips in 2025 that visit LaPaz and Loreto, so I'll try to have a better experience--I better get a tile, though :).

That's a disheartening cutback and puts it behind every other competitor, like Cunard, Princess, and Celebrity, which all vary lunch menus. To make it worse, all the officers and spa/shops crew eat lunch in the Lido, so it gets packed. The bright spot is I no longer need rush to get on board for embarkation MDR lunch, since it's not worth it. I find the Distant Lands rotating Asian station good, the buffet usually has great breads, sandwiches, and Beecher's mac and cheese, or it can be a good time to get a Dive-In burger or NYpizza, or just order room service. The newest ships also have Dutch foods in their cafe. To be fair, the MDR lunch menu is fairly extensive, with brunch/breakfast items for all the HAL partiers up all night, and their breakfast menu is the best I've had.

I used the new one today, and got the automated receipt response.

HAL ships are about Solstice-class sized, but with a single coverable Lidi pool, instead of Solarium and uncovered pool. Less sales pressure to get or upgrade packages. No real class system, as on Celebrity, except for cabanas that you won't want on that cruise. Crow's Nest is like the Sky Lounge on X. HAL got rid of production shows and have corporatized music venues, the same on every ship, so there won't be the great Celebrity shows. Buffets are more varied on X, and HAL doesn't have the open area with islands, so you get in lines and mostly have food served to you. Best part of HAL for me is the wraparound promenade decks, where you can walk and enjoy views close to the water. I have over 150 nights on HAL, but took 5 cruises on Solstice last year, and one on Apex, an amazing ship. You'll probably see an older crowd on HAL, less diverse crew, but a British Isles cruise will be mostly about destinations, so I think HAL is probably the best for varied itineraries, combined with comfort and pleasure.

My last on Koningsdam it was 50 percent off in one bar for an hour or so, so it was a little insane trying to get a drink.

Enjoy meeting Mr. Brainwash and seeing his "art" installation he'll be creating on board with his spray paint cans. They heavily promoted him on the Van-LA leg, even the captain on his daily announcement. I had to look him up, and many claim he's a hoax invented by Banksy. Unfortunately, you get funnelled through the art gallery on deck 3 and can't escape his ugly art, like a graffitti artist imitating Warhol, most starting at $20k. I couldn't imagine a less-Cunardy artist or experience.

I always cruise solo, and Princess is quite nice. You request dining time and a private or shared table in their app or on your tv. I like privacy, so I usually dine late and ask for a distanced table. Princess doesn't have deckside gimmicks, so there are plenty of secluded areas to be alone, and Sky has some outdoor seating aft on deck 7 close to the water where few people visit. The retreat pool area also gets few visitors, since most want to watch the screen by the main pools. The same is true of the wake view bar--I like to take buffet food out there. The buffet also is huge, so you can find secluded areas there. The atrium is also a good place to hang out, particularly early, when I get coffee and breakfast and sit by a window to watch sunrises. Best thing for solos is that you get double cruise credits, so you can get to Platinum or Elite status based on number of cruises, not total cruise nights.

There are other themed ones, with naturalists or others. Usually they're on low-demand cruises, like CA coastal or September Alaska ones. This started last year, with generic Comedy or other themed cruises, one with Gavin McLeod--there are probably striking actors and writers happy to take a cruise gig now.

I was actually a dedicated HAL cruiser, then switched to Princess, and only tried Celebrity last summer in Alaska and 3 times in Mexico on bargain fares for a solo inside. I also went on the Apex once, and was amazed. I'd say Princess is closest to Celebrity for me, but without the class system. Princess is pushing their all-inclusive plans, which used to be standard on X. They all have their pluses and minuses. The huge outdoor movie screen on Princess is a plus over Celebrity's, they have great pizza, and a beautiful atrium, where most things on the ship are centered. NCL has good entertainment and Broadway shows, and a dedicated Haven area, if you want an exclusive area. HAL ships have a forward Crow's Nest, similar to the X Sky Lounge. Personally, I find Princess MDR food the best, then HAL, then Celebrity. I'm also trying Cunard for the first time tomorrow, which also is an option. Personally, I'd go for variety and find ships and itineraries and experiences you like, since I think it's easy to get stuck in a rut if you get sucked into loyalty, status,

Thanks for the review, since I'm taking my first Cunard cruise on QE this week, only 3 days to SF. To me it looks like a British version of HAL, with the same basic ship design as their Vista-class ships, although maintaining things that HAL has done away with, like libraries and a dress code and wraparound promenade decks and adding things like a proper pub. I never order drinks at a meal, especially now with packages and all-inclusive so common, because I want them focusing on getting food, so I bring my own drink to dinner if I want one. The upside-down photos made me think the ship had a Poseidon Adventure capsizing. Rudeness at shows is common on all lines--I had young ship officers on Princess chatting during a show there, so I usually sit close to the stage, at the very end of an aisle, since there are usually exits there on the lower level and I can beat crowds out that way and avoid annoying post-show cruise director patter.

Why not just do a cruise search for a solo passenger on the Princess website? It's glitchy, of course, since in order to get low-to-high prices you have to start with high-to-low and then reverse. The two largest travel websites also allow searches for a solo person, so you can compare different lines. Then I go to my favorite TA website and see if they can beat the published fare. I've found amazing solo deals that way for HAL and Celebrity, but minor savings on Princess and NCL. For me the most important thing is overall price, not the supplement or whether or not there are studio cabins. Princess, Carnival, and NCL are the only lines that respect solo cruisers enough to allow a cruise search for a single passenger.

Easy for me--wraparound wooden promenades, which allow me to escape crowds, find a quiet place to read, get exercise and fresh air, and be close to the sea for whale/dolphin/glacier viewing. Unfortunately, they went away with Koningsdam, they can get crowded with crew sneaking out to use their phones, some ignore the 'no jogging' signs, and there's a cultural pressure for everyone to walk counter-clockwise.

The problem won't be Princess, but rather the local port people, particularly security and US Customs, who probably have no interest in waiting until later in the evening for a few people to check in.

I think the International Cafe beats similar lines like HAL and Celebrity for variety of free, 24-hour food. I'm an early riser, so would get a coffee and a breakfast of fruit cup, egg muffin, and pastry and find a nice window in the atrium with a sea view. Slice pizza still is the best at sea, with daily specials--I wait until I see a new pizza coming out of the oven, whereas Alfredo's has more inconsistent quality, often with little choose or burnt crust with bulges. If you go on Majestic, they also have a great noodle bar, also with daily specials. On some ships I remember a free pub lunch on sea days if there's a Salty Dog pub, and a free pizza/pasta lunch in Sabatini's, but that may have changed. The hours of the buffet are also quite extensive, and overlap quite a bit, so there always seems to be at least one section open at all times from early in the morning until late at night. I believe it's the only line with 24-hour food through the International Cafe, except for maybe stale pizza or cookies on Royal C. I also find it convenient to keep some food in my cabin, such as cereal boxes and milk, bananas, and I use a plastic tray to bring back my own room service, like a cheese/fruit plate for a late-night snack, or I bring back some popcorn from Swirls when there's an evening movie (if they haven't yet started charging for outdoor movie tickets for non-Plus people).

On my last cruise on Majestic in May, they just had the room steward change out the minibar. It was done immediately, with no calls or waiting, whereas on previous cruises it took several days for them to get around to it.