The best ship for singles is any ship with a lot of other singles on board. The truth is, if you are single and looking to meet your soul mate, the "Love Boat" concept that you can board almost any cruise ship and meet the perfect stranger is not even close to reality. The fact of the matter is that cruising is largely a couples experience, and if you do not do your research there is a very good chance you will spend more money than you wanted to (single cruisers traveling alone must pay a "single's supplement" if they occupy alone a cabin normally sold to two people), and spend most of the cruise talking to yourself.
Now this is not entirely true on some of the biggest ships from Carnival, Royal Caribbean and NCL, especially on the shorter cruises. However, there are still better ways to go about cruising if you are single.
Here's an idea. Say you are single and have someone at home special in mind? Invite them on a cruise. I can't think of a more romantic way to spark a romance. But be careful, because if it wasn't meant to be then you could be in for a long week. So here is another idea...
Go to CruiseMates' area for single cruisers , and look at all of the agencies offering singles cruises! A "singles cruise" is a charter of dozens of cabins on a specific sail date on a regular cruise ship where the company puts like-minded, same sex people together in cabins (to spare them the singles supplement) and sponsors plenty of activities for all of these single people to get to know the other singles in the group, like cocktail parties, special tours, dinners, etc. How much you participate is up to you. You may be there for romance, or you might just be there to avoid the singles supplement. Either way, the plus side is that you are guaranteed that there will people on board also sailing solo who will likely be ready to share excursions with you, and tables at dinner. Cruising is more fun when you share it with someone else, even if you love living alone.
Now, if you choose to ignore this advice, here are some ships you might book on your own and still have a good time:
TOP SINGLES CRUISE PICK
We have a new winner in the area of singles cruising - Norwegian Epic, the brand new flagship from NCL (inaugural cruise July 10, 2010). Why is this ship so great for singles? It will be the cruise ever with a dedicated section of cabins with a common "living" area to be sold to singles with absolutely no singles supplement.
These special "Studio Staterooms" feature an exotic and romantic decor (common to all the staterroms on the new Epic) with mood lighting and soft, curved corner beds and separate rooms for the shower and the toilet. But these 100 square-foot cabins don't have much more in terms of living space because they share a common living area with all the other 128 Studio Staterooms - exclusively. You will have a one-way window looking out towards this living area.
The result is that you can book one of these cabins as a solo and you have every reason and excuse to be out socializing with other singles on the same cruise. Even better, you will have no problem finding them because they will mostly all be in your shared living space.
This living space, called the Studio Lounge, has a bar, several large screen televisions with ship programming and DVD players, snacks available, a library and special evens just for Studio guests.
This is the first ship to ever create a space exclusively targetted at singles cruisers and we predict it will be such a big hit that other cruise lines will follow suit. In truth, the singles cruise market is largely untapped except by the singles group providers we mentioned above. For more information, go to www.ncl.com.
BUDGET
Windjammer Barefoot Cruises? We used to recommend Windjammer Barefoot Cruises to singles by having large cabins that sleep as many as six people with no single's supplement. -- OK, it was more like summer camp, some of those cabins did not even have "facilities." Sadly, the cruise line went belly up and in fact left far too many people holding onto useless cruise reservations and losing a lot of money in the process. The lawsuits and subpeonae were papered and delivered like Christmas morning, only the mood and outcome was far different.
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BUDGET/MID-PRICE
Carnival Cruise Lines If there is any one cruise line that usually has a fair number of singles aboard, it is Carnival. But a fair number these days is usually under five precent of all passengers, and they are often with roommates. So, if you are traveling solo, you either make it a threesome or break up a pair of friends. Answer? Take a friend of your own. Royal Caribbean's large ships are a close second in this category.
EXPEDITION
Small ship cruise line Cruise West, which features close up expeditionary cruises on vessel of 100 passengers or less, is offering cabins to singles with no singles supplenment. This means you get a cabon all to your self which would normally hold two people paying full fare. These small cruise lines are absolutely the best way to see Alaska, the Sea of Cortes and other areas rife with sea life.
PREMIUM
Holland America is the only cruise line left that has a roommate matching service. They will put singles together if each potential roommate agrees to such a set up (it isn't mandatory, ever). Unfortunately, the only criteria they use to match roommates is gender and smoking preference. While it can save you a great deal of money over paying the singles supplement (like paying for two passengers, including port taxes, etc.), it is a gamble because you never know with whom you may be paired.
Most of the time Holland America does not attract young, party-hardy types. Most of their singles tend to be women of 50 or older. So if that is who you happen to be, the chance of good match is not too bad.
LUXURY
Crystal and Silversea both of these cruise lines often have more women and men on board due to the simple demographics of women outliving their husbands. These lines cater to single women (mostly elderly widows) by putting "gentlemen hosts" on board to dance and interact with them. Even though they know they are paid to be there, somehow it doesn't spoil the fun for these ladies.
At the same time, we have heard that most of the luxury cruise lines (add Seabourn and Regent) have dropped the singles supplement on many specific cruise sail dates, so go to the web site and seek out the bargains. Luxury cruise lines often have bargains for single travelers, but don't expect to make a love connection unless you are looking for a "May-September" romance.
