Tips for the Solo Traveler

[Troublemaker]

In many ways cruising is an ideal getaway for solo travelers. It offers the respite of a resort getaway, pampering service, opportunities to meet like-minded folk and the chance to visit a new place almost every day. Insiders say that Single cabin assignments are amongst the first to sell out....

Many cruise lines welcome singles with receptions to meet other solo passengers and have "gentlemen" dance hosts onboard to be sure women traveling alone do not feel like wallflowers when the band strikes up. Singles gatherings are usually held early in the cruise onboard ships of Carnival, Costa, Crystal, Voyages of Discovery, Holland America, Regent Seven Seas Cruises, Royal Caribbean and Silversea, as well as Cunard's Queen Elizabeth 2. Dance hosts can be found on Voyages of Discovery's MV Discovery; QE2; Orient's Marco Polo; Crystal, Regent and Silversea ships; and on longer voyages of Holland America and NCL vessels.

However, while solo cruising may well be on the rise, some lines are more welcoming than others. The biggest hurdle? The dreaded single supplement. Typically, many lines will charge a solo traveler who wants to occupy a cabin sans roommate an extra fee. This can range anywhere from 125 percent of the cruise fare to 200 percent (which, in essence, means you are paying the same price as a couple traveling together).

Another conundrum: Newer ships tend to feature uniform pre-fabricated cabins for two, so there are fewer single cabins to be found. Illustrating this trend, while Cunard's QE2 was built with 122 single cabins, the new Queen Mary 2 has none.

Besides the QE2, Costa, Peter Deilmann Cruises, Holland America, NCL, Orient Line and Swan Hellenic still have a few single cabins on some of their ships, and these tend to be the older ships. Saga Holidays is one of few companies offering single cabins in a variety of categories; Saga Ruby offers 92 single cabins, which make up almost 25 percent of the entire ship's accommodations. Another exception is Voyages of Discovery; while their ship MV Discovery has only two dedicated single cabins, 169 double cabins are also designated as singles and sold at a single rate. Peter Deilmann Cruises also offers a single rate on double cabins on most of their river ships.

Another snag for singles is that the industry's trend toward bigger and bigger ships makes it a bit harder to meet others who may be traveling alone (a bit like the difference between living in a small village and Manhattan). It can be more difficult to find these fellow passengers on ships with thousands of passengers.

[Troublemaker]

Still, there are ways to make it work ... Here are some suggestions.

Shop around for the lower supplement. Several cruise lines now add less than 25 percent to the per person rate for singles occupying a double cabin for certain cruises. These include: Crystal, Hurtigruten, Regent Seven Seas, Riverbarge, Royal Caribbean, Seabourn, and Silversea. Seabourn and Swan Hellenic have only a 10 percent surcharge on higher category cabins. Since some of the upscale lines are those offering price breaks to solo cruisers, you may be able to afford a luxury ship rather than a mass market ship with a heavy supplement.

Keep tabs on the latest solo "sales." Many cruise lines offer price breaks on occasion, depending on the season and on how many cabins are booked on individual ships. These offerings can change from week to week. At press time, for example, Swan Hellenic and Voyages of Discovery are among those who were waiving the single supplement entirely on selected itineraries. Crystal was offering just a 10 percent surcharge for sole occupancy of staterooms in outside cabins in categories A-E on the Crystal Symphony on some South America cruises between Fort Lauderdale and Buenos Aires . Silversea has lowered its surcharge to 10 percent on selected sailings from September to December. Hurtigruten has eliminated the single supplement on many of their ships. These deals may or may not be available still -- but the point is that they are offered and you have to look for them.

Consider sharing a cabin. Sharing a cabin with a stranger may not appeal to everyone, but it does mean savings. Fewer lines are offering roommate matching services than in the past, but Holland America, Princess and Swan Hellenic will try to fill these requests. You ask to be paired with a roommate when you book, and if the line can match you with another solo passenger of your sex, you will pay no extra supplement. However, if no match is available, the supplement still applies.

Here's a tip: If you are interested in finding a roommate and the cruise company cannot help, you might have luck with matching services such as travelcompanions.com or travelchums.com, which pair travel-minded single people for a fee. Members of these services post their travel plans and information about themselves, and it is up to each member to contact those who sound like compatible companions.

Choose a singles' cruise. Singles-only travel companies will usually try to match up cabin mates when they schedule cruises. They book groups on regular cruises on major cruise lines, insuring that you will have single company on board and usually offer a group leader and special activities for your own group in addition to the ship's activities.