Single Supplement

Does RCI have a high single supplement? We have 5 gals celebrating our Medicare years by taking a 4 day mini cruise. We prefer not to do a triple.

Does RCI have a high single supplement? We have 5 gals celebrating our Medicare years by taking a 4 day mini cruise. We prefer not to do a triple.

Hi not sure if it's high. Depends on what type of cabin the single would want to book. Go cheap in an inside shouldn't be that bad. I think it's like a fare and half for a single on most cruises.

Does RCI have a high single supplement? We have 5 gals celebrating our Medicare years by taking a 4 day mini cruise. We prefer not to do a triple.

Varies by cruise.

If you look at the weekly sales flyer, you can see the single supplements for those cruises on sale:

http://www.creative.rccl.com/sales/royal/Multi_Dest/Special_Offers/rci_sales_event.pdf

Hi not sure if it's high. Depends on what type of cabin the single would want to book. Go cheap in an inside shouldn't be that bad. I think it's like a fare and half for a single on most cruises.

No, on most cruises it is double minus the taxes for 1 person

No, on most cruises it is double minus the taxes for 1 person

Hmmm ok I guess I got a good deal. ;)

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If you look thru the threads you will see a lot of discussion and upset folks since the policy change last fall to start charging a 200% surcharge on almost all new bookings. Yes, there are a few weekly specials that are at 175%, but they are very rare. I already had my 2014 cruises booked (even the Quantum was only 1.62) but will probably not book any cruises in 2015.

I just had the experience of trying to book a last minute 4 day cruise on the Enchantment, and despite there being 30 or so available inside cabins I was going to be charged the full 200%, making a 4 day cruise cost $611 for an inside cabin (last Sept I paid $295). I tried calling C&A and Guest Relations to see if they would make an exception, their attitude was "oh well". I sent an email to Adam Goldstein, received an email acknowledgement saying I would get a phone call. I understand RCL is not going to back off this change until they see a negative impact in the bottom line, but I asked Mr Goldstein to at least consider dropping the surcharge on last minute cruises. It is rather upsetting that they would rather have cabins go out empty than give a solo a price break. So I am sailing Sunday on the Carnival Sensation, oceanview, midship for $315, no surcharge. Carnival has a listing on their website of cruises with no solo surcharge, or very small, and there are plenty of them to choose from, including some of their biggest and newest ships.

What I will tell Mr Goldstein's office is that all I can do is speak for myself, and I will not be booking my usual 3 or 4 long cruises in 2015, I might do one if there is a low surcharge, otherwise I will be spending my travel dollars elsewhere. With the increased demographic of solo senior cruisers and the large amount of cabins coming up on RCLs big new ships I don't see how this new policy change will work out for RCL, but they seem confident they can get along without the solos. They have also dropped the military discount for solos on some of the cruises I was looking at, it was there for a double booking, gone for a solo.

This morning I did receive a call back from a rep in the Executive Offices in response to my email to Mr Goldstein, which I really appreciated. We had a very nice discussion about the solo cruiser policy changes and I think she understands where I was coming from. It's not just the increased prices, that can be justified by RCL in many ways (other cruise lines do it, you can find a cabin mate to avoid the charge, there are studio cabins etc) but I feel as if the solos are getting the impression from the price increase and from RCL staff when we speak to them that solos are no longer considered an important demographic to RCL, as shown by my experience with the last minute cruise. The rep said Mr Goldstein was very concerned that this was the perception of the solo cruisers. I also mentioned how on some cruises if you put in 1 traveler there will be no available cabins, but if you change to 2 travelers there are many cabins. Also the dropping of a military discount if you put in 1 traveler. The rep agreed that was unacceptable and she would look into that and let me know what she finds out. She asked me to personally email her if I find this happening, which I will do.

So the bottom line I got from this conversation is that solos must communicate with the executive office, in a polite and reasonable format, what our concerns are. For me, I look at the value of a cruise, not necessarily the per person rate doubled for a solo amount. This is the same as when I book a hotel room, where I look at the nightly rate and decide if a particular hotel is worth paying extra for. That is what I will do for a cruise, and as I told the rep, for many RCL cruises the value is just not there for me at a 200% surcharge, especially with the recent decline in service & quality of food on RCL (we had another long discussion on that issue).

The availability of rooms for 2 pax but not for 1 is something I have previously picked up.... thanks for raising this with HO. I will certainly escalate if I discover discrepancies in the future.

Varies by cruise.

 

If you look at the weekly sales flyer, you can see the single supplements for those cruises on sale:

 

http://www.creative.rccl.com/sales/royal/Multi_Dest/Special_Offers/rci_sales_event.pdf

Hi I'm Elena from Switzerland (I speak Italian)...

I have a question: this link is valid always? I will check for my next cruise (B2B) that start 26 and 29 December 2014 on Mariner ots from Singapore.... and because I travel by myself in a single cabin... maybe this link can help me for find good prices

Thanks for your answer

:)

Hi I'm Elena from Switzerland (I speak Italian)...

I have a question: this link is valid always? I will check for my next cruise (B2B) that start 26 and 29 December 2014 on Mariner ots from Singapore.... and because I travel by myself in a single cabin... maybe this link can help me for find good prices

 

Thanks for your answer

:)

The link has been valid for several years. The PDF file that the link references usually changes every Thursday afternoon (US eastern time, GMT-5).

Wow, very fast! Thank you very much, you were very kind!

Here in Europe we are not so well informed.

Now i put the link in my favorites.

Ciao

Hi I'm Elena from Switzerland (I speak Italian)...

I have a question: this link is valid always? I will check for my next cruise (B2B) that start 26 and 29 December 2014 on Mariner ots from Singapore.... and because I travel by myself in a single cabin... maybe this link can help me for find good prices

 

Thanks for your answer

:)

Save the link but it is a bit early to start checking it for sales for your December cruise.

Typically these sales are for sailings 1 to 6 weeks away.

I'm the original poster and we decided to take a triple. Boo hoo.

While single supplement rates apply, you will receive double nites towards Diamond. Example, 1 person 7 night cruise, receives 14 credits. :-)

I wonder if the issue with the military discount is the same as the residency discount. I had noticed on my cruise that there was a residency discount for a ocean view that was a big drop and it was going to be about $60 less than what I had for the studio cabin on the Serenade. but when I tried to upgrade to the ocean view on the web site it would only show it if I did a mock booking for two. And when i callec RCCL the rep said she didn't see it either. So I canceled my cruise on the RCCL website and rebooked with the TA website. It does feel like they aren't valueing the solo traveler. And I'm not sure if it is because they now feel they can because they are giving us double points.

I'm sorry, I did not understand.

We receive double points if we are traveling as a single, but only if we are from Diamond or up?

For the end of the year I will travel as single and I booked two consecutive cruises first cruise is 3 days and then another of 5 days. At that moment, before embarking, I'll Emerald, so .... I will receive double points or not?

I'm sorry, I did not understand.

We receive double points if we are traveling as a single, but only if we are from Diamond or up?

For the end of the year I will travel as single and I booked two consecutive cruises first cruise is 3 days and then another of 5 days. At that moment, before embarking, I'll Emerald, so .... I will receive double points or not?

All solo travellers will receive double points. It does not matter what your C&A status is. If you stay solo in a JS or above you will get 1 extra point per night.

you will receive double credits if sailing solo. Regardless of status. Even if this is your first cruise, you will receive double points once you complete the cruise and sign up for crown and anchor.

All solo travellers will receive double points. It does not matter what your C&A status is. If you stay solo in a JS or above you will get 1 extra point per night.

This is a true statement, but there is an important clarification. There are new solo cabins on a few ships like Serenade and Quantum. If you book a solo cabin (cat SI or SB), you only get one point per night. If you book a double occupancy cabin (which is what most solos do) and pay a single supplement, you get two points per night. As Ourusualbeach points out, if you stay solo in a JS or above you will get one extra point per night.

This morning I did receive a call back from a rep in the Executive Offices in response to my email to Mr Goldstein, which I really appreciated. We had a very nice discussion about the solo cruiser policy changes and I think she understands where I was coming from. It's not just the increased prices, that can be justified by RCL in many ways (other cruise lines do it, you can find a cabin mate to avoid the charge, there are studio cabins etc) but I feel as if the solos are getting the impression from the price increase and from RCL staff when we speak to them that solos are no longer considered an important demographic to RCL, as shown by my experience with the last minute cruise. The rep said Mr Goldstein was very concerned that this was the perception of the solo cruisers. I also mentioned how on some cruises if you put in 1 traveler there will be no available cabins, but if you change to 2 travelers there are many cabins. Also the dropping of a military discount if you put in 1 traveler. The rep agreed that was unacceptable and she would look into that and let me know what she finds out. She asked me to personally email her if I find this happening, which I will do.

 

So the bottom line I got from this conversation is that solos must communicate with the executive office, in a polite and reasonable format, what our concerns are. For me, I look at the value of a cruise, not necessarily the per person rate doubled for a solo amount. This is the same as when I book a hotel room, where I look at the nightly rate and decide if a particular hotel is worth paying extra for. That is what I will do for a cruise, and as I told the rep, for many RCL cruises the value is just not there for me at a 200% surcharge, especially with the recent decline in service & quality of food on RCL (we had another long discussion on that issue).

I appreciate you taking the time to write to RCI about this issue. I put some comments in my recent reviews about solo pricing, but probably didn't really make the issue stand out.

I agree with all the points you made. However, I won't sail Carnival even at a cheap rate, so I'll keep my fingers crossed that Princess continues pricing many of their cruises with a reasonable solo rate for oceanview cabins. I like both RCI and Princess, but at the moment, I have to find a cabinmate before I can sail on RCI, but can sail solo on Princess which gives me many more options :(

Wow! I'm without words... Thank you all for these explanations.

Unfortunately, here in Europe (I look on the websites or forums in Italian language) and I dont have found this informations... No one give us many of these important details. It's me that I'm a little bit curious by my nature and then I try to understand all and I ask here on CC :)

Ciao and grazie to all by Elena

ps: I also read that there is a period called December Celebration during which you will get extra points. Could you explain me please? There is a topic that I can read so I do not go off topic here?

December Celebrations sounds like what used to be Diamonds in December which was not offered this past year and probably won't be offered in the future.

This fall they made changes to the point policies. One piece of this was to NOT offer Diamonds in December. The other piece was to start giving solo travelers in non-solo cabins double points and to charge the full 200% supplement.

This is a true statement, but there is an important clarification. There are new solo cabins on a few ships like Serenade and Quantum. If you book a solo cabin (cat SI or SB), you only get one point per night. If you book a double occupancy cabin (which is what most solos do) and pay a single supplement, you get two points per night. As Ourusualbeach points out, if you stay solo in a JS or above you will get one extra point per night.

Thanks. I hadn't realized that.

I just booked an inside on Serenade at 200% for less than the Serenade solo cabin. Go figure. The cabin is 50% bigger and $150 less and gets double points.

I have also booked an SB balcony on the Quantum. That is a smaller cabin with a large balcony that was less than an inside after the D+ balcony discount. I will get single points for this cruise.

The bottom line is that you have to do your homework to find the best deal for yourself. I want to try the Quantum and taking a smaller cabin with a balcony appears to be the best option for me. It's a crap shoot since so one knows what the Q will actually be like.

This morning I did receive a call back from a rep in the Executive Offices in response to my email to Mr Goldstein, which I really appreciated.

 

So the bottom line I got from this conversation is that solos must communicate with the executive office, in a polite and reasonable format, what our concerns are. For me, I look at the value of a cruise, not necessarily the per person rate doubled for a solo amount. This is the same as when I book a hotel room, where I look at the nightly rate and decide if a particular hotel is worth paying extra for. That is what I will do for a cruise, and as I told the rep, for many RCL cruises the value is just not there for me at a 200% surcharge, especially with the recent decline in service & quality of food on RCL (we had another long discussion on that issue).

Thank you for posting this communication with RCL... this is an excellent post. I for one was in horror when the double point system for solos was established and posted on that on various threads. I can't supply the link with the search function disabled by CC, but real costs and stats were posted by several CC'ers with what solo's are facing with RCL... it was appalling how many more vacation experiences for the same money we can enjoy with Princess, Carnival, Celebrity and NCL rather than RCL.

I also know for a 100% fact that RCL has staff who read Cruise Critic forums, so I hope they read this with every serious intention along with all the previous solo threads. I too am in the same boat (no pun intended) as this poster! I currently have a cruise booked with my travel partner and she has to cancel... I will be going solo. My current booked cruise solo on RCL is $2600. The actual 12 day Med I wish to switch to is $3400... for an N interior!!! I have 4 future cruise certificates... I wish I didn't have them. I'd definitely be sailing on other lines in a heartbeat. I don't want to but the pricing is just too much for me alone.

For the record I love RCL, and if they read all my complimentary posts the experiences they have given me have been outstanding. But I cannot afford a 6-day $1100 solo on the Navigator in May (interior N), or a $900 interior 5-day on the Liberty, plus flights from Canada, plus transfers, plus booking excursions on-line, plus drink package, plus extra tipping to deserved employees, plus plus plus plus plus.... etc.

It is obvious this is all about revenue and money, and yet they are turning away a growing demographic. If RCL planners had any kind of intelligent thought on these WOW-revitalizations, why didn't RCL add a bunch of solo cabins on the refits (Navigator, Vision, etc)? I've also mentioned in the past that if money was the main issue, No problem I'll pay 200% but then give me a massive 50% OBC that MUST be used with on board services (excursions, shops on board, art, spa, booze, restaurants, etc) so that the money and man-hours stay on the ship.

I'd be both amazed and grateful if I were to get an email or phone call from RCL regarding this, and if I did I would be happy to deal on-line with whatever offer they have for the cruises I wish to book (Med, Xmas Caribbean, Jewel Panama Canal next year). I am extremely grateful so far for the excellent C&A benefits we get, but I just cannot afford the costs as a solo to get to 340 points in order to earn the 150% solo supplement.

Please keep us informed with your communication with them.

Thank you!