The Cons of Singles Cruising
The downside of singles cruising may just spoil your yearning for a totally wonderful cruise that you have been preparing for. Now, take a look and be prepared.
Single supplement
You are so excited to check-in and only to find out that you don’t have any companion to the cabin assigned to you. In short you are going to shoulder the "single supplement". Instead of excepting to pay the 50% for the price of one room on a double occupancy basis you will end-up paying 200% since you are going to pay for the rest of the amount that one room costs.
Cruise lines employ this technique to avoid any losses that could be incurred if this scenario happens. The point is that once a vacationer cancels the reservation it could mean a loss on one unoccupied bed space, and the possible revenue on sale of drinks, onshore excursion, and trinkets and other memorabilia.
What to do? To avoid being caught up in this predicament, check with your cruise line in advance or your cruise agent to assign you to a single occupancy cabin if there are any. Otherwise arrange with your cruise line staff to assign you to any room available wherein you no longer have to pay the single supplement.
Better yet enroll yourself in an organized singles cruise so you are assured of having a companion in the cabin assigned to you. This will give you much relief from the possible annoyance that single supplement can bring.
However, if you can afford to pay for the extra then so much the better, since you own the room all by yourself. The comfort of and luxury of staying a spacious room will make your cruise a really enjoyable experience.
Rooming with a smoker
Staying in a room with a complete stranger is a daunting experience. It may take long before you two can get along well with each other and that is if both of you are pleasant persons.
What if your companion smokes and you don’t? This is really a big headache that you have to endure during the course of the trip other wise you will have request for an oxygen mask so you can take in fresh air while the other one is puffing and insensitive on your situation. Once you are unfortunately cooped up in this scenario getting out from it will take some of guts and courage. Unless of course you want to make a scene onboard and fight with one whom you are sharing the room with just to stop that person from smoking. Now let us change the scenario. What if the smoker is you and the other one does not? How would you feel being ill-treated by your room companion? What will you do?
Rooming with a snorer
What if your fellow single cruiser snores? Hmmmm sounds pretty exciting to hear alien sounding person comfortably enjoying a good night sleep while you are having a difficult time closing your eyes. The other side of the coin may be that you are the one who snores while the other does. Are you numb enough to ignore the other’s misery of having a good sleep because of your loud, annoying noise? How is that for a scene?
Rooming with a thief
What if your companion is a thief? This might sound ridiculous but you’ll never know. You have seen this scene on films or TV shows but the chances of happening this for real is high which you should not take for granted. There might be unscrupulous people aboard who earn a living by emptying someone else’s luggage or wallet. How do you prepare yourself?
What to do? Make use of the online message boards that cruise lines and cruise organizers have created for their singles cruisers. This is one good venue where you can get to know singles cruisers who are possibly traveling in the same cruise with you. Exchange vital information that will help you assess your future roommate. This also gives you a pre-departure get to know opportunity.
Other option that you can do to ensure that that you can get along with your companion is the check with your cruise line or cruise organizer the paring list. Cabin occupant pairing is done according to these mostly used criteria used by cruisemate.com to ensure a favorable pairing for both vacationers.
The first on the list is the age of the roommates. In this case never hesitate to tell your cruise line staff or cruise agent the age requirement of the person you want to share a room with. People of the same age are likely to have and share the same interest.
If you are not the ethnocentric type then you might not have a problem with your companion’s ethnicity, after all knowing other culture and other people is part of the excite of a cruise. So let us skip the ethnics criterion.
Alcoholics, smokers and snorers could be at point becoming a nuisance, so if you don’t want future confrontation with them then let your agent or the staff knows this concern. This will prevent you from getting into trouble.
Little things like deciding which bed to sleep on or who takes a bath first could be crucial in making your stay with a stranger manageable. Petty concerns like this must be addressed at once. So once you know whom you are sharing the room with bring this concern immediately so both of you can reach an agreement early on.
Dining with non-singles
Many singles cruisers have experienced being assigned to dining table with huge family, couples or teenagers. They find this occasion truly uncomfortable being seated next to couples that are busy talking about their relationship unmindful that another soul is seated beside them feeling uneasy of hearing their conversation.
Other instance is where you no companion on the table that you are assigned with. Dining alone may not be downright lonely but it defeats the purpose of enjoying your cruise. Nothing can really compare of you are dining with individuals who are likewise looking for the companion of singles cruisers like you.
What to do? This case only happens to singles cruisers who are not part of an organized singles cruise. If you are one of these then inform the cruise staff that you are traveling alone once you checked-in. This will give them enough time to plan which table will they assign you during mealtime.
If you want to avoid the hassle early, then make sure that you are enrolled in an organized cruise for singles. This way you are assured that you will be seated to singles like you come dinnertime.
Singles cruising is a fast becoming fad in the cruising industry. Many singles have joined the bandwagon to enjoy the sheer joy of traveling with like-minded singles even if total strangers. Many cruise lines have dedicated their resources to accommodate thematic singles cruises. The ticket to a pleasurable singles cruise is knowing its benefits and getting prepared when the unprecedented things happen. Unless of course you are the type who loves surprises even if those surprises include the downside part of singles cruise. | 
