Solo Pricing

[Lady Hudson]

Just looked at a trip on Explorer for next week. The price for 2 is roughly $1350, taxes and fees included. The price for a solo is roughly $1600, taxes and fees included. Over 200 percent for a solo? Sounds mighty unfair to me. Has anyone had luck calling RCI and getting a lower solo price? Thanks for any responses.

[swoonx]

Hi,

I checked their website. It seems that they offer a cheap guarantee inside cabin for two, which is not available for solo cruisers. A "regular" inside cabin for two is $2300.

For a solo cruiser I found a guarantee outside cabin for $1400. Edited June 14, 2014 by swoonx

[franl24fan]

Yes the 200% is now normal, even on last minute cruises. I had this discussion with Goldsteins office back in Feb, at least on a last minute cruise there should be a price break for solos, the ship was going out with empty cabins but no breaks for solos. Their answer was "oh well" . So I booked with Carnival, no surcharge, less than half the price for a better cabin and was pleasantly surprised how great the cruise was.

As one poster noted, different cabins are available depending on whether you put in 2 passengers or 1, another area of discussion I had with RCI, who are adamant that never happens, despite numerous folks providing examples.

I am only booking cruises now that have a per person price low enough to make paying double still a good deal on a per day basis. Also was able to jump on the BOGO sale and get a 150% rate. I will certainly not pay $250/day for a 4 day cruise to Nassau.

The only thing that will change the double pricing is to walk with your cruise dollars. Yes most lines do charge the double for solos. But Carnival has many cruises with no solo surcharge.

[Hoopster95]

[quote name='franl24fan']Yes the 200% is now normal, even on last minute cruises. I had this discussion with Goldsteins office back in Feb, at least on a last minute cruise there should be a price break for solos, the ship was going out with empty cabins but no breaks for solos. Their answer was "oh well" . So I booked with Carnival, no surcharge, less than half the price for a better cabin and was pleasantly surprised how great the cruise was.

As one poster noted, different cabins are available depending on whether you put in 2 passengers or 1, another area of discussion I had with RCI, who are adamant that never happens, despite numerous folks providing examples.

I am only booking cruises now that have a per person price low enough to make paying double still a good deal on a per day basis. Also was able to jump on the BOGO sale and get a 150% rate. I will certainly not pay $250/day for a 4 day cruise to Nassau.

The only thing that will change the double pricing is to walk with your cruise dollars. Yes most lines do charge the double for solos. But Carnival has many cruises with no solo surcharge.[/QUOTE]

This is the best 'solo' post I've seen with a great explanation. I've also experienced exactly everything above. On some BOGOHO deals, the offers are really good an various sailings... some aren't. You really have to know your pricing.

I'll add that lately the [B][U]only[/U][/B] time you now see any reduced supplement at all is on the weekly Tuesday Sale flyer.

[xxoocruiser]

[quote name='franl24fan']Yes the 200% is now normal, even on last minute cruises. I had this discussion with Goldsteins office back in Feb, at least on a last minute cruise there should be a price break for solos, the ship was going out with empty cabins but no breaks for solos. Their answer was "oh well" . So I booked with Carnival, no surcharge, less than half the price for a better cabin and was pleasantly surprised how great the cruise was.

As one poster noted, different cabins are available depending on whether you put in 2 passengers or 1, another area of discussion I had with RCI, who are adamant that never happens, despite numerous folks providing examples.

I am only booking cruises now that have a per person price low enough to make paying double still a good deal on a per day basis. Also was able to jump on the BOGO sale and get a 150% rate. I will certainly not pay $250/day for a 4 day cruise to Nassau.

The only thing that will change the double pricing is to walk with your cruise dollars. Yes most lines do charge the double for solos. But Carnival has many cruises with no solo surcharge.[/QUOTE]

Great post !

Solo is my preferred way of cruising. I search daily and only book if the total comes to $125.00 ( or less ) per day including taxes, port charges and prepaid gratuities. With regular searching I've been usually able to find a cruise that works. The only time I'll pay 200% is if it's an itinerary and ship that I really want. Otherwise I just continue to search.

During the RCCL's BOGO I was lucky to get a 7 day with a state discount that came to $121 per day ( taxes, port charges and prepaid gratuities included).

I have no loyalty to one cruise line rather book the best deal that works for me. Flexibility is one of the key things to finding solo deals. Edited June 14, 2014 by xxoocruiser

[cb at sea]

The cost of the cabin is what 2 people would pay....prices are BASED ON DOUBLE OCCUPANCY! So, if you cruise alone, you still pay the price of the cabin.

[petesweet]

[SIZE="4"]I posted this on another thread (comparing RCI with Carnival). Three of us friends are going on Brilliance (inside cabin), and it has been refitted with three (only) single cabins - no single supplement. I'm thinking her sister ships have the same deal. It doesn't show up in the category listings, so I guess you have to work through RCI. (Look for the gray category on deck 4 just near the dining room.)

With the BOGOHO sale going on, these singles still end up just a bit higher than if you shared a cabin with someone, but once that sale is over, I believe the price will be the same.

I loved the location of the cabins.

Kathy[/SIZE]

[Smiley4]

Just book the double cabin, board separately, then mysteriously the second cruiser never shows up. :) Easy solution.

[xxoocruiser]

[quote name='petesweet'][SIZE="4"]I posted this on another thread (comparing RCI with Carnival). Three of us friends are going on Brilliance (inside cabin), and it has been refitted with three (only) single cabins - no single supplement. I'm thinking her sister ships have the same deal. It doesn't show up in the category listings, so I guess you have to work through RCI. (Look for the gray category on deck 4 just near the dining room.)

With the BOGOHO sale going on, these singles still end up just a bit higher than if you shared a cabin with someone, but once that sale is over, I believe the price will be the same.

I loved the location of the cabins.

Kathy[/SIZE][/QUOTE]

If the single cabin does not show up when booking on line it generally means the category is already sold out.

Even the Solo Cabin pricing on the few RCCL ships that have such cabins is still driven by Supply vs. Demand. Checking pricing on the Solo Cabins, I've always found it to be more cost effective to book a standard cabin even with paying the solo supplement.

[franl24fan]

When RCI changed the solo pricing last fall, one of the big things was telling us how studio cabins would be available at no surcharge. As time went on, we learned that on some ships there were just 4 cabins located off of the centrum, which some folks have said were fine, others said they were very noisy. Then we started noticing that these studio cabins were usually pricing out at more than a normal inside cabin even with double price. Another bait & switch from RCI. It seems the demand for the studios by folks who didn't do their homework in researching prices drove up the prices. I was on one roll call where a lady was excited she had managed to book a studio, we hated to tell her she paid more than an oceanview at double rate would have been.

It all comes down to knowing what is a good price, and not being fooled by the various marketing ploys RCI is using. It has been documented numerous times on cc that for some ships and some dates the 50% off sale was actually higher than the previous full pricing for 2. Same with the 3rd passenger sails free, again the total price of the cabin was much higher. Add to that the very confusing and inconsistent application of discounts and onboard credit being reduced, and you really have to be on top of it.

So how does the casual cruiser get a good deal?? Have a very knowledgeable travel agent who does a lot of bookings, have a friend who knows, or spend a lot of time on cruise critic. Those of us who cruise a lot and are on cc a lot get the word out when there is a really good deal and when you need to be more cautious. It's also important to be active on the roll call for the cruise once you book, that is where you'll find out about price drops for existing bookings, group activities and group excursions.

Most folks start thinking about a cruise a long time ahead of booking, so there is time to track the pricing for a month or so before booking. You can do "fake" bookings on the website and see what happens during the various sales. That way you can reduce your odds of booking at a higher price than you really need to pay. Just be ready to book quickly when you see a real deal. I have friends who hem & haw when I tell them of a great deal, then are upset when the low prices are no longer there. Snooze you lose :-).