Independence of the Seas

[Ian Warren]

On P&O cruises from the UK they suggest a figure of £1.60 per passenger per night for your waiter and £1.50pppn for your cabin steward, but you give them what you want in a brown envelope. If however you opt for Freedom Dining, which will mean a different waiter every night, then they will add the £1.60pppn to your account. You still decide what to give your cabin steward though

[Michael Bennett]

Have come up with a great Idea for getting spirits onboard DRINK IT FIRST and sober up till the end of the cruse.
Wiggy

[terry ryan]

any way of avoiding the single supplement charge, thanks terry.

[Terry Wilcox]

Hi Terry. I have thought of a way to avoid the single supplement................... TAKE ME. Have a great cruise, take care... Terry.

[Captain Kong]

That single supplement is a big Rip Off, The long haired one and I are going to OZ in January on the new QE,
A friend died so we are taking his widow with us and she has to pay 1.75 times the fare. She does not eat 1.75 times the amount of food, or 1.75 times the amount of towells, or 1.75 times the amount of entertainment etc, etc. So how can these corporate gangsters justify it.
When I have been on these ships there are many, many single/widowed people all paying the extra 1.75 times the double fare. The amount of single passengers who travel would justify having single berth cabins, but this way they rip off more profits.
Cheers
Brian

[happy daze john in oz]

That single supplement is a big Rip Off, The long hired one and I are going to OZ in January on the new QE,
A friend died so we are taking his widow with us and she has to pay 1.75 times the fare. She does not eat 1.75 times the amount of food, or 1.75 times the amount of towells, or 1.75 times the amount of entertainment etc, etc. So how can these corporate gangsters justify it.
When I have been on these ships there are many, many single/widowed people all paying the extra 1.75 times the double fare. The amount of single passengers who travel would justify having single berth cabins, but this way they rip off more profits.
Cheers
Brian

Brian there are now a number fo ships having some conversions done to make single cabins, also most of the new ones being built will have the same. The demand for singles now is getting bigger and it appears the shipping compnanies are responding. Mate of mine is going on one next April from Europe to Us and has a single cabin.

[Ian Warren]

I see both sides of the problems over single pricing. While they don't eat 1.75 times the amount of food, unless there are single cabins they do have 2.0 times the space i.e. a double cabin for one person.

The other thing to bear in mind that when the overall cruise costs are calculated it is based on having two people in a cabin. Therefore when there is only one person instead of two, the one person is spending 0.50% of the money on drinks, shop and spa purchases and excursions. That means that overall revenues for the cruise line go down, so if there are two many double cabins with only one person in, the overall prices for everyone would need to go up.

As I said at the beginning I do see both sides, but there are two sides to every argument. When you book a hotel room with Travel Inn, or Holiday Inn for instance, the price of the room is generally the same regardless of if you book it for one or for two people

[Glan Phillips]

I will probably get some flak from this post..........there is no way I would take a cruise on one of these present day cruise ships (aka "Shoe Boxes"). Being on board with a couple of thousand plus pax is not my idea of enjoying the ocean ! Perhaps having served the last 15 years of my sea career as Master on cruise ships has something to do with it. Granted, when I retired in 1998 the maximum number of pax I had to deal with was 1,800. I cruised from all the Florida ports to the Bahamas, Eastern and Western Caribbean, from California to the Mexican riviera ports, from Texas to Central and South America and from Singapore to Indonesia and Thailand. And lest I forget, in 1993 we were the first cruise ship to be based in and operating cruises from Havana, Cuba. Three Cuban ports and Montego Bay one way and three Cuban ports and Cozumel on the return leg. A 24 hour stopover in some of the ports. I recently discovered that there is a cruise ship presently operating Cuban cruises, the "Adriana", pax capacity of 300, offering 8 days and 7 nights, Mexico and Cuba, prices I believe start at 785 Euros.
Ah the lure of Cuban rum and the good Cuban beer (Hatuey and Christol)...not to mention the seniorita's might tempt me to sign on for just one more trip !!!

Cheers......Glan

[Ian Warren]

Hi Terry,

Fred.Olsen Cruise line ships have the highest percentage of single cabins, therefore giving you the chance to cruise without paying a large single supplement.

Ian