How to find what’s best for your client for solo travellers and how to sell it
By ANTHONY NICHOLAS

For several decades, single passengers have had a pretty raw deal from the cruise industry. Single cabins were few, far between, and generally priced at a premium. Most often, the only options available were inside rooms.
The only way around this conundrum was to pay a per cabin supplement, typically ranging from anywhere between fifty to a full hundred per cent of the fare. This had the inevitable effect of alienating many potential cruisers for decades.
But now, finally, the lines have got wise. Slowly but surely, rashes of single cabins are starting to break out across some of the bigger, premium ships.

From Norwegian Cruise Line to Cunard, via P&O, Fred. Olsen to Cruise & Maritime Voyages, companies are taking on board the fact that there is a rising tide of singles out there who are ready to mingle. As always, it comes down to marketing and price.

So what are some of the best options out there? And what might work best for your clients? Here’s a few of the more outstanding options available for 2016.

First and foremost, let’s look at Cunard. Both Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth already have dedicated single cabins. Each ship offers eight outside and one inside single cabin, with between 159 and 162 square feet of space.
But the big news is that the fleet flagship, Queen Mary 2, will be gifted with no less than 15 single cabins, all outside, during her refit in June, 2016. Most of these will be located on deck two, with a smaller number on deck three.
Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines offers a range of single cabins across all four ships in their mid-sized fleet. Braemar offers inside and outside singles from around 130 square feet, but the larger Boudicca, Black Watch and Balmoral go one further by adding a number of balcony cabins into the mix as well.
Just across the cruising way, Cruise & Maritime Voyages also offers a range of inside and outside single cabins aboard it’s flagship, Magellan, that sell at a modest twenty five per cent supplement on the per person doubles fare, making them very affordable. For something more classically styled, the veteran Marco Polo has a few dedicated single inside and outside cabins available as well.
But the mother of the single cabin sales drive has to be Norwegian Cruise Line. Starting with the ground breaking Norwegian Epic of 2010, the company introduced the concept of the studio cabin; small interior cabins grouped in their own complex over two decks, featuring a communal bar/lounge area and a dedicated concierge; a kind of gated ‘ship within a ship’ community that echoes the far more expansive Haven accommodations located topside.

The real genius here was that the company created an instant sense of community within an enclosed, but still accessible area. People travelling alone meet and mix in a casual, comfortable environment that allows them to be as social, or indeed as solitary, as they wish.

With dedicated singles activities on board, this has proved to be a bravura solution to an age old problem; one so successful that every subsequent Norwegian ship has had a large number of single studio cabins- typically well over a hundred- built in as a central sales leader. The only real downside is that there are no outside singles cabins.

For single passengers, the appeal of having their own, private space to lay their heads, and at a reasonable price is obviously a huge boon. Accessibility and availability now exists over a vast range of options, from two-night mini cruises to full, round the world voyages. And, with shorter options out there than ever, there is vast sales potential.
Because most of these ships sail directly from the United Kingdom, there is the added bonus for single passengers of not having to negotiate two or sometimes more foreign airports. Departure from ports as diverse as Glasgow, Liverpool and Newcastle often cut out the hassle of long train and car journeys to Dover, Southampton and Tilbury. Booking a single cabin now is as much about ease of getting to a port as it is about economy of spend – a double win in this age.

For the single passengers, most lines have a dedicated, singles meet and greet party on the first, and often subsequent nights. On ships with assigned dining times, singles are often seated at the same tables. This allows single passengers to be gently introduced to each other, without any pressure being placed on them to spend all of their time in the same company should they choose not to.

One of the great advantages that cruising offers single passengers is a whole smorgasbord of options that allows them to tailor their trip to suit themselves. People can be as sociable or as solitary as they wish, as involved with the fun as they want, or as indolent as they feel. And no two people feel exactly the same on any two subsequent days. Different moods can require different soul food. And only a cruise ship can truly cater so well for such a diverse human spectrum.

For single passengers, a cruise ship offers a truly safe, almost fully inclusive environment that can waft them in considerable luxury from one show-stopping port to another. Using the cruise lines’ own shore excursions allows them to see the sights as part of a larger, chaperoned group. Sharing those experiences back on board enhances the congenial nature of a cruise and, quite often, new friendships form as a result; another bonus on the cost of a trip.

Above all, cruising is an intensely emotional experience; one where the memories stay with you long after the trip itself is over.
Look at the sort of passenger making the booking. Are they comfortable being on a large ship with thousands of passengers, or are they the sort of people that would be more at home on a smaller, more intimate ship?

These days, there is so much diversity on offer that cruising really does cater for all tastes.

Thanks to this new thinking on single cabins, people no longer have to simply take whatever might once have been available.

There is real choice at sea now, from the all-American fun style of Norwegian to the more patrician, pampered elegance of Cunard. An ocean of choice.

SELL IT

Cunard offers a 17-night Greek Isles round-trip cruise from Southampton on July 5 2016.
Accommodation is in an inside single cabin (from website) from £2,888
0843 374 0000
cunard.co.uk

Cruise & Maritime Voyages offers a seven-night Norwegian Fjords cruise from Newcastle on board Magellan on April 2 2016.
Accommodation is in an inside single cabin from £1549
0844 998 3800
cruiseandmaritime.com

Norwegian Cruise Line offers a seven-night Western Caribbean cruise only from Miami on November 27 2016. Accommodation is in an inside single studio cabin from £599
0845 201 8900
ncl.co.uk