TRAVEL! Because I do not mind travelling alone, I’m looking for single cruise fairs, which are difficult to come by. However, I prefer shoulder season travel anyway (fewer crowds), so bargains are to be had on many cruise lines. Some considerations:
- Try one-way, shoulder-season cruise itineraries. The shoulder-season—when families aren’t traveling—is a fine time to save on the single supplement on cruise ships. Some cruise lines, such as Royal Caribbean, charge less for the supplement on many cruises, including “repositioning cruises,” when cruise lines move their ships from their summer cruising waters to their winter waters (from the North Atlantic to the Caribbean in the fall), or vice versa. These cruises often last longer (between 7 and 12 days) than standard cruises—yet cost up to half as much per day per person as the norm. Norwegian, for instance, recently had interior berths on a late October transatlantic cruise going for as low as $399 per passenger.
- Pick the type of repositioning cruise that suits your style. Some itineraries have themes, such as wine tastings, and multiple port stops, like Holland America’s Zaandam’s recent itinerary between San Diego and Vancouver. Other routes cover a lot of sea with few—if any—port stops, such as an early November Carnival itinerary between Dover, England, and Boston. Some people might find the lack of port stops boring. But others won’t mind: Because these cruises are less popular, the ships are often well below capacity—which means you receive additional special attention from the on-board staff without having to pay additional gratuities.
- One-way cruises: Booking an affordable one-way flight home is key to keeping total trip costs down. For international itineraries, check your airline mileage. Many airlines now offer frequent flier miles for one-way tickets. Domestically, JetBlue, and Southwest sell one-way fares that are also inexpensive.
If you love travelling, be sure your credit cards, supermarket cards, etc., all have mileage attached to your purchases. My brother just called to say he has 40,000 miles — that’ll take him to just about anywhere in the world for the price of airport taxes only. Also, never use airline miles for domestic flights — not worth it. Learned that in 1970 when friends wanted me to visit them in Miami. For the same mileage, I was able to meet them in FranceAn example from the Huffington Post: Say you’re deciding how to use 30,000 American Airlines miles and you’ve got it narrowed down to one domestic location (Chicago) and one international (Lima, Peru). 30,000 miles is enough for a roundtrip flight to either location, but look at the difference in value. Flying from New York to Chicago for the second week of September costs either 25,000 miles or $188, which means you’re using 133 miles-per-dollar that you would have spent otherwise. Flying to Peru, on the other hand, costs either 30,000 miles or $883 (34 miles-per-dollar). In this case, you get nearly four times the value from using frequent flyer miles to fly abroad than domestic.
- One of the MANY advantages of being retired: Look for last-minute deals. Some companies try to off-load unbooked cabins in the weeks before a departure by offering “happy hour” specials in which they reduce the supplement. Such sales are typically held the same day they’re announced on the companies’ websites. (From a travel agent who founded a website listing discounts on supplements for solo cruisers: singlescruiseresource.com. Most travel agents receive advance warning of the sales.)
- Look Around the Globe: The small Hebridean Princess ship looks rather like a British country home and has only 30 cabins, with 10 reserved for singles at no extra charge. Everything is included, from meals, wines and cocktails to shore excursions, on-board guest speakers and guided tours. Itineraries include the Scottish coast, Ireland and Wales, Northern France and England and her Channel Isles. Guests are provided with bicycle, fishing tackle and picnic baskets on request. Tipping is not allowed. This is one, of course, where you have to watch airfare costs, so that mileage you are racking up with purchases just may get you to/from without undue additional expense.
- Note: If you can avoid it, never travel in an interior cabin, unless you don’t mind sleeping in a closet. Your health will stay better if you have a balcony room and can get fresh air throughout your cruise.