This year I have taken 3 cruises and two of the bookings were solo cabins.
Booking solo cabins is supposed to save you the single supplement but check out the prices on a normal interior cabin - often they are very close in price and on NCL its often less money to book a regular interior. On both HAL and RCL they are a cheaper option but there are so few of them that you have to book way in advance. (i.e. 12 months for my solo cabin on Brilliance of the Seas).
I was upgraded to an Ocean-view solo Cabin on Holland America's Koningsdam. While I don't like this ship very much, the itinerary to the Greek Islands and the sale price ($1800 CDN for 12-nights) was the reason I went back on it.
Below is my review of the solo cabin 2006 on Koningsdam. (Second deck level at the front of the ship)
First impressions on the ocean-view cabin was that it felt really small even with the window. It was supposedly 126 feet but didn't feel that. There is no chair nor room for it even though its shown in the pictures by HAL online. The cabin has the regular size bathroom - best shower for size and ease. The bed is a double and comfortable. Regular closets and a full size desk and TV. I like their TV as they have a lot of movies (all free). While I only watch them at night to fall asleep, I never seemed to watch a full movie.
I had no air conditioning for the first 2.5 days and although Customer service and I both tried to tell them that it was air flow it wasn't til the 5th visit that the final mechanics had to divert air flow outside the cabin for me to get air. To say I was frustrated and very hot was an understatement. After my note to the hotel director, I received flowers and a spa day. I just wish Cruise lines would listen better to passengers - Both myself and the customer service rep had to try 4 times to get help - just wrong. I am not thinking of booking HAL again for a while because of this.
I also found this cabin very noisy as you can hear the engines, the anchor and when they have to tender the noise/vibrations start at about 5 in the morning an last all day in port. While I read in reviews you can hear noise from the shows/music walk one level above, I didn't hear anything from above.
Overall out of 10 I would give this cabin a 5.
Royal Caribbean Ovation of the Seas Cabin 12230.
This cabin was 100 square feet but felt much bigger than the HAL cabin.
This cabin has a full-size bathroom (again great walk in shower), double bed, enough storage for 1 person. Again it doesn' t have a chair but their is a stool and mini-fridge. I like that you can control the air conditioning and FAN. I have voice issues on ships due to the air conditioning fans blowing causing a severe dryness.
The bed is comfortable and their is a virtual balcony that allows you to see real time views beside your bed. I loved this feature as you can see the weather and the sea.
RCL has the worst TV offering of all cruise lines - while I only watch the news and a movie at bedtime it really doesn't offer movies in-rooms unless you pay for them.
Overall I would rate this cabin a 9 out 10. I would definitely book this cabin again
So far I wouldn't book a solo cabin on HAL nor NCL again, but would on RCL. I have booked a solo cabin on the Brilliance of the Seas for next June's Baltic Sea cruise.
Hope this helps
Marcia
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