How to cruise for less as a solo traveler

You know that solo cruises can be expensive. This article teaches you how to avoid expensive mistakes when booking a cruise as a solo traveler.

Before diving in, the author of this article uses the following table to assess cruise prices:

Strategies to cruise cheaper as a solo

Book "studio" cabins

Some cruise lines such as Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), Royal Caribbean (RCL), and Virgin Voyages offer "studio" cabins dedicated to solo travelers. Studio cabins are specifically designed for one person, so there's no concern about double occupancy fees or competing with non-solo travelers for these types of cabins.

Note that while studio cabins may seem like an attractive choice, inside rooms without double occupancy fees can often be less expensive than studio cabins.

Book cabins without double occupancy fees

Non-studio cabins are attractive to solo cruisers when double occupancy fees are waived. Regular cabins without double occupancy fees typically become available when there are many rooms available (high supply and low demand).

Beware that these double-occupancy-free cabins are likely to become less common in the future as cruising popularity springs back up from the 2020 pandemic demand dip. Cruise lines aim to maximize their revenue by selling cabins to non-solo travelers at "full price" (double occupancy) rather than sell the same cabins to solo travelers at a lower final price.

Book last minute

Seeing unfilled cabins as a sailing date nears is every unbooked solo cruiser's dream. Every unsold cabin on a sailing is lost revenue, so cruise lines will do everything they can to fill these cabins, including taking a hit on the double occupancy price.

"Last minute" can be defined as anywhere between 1 day and 30 days before sailing, depending on how the cruise line forecasts the sale of the sailing's unsold cabins before sailing.

As a solo traveler, you have the competitive edge to score last minute deals over non-solo travelers; non-solo travelers must coordinate planning with their travel partner, while solo travelers typically only need to coordinate with themselves.

Note that the last-minute strategy is not available to all solo travelers - particularly solo travelers still in the workforce - since vacation time requests at work typically needs to be submitted weeks to months in advance.

As a strong warning: do NOT rely on booking last minute for sailings that you really want to be on; successfully booking a last minute cruise often requires a lot of luck.

Book repositioning cruises

A repositioning cruise is a one-way trip a ship takes to move between regions, typically to change embarkation "homes"/locations. For example, if a ship serves New York for the summer, that same ship may "reposition" to somewhere warmer (e.g.: Miami or California) for the winter. "Transatlanic cruises" are common repositioning cruises used to move ships between continents (e.g.: Europe to USA).

Repositioning cruises are typically lower demand than regular "vacation" cruises; repositioning cruises have less ports of call due to the primary goal of moving the ship from point A to point B. Cruise lines still aim to fill as many of the cabins on repositioning cruises as possible (typically at reduced rates due to lower demand) to continue profiting and building brand loyalty.

Repositioning cruises are also lower demand (and therefore cheaper) because most passengers must fly to the embarkation port and/or fly back home after disembarkation. Flying can be inconvenient, especially for folks with accessibility needs and/or live within driving-distance of an embarkation port. Airfare may also add a significant cost to the total trip price; it's not uncommon for airfare to cost more than the sailing itself.

In addition to great deals on repositioning cruises, repositioning cruises may offer an unbeatable cost of transportation (assuming you have the time).

Other tips to offset the cost of a cruise

The following bonus tips are applicable to most sailings, regardless of if you are already using a strategy from the previous section to cruise cheaper as a solo traveler.

Consider roomshare

In other words, consider finding a roommate to avoid the double occupancy fee.

While the roomshare technique technically overrides the definition of solo traveling, roomsharing can connect would-be-solo-travelers with others alike through online "cruise buddy" Facebook groups and travel agencies that specialize in roomshare.

Use great safety and judgment before considering roomshare as an option!

Cruise credits

Future cruise credits

Future cruise credits are credits that can be used towards future bookings, helping offset the final price of your sailing. Some of these future cruise credits can be obtained from:

• Repricing your booking that has not sailed yet (contingent on cruise lines' repricing policy).
• Promotions.
• Onboard offers.
• Compensation for onboard issues such as itinerary changes.
• Loyalty programs.
• CruiseFirst and/or CruiseNext (NCL-specific).

Note that cruise credits may not be transferable to other passengers and may have expiration dates.

Onboard credits

Onboard credit won't reduce your final fare price, but it may reduce expenses incurred onboard.

At a minimum, onboard credit may make your journey a bit more enjoyable through additional specialty dinings, excursions, or other activities that would've costed money.

Onboard credit can be obtained in a variety of ways, not limited to the following:

• Travel agents.
• Promotions.
• Loyalty programs.
• Cruise line credit cards.
• Group bookings.
• Cruise line shareholder programs.

Conclusion

You are now equipped with the knowledge needed to find great solo cruise deals. Remember that scoring solo cruise deals comes down to luck, patience, and experience. CabinSaver offers tools that'll help you find your next cruise deal regardless of the strategy(ies) you use from this article.