September 11, 2024, 6:34 am | Read time: 5 minutes
Single travelers are rare on cruises. However, some cruise line companies have adapted to this clientele and advertise special offers to them. A trip at sea does not always have to be more expensive for single people. These offers at a glance.
A cruise is typically a trip for couples: relaxing days on the high seas, well-rounded explorations on land, and a romantic dinner on board in the evening. Or, the cruise can become an experience for the whole family. Cruise line companies are offering more and more entertainment programs on their floating hotel facilities. But what about single travelers? Some shipping companies are targeting this previously neglected target group. However, singles often find themselves paying significantly more on cruises.
Surcharges of up to 100 percent
On board most ships, there are only double cabins. If you occupy a cabin on your own, you are taking space away from another paying customer of the cruise line. The surcharges for singles are correspondingly high: with Aida Cruises, it is usually 70 percent, with Tui Cruises 30 to 80 percent, depending on the voyage and dates. Hapag-Lloyd Cruises charges 25 to 45 percent extra in advertised categories and 100 percent otherwise. MSC charges up to 80 percent. Royal Caribbean charges 100 percent. Thus, embarking on a cruise solo may initially seem like a less economical choice.
On occasion, cruise lines offer significantly lower surcharges for selected cruises. However, in the high season and on routes that are in high demand, vacationers can hardly expect greatly reduced special offers for singles. There are few double cabins available for single occupancy most of the time. For those looking to avoid the surcharge, Holland America Line’s Single Partners Program is an option: the shipping company pairs you with cabin mates, thus eliminating the single surcharge.
Special offers for solo travelers
However, there are also some cruise lines that offer their customers special single cabins. Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), for example, has designed so-called studio cabins for single travelers. They are located in a separate area with a studio lounge where singles can meet other travelers for coffee and plan joint activities. The nine-square-meter cabins are available on the new builds Norwegian Epic, Norwegian Breakaway, Norwegian Getaway, and also on the Pride of America.
Royal Caribbean has equipped the Quantum of the Seas with 16 inside cabins (9 square meters) (10.7 square yards) and twelve balcony cabins (16 square meters) (19.1 square yards) with 5-square-meter (6-square-yard) balconies for singles. New cabin categories are also available on the Anthem of the Seas and the Ovation of the Seas.
Carnival subsidiary P&O Cruises has 27 cabins specially designed for singles on the Britannia. More than half of these have their own balconies. Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth also received eight outside cabins and one inside cabin for single travelers during a shipyard visit. And there are also single cabins for singles on board almost all Costa ships.
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The range of leisure activities for singles on cruises is also being expanded
One might wonder if merely accommodation suffices, or do singles have unique needs when it comes to their cruise? “The needs of single travelers are not so different from those of couples or families,” says Hansjörg Kunze, spokesman for Aida Cruises. “As a rule, the focus is on a mixture of relaxation and new impressions.” And, of course, solo travelers want to get in touch with other passengers.
Tui Cruises invites the crew to a meeting with guests traveling alone at the start of every voyage in the Mein Schiff fleet. And in the Atlantik-Klassik restaurant, tables are reserved in the evenings throughout the voyage where singles can dine together.
On board the Europa from Hapag-Lloyd Cruises, there is the “Art & Coffee” meeting place on voyages of seven days or more. Similar to Tui Cruises, single travelers meet to chat with each other and with the officers and crew members. Hostesses also issue targeted invitations to joint activities and events for solo travelers, which vary from ship to ship.
In Norwegian Cruise Line’s Studio Lounge, there is a notice board on which joint activities for single travelers are advertised. Royal Caribbean even organizes singles parties on its ships. And Carnival Cruise Lines organizes a weekly meeting for all singles. MSC also organizes such get-togethers on some routes. Consequently, solo travelers have ample opportunities to swiftly connect with fellow passengers on board.
However, single travelers on cruise ships still only make up a small proportion of passengers. Hapag-Lloyd speaks of an average of ten to twelve percent – and the trend is unchanged. “Basically, I can say that single travelers make up a very small proportion of travelers, and there is no discernible trend towards more of them,” says Costa spokeswoman Hanja Maria Richter. Aida Cruises takes a similar view. Conversely, Royal Caribbean anticipates a growing number of individual travelers for their voyages. At NCL, the studio cabins for singles are enjoying strong demand. The new Norwegian Escape will therefore also be equipped with these cabins.
The original of this article was published in 2015.