WASHINGTON — For those who’ll find themselves without a date on Valentine’s Day, fear not – CLIA has salvaged the day by highlighting tips and benefits for solo travellers.
“Recently, the travel industry has seen a growing trend in solo travel and the cruise industry is responding,” said Cindy D’Aoust, president and CEO, CLIA. “Cruise lines now offer a variety of incentives, benefits and experiences designed with single cruise travellers in mind to ensure they also have the chance to discover the amazing benefits of cruise travel.”
From pricing discounts to specially tailored cruises, a variety of cruise lines offer benefits, rewards and exclusive programs for solo cruisers:
Avalon Waterways
For every departure on every European itinerary in 2017, Avalon offers a select number of rooms without a single supplement in place.
Tauck
The company has waived the single supplement on all ‘Category 1’ cabins aboard its European riverboats, for every departure of every Tauck river cruise itinerary. In all, the supplement is waived on over 230 Tauck river cruise departures this year.
AIDA Cruises
Singles can book a stateroom for sole occupancy with AIDA. A select number of such staterooms are offered on every cruise, in all stateroom categories with a range of discounts.
AmaWaterways
From The Enchanting Rhine to the Riches of the Mekong, AmaWaterways is offering nine river cruise itineraries where the single supplement is waived when booked by March 31, 2017.
Uniworld Boutique River Cruise Collection
In 2017, Uniworld is waiving or reducing the single supplement fee on 30 of its most popular itineraries.
Norwegian Cruise Line
As the first cruise line to build staterooms and common areas specifically for the single cruiser, Norwegian offers studio rooms on select cruise ships that are the perfect sized room for solo cruising.
Royal Caribbean International
On some of the newest or revitalized ships, RCI offers studio staterooms – including those with balconies and virtual balconies (a category unique to Royal Caribbean International) – where solo guests only have a single cruise fare, foregoing additional single supplement costs.
Cunard
Over the last few years, Cunard has completed the addition of new single staterooms to each of its ships following passenger feedback. The most recent addition was made to its flagship Queen Mary 2 during her remastering last summer.
Making connections
Before setting sail, clients can join discussions on cruise forums exclusively for solo cruisers for a chance to meet others travelling on the same cruise. These include the forums on Cruise Critic (boards.cruisecritic.com).