Singles cruises, as we explained in a recent article about this form of cruise vacation, are many things. While the focus of many a singles cruise is on dating and meeting other singles with an eye toward romance, this is by no means the only reason you might want to take a singles cruise vacation. There are singles cruises for specific age groups and other demographics (like religious groups), and not all the singles that take such cruises are interested in finding a romantic partner. They might merely be looking to meet other like-minded people who share their interests, or they might only be interested in forming friendships with individuals who are at a similar stage in their lives as themselves. No matter your reason for taking a singles cruise, it is relevant to know which of the many cruise lines offer singles cruises. And so we aim to answer this simple question: what cruise lines offer singles cruises?
In a word, several. Singles cruises are quite popular, and there seem to be at least a couple of singles cruises offered in any given month. A quick look at the singles cruises that can currently be booked reveals that there are at least three major cruise lines – the three largest cruise ship operators in the world, in fact – that offer this type of cruise: Carnival, Royal Caribbean International, and Norwegian Cruise Line.
Carnival overwhelming offers the most singles cruises, as we were able to track down over a dozen singles cruises that Carnival is currently offering (that is, Carnival Cruise Lines itself is offering the cruise, not one of the various other cruise brands Carnival Corporation owns). These cruises are spread out over the next several months, however, so it’s not like a singles cruise is leaving port every day. Carnival is a giant in the cruise industry – it is the largest cruise ship operator in the world by far, with the eleven cruise ship brands it owns controlling nearly 50 percent of the cruise market – so it makes sense that they offer the most singles cruises. They simply have the most resources to dedicate to cruises of this kind (or cruises of any other kind, for that matter). The majority of these singles cruises go to the Caribbean, but two go to Mexico, and there is another that goes to Alaska. From what we gather, these are the only destinations that Carnival’s singles cruises go to, or at least this is true of the cruises being offered at the time of this writing.
The other major cruise lines that offer singles cruises, Royal Caribbean International and Norwegian Cruise Line, are not currently offering many singles cruises. Royal Caribbean, the second largest cruise ship operator in the world with a 24 percent market share, currently has two such cruises available: a seven-night voyage to the Caribbean that is exclusively for the 40+ crowd, and a ten-day European vacation that departs from England. Norwegian Cruise Line, the third largest cruise ship operator in the world (but with a comparatively small market share of seven percent), presently offers only one singles cruise, although it’s a cool one: a seven-day European voyage that departs from Barcelona in the middle of summer.
While we have covered the vast majority of the singles cruises that are currently available to book, a couple of other options exist. Most notably, there are a few singles cruises offered by Princess, a cruise line owned by Carnival. However, Carnival Cruise Lines, Royal Caribbean International, and Norwegian Cruise Line seem to offer the most by way of singles cruises, so these cruise lines are good to consider when looking for possible singles cruise vacations.
For additional information, check out our article on which singles cruise is best for you, and you might also look into what you can do on a singles cruise. If you are sold on taking one, here is an overview of how to book a singles cruise.