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Choosing the right cruise can be difficult at the best of times without the added burden of being single. Cruises are an excellent choice for the single person who is looking to get away and have an enjoyable vacation. A cruise ship will offer you an enclosed society, which offers a sense of community and friendliness that you would not find in land bases holidays. Many single people are attracted to cruising in today’s world, in fact it is estimated to be about 20% of passengers are single. There are a number of reasons that singles are attracted to take a cruise,

If you are looking for a cruise line that will offer you a party atmosphere, you should look at a 3 or 4 day cruise on Carnival Cruise Lines or Royal Caribbean because they generally attract more singles. However, if you want a singles cruise and a good party atmosphere you should look at Windjammer Barefoot Cruises.

If you are more mature and refined and would prefer a stimulating conversation on deck or an after dinner drink with a fellow passenger, you should look at Crystal Cruises, Radisson Seven Seas, Seabourn or Silversea Cruises.

As a single you can have an active live onboard and meet other single people and couples alike by participating in the activities and parties or be solitaire by sitting and reading a book by the pool all day. Most cruise ships will host a singles get together on the first day of your cruise, this is a good opportunity to meet fellow passengers that are single.

A good piece of advice is to get to know the cruise director and the cruise staff, as they will assist you in introductions and helping you get involved in the activities that you like.

Today there are more single women taking cruises and as a consequence a number of cruise lines now employ gentlemen hosts onboard their ships to host dining room tables, appear as dance partners at social functions, dance classes and accompany women on shore excursions.

Singles can be turned off cruising because of the single supplement charge imposed by most cruise lines and the inability of the cruise lines to provide single cabins. Singles in the eyes of the cruise lines are an expensive afterthought. The world of cruising is designed to cater to couples because the cruise lines can maximize their revenue not only from the cruise fare but also from your onboard spending and they try to justify it by making statements such as it takes as much time to clean a singles cabin as it does to clean a cabin for a couple and the gratuities to the crew will be reduced by half.

Today there are few ships that offer a genuine singles cabins and if they do they are usually are not poplar because they tend to be small inside or an outside cabins with a small porthole in an obscure location within the ship and even then cruise lines will charge you more per diem. It can be preferable to take a normal cabin for 2 and pay the single supplement.

Most cruise lines are realizing that single people are an important part of their business and have been reducing their single supplements at selected times of the year and on selected sailing, along with providing more to their singles programs. Please note, these reduced single supplements will not apply during peak holiday periods when you will be required to pay the full single supplement. The key is to book as early as possible to take advantage of any early booking discounts or incentives that a cruise line may offer.

There are a number of travel agents that are specialists in bringing together singles for a cruise. These travel agents will coordinate singles groups from 20 to 400 singles on specific sailings and will provide a group coordinator onboard to manage and organise group activities and social mixers. Using these specialist travel agents could also provide you with a price reduction and avoid the thorny issue of single supplements.

If you want to take a cruise alone and do not want share a cabin with anyone, many cruise lines will offer a limited number of cabins or suites for purchase by a sole occupant on selected sailing dates. The sale of single occupancy is capacity controlled and may be withdrawn from sale by the cruise line without notice. Some cruise lines charge a fixed single supplement no matter what cabin category, whilst others have a sliding scale, the more sales of singles cabins or suites the higher the percentage of single supplement.

Single supplements percentages vary from cruise line to cruise line and it is best to find a cruise line that meets your personal requirements then explore the single supplement charges.

An Example of sliding scale single supplement charges

Run of the Ship

In essence means that your cabin/suite is a TBA ("To Be Assigned") and you may not know what your cabin or suite number is until the last minute, but most cruise lines will let you know about 14 days prior to departure. You are guaranteed that you will be on your selected cruise and you may even have a better grade cabin or suite than you originally purchases. Just relax and enjoy yourself.

Most cruise lines brochures state that they reserve the right to refuse sale of accommodation at less than stated cabin or suite occupancy, in other words they are saying that they would like to sell the cabin or suite to two paying passengers. But don’t be scared off by this, just remember that the cruise line wants your business. Persist, you might have to push a bit, but they will offer you a deal at the end of the day. The cruise line would rather make a sale than let the cabin or suite sail empty. Remember that single supplement occupancy rates do vary from one cruise line to another and some times they may vary between ships in a given cruise line.

Some cruise lines in response to singles, have established programs to accommodate the single travellers and it is referred to as a "Guaranteed Single" which will provide you with a cabin at a set price or at the same as price charged per person, if it were sold as double occupancy. Best of all they will not charge you a single supplement. But one must be careful with term Guaranteed Single because some cruise lines will sell you the cabin for sole occupancy, while other cruise lines will not sell you the cabin for sole occupancy but reserves to right to have another person of the same sex in the same cabin as you. Should the cruise line not find a roommate, then you will have the cabin to yourself at no additional charge. It is best to check with your travel agent or cruise lines for the latest rates and read the fine print.

Guaranteed share program will allow a single passenger who agrees to share a cabin/suite with another passengers of the same sex, in this case you only pay the per-person price of the double occupancy rate. If the cruise line does not find a roommate, then you get the cabin to yourself at no additional charge. Many cruise lines do not advertise that they have a Guaranteed Share Program in their brochure or internet site, but are willing to accommodate your request, particularly if there is light demand for your chosen cruise.

It is best to check with your travel agent or the cruise lines for the latest rates and read the fine print.

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Last Modified: 06/01/06