Solo Cruising Guide

Solo pricing is a different number from the fare on the website, and dinner works differently depending on the line. Here is how I book it.

Solo pricing

• Website fares are per person, double occupancy. That number is not a solo fare.
• A single supplement means the line charges most or all of the second guest's fare for a regular cabin.
• Solo and studio cabins (Norwegian Studios, some Virgin cabins, a few other solo categories) are one fare for one sailor.
• A regular inside, oceanview, or balcony can still be the better buy when that sailing has a reduced solo supplement.
• I price the solo cabin, not the double-occupancy rate, before I tell you what it costs.

Dining

• Main dining and the buffet seat a solo sailor the same way they seat any other guest.
• On most lines I can note the booking so the dining room seats you with other guests.
• Specialty restaurants work the same way: book the time, show up, sit at the table.
• Shows, trivia, and the pool do not require a second sailor in the cabin.

Virgin Voyages solo dinner

• Virgin leaves a paper in the cabin for solo sailors.
• That paper gives you a time to dine with other solos.
• It does not assign a restaurant.
• You show up at that time and pick the restaurant then.
• You do not have to lock a restaurant in the app weeks ahead for that dinner.

The Virgin app planner, the agenda, and which shows to book early apply to every sailor. Those are on the Virgin Voyages first-timer guide. Daily gratuities are on the cruise cost breakdown.

What I need to price a solo cabin

• Home port, or that you are flying in.
• Nights, and a month if you have one.
• Studio or solo cabin, or a regular inside or balcony booked as solo.