Celebrity at it again, I guess the new CEO can’t seem to tell the truth!

[mysticbluebmw]

They have calculations for per person spending beyond passenger fare, and likely have used these in their solo travelers calculations. They would fluctuate with locations, ships, times, etc…which is probably why there so many different examples seen.They’re still a business, and need to make as much profit as possible for their shareholders.

 

That said, the CEO did say she wants to put a stop to it. But remember, she answers to a board of directors (BOD). The CEO will have to have a lot of discussions with the BOD, because they will have to get information from the financial department, and acquire other data (such as other cruise company practices, etc…) I’m unaware of to make educated decisions on how to approach this, since their first fiduciary duty is to their shareholders. This will take time, lots of time…if changes will even ever be made. It won’t happen overnight, if at all.

[TeeRick]

22 hours ago, pzsdd6 said:

Yes it has, and while no solo travelers feels happy about paying double, most have just chalked it up as a price of doing business so to say. My heartburn comes from the price gouging of 300%, 400% and more! I’m sorry but there is no excuse or rationale that can validate this practice.

Most here including me would agree with you.  But you do have a choice.  It is your money.  No need to continue to support Celebrity with it.

[Tom and Ingrid]

19 hours ago, mnocket said:

Perhaps the Celebrity fanboys and apologists have missed the OP's point? As the OP pointed out, at the last webinar with the new CEO, this was brought up and she was adamant that this would stop, she even agreed it was wrong!  So while some here defend the practice, the CEO said she did not, and the practice would change.  The issue here is not so much whether the practice is justifiable or not - it is, can we rely on this CEO to walk her talk?

This.

 

 

But also taking into account a time limit for that "vision" to be researched, planned out, and executed across one or more cruise years.  It's not a "snap your fingers" situation, but rather a steady build towards a better pricing model for single (and all) passengers.  

 

I can imagine the current types of "sales" - ie "75% off second passenger" or "kids are free" - have the biggest impact on what the "average" booking looks like, so if making adjustments to the solo cruise pricing is a priority, some other pricing becomes a lesser priority, and the folks will start wondering "whatever happened to 75% off second passenger" or "where's the kids are free".

 

I'd love to include my mom as a solo add on to our cruises, but she's a solo traveler, definitely not roommate potential for any other solos in my family, and not guaranteed to have a good time, so when I run the numbers and she is more expensive or as expensive as my wife and I together, I just don't go through with it.  My "dollars and cents" (or "sense" in this case) over rules my good son tendency. 😄

 

[verizon]

19 hours ago, Stockjock said:

In this case, could a solo traveler book a cabin with 2 occupants and then one simply fails to show up?

Sorry I don't cheat.

[verizon]

14 hours ago, canderson said:

For those of you dealing with solo pricing issues, and especially those of you who have achieved a high status on X along with the newly provided status reciprocity with Silversea, you might want to investigate their offerings.  They have set up a solo-specific list, available here:

 

https://www.silversea.com/find-a-cruise.html?refinementList[promoCodes][0]=SINGLES_FARES

 

It's certainly not all itineraries and all dates, but it does cover a fair swath of cruising experiences.

There are presently 42 offerings.

Sorry I don't step foot on OLD and SMALL ships

[canderson]

26 minutes ago, verizon said:

Sorry I don't step foot on OLD and SMALL ships

Old?  Like Celebrity, there's the older ones and brand new ones in their first season.  Look again.  Their most recent six ships are less than 4 years old.  Small?  Smaller than X ships, but the newer ones are larger than before.  And don't mistake passenger count for size when comparing. 

 

When looking at the SS fleet, you must also remember that some of these are older Expedition ships that **must** be smaller, and make port in locations that Celebrity cannot.

[canderson]

35 minutes ago, verizon said:

Sorry I don't step foot on OLD and SMALL ships

Would you have set foot on X's classic old Horizon class ships back in the day?  SS's recent builds are all substantially larger than that ... just a lot less passengers aboard.

[RichYak]

1 hour ago, verizon said:

Sorry I don't cheat.

Playing by Celebrity's significantly skewed rules isn't cheating.

[The_Big_M]

22 hours ago, pzsdd6 said:

do you think they would be so stupid or insulting as to charge a solo traveler double or triple for things they don’t have to provide? If a hotel chain tried that here is the U.S.,they would have people calling for legislation to prevent it….BECAUSE ITS WRONG!

 

 

Sure... just as "resort fees" were appropriately dealt with the first time a hotel introduced those...

[miched]

Cost is for the cabin.   The price is usually shown as average price  pp based on double occupancy.  As shown in the attached screen shot that shows the average priced pp with the almighty * that indicates it is based on double occupancy

 

If you could get a cabin and sail solo for the same average price as two in a cabin why would anyone book a cabin with 2 in it?   I would book a cabin for myself and one for my wife instead of sharing one for the same price pp.  We could get adjoining cabins, or separate decks, or  different side of the ship for the extra space , convenience, and options.   We would have our own lav, TV, closet space and etc and still share a cabin as needed.   If everyone did that the ship would also sail at 1/2 capacity.   
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

Edited June 9 by miched

[canderson]

19 minutes ago, miched said:

Cost is for the cabin.   The price is usually shown as average price  pp based on double occupancy.  As shown in the attached screen shot that shows the average priced pp with the almighty * that indicates it is based on double occupancy

 

If you could get a cabin and sail solo for the same average price as two in a cabin why would anyone book a cabin with 2 in it?   I would book a cabin for myself and one for my wife instead of sharing one for the same price pp.  We could get adjoining cabins, or separate decks, or  different side of the ship for the extra space , convenience, and options.   We would have our own lav, TV, closet space and etc and still share a cabin as needed.   If everyone did that the ship would also sail at 1/2 capacity.   
 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

 

Excellent point.

The cruise line is looking for a profitable cruise overall, and the vast majority of the costs involved in a specific cruise are fixed regardless of whether there are 100 more or 100 less passengers aboard.  So total revenue required is set against total costs.  So charging for double occupancy is their way of assuring something like you describe doesn't happen, and revenues significantly reduced vs. costs. 

 

That said, booking solo shouldn't cost MORE than double occupancy for the number of solo travelers that cruise.  That's too punitive.

 

 

 

[swigso]

Just book your daughter/son/friend and have them as a no show then just enjoy your cruise.  👍😎

 

 

Edited June 9 by swigso

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

4 hours ago, TeeRick said:

Most here including me would agree with you.  But you do have a choice.  It is your money.  No need to continue to support Celebrity with it.

 

It's definitely my money and my money is definitely not paying higher single supplement prices.  If I can find a cruise I want without those extra charges, I book it.  Otherwise, no.  I would be cruising a lot more if this insane policy hadn't been adopted.  And to those who contend it takes forever to work on pricing, I would point out that this solo pricing was adopted overnight.  One day it wasn't there.  The next day it was.  I am thankful to the poster on Cruise Critic who pointed this out to make us aware of what was going on.  Who would have thought that I would need to check the price for two in the cabin vs. one in the cabin?

[BeasleysMom66]

3 hours ago, canderson said:

That said, booking solo shouldn't cost MORE than double occupancy for the number of solo travelers that cruise.  That's too punitive.

 

Which is the point that keeps getting glossed over.  If the cost of a cabin on a particular sailing is $2000/double occupancy to ensure covering costs and profit margin then charging a solo $2700 for that same cabin is price gouging and should be illegal.  It is one thing to charge based on double occupancy it is another to expect a solo cruiser to make up for other spending that two in the cabin might not spend either.  

[Baron Barracuda]

6 hours ago, mysticbluebmw said:

That said, the CEO did say she wants to put a stop to it. But remember, she answers to a board of directors (BOD). The CEO will have to have a lot of discussions with the BOD, because they will have to get information from the financial department, and acquire other data (such as other cruise company practices, etc…) I’m unaware of to make educated decisions on how to approach this, since their first fiduciary duty is to their shareholders. This will take time, lots of time…if changes will even ever be made. It won’t happen overnight, if at all.

While Michael Bayley is the president and CEO of the Royal brand Laura is just the president of X.  Both report to Jason Liberty the CEO of Royal Caribbean Group.  Not sure of the distinction between Michael's authority and Laura's but neither is the ultimate boss, Jason is.  And neither sits on the board of directors.  Didn't see any mention in this thread whether Royal prices singles differently than X.  If they don't it may be a corporate-wide policy over which she has no control.

Edited June 9 by Baron Barracuda

[mysticbluebmw]

Very good points. She may have wanted to truly address it (or not) but in the end has no final say.

[sofietucker]

On 6/8/2024 at 1:24 PM, mac_tlc said:

Obviously, we can not..

 

Three more examples . All are V1 Veranda cabins, on S class ships, within a week of each other. All non-refundable deposit, all no perks.

 

Silhouette - 10 nights - 4/28/2025:

Total Price for 1 = $3089

Total Price for 2 = $2217

 

Reflection - 8 nights - 4/26/2025:

Total Price for 1 = $3774

Total Price for 2 = $2689

 

Equinox - 14 nights - 4/19/2025:

Total Price for 1 = $2505

Total Price for 2 = $2860

 

Frankly, the pricing for 2 for all three is pretty attractive.

 

 

mac_tlc

And wow, that Equinox TA is a nice itinerary too. Hmm!!

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

On 6/8/2024 at 12:29 PM, jcpc said:

@ngrund I have found that more times than not when pricing a solo, the option of refundable deposit is not available.  So it appears most times if you want to book as a solo not only are you paying MORE than the normal double rate but you are not given the option of a refundable deposit.  

My TA gets me a refundable deposit and I travel solo.

[pcur]

56 minutes ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

My TA gets me a refundable deposit and I travel solo.

Mine, too!  Group bookings rock!!

[WrittenOnYourHeart]

Just now, pcur said:

Mine, too!  Group bookings rock!!

Mine aren't group bookings (unless I'm actually in a group like when I did the running cruise), but yeah. I love her!

[miched]

I did a mock booking for a Panama Canal  cruise.   Checked the prices of a SS.  Did it for 2 passengers and 1.    It is really sticking it to the solo passenger and not right.  Same cabin with the prepaid gratuities.   Then checked it with 3 passengers in a Sky Suite.  It is a different suite number so I guess it is to accommodate the 3rd passenger.  3 can sail cheaper than 1 

 

Unhappy cruising.  🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[jcpc]

1 hour ago, WrittenOnYourHeart said:

My TA gets me a refundable deposit and I travel solo.

My TA has also gotten me refundable deposits when traveling solo.  But refundable deposit is not an option for solos on ALL sailings and in ALL categories.  

[ExArkie]

18 hours ago, Baron Barracuda said:

While Michael Bayley is the president and CEO of the Royal brand Laura is just the president of X.  Both report to Jason Liberty the CEO of Royal Caribbean Group.  Not sure of the distinction between Michael's authority and Laura's but neither is the ultimate boss, Jason is.  And neither sits on the board of directors.  Didn't see any mention in this thread whether Royal prices singles differently than X.  If they don't it may be a corporate-wide policy over which she has no control.

My understanding is that Royal charges single passengers 200% of the per person double occupancy rate. Never sailed on them, so no first-hand experience. 

[Straughn]

20 hours ago, Happy Cruiser 6143 said:

 

It's definitely my money and my money is definitely not paying higher single supplement prices.  If I can find a cruise I want without those extra charges, I book it.  Otherwise, no.  I would be cruising a lot more if this insane policy hadn't been adopted.  And to those who contend it takes forever to work on pricing, I would point out that this solo pricing was adopted overnight.  One day it wasn't there.  The next day it was.  I am thankful to the poster on Cruise Critic who pointed this out to make us aware of what was going on.  Who would have thought that I would need to check the price for two in the cabin vs. one in the cabin?

I have had great success with the Florida senior resident rate. My TA always checks that and sometimes the solo supplement is minimal or none.

 

I just repriced a 7-night cruise on the Constellation, which I had booked onboard in March. The resident rate,  including classic beverage package and Wi-Fi was almost $500 less than the original booking, which was cruise only. This is for a March 2025 cruise. 
 

We then repriced my Equinox cruise out of Port Canaveral in January. Again the resident rate, with AI, was significantly less than her group rate. I then looked at making it a B2B cruise and adding the following week. The two weeks together, with AI, was slightly less than the original price of the first week. 
 

Both the Constellation and the Equinox B2B are in Aqua class. The resident rate, unfortunately, does not apply to suites.
 

Edited June 10 by Straughn

[twincheryl]

1 hour ago, ExArkie said:

My understanding is that Royal charges single passengers 200% of the per person double occupancy rate. Never sailed on them, so no first-hand experience. 

That is true on my recent bookings… started on Royal and now going back on a b2b because of the ridiculous solo prices on Celebrity.  Holland America is also in the mix.  Very sad, as Celebrity is my favorite… but just won’t pay those inflated solo prices.