Tag: Singles Cruise Vacations

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.

Singles cruises are cruises for singles – that much is clear. What is perhaps less known about singles cruises is that they are not strictly for those looking for romantic encounters with other singles, as we explained in a recent article about single cruises. Singles cruises therefore have broader appeal than you might expect, and so we thought it would be helpful to write an article that answers this question: to where can you take a singles cruise?

We have already written about the major cruise lines that offer singles cruises, and in the course of doing so we discussed some of the main destinations to which singles cruises sail. Overwhelmingly, the most popular place to take a singles cruise vacation is the Caribbean. There are a couple of dozen or so singles cruises that are currently available for booking, and nearly half of them are to the Caribbean. Why this is the case is a bit of a mystery, but one reasonable guess is that the singles cruises industry (insofar as it is an industry onto itself) is a microcosm of the cruise industry at large, and the Caribbean is definitely one of the most popular places to take a cruise vacation. (It is also the archetypal cruise destination, as we noted in an article about why people take cruises to the Caribbean.)

As all the singles cruises to the Caribbean indicate, singles cruises are much like regular cruises with respect to the places to which they sail. In other words, you can take singles cruises to many of the same places that you can take regular cruises, although the number and diversity of destinations isn’t as substantial. As we noted in a previous article, you can’t take singles cruises to extremely exotic locales, like Antarctica, which, believe it or not, many cruise ships travel to each year. We aren’t absolutely certain that there has never been or will never be a singles cruise to a place like Antarctica (how could we know such a thing?), but such a cruise seem extremely unlikely because there isn’t a huge demand to travel to far off places like Antarctica. (It’s fairly hard to find enough people, let alone singles, to fully book an Antarctic cruise.) There are only around 30 singles cruises each year, and these go to more traditional cruise destinations.

Which traditional cruise destinations? Besides the Caribbean, a few singles cruises go to Mexico. For example, Carnival has two cruises to Mexico departing fairly soon. One is a seven-night “escape” to the Mexican Riviera that departs from Los Angeles in May (May 13th, to be precise), and the other is a quick four-day vacation that leaves in early summer (June 21st through the 25th) from Miami. There are also singles cruises to Alaska, another perennial favorite cruise destination. Both are technically offered by Carnival, but only one is through Carnival Cruise Lines. The other is through Princess Cruises, which is owned by Carnival Corporation. (If this is confusing, and it kind of is, remember that Carnival Corporation operates a number of cruise lines, only one of which carries the name “Carnival Cruise Lines.”) Finally, there are a few singles cruises that take place in or around Europe. One of these is the longest singles cruise that you can currently book. It last ten days and travels to the Canary Islands. The cruise departs from England and is offered by Royal Caribbean International.

So, the places you can take singles cruises to – the Caribbean, Mexico, Alaska, and Europe – are largely the places you can take regular cruises to, although since there are far fewer singles cruises than regular cruises, you can’t take a singles cruise vacation to a particularly remote location. It is worth noting that the places we have listed as singles-cruise destinations are based on the cruise vacations you can currently book. Each year brings a new set of cruises, so just because there isn’t a singles cruise to, say, South America this year doesn’t mean that no singles cruises ever travel there. That said, the Caribbean, Mexico, Alaska, and Europe are the major destinations for singles cruises, so if you want to take a singles cruise, you should be open to sailing to one of these places.

For additional information, check out our article on which singles cruise is best for you, and you might also read up on what you can do on a singles cruise. If you are sold on taking one, here is an explanation of how to book a singles cruise.