Cruise Lines

How great to see that Island Cruises has halved its single supplement for Med cruises outside the summer peak this year. Now it's just £210 extra for holidaymakers travelling alone, although that is for an inside cabin.

Cruising is a great holiday for people travelling on their own, but not if they have to pay 100% supplements.

So come on guys. You all want to get more people cruising, so why not do more to get singles on board? Their money is as good as anyone else's when it comes to buying drinks, excursions and the like.

Cunard is to ease the strain for single travellers in 2009, cutting the single supplement on Queen Mary 2 from 100% to 75% and even 50% on some voyages during April and on May 2 and 8 for those who get in quick.

It's about time. We hear so often - from the cruiselines themselves - what a wonderful holiday a cruise is for people on their own. And as one who regularly cruises on my own I agree. Except for those swingeing supplements.

Could this new-for-2009 decision have anything to do with Carnival UK chief commercial officer Peter Shanks' prediction in his company's 2008 cruise report that by 2020 we will have waved goodbye to single supplements?

I didn't realise at the time that actually he was hinting about what was to come rather than playing soothsayer, but now I look back at those words of wisdom, I see he also predicted that we would have (hopefully) figured out a foolproof way of smashing champagne bottles on the side of new ships.

Enter the Royal Marines, who will be guaranteeing a smashing time this week when P&O Cruises' Ventura is named in Southampton by Dame Helen Mirren.

I know I for one am going to listen more closely to Shanks' crystal-ball gazing. His obviously works better than Mystic Meg's.

There's never been a better time to go cruising on your own.

Elegant River Cruises, part of Connections, which is the independent travel division of Titan Travel, is offering no single supplements to travellers who book a spring cruise before December 31. It means a potential saving of nearly £2,500.

Now Oceania Cruises has slashed the single supplement on Far East and Australia cruises on Nautica between December 2008 and April 2009, cutting it from 100% to 50%.

I reckon we'll see a lot more offers for singles over the coming weeks as lines pull out all the stops to fill their ships in these credit-crunching times.

Agents should urge clients travelling along to make the most of it and who knows? Maybe the cruise lines will discover a hidden market and the lower supplements will stick.

Or maybe not. But it's a nice thought.

Finally one of the big cruise lines has broken away from the pack and acknowledged that single cruisers are nice people to have on board after all.

I say that with all due respect to P&O Cruises, which is building new ship Azura (launching in April) with 18 single cabins. I thought that was a positive step.

But on Wednesday evening, NCL announced that the 128 Studio cabins on its new ship Norwegian Epic, launching in June, will go on sale as single rooms from January 18.

They will cost from £599 per person for a seven-night Caribbean cruise (excluding flights), which NCL claimed did not to contain any of that dreaded single supplement.

Out of interest, I checked my brochure, published way before this announcement, and that quotes Studios from £479 per person with up to 100% supplement for a single person.

I was also told that in response to a question during the annoucement, NCL said the per person price will be slightly lower if two people are shoehorned into one of these tiny Studios - they are 100 square feet, which means you can take your cat but cancel all thoughts of swinging it - which means there is a very small supplement.

But hey, for £599 who really cares? The room might be small, but Studio passengers get access to their own lounge where they can go to watch TV, have a drink and make friends. It's brilliant if you are travelling alone, as you can identify the other lone cruisers.

So will other cruise lines take up the singles challenge? Realistically, no. NCL is not being altruistic by catering for singles; it just happens to have these Studios on Epic, which senior vice-president marketing Maria Miller admitted had sold mainly to single people anyway. "We are positioning them where the market is," she said.

Having said that, it only takes one cruise line to do something for the others to follow. Speciality restaurants, poolside screens, adult-only lounges, whizzy water slides, automatic gratuities. They all started somewhere.

Now we just need one of the big cruise lines to actually have the courage to break away from the pack and do something about tipping, not just say they are "looking" at it.

Or is that just being too unrealistic?

Seems Carnival Cruise Lines was not very impressed when it hosted a pack of cougars and cubs on Carnival Elation last month.

Those are the names given to older women out to have no-strings-attached fun with younger men - and the men who are up for it. CougarEvents.com had arranged for 300 of them to be on the ship.

By all accounts all was fine, but clearly the self-styled Fun Ship operator has decided there is such a thing as too much fun because when SinglesTravelCompany.com tried to book a group on a Carnival ship, the cruise line said no.

The Miami Herald quotes a rather piqued Stewart Chiron, chief executive of CruiseGuy.com, as saying couger cruises don't fit Carnival's "squeaky clean image".

Maybe not, but that's great news for Royal Caribbean International and Norwegian Cruise Line, which apparently have no qualms about allowing man-hungry female cruisers on board.

The paper reports that the singles will now be on a Mexican Riviera cruise on Royal's Mariner of the Seas in May while the cougars are booked on a three-day cruise from Miami on Norwegian Sky from December 3-6.

You have been warned. Or should that be alerted? Personally, I'm more intrigued by ABTA's pre-Christmas forecast that naked cruising is one of the emerging trends for 2010.

I can see all sorts of benefits, not least the fact that you can leave the DJ and cocktail dress at home. I guess also you really can be sure there are no strings attached and if there are, at least you'll spot them!

You'd want to be cruising somewhere warm, though, and I hope the cruise lines have the foresight to go easier on the air-con in the dining rooms. All those naked bodies is one thing, but naked bodies sitting around covered in goosebumps?

It would quite put you off the Baked Alaska.

Cruising and bridge go together like hearts and diamonds, so it's no surprise to see that Fred Olsen has teamed up with the English Bridge Union to offer a debut EBU-sanctioned tournament at sea.

It takes place on Balmoral's 12-night Canary Islands cruise from Dover on May 3 and will be hosted by Daily Express bridge correspondent Paul Hackett and keen player, who will be giving talks and daily play updates during the cruise.

During the six days at sea - and probably during port days if I know anything about bridge players - there will be tournaments for experienced and novice players. They will earn EBU points for taking part.

These special-interest cruises are great for single people - for bridge players it's a perfect way to make friends - but I see this is also a cruise-and-walk voyage in association with Ramblers, so it will work well if any non-playing spouses fancy going along as they'll have something to do while their partners are up to their tricks.

The cruise will be visiting Madeira, La Palma, Tenerife, Gran Canaria and Lisbon before returning to Dover.

Prices start from £1,004 per person, plus it costs an extra £100 per player to take part in the bridge sessions (which must be pre-booked through Fred Olsen). Your travel agent will have more details, or call Fred on 01473 742424 to find out more.

Good news for lone travellers. New cruise line Voyages to Antiquity has got rid of those nasty single supplements.

The cruise line also has some other good deals on offer as it starts the four-week countdown to its launch - up to £500 per person savings, and free cabin and flight upgrades, depending which category of accommodation you book.

Voyages to Antiquity first cruise departs May 4, sailing 15 nights roundtrip from Piraeus, the port for Athens, and visiting Greece and Turkey. Cruise number two is a Sicily Odyssey, again 15 days and again cruising from Piraeus, but this time visiting eight ports on the Italian island. The cruise ends at Civitavecchia, the port for Rome.

All sorts of professors, reverends and doctors will be accompanying the cruises, talking about the places you'll be visiting.

It does sound rather educational, but Voyages UK managing director David Yellow assures me you'll be able to opt out of all the learning and just enjoy the cruise if you wish.

Prices start from £1,995 for 15 days, which includes flights and transfers, all shore excursions, wine with dinner and gratuities.

Voyages' one ship, Aegean Odyssey, is not new, but the Aegean I that it used to be has been taken apart and rebuilt so it might as well be. Balcony and deluxe cabins have been created by knocking rooms together, reducing capacity from 570 passengers to 380.

I'm hoping to get a sneak preview of the ship in Piraeus later this month so I'll let you know how it's looking.

There three things I especially liked about Saga Pearl II. One was what they have done with the decor during the ship's multi-million-pound refit, another was that the other passengers made me feel so young!

And then there was that wonderful suite and my excellent butler, Dennis, who popped in every evening with my canopes and an infectious smile. No wonder I didn't want to leave.

Last week's cruise on Pearl around the Baltic was the first time I had been on a Saga cruise - in fact it was my first time on a Saga ship bar a quick look around the Pearl in Southampton in March, just before it set off on its inaugural - and I really didn't know what to expect.

In the event I had a great time. The ship is not glitzy or glamorous, the passengers are not hankering to go climbing walls, but it's all very friendly.

Conversations strike up over a drink on the comfy sofas outside the Sundowner (you'll need to watch the video to know what I am talking about) or in Shackletons, where I spent most evenings propping up the bar.

There is a downside to cruising with older people though. Come 10.30pm the ship is almost deserted because after the evening show - a mix of classical concerts and Steve Galler on the banjo - everyone heads to bed.

If you want lively nightlife, this is not the cruise line for you. If, however, you want a relaxing cruise with good service and genuinely good food - and actually served hot (which reminds me to thank to Gavin for spicing up my curry!) - why not give it a go.

Look out for changes in MSC Cruises' 2011 brochure, due out by the end of this month.

Over lunch last week, MSC's managing director Giulio Libutti told me the Prima Price has gone - it sat alongside the brochure price and surprise, surprise was the only one anyone ever wanted to pay - to be replaced with a box showing the maximum available discount.

The change means MSC can apply the full discount on cruises that are not selling and reduce the amount of money off if the voyage in question is filling up fast.

Classic yield management in other words.

What is more interesting is that MSC is going to have targeted offers for certain groups of passengers at selected times of year - the over 65s, military veterans or anyone still serving in the armed forces and 19 to 29-year-olds travelling with a friend or partner.

There will also be special fares for honeymooners, while couples celebrating their wedding anniversary will receive £8 per person discount for every year of marriage.

The single supplement comes down to 50% and there's a new Family Plan, offering two connecting cabins - one for mum and dad, one for the kids - for the price of three adults.

I reckon that just about covers off everyone one way or another.

A few days ago, MSC announced the mandatory service charge introduced in the UK in February has been removed so now they add a gratuity but you can change it to what you feel appropriate, much the same as the system operated by most other lines.

Definitely a better system for the Brits.

I've been writing for years that cruising is a great holiday for single people - or would be if the cruise lines didn't charge such swingeing single supplements.

In fact I've been saying it nearly as long as the cruise lines. Trouble is, they do ony say it. They don't do anything to make cruising more financially friendly for soloists.

Until now that is.

P&O Cruises got the ball rolling by building 18 single cabins onto new ship Azura, but they have been well and truly trumped by Norwegian Cruise Line's new Norwegian Epic, which has 128 Studio cabins reserved just for single people.

They are very small - I had  look-see when I was on last week and could almost reach from one wall to the other - and all inside but fine for one person, especially as there is no single supplement.

There is mood lighting ("romantic moments" and "time to go home") and en-suite facilities and the Living Room, a two-storey area with TVs and a bar that is reserved just for singles so they can meet other lone travellers. It'll make the 100 square feet Studio bareable.

And now ultra-luxury drinks-inclusive cruise line Silversea is getting in on the lone travellers' act by reducing the single supplement to 10% of the per person double-occupancy fare on four cruises this year and to 25% on nine cruises.

The cruises are all over the place - in the Med, Caribbean, Far East, South America, Indian Ocean and Middle East - and in both oceanview and balcony cabins, so it's not like they are just trying to sell off the stuff no one else wants.

Now all we need is for the others to recognise that soloists are worth pursuing after all and cruising really will become a great holiday option for single people.

Have you noticed solo power is increasing, leading more and more cruise lines to come out with deals for single travellers?

Australia's Orion Expedition Cruises is the latest, waiving the single supplement on all sailings between September 16 and December 21 2010, bar the November 16 departure.

The cruise line is reserving five cabins per cruise between those dates for single occupancy. If you're fast and can get one of these, you'll pay only the per person fare.

Orion's cruises are anything from seven to 13 nights and go to all sorts of exciting places including the Kimberley in Northern Australia (I've got my eye on that one!), Papua New Guinea, the Great Barrier Reef, Tasmania and the New Zealand Sub-Antarctic.

Prices start from £3,045 per person cruise-only excluding flights.

Having created 128 Studio cabins (pictured) for single people on new ship Norwegian Epic, Norwegian Cruise Line clearly thought it was high time to do some research into the habits of Britain's solo travellers.

Apparently we're a growing minority (I say "we" as I often cruise alone), with 29% of adults having been on holiday on their own.

Some 20% of women polled said getting some "me time" was their top reason for wanting to holiday alone but single supplements (23%) and disapproving friends and family (27%) stop them from taking a solo trip.

And more than one in 10 are put off travelling alone for fear being branded a Shirley Valentine in search of love.

Men have an even better excuse for not wanting to holiday alone. One in 10 said they wouldn't know where to go or how to book!

No sooner had NCL's research come out, than Cruise Critic, the cruise reviews website, came out with its own findings about single travellers.

It says a recent poll showed just 35% of cruisers said they preferred to travel with company, 16% said they loved going solo and 49% said they would try a cruise alone if the price was right.

Ah the price. As Cruise Critic's Carolyn Spencer-Brown points out, that can be the killer, with supplements ranging between 125% of the cruise fare to 200%, which basically means soloists have to pay for two people.

It's very unfair, and also very short-sighted, as single travellers tend to spend more on shore excursions so they don't have to go exploring in strange places on their own. That's a nice little earner for the cruise lines.

They also buy drinks, just like everyone else, and maybe will team up with other soloists and splash out on dinner in the speciality restaurants.

In other words, they are valuable.

Which is no doubt why several cruise lines are coming out with no-supplement offers to lure soloists on board.

AMA Waterways is the latest to send a selection of offers to my in-box, listing savings of up to £1,030 for single travellers booking one of its river cruises this autumn.

I'll let you know when I hear of more.

Norwegian Cruise Line's next two ships will have single cabins, continuing a soloist strategy started on Norwegian Epic.

I emailed a question about singles during a webinar when the new ships were announced but it got lost among the far more sensible ones that went along the lines of, "Where will they be sailing".

This before the ink on the order with Meyer Werft, the shipyard in Germany where they will be built, was even dry!

But in an interview with Travel Weekly US, Kevin Sheehan, NCL's CEO, has confirmed they will have single cabins.

"We will also have the solo cabins. That's a strategy that makes sense. [Singles are] an underserved group of people, and our brand meets that need. We care about that group of travelers."

I also got the impression from Sheehan that Epic's much-lauded - by NCL, that is - New Wave cabins with separate toilet and shower cubicles might face the kosh.

"It [Epic] is a fantastic ship, but we have some learnings and will build on that knowledge ... That [the separate toilet and shower] falls into the learnings category."

After years of putting off single people with swingeing supplements, often charging lone passengers double the per person fare to make up for the fact there is only one person in the cabin, cruise lines are finally recognising they'd rather like to have people cruising alone on board.

Who would not want to attract additional passengers when times are tough financially?

Not only have they been reducing their single supplements - MSC Cruises is the latest to follow the trend, cutting from 80% to 50%, which is not ideal but it is a start - but cruise lines are now actually putting single cabins on their ships.

On their modern ships that is. So finally there is also a recognition that not all single people are aged 55-plus and wanting to cruise with the likes of Fred Olsen, Saga and Swan Hellenic.

The singles accommodation trend was started this year by P&O Cruises, which put 18 single cabins on new ship Azura, and taken to Epic proportions by Norwegian Cruise Line, which has 128 Studio cabins on Norwegian Epic, all for single people and all with no supplement.

Kevin Sheehan, NCL's CEO, has already indicated Epic-er and Epic-est, my moniker for the two new ships the cruise line has ordered, will also have studio cabins.

Then, during a seminar on board new ship Allure of the Seas, Adam Goldstein, president and CEO of Royal Caribbean International, revealed they want a slice of the singles action.

He said they are looking to put single cabins on older ships such as Radiance of the Seas and Grandeur of the Seas, which are both due for "revitalizing".

There are still plenty of cruise lines that are not singles-friendly but at least it's going in the right direction.

My top 10 of the best cruise lines for people travelling alone has just been published in TW Cruise, a quarterly supplement sent out with trade paper Travel Weekly.

I've posted it in full for you below.

Fred Olsen Cruise Lines
What's on offer: Fred Olsen has 188 single cabins - a mix of inside, ocean view and balcony rooms - across its four ships, with 64 on Balmoral, 40 on Braemar, 42 on Boudicca and 42 on Black Watch. There are singles cocktails parties where soloists can meet others travelling alone. All cruises have gentlemen hosts - and there's one lady host - to dance with the single passengers.
What's the supplement? Single people pay a small premium on the per person price for the equivalent twin-share cabin. If they opt for a twin cabin, there's a 100% supplement.

Norwegian Cruise Line
What's on offer: New ship Norwegian Epic has 128 single Studio cabins. All are inside and measure just 100 square feet, which means there's only room for a bed, shower and toilet, but soloists have private access to a Studio Lounge with TVs and a bar where they can meet other single passengers. There's also a white board where they can leave messages and hook up with others to go ashore.
What's the supplement? There isn't one for the Studios on Norwegian Epic. The single supplement on all NCL's other ships is 100%.

Spirit of Adventure
What's on offer: Their ship, Spirit of Adventure, has 54 single cabins, ranging from insides to junior suites. On-board activities are perfect for singles to join, and include lectures, painting classes and quizzes. Excursions are included in the price so they can go ashore with others without worrying about the budget. Open seating dining in the evening means singles can mingle with ease.
What's the supplement? Up to 50%, but it is waived on selected cruises.

P&O Cruises
What's on offer: New ship Azura, launched in April, has 18 single cabins - six inside and 12 with an oceanview. They have one "oversized" single bed and ensuite facilities. On board there are singles coffee mornings. Arcadia and Artemis (Adonia from May 2011) are designated adult-only ships and are a better bet for anyone travelling alone than the line's family-friendly ships.
What's the supplement? There isn't one on Azura, but passengers pay more for the single cabins than the per person price for a twin-share cabin to reflect the size. On P&O's other ships, single supplements range from 60% to 80%.

Voyages to Antiquity
What's on offer: Aegean Odyssey has 16 single cabins - a mix of insides, outsides and two with balconies. They also offer twin-share cabins to single passengers on selected sailings. On board, there are singles parties if there are enough passengers travelling alone - UK managing director David Yellow said "enough" means 25-30, which is usually how many soloists are on each cruise. Shore excursions are included and there are lectures and open dining.
What's the supplement? 15%, but they waive it on selected cruises. Single passengers who book a twin-share cabins pay a 25%-75% supplement depending on cabin grade.

Swan Hellenic
What's on offer: Minerva, their ship, has nine single cabins, all inside, but its size - it holds around 320 passengers - and their discovery-style cruising, with included excursions, so there's no need to worry about going ashore alone, lectures and singles get-togethers, is well suited to people travelling alone. Some twin cabins might be made available for single passengers.
What's the supplement? 20%-30% more for a single cabin than the per person price for an equivalent twin-share cabin. For single occupancy in a twin cabin the supplement is from 15% to 80%.

Hebridean Island Cruises
What's on offer: Hebridean Princess is small and intimate, which makes it perfect for older lone cruisers. The ship holds just 49 passengers and has 10 single cabins - three inside and seven with an ocean view. At dinner, an officer hosts a table for single passengers. The included excursions and drinks make for a convivial atmosphere ideal for soloists.
What's the supplement? Single cabins cost from about £225 per day more than the twin-share equivalent.

Hurtigruten
What's on offer: Hurtigruten ships don't have single cabins but the cruise line has no single supplements on its winter Norwegian coastal cruises and tactical no supplement offers for its exploration voyages. The latter work well for people on their own as the ship, Fram, is small and cruises off-the-beaten track, which makes for greater camaraderie. Shore excursions are part of the experience, and included in Antarctica, and there are lectures, which work for everyone, on sea days.
What's the supplement? From mid-October to mid-April, for the Northern Lights and coastal cruises, there's no single supplement. Summer supplements start from £236 per person for the coastal voyages.

Costa Cruises
What's on offer: Costa ships don't have single cabins, but it cut its flat-rate 80% single supplement last year to lure more lone travellers on board. There are no specific activities for singles, but there are 4D cinemas and golf and driving simulators they can play around on. Dinner is served on allocated tables in two sittings so hopefully they'll make friends with their table mates.
What's the supplement? From 30%. The earlier the booking, the lower the supplement.

Cruise and Maritime Voyages
What's on offer: The cruise line can be expensive for single passengers but its small ships, no-fly cruises and single cabins are attractive for older people travelling alone who want to cruise from the UK, and their budget prices help to keep fares down anyway. In all Marco Polo has 15 single cabins, while Ocean Countess has 17 cabins for lone travellers.
What's the supplement? Single passengers pay up to double the per person rate for a twin-share cabin.

Hot on the heels of my blog about cruising for singles, ultra-budget line Louis Cruises tells me there are no single supplements on any of its Med cruises on the 1,790-passenger Louis Majesty this winter if you book by December 31 2010.

Not that you'll break the bank if you have to pay the supplement. Prices start from £329 per person for an eight-night cruise from Genoa (or you can board in Marseilles if you wish), saving the princely sum of £164.50.

You can put that towards the cost of the flight and transfers, which are not included in the price.

... if you're all alone, does Uniworld have a deal for you!

 St Valentine's Day is not really the best one to be reminded you are alone, but if you are then you might as well make the most of it.

By which I mean save money.

River cruise company Uniworld (0845 678 8558) is offering no single supplements on 14 European voyages - in France, Portugal, on the Danube and the Rhine - if you book before February 28.