Single cabins, and how to find them?

[davemac44]

I live in Victoria, BC - my brother and wife are coming out from the UK in May/June 2023 for a 7 day Alaska cruise (Vancouver return).....nothing booked yet but as they are retired, it will be HA, Cunard, Princess or similar.

I wish to join them, but obviously don't want to pay double occupancy. Is there an easy way to find out where to find single cabins, or which lines give breaks for single passengers?

 

TIA

Dave.

[mom says]

Google is always a good place to start. Found this to start:  https://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=419

[CruiserBruce]

Holland America will have them on their Koningsdam ship.

[LHT28]

Oceania  recently  turned some of the obstructed view cabins in to Solo cabin  on the R ships

They are cozy 143 sq ft  blocked by the life boats

Regatta  does Alaska  cruises

[navybankerteacher]

4 hours ago, davemac44 said:

I live in Victoria, BC - my brother and wife are coming out from the UK in May/June 2023 for a 7 day Alaska cruise (Vancouver return).....nothing booked yet but as they are retired, it will be HA, Cunard, Princess or similar.

I wish to join them, but obviously don't want to pay double occupancy. Is there an easy way to find out where to find single cabins, or which lines give breaks for single passengers?

 

TIA

Dave.

The ship they choose may or may not have “single cabins”- which are not necessarily less expensive than a double booked by one person.  Generally no line really wants to dedicate a cabin to just one person when two will do more on-board spending.
 

 Are they willing to pick a ship depending upon your being able to get a cheap single cabin? You should check things out while they are doing their booking —- and grab something which strikes you as reasonable.

[Honolulu Blue]

Small tip - the NCL site won't show their solo studio cabin prices unless you're looking as one guest (it defaults to two).

[Toofarfromthesea]

4 hours ago, Honolulu Blue said:

Small tip - the NCL site won't show their solo studio cabin prices unless you're looking as one guest (it defaults to two).

 

My sister has cruised in NCL single cabins and really liked it.

[Capt_BJ]

ODYSSEY OTS (Royal) has outside balcony cabins for one .... small and not a bunch of 'em but son had one for Thanksgiving cruise . . .

[Capt_BJ]

I'm pretty sure QM2 put in a few a lil while back as well . . 

[mjkacmom]

NCL has solo cabins on newer ships.

[cruiserking]

Cunard

All three of their current ships have single cabins. 

 

Royal Caribbean

Quantum Class ships have single cabins; Quantum, Anthem, Ovation and Harmony feature 28 single cabins per ship. 

 

Norwegian Cruise Line

Epic, Breakaway, Getaway, Escape, Bliss and Pride of America have studio cabins. Most of their recent builds also carry them. 

 

Celebrity Cruises Line's Edge Class ships feature the lines first ever single cabins. 

 

Holland America Line - Koningsdam and Nieuw Statendam have 12 solo cabins per ship. 

 

Several other lines also feature them including P&O, Costa and Fred Olsen. 

 

The trick to getting any of these cabins is too book really early as they sell out fast. A year in advance should score you one of the singles. 

 

Good Luck and Happy Cruising. 

 

Jonathan

[crzndeb]

On 1/4/2023 at 2:27 PM, davemac44 said:

I live in Victoria, BC - my brother and wife are coming out from the UK in May/June 2023 for a 7 day Alaska cruise (Vancouver return).....nothing booked yet but as they are retired, it will be HA, Cunard, Princess or similar.

I wish to join them, but obviously don't want to pay double occupancy. Is there an easy way to find out where to find single cabins, or which lines give breaks for single passengers?

 

TIA

Dave.

I have been a solo traveler for many years. I think people get hung up on the term “double occupancy”. I calculate price per day, and go from there. If I was doing a land vacation, what would a hotel, food, and entertainment cost me per night? A cruise is always cheaper for me personally. Sometimes the ships will charge more for their single cabins, since there are so few of them. Do some research and look at prices for both single and double occupancy cabins. 

[wcook]

Keep in mind that even on ships with solo cabins, a single occupant inside cabin might be cheaper. I don’t worry about the specific cabin types. I just do a search for cruises after specifying one person and see what comes up affordable. 
 

I search using one of the huge on line travel agencies because they make it easy to search for one person prices. Not every site makes it easy. 

[Suzanne123]

Note that the single infinite veranda cabins on Celebrity Edge have no storage outside of the small closet.  No shelves, no drawers, nada.  You will be living out of your suitcase.  

[hallux]

On 1/5/2023 at 8:45 PM, cruiserking said:

The trick to getting any of these cabins is too book really early as they sell out fast.

Not so much the case on NCL.  The ships with Studio cabins have dozens of them (Bliss has 86!  Encore and Escape are similar design so probably a similar number), it's not difficult to get those except on POA where there are only FOUR.

 

Making the decision does require a little research.  For my October 2019 cruise on the Bliss I had a TA work the numbers for me and even with a full solo supplement the reduced airfare perk allowed me to sail in a balcony for only $60 more than a Studio would have cost me with self-booked flights.

[navybankerteacher]

2 hours ago, hallux said:

...

 

Making the decision does require a little research.  For my October 2019 cruise on the Bliss I had a TA work the numbers for me and even with a full solo supplement the reduced airfare perk allowed me to sail in a balcony for only $60 more than a Studio would have cost me with self-booked flights.

Excellent point -- a bit of research can show that thinking outside the box can pay off:  do not assume that a single occupancy cabin is a "must have".  And being willing to pay just a few dollars more than the absolute minimum can give you a much better experience.

[Capt_BJ]

I doubt my son would book a single again after his recent experience on ODYSSEY OTS .... the cabin was SMALL - he's not - the bed was only a 'full' not even a queen and he his feet hung off the end!

 

lesson learned . . . (p.s. he's an experienced cruiser ... DCL Platinum - did the inaug' voyage of WISH just recently.)

Edited January 8, 2023 by Capt_BJ