Understanding supplements - new and clueless

[Libbyyell]

I've been reading the boards and seeing %s such as 100%, 150% and 200% and cannot figure out what that means.

 

If I want to book as a single a balcony cabin that is $2kpp and there is no single deal, do I just double that for 4k total.  Is this considered a 100% supplement or a   200% supplement?  

 

I truly don't have a lot of common sense, so if someone could explain it in simple terms using simple math, I would appreciate it so much.   I've only cruised one other time 20 years ago and it was on a very small ship in the Greek Isles through a tour agency.  I've never cruised any of the Carnivals, HALs, Princess, etc.  I'm looking at a CruiseTour on either Princess or HAL in Alaska.  I have to a balcony due to claustophobia.   

 

Thanks so much for your help.

 

 

[JsMom2]

Your example is considered a 200% supplement.  But I understand your confusion.  It’s a weird way of saying that you pay 200% of the double occupancy fare. 

[Libbyyell]

Thank you!

 

I was concerned that the cruise ships would charge me more than what two people would pay for the room.

 

So for a 2kpp,

100% would be 2k

150% would be 3k

200% would be 4k

 

 

[JsMom2]

3 hours ago, Libbyyell said:

Thank you!

 

I was concerned that the cruise ships would charge me more than what two people would pay for the room.

 

So for a 2kpp,

100% would be 2k

150% would be 3k

200% would be 4k

 

 

 

Exactly!  Do keep checking your fare to see if they offer a lower rate or special single fare.  You should be able to reprice right up until final payment.  Sometimes after you can still get onboard credit for the difference if the price goes down.

 

I love cruising solo, as I don't have to worry about anyone but myself!  And even if I do pay 200%, I still save money on the extra airfare I would've paid for my husband, plus he spends a lot more on vacation than I do!

 

[NSnJW]

Just to confuse things, some sites list the supplement as a percentage of per person double occupancy rate.  Usually they list a total for the room though.  If the room is cheap enough, I don't care how they arrived at the figure.

[coastcat]

On 7/1/2022 at 9:25 AM, Libbyyell said:

Thank you!

 

I was concerned that the cruise ships would charge me more than what two people would pay for the room.

 

So for a 2kpp,

100% would be 2k

150% would be 3k

200% would be 4k

 

 

 

There's more math involved depending on the cruise line.

 

NCL: If you book a Free At Sea room and pay a 200% solo supplement, the cost of those perks are built into the fare so you're paying for two and only getting one. Personally, I can't drink two beverage packages' worth of alcohol... But it's annoying that by paying the full cabin fare I should be entitled to two WiFi logins but only get one. So with NCL you need to do the math to compare a booking with perks and a Sail Away that only has that $50 ShoreEx. The differential could be enough to make the room assignment risk worth it, or not. Depending on the pricing structure at any given moment, Sail Aways can be priced higher than Free At Sea rooms. To me, the tipping point is a 180% solo supplement - that's enough to negate the extra cost of the perks you don't get. (none of this math applies to NCL Studios as they're single occupancy anyway) 

 

You can either keep checking for price drops and solo supplement drops, or accept the price and get on with your life. I'm a data analyst by profession so you know which option I choose. 😁

 

For example, a couple days ago I booked NCL Epic's April repositioning cruise from San Juan to NYC. I opted for a BB balcony at 200% solo supplement. The cruise is pretty cheap anyway (6 nights, $1517 for a deck 11 midship balcony) because of the one-way route and Epic being an older ship that's been hit with a ugly stick. I will probably call to downgrade into an oceanview or interior; prices are likely to drop enough after final payment that a very small amount of money will move me from there back into the BB category.

 

Celebrity: Thank goodness they brought back the Cruise Only fare because Always Included was a terrible deal for solos since it included the beverage package, WiFi, and tips. I did read that you'd get two WiFi logins, so it could be worse.  Celebrity also has some rocking good solo discounts at times. IIRC, they've got a 100% supplement right now.

 

The math for the other mainstream lines is easier since they charge separately for perks. I love the Princess model with a base fare and a per-person charge for the Princess Plus bundle, which IMO was totally worth the reasonable upcharge. 

[Libbyyell]

Coastcat, thank you for the additional info.  I’m not confident enough to play around with cabins and pricing, yet. 🙂

 

NSnJW, I’m yet to see any single offerings on Princess or HAL, when I went through the pricing exercise, just the cabin type.  Princess did ask how many; but HAL didn’t even do that.  Which is one of the reasons I reached out for help here.  
 

 

[jimdee3636]

@Libbyyell

My experience with the Princess site is that it's easy to determine the single supplement (if any; sometimes there's none). Pick the cruise you want and do two "dummy" bookings, one for one person in the cabin, one for two. Let's say that the rate for two people in a cabin is $1,000 per person, and the rate for a single person in a similar cabin is $1,200. You have a 20% single supplement (sometimes expressed as 120% of the per-person "double" fare). 

 

With HAL, you're right: it's not so easy to determine the solo-occupancy rate, sometimes not even possible. However, it's usually 75% or more than the per-person double fare.

[NSnJW]

There are several sites that lists solo cruise rates.  I just looked at the purple fruit site (not allowed to mention here) and they list quite a few solo cruise deals for Princess including several 7 day cruises out of San Diego in September and October for less than $700 total.

[coastcat]

12 hours ago, Libbyyell said:

Coastcat, thank you for the additional info.  I’m not confident enough to play around with cabins and pricing, yet. 🙂

 

NSnJW, I’m yet to see any single offerings on Princess or HAL, when I went through the pricing exercise, just the cabin type.  Princess did ask how many; but HAL didn’t even do that.  Which is one of the reasons I reached out for help here.  
 

 

 

Princess, to the best of my knowledge, does not have any single occupancy cabins. They do offer deals sometimes. I had already cruised twice to the Mexican Riviera after the restart (NCL and RCI) and had no intention of a third so soon, but then Princess offered super low solo fares and my finger just couldn't resist the Book button to snag a balcony with a 117% single supplement.

 

I've done some mock bookings on HAL's site but yes, what a pain. Royal Caribbean/Celebrity has the same issue. You don't see the solo pricing until you go through the mock booking process.

 

[calliopecruiser]

You could ask a travel agent and save yourself the hassle of doing dummy bookings.

[new_cruiser]

On 7/1/2022 at 7:40 AM, JsMom2 said:

Your example is considered a 200% supplement.  But I understand your confusion.  It’s a weird way of saying that you pay 200% of the double occupancy fare. 

What I've seen contradicts that. Everywhere that I've looked, the supplement % has been the amount extra that a solo pays over the per person double occupancy rate. No solo supplement means that a solo pays the same as the per person double occupancy rate.

 

So, if two people sharing a cabin would pay 2k each and a solo pays 4k, that's a 100% supplement.

 

A 100% solo supplement is pretty common on mass market lines when they don't have a special that reduces it. Some higher end and luxury lines use something a bit lower (like 75%) as their non-special solo supplement.

 

Note that this will be on the fare. You don't pay extra on the port charges which are usually listed separately.

 

Many cruise lines have a "specials" page. You can look at that to see if they have any no solo supplement or reduced solo supplement specials.

 

I like small ships so most of my cruises have been on Windstar and I've also gone solo on Star Clippers. Windstar's usual solo supplement is supposed to be 75% but it seems that there is a part of the fare that they don't charge it on as when I've checked what they've given me, my fare is slightly less than 1.75 times the pp double occupancy fare. They have some cruises with a reduced solo supplement. 

 

Star Clippers usually has a list of cruises with no solo supplement - currently the list has several dozen to choose from.

[geoherb]

3 hours ago, new_cruiser said:

What I've seen contradicts that. Everywhere that I've looked, the supplement % has been the amount extra that a solo pays over the per person double occupancy rate. No solo supplement means that a solo pays the same as the per person double occupancy rate.

 

So, if two people sharing a cabin would pay 2k each and a solo pays 4k, that's a 100% supplement.

 

A 100% solo supplement is pretty common on mass market lines when they don't have a special that reduces it. Some higher end and luxury lines use something a bit lower (like 75%) as their non-special solo supplement.

 

 

Your understanding is the same as mine. One of the popular travel websites also figures the single supplement that way. 

When I am trying to decide between cruises, I will frequently start a spreadsheet. I will list the single occupancy price and the double occupancy price per person. I set up formulas in the spreadsheet to figure out the single supplement. For my next cruise, it's 10% (on the Caribbean Princess to Greenland). I am paying 10% more per person than if I were traveling with a companion sharing my cabin. 

[JsMom2]

On 7/18/2022 at 7:35 PM, new_cruiser said:

What I've seen contradicts that. Everywhere that I've looked, the supplement % has been the amount extra that a solo pays over the per person double occupancy rate. No solo supplement means that a solo pays the same as the per person double occupancy rate.

 

So, if two people sharing a cabin would pay 2k each and a solo pays 4k, that's a 100% supplement.

 

A 100% solo supplement is pretty common on mass market lines when they don't have a special that reduces it. Some higher end and luxury lines use something a bit lower (like 75%) as their non-special solo supplement.

 

Note that this will be on the fare. You don't pay extra on the port charges which are usually listed separately.

 

Many cruise lines have a "specials" page. You can look at that to see if they have any no solo supplement or reduced solo supplement specials.

 

I like small ships so most of my cruises have been on Windstar and I've also gone solo on Star Clippers. Windstar's usual solo supplement is supposed to be 75% but it seems that there is a part of the fare that they don't charge it on as when I've checked what they've given me, my fare is slightly less than 1.75 times the pp double occupancy fare. They have some cruises with a reduced solo supplement. 

 

Star Clippers usually has a list of cruises with no solo supplement - currently the list has several dozen to choose from.

Logically what you are saying makes sense.  That’s why it’s confusing when you see 200% supplement.  For instance I only pay a 150% supplement on Royal due to my loyalty status.  But I’m really only paying. 50% supplement of the fare.  

[croozbabe]

4 hours ago, JsMom2 said:

Logically what you are saying makes sense.  That’s why it’s confusing when you see 200% supplement.  For instance I only pay a 150% supplement on Royal due to my loyalty status.  But I’m really only paying. 50% supplement of the fare.  

I think what they mean when they say 200% is that a solo would pay 200% of the advertised price.  In other words, if the advertised amount is $1,000 a single occupant would pay twice that amount, i.e. $2,000.

[Roz]

There are rarely, if ever, solo deals for balconies, especially in Alaska.

[coastcat]

2 hours ago, Roz said:

There are rarely, if ever, solo deals for balconies, especially in Alaska.

 

There are. You just have to look hard, be lucky, or be flexible. Celebrity has a slew of sailings with low or no supplement (sailing through next April, I think). Within the last half year I've sailed on Princess with a small supplement and on Royal Caribbean with no supplement, both times in balconies.

 

If you can handle a last-minute Alaska booking for this August or September, there are a bunch at 50% (or 150%, depending on how you prefer to describe it) or less for balconies on multiple cruise lines including Princess, NCL, and Celebrity. Solo balcony bargains in Alaska for 2023, well, I haven't seen any yet. However, I've cancelled my planned Alaska cruise for 2023 and will replace it with a last minute bargain with a view. Luckily both Seattle and Vancouver are drive-to ports for me.

Edited July 24, 2022 by coastcat

[Roz]

I can't wait until I'm retired (November!) so I can take advantage of last minute solo fare deals.