Solos... what's your opinion?

[Hoopster95]

One of two choices real life choices for April/May 2014 as a solo cruiser:

(1) 7 days $1100 for an RCL interior, 200% supplement, double points (so total 14 for a 7 day cruise).

(2) 7 days $400 for a Carnival interior, various ships/itineraries, ZERO supplement!!!

 

I have used future-cruise certificates in the past as a solo, but having no expiry date on them I'll save them for now (who cares about the $100OBC when a different cruise line is offering zero supplement and $700 less)

 

I was against the double points/200% supplement across the fleet strategy from the get go. It's really sad, but I can't look at the above reality any other way than say it's so unreasonable to choose double points over saving $700 as a solo cruiser.

 

I really love RCL, but I will be looking to try Carnival for the first time based only on the above and not because I want to. Maybe I'll really like it... and maybe RCL will lose me somewhat.

 

There was a very long "solo supplement" thread a few months ago, and there I mentioned that a lower supplement (say 150% bare minimum) should be offered to at least Diamond members... and especially on ships that are not full capacity.

 

I think RCL has made a very poor strategic decision with solos. Or maybe they're achieving exactly what they want...get rid of all solos on RCL! What do you think?

[ladysail2]

RC probably doesn't want to encourage singles...but doesn't want to get rid of them either...I'm sure a family of 4 occupying a cabin spends alot more than a single does throughout a cruise so RC would rather see 4 in a cabin than just 1.

 

But it's what YOU want to do that's important. If the cheaper Carnival cruise sounds better to you, than go for it. I've done cheap Carnival cruises, and I've done cheap RC cruises...it's the cruise that I want.....and the friends that go with it....cost and company are considered as well...it's a package deal.

 

But you can't go wrong if you do what appeals to you....

 

:D

[kruzerci]

Being perfectly honest, I think you're going to wish you had spent the extra $700.

 

When you think about the little vacation time most of us get, I'd rather do what I enjoy at any cost.

 

As for the solo supplement, I do think the flat 200% is ridiculous. I think 150%, or even 175% in some cases is reasonable, but 200% is not. It would be one thing if Royal Caribbean was tightening the ropes and improving their quality, but they aren't. It's pretty clear they are nickel and diming while cutting back. But that's another subject.

[dmwnc1959]

I really love RCL, but I will be looking to try Carnival for the first time based only on the above and not because I want to.

 

I think you've answered your own question. ;)

 

 

When you think about the little vacation time most of us get, I'd rather do what I enjoy at any cost.

 

Amen.

 

There are literary DOZENS of times I could have cruised Carnival Cruise Lines for much cheaper than my 'first choice', but I've always opted to go with the ship that I felt would bring me the greatest personal gratification and satisfaction. Even for my last B2B I second-guessed my decision all the way up to final payment, looking at all of the other ships I could get for cheaper. In the end I spent quite a bit more, but to me it was well worth it.

 

For my next cruise (another B2B) I'm actually postponing it for a year just to sail the ship I really want, to be able to save up the money I need, and to make sure I don't have to make any sacrifices or compromises in what I enjoy. Even if there are cheaper options.

 

Choose the ship that you feel most comfortable with, the one whose demographic, ambiance, food and service, and value suits you best, and have a great cruise.

 

:D

Edited February 3, 2014 by dmwnc1959

[TM38Rob]

It's hard to answer your question without knowing the ships and itineraries. Assuming that the ships are comparable and each ship is sailing the same or very similar itineraries, then it may be worth it to sail Carnival. Just make sure that the Carnival ship has comparable amenities to what you would be looking forward to on the Royal Caribbean ship (dining options, pool areas, activities, nightlife, etc).

 

I'm not happy about being charged 200% in exchange for double C&A points, but at least RCL is finally giving double points for paying the single supplement. Royal Caribbean is charging 200% because some of their competitors like Norwegian do it. When I see an itinerary I like, I keep checking back until I see a price I like. Sometimes I can get a special residency rate only offered for a limited time. At the time I booked my upcoming cruise, I was able to get a Balcony for less than what the interior room was going for back when I first looked at that itinerary.

 

 

Edited February 3, 2014 by TM38Rob

[MADflyer]

My opinion is that our opinion does not matter.

 

As a frequent RCI solo passenger this past year paying between 110% on Oasis and 141% at most and always booking sailings with capacity 'incentives' the double points, 200% supplement has been a difficult adjustment

 

The full effect of this will not be known to them until next year as many of us solos had cabins reserved on future sailings prior to the change.

 

I did now sail on the Norwegian Getaway and Norwegian Spirit since their decision and I am most certainly looking at all lines again, where as they had conditioned me to look only to RCI prior to this change.

 

I am sure I would have made Diamond already by this April if they would not have implemented this change as I would have booked a couple of good RCI 'deals' if they existed on the old 'Tuesday Sale', but I will never pay 200%.

 

I do understand what they are doing though. Just look at the statistics cruise lines report to drive their stock prices and I would guess the bonuses paid to the management.

 

They always report TOTAL PASSENGER NUMBERS, are very proud of the fact that they run businesses with 103% OCCUPANCY, as all occupancy in the cruise industry is based on double occupancy not per cabin.

 

Then we must not forget that RCI has spent 18 months 're-vitalizing' all their ships to have OASIS class features. Translated : REVENUE over space. They have removed public and crew areas to put in cabins and specialty restaurant venues. They have to fill these venues.

 

I dine in specialty restaurants frequently, but when I take a table as a solo, they are not selling those empty seats at my table unless I meet up with other groups onboard. I do not think they have noticed that there are many solos dining at Izumi or joining the Captains Table on every sailing I have been on, along with many solos in Giovanni's at lunch time.

 

Then, lets not forget that we, the passengers, pay the crew salaries through gratuities. A single pays just one gratuity and actually if they would have implemented 200% gratuity I would have understood more than me just paying for the right to be on the ship to the company, especially if they have any capacity issues. If they are sailing full or near full, I fully understand why they might not want my business.

 

If the solo ratio on a RCI ship goes too high the crew make less money and they will be unhappy and turnover will go up and the service level will go down. This is, of course, due to the current system that they have chosen to operate under.

 

I hope the 200% problem will 'disappear' as they add more 'Studio' capacity to their ships. These will have just 1 cruise point. They can then adjust fares on just this category to attract solos, if they choose to.

 

This is what NCL does. They oversell these 'solo' cabins and then still have 150% or less open for solos. I was now 'up-graded' on 2 of the 3 bookings I just had with them from this solo category in a GTY.

[Oppalopa]

Hello I use a large internet travel agency I do not pay 200 percent supp not even close

[Ba' Datz]

Hello I use a large internet travel agency I do not pay 200 percent supp not even close

 

I also look and book through a large vacation online travel agency They sometimes advertise a low or no supplement cruise but if you check the price on the cruise line site you find that the base price there is lower so you are actually paying a supplement

 

This is not always the case but your really have to check each one to see if you are getting a deal or not

[Liz]

I think many of us solos do a similar assessment when planning a cruise. For me it's more than the money. Itinerary matters most, especially if there is a port I have not visited. That's followed by overall ship amenities, excluding the loyalty perks. There are times a smaller ship is more appealing because I want to recharge my batteries and don't want the distractions of the shipboard activities that are offered. I have tried CCL and decided that they would have to offer a spectacular deal to win me back. I just didn't care for the general vibe. Now that I am Diamond on Royal the C&A perks do matter, especially since CCL's loyalty club was pretty nonexistent - but I don't know how it is now. Since it seems you have specific cruises in mind, check out the roll call for each and get an idea of the group(s) that will be onboard.

Rather than commit to seven days of the unknown, why don't you go with Royal for now and hold off on CCL until you can try them on a long weekend cruise? Three or four nights would give you a taste of what a seven night cruise would be like, and they seem to have some pretty cheap weekend trips from time to time.

Let us know what you decide!

 

Liz

[dealer9296]

This has been the pricing situation for sometime however I have always felt like RCCL was a step up and told people the same. That was then and this is now, I think RCCL and Carnival are closer to the same if you consider the ships, size and age. One of the step ups on RCCL was always food for me. That was then.

 

You can not compare a weekend cruise (party time) on one ship to a 7 day on another (a little calmer during the week). JMHO :-) I am a Loyal to Royal but have my eye out for other prices on other lines comparing apples to apples and oranges to oranges. It is tough when you have to book a flight, impossible to wait on last minute prices. If I were in your situation I would pick Carnival and use some of the savings to

spend on board and have a great time. Visit the Spa, (every day :-)....Special Restaurants, (every night :-)....etc.....and still have money in my pocket.

Good Luck

[jo24]

I personally would pay the higher amount. However, like others have said, there are offers to be found.

 

I haven't sailed with Carnival and I don't plan to either but that is just my opinion.

 

I hope you have a brilliant holiday, whatever you decide :)

[franl24fan]

I am one of those solos who had been "Loyal to Royal", as evidenced by my Diamond Plus status. However, now I must sadly look for other travel options since the value of RCL cruises is not acceptable to me (and lets not even get into how the service level and food quality has dropped in the past 6 months). I very seldom paid a 200% surcharge except for special ships or itineraries, and the 2 cruises I currently have booked are at about 1.6% (even the Quantum). Rather than the amount of the surcharge I look at the daily rate of a cruise and am willing to pay about $150/day for normal ships and routes, up to $225/day for a special cruise. With the new pricing, I am not willing to pay $275/day for a 4 day cruise on the Enchantment in an inside cabin. At this point I do not plan on booking any RCL cruises for 2015, unless one is offered at a good value.

 

I will be looking at other travel options, not just other cruise lines. I enjoy land tours, Elderhostel programs and even European river cruises are now a good value for solos. I believe RCL has made a huge marketing mistake, and as one poster noted they may not realize it until next year since many of us already have booked 2014 cruises before the new solo prices & will not cancel them. I don't think studio cabins are a solution, before all of this started the studio cabins on the NCL Epic were still a lot more than an RCL inside cabin.

 

At this point RCL is not listening to these boards, to comment cards, or even to feedback at marketing presentations. I think that arrogance will hit them hard. And if the service levels and food quality continue to decline, they will also lose other cruisers. Why pay more if there no difference with less expensive lines.

[CruisingTeacher19]

I am loyal to royal but went on a carnival cruise last year and honestly the food was better, the entertainment wad better in the bars and the service was good. Royal has gone downhill lately and carnival has stepped it up a bit. The crowd was different but we met interesting people and had a great cruise and I saved over $2000 for a Christmas cruise. Try carnival you most likely won't hate it and use that extra money to treat yourself to a spa treatment or a specialty restaurant. Do an extra excursion. You can always cruise royal again, I was afraid to try carnival and I love royal but again it was worth the cost savings to me.

 

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk

[John Reid]

I squeezed one final reasonable rate solo on RCI in November. For that rate, I would always choose RCI over Carnival. I prefer RCI, but I have enjoyed my two Carnival cruises and a $700 difference is substantial. As others have mentioned, we really can't answer you without specifics about ships and length of cruise. I might not choose Carnival Fascination for no supplement, but I would certainly consider a seven day on Carnival Liberty. For $700 less, I would sail Carnival Pride instead of Grandeur out of Baltimore. So, which ships are you considering?

[chadbeck]

At this point RCL is not listening to these boards, to comment cards, or even to feedback at marketing presentations. I think that arrogance will hit them hard. And if the service levels and food quality continue to decline, they will also lose other cruisers. Why pay more if there no difference with less expensive lines.

 

Can you blame them for not listening to these boards? Most of what is on these boards is people arguing about how entitled they are. Its to bad because some of stuff is great but in one post someone seems reasonable and two posts down they are off their rocker.

[angelofsin]

At this stage in my life (31 solo passenger) I generally book for convenience thus I tend to go the bayonne port. Personally, I tend to look at the cruise for total price and sail when I think I can afford the prices (or can get the vacation time). at this point I have only really been on one cruise (have another booked for this year on the explorer) but I can see where paying a 200% supplement will begin to irritate some customers. I figure I am a relatively young cruiser so I figure I will try a few cruise lines before I settle in on a favorite. I had heard that once you get to certain level (not sure which level) on Royal they usually let passengers book solo at 150% (i think that is for balconies if am not mistaken) single supplement. I am pretty sure when I start to consider price and itinerary as opposed to convenience of port I will start to reconsider my choice of cruise lines overall.

 

the way I see it. these cruise lines will only change their pricing habits when enough people start voting with their wallets and pocketbooks. At the moment solo's like me are still willing to pay such prices.

[ryano]

7 nights on Carnival for 400.00 single? Link please!!!???

 

Sorry, I LOVE me some Royal Caribbean but Id be going on Carnival. Its a no brainer to me.

 

I have tons of vacation time. money? not so much!

 

You have me wanting to look at Carnival now to see if there are any more excellent solo deals.

Edited February 3, 2014 by ryano

[squadron]

Being perfectly honest, I think you're going to wish you had spent the extra $700.

 

When you think about the little vacation time most of us get, I'd rather do what I enjoy at any cost.

 

As for the solo supplement, I do think the flat 200% is ridiculous. I think 150%, or even 175% in some cases is reasonable, but 200% is not. It would be one thing if Royal Caribbean was tightening the ropes and improving their quality, but they aren't. It's pretty clear they are nickel and diming while cutting back. But that's another subject.

 

I cruised with HAL in 2000 - still getting endless things in the mail. Out of curiosity I phoned today to ask what was there policy about solo supplement - answer was 200% .

[TubbyMrT]

I always float around the sea as a single.

 

I never look at it as paying double for a room. I simply recognize it as the price of the room plus the price of the food.

 

Similar to a hotel, the price of the room is exactly the same regardless of how many people are staying in it. (within reason)

 

The price of the food is once per each person in the room.

 

In other words, the people in the room are splitting the price of the room and each paying a full amount for food.

[dacsmom]

I often cruise solo and that is a huge price difference. I would like to know which ships you are comparing. I have cruised both Carnival and Royal Caribbean and I do prefer Royal but if a great Carnival deal came up I would probably take it. I am another person who is not fond of the 200% supplement.

[dealer9296]

7 nights on Carnival for 400.00 single? Link please!!!???

 

Just go to Carnival its an easy find. Try $399.00. Actually I was looking for previous Carnival guest.

Edited February 3, 2014 by dealer9296

[dealer9296]

Glory, Conquest for two 110.000 ton would be between Radiance class and Voyager Class

90,000 and 138,000 ton.

[Robinola]

You will have to compare ship size and itinerary.

Did the Carnival Dream two years in a row last year

and before. Awesome ship. Eastern. Maho beach, I will miss you this year!

Now I am doing Royal's Freedom for less than $700 solo. Western.

Cruising.....where shopping is a pleasure! Shop for those

deals. Also, I avoid the older ships with shorter days, they

bring a totally different crowd no matter which line you sail.

[LisaAtlCruiser]

A cruise is worth whatever you are willing to pay for it. I have sailed paying the 200% single supplement and been fine as I would not have paid that if it was not worth it to me.

 

Decide for yourself what the cruise is worth. Then enjoy whatever cruise you decide on. What you consider "worth it" and what others consider "worth it" are going to be very different. We each have so many other things influencing our decisions.

 

If you won't feel good about the $1100 cruise don't book it. If the $400 cruise feels better - go for it.

[goodycruising]

Have you looked for the new single cabins on 3 ships of the RCI fleet? Not sure about the details, and the room seems pretty small, but the price might be worth it.