Thread: Single Supplement?

But the difference is, you are without the pleasure of your wife and you have to pack your own suitcases.

On the other hand, using your logic you get far more space for yourself........

Originally Posted by swrinfla

I want to again suggest considering booking your cabin on a "guarantee basis." This method guarantees you no less than the category you book, and almost inevitably ends with a better cabin! It is decidedly a gamble, but it has always worked for me!

Often times a 'guarantee' cabin can very well result in an upgrade. Most of the time, those upgrades are within the same type of cabin - inside to inside, oceanview to oceanview, etc. Very rarely does anyone get upgrade from one type to another - inside to oceanview, etc.

BUT sometimes you can end up in a very undesirable location, such as under the pool area where you're constantly hearing noise from above. As you mentioned, it's a gamble - sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you don't.

We just had a client who purchased a guarantee cabin in the lowest level balcony category get upgraded to a balcony cabin with one of the largest balconies on the ship. Needless to say, it really worked out great for them.

But for every one of those, we've had clients end up in the very front of the ship, which is not good for those with motion sickness, or underneath a noisy area. We do guarantees on a regular basis and most of the time, it's not great. Once, we were right under the main stage where we heard alot of bumping and thumping. Another time we ended up right beneath the main pool area for two weeks and it drove us crazy! The noise was constant and unbearable.

Pete

There are still ways to get reduced single supplements. On Royal Caribbean for instance there are reduced single supplements on a lot of their Tuesday specials.

http://www.creative.rccl.com/Sales/R...ales_event.pdf

Also Crown and Anchor Diamond plus members get reduced single supplements on many sailings in the off season.

Single cruisers have to be willing to be flexible in their choices. If you call up a travel agent or cruise line and ask for a reduced single supplement on a suite for a sailing in the middle of July you are in essence asking the cruise line to lose money on that cabin. Why should they sell you the single cruiser the cabin for 50% less than what they could sell it as a double?

Originally Posted by Cruise Planner

Often times a 'guarantee' cabin can very well result in an upgrade. Most of the time, those upgrades are within the same type of cabin - inside to inside, oceanview to oceanview, etc. Very rarely does anyone get upgrade from one type to another - inside to oceanview, etc.

BUT sometimes you can end up in a very undesirable location, such as under the pool area where you're constantly hearing noise from above. As you mentioned, it's a gamble - sometimes you get lucky and sometimes you don't.

We just had a client who purchased a guarantee cabin in the lowest level balcony category get upgraded to a balcony cabin with one of the largest balconies on the ship. Needless to say, it really worked out great for them.

But for every one of those, we've had clients end up in the very front of the ship, which is not good for those with motion sickness, or underneath a noisy area. We do guarantees on a regular basis and most of the time, it's not great. Once, we were right under the main stage where we heard alot of bumping and thumping. Another time we ended up right beneath the main pool area for two weeks and it drove us crazy! The noise was constant and unbearable.

Right, this is why I'm leery of GUAR fares. The difference between a carefully-chosen cabin and a leftover can be colossal. It would ruin my trip to be awakened early each morning by deck chairs being dragged over my head whilst the crew hosed off the public terrace above. That's not a vacation! I'd rather pay up and be safe! However Seabourn is currently offering a deal on transatlantics only if I choose a GUAR stateroom, so perhaps I'll risk it.

And lest there be further confusion, I have no problem paying 150% for a cabin, anytime. (In fact, that's sort of my goal!) And I would never expect a cruise line to sell me a cabin at 150% if they're selling out at double-occupancy. As I stated before, the mystery is why they won't let any go at 150% (or even 175%) when there are dozens of totally empty cabins on board. Finally, I always aim for the shoulder seasons since where I live is more than hot enough--I'm never in search of hot weather.