10 of the best cruises for solo travellers
A cruise can be a great way to travel solo; it’s convivial and safe but as adventurous as you want it to be. But punitive single supplements are the biggest bugbear of solo travellers. Luckily, market forces are at work and cruise lines are gradually incorporating more and better single cabins into new ships, or offering better deals for solos. You just have to know where to look — and you have to be quick to snap up deals. Here are some of the best offers around at the moment, all for solo occupancy unless specified.
Saga’s stylish but comfortable Spirit of Discovery has an impressive 109 single cabins across several categories — a fifth of the accommodation, essentially — all with private balcony and the same amenities as the double cabins. The over-50s line really looks after solo travellers, with get-togethers, a singles’ lunch, hosted dining tables and a buddy system for those looking for company on a shore excursion. This late summer cruise from Dover visits Guernsey, the Isles of Scilly, Falmouth, Torquay and Portsmouth, with included excursions to the Abbey Gardens on Tresco and around Portsmouth.
Details Seven nights’ all-inclusive from £4,092pp, including two excursions, tips, travel insurance and a chauffeured car to and from the port, departing from Dover on September 5 (travel.saga.co.uk)
2. Cairo and the Nile
This escorted tour and cruise of Egypt includes visiting the temple at Karnak
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Explore Cairo and upper Egypt on an escorted tour that’s exclusively for solo travellers aged over 50. You’ll have four nights at the Cairo Marriott, with visits to the Pyramids of Giza and the new Grand Egyptian Museum included, followed by seven on the 52-cabin Steigenberger Regency, a five-star Nile cruiser exclusively chartered by the solo travel specialist One Traveller. Sail from Luxor to Aswan and back, visiting Karnak and Luxor temples, the Valley of the Kings (including Tutankhamun’s tomb), Kom Ombo and Aswan High Dam. There’s a felucca ride on the Nile too. The trip is fully escorted by two tour managers and two Egyptologists — and you can choose an extra perk between a car from home to the airport, a pre-cruise overnight at an airport hotel or regional flights.
Details Eleven nights’ full board from £4,990pp, including flights, excursions, Egyptian visa, tips and drinks on the ship, departing on November 12 (onetraveller.co.uk)
3. Spring in Antarctica
See penguin colonies on an Antarctica cruise
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Snow-draped Antarctica and its thrilling wildlife encounters can seem impossible for solo travellers thanks to sky-high single supplements. But travel with G Adventures on the venerable but cosy G Expedition, which carries 134 guests, and you can take advantage of their cabin-share scheme, where you’re buddied up with a traveller of the same gender. This 12-night expedition from Ushuaia visits the South Shetland Islands and the Antarctic peninsula, with Zodiac landings where you can spot penguin colonies and seals. There are options to kayak, camp on the ice and brave the polar plunge with your new companions. Travelling this early in the season means the icy landscapes will be pristine too.
Details Twelve nights from £7,499pp, including one night half-board in an Ushuaia hotel, 11 full board on the ship and daily landings and Zodiac exploration, departing from Ushuaia on November 11 (gadventures.com). Fly to Ushuaia via Buenos Aires
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4. Solos only on the Danube
The Hungarian parliament in Budapest
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Riviera Travel has some great deals for solo travellers. This Danube cruise sailing round-trip from Budapest is a special departure for solos, with a tour escort, so you can expect a sociable vibe as you explore Bratislava, Dürnstein, Salzburg and Vienna. Excursions are included so the days are full of shared experiences. You’ll sail on the brand new MS Riviera Radiance, launching this year and carrying 178 passengers in boutique style with smart decor, a swimming pool and a choice of three places to eat.
Details Seven nights’ all-inclusive from £2,599pp, including flights and excursions, departing from Budapest on November 3 (rivieratravel.co.uk)
5. Expedition to Svalbard
Search for polar bears in Svalbard on this Arctic expedition
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AE Expeditions is extra-friendly to solo travellers and has recently announced that it’s dedicating ten cabins on every Arctic and Antarctica sailing for single use, with no supplement. The Australian-owned line also offers a cabin-share scheme on its sleek expedition ships, which is a great opportunity, as expedition voyages are never cheap. On this adventure from Longyearbyen in the remote Svalbard archipelago, you’ll search for polar bears, walruses, bearded seals and Arctic foxes, as well as a spectacular array of seabirds, with daily hikes and Zodiac exploration.
Details Seven nights’ full board from £9,621pp, in a triple-share cabin, including all expedition activities, drinks with meals, domestic flights and expedition jacket, departing from Oslo on June 11, 2026 (aexpeditions.co.uk). Fly to Oslo
6. Mediterranean in spring
You can explore the delights of the Amalfi Coast on a sailing with Windstar Cruises — note the single supplement is far less than many other cruise lines
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Windstar Cruises is offering solo supplements of just 20 per cent (to put this in perspective, 100 per cent is the usual on most cruise lines) on selected sailings. One is this springtime meander from Rome to Athens, which has some wonderful ports of call: an overnight in Sorrento; Messina for Taormina in Sicily; Gythion, a pretty Peloponnese town; and fortified Monemvasia. You’ll cruise on the four-masted Wind Spirit, a sailing yacht carrying just 148 guests, small enough to have a friendly, convivial atmosphere.
Details Seven nights’ full board from £2,899pp, departing from Rome on April 23 (windstarcruises.co.uk). Fly to Rome
7. Canary Islands with a host
Lanzarote is just one of the stops on this Canary Islands trip
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Solo travellers sometimes worry they’ll be the only ones not coupled up, in which case, a hosted, singles-only group trip is the answer. The Cardiff-based Passion for Cruises offers regular hosted departures on which you can expect gatherings such as coffee mornings, group pre-dinner drinks, shared dining tables, pre-excursion meet-ups and even breakfast get-togethers. So while this 14-night Canaries cruise is on P&O Cruises’ 5,200-passenger Iona, you shouldn’t feel lost in a crowd. Ports of call include Madeira, Tenerife, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote, Cadiz, La Coruña and Vigo.
Details Fourteen nights’ full board from £1,775pp, departing from Southampton on November 7, 2026 (passionforcruises.co.uk)
8. Venice by small ship
The colourful Burano islands
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The French-owned CroisiEurope is celebrating 25 years of sailing on the Venice Lagoon by launching a no single supplement offer for cruises departing between March and June 2025. The 154-passenger MS Michelangelo docks on the Giudecca Canal, within walking distance of Piazza San Marco, and potters around the lagoon with visits to Murano and Burano islands, Mantua and a side trip to Verona. While most passengers are French, all departures are “international” and there’s always a smattering of other nationalities. Best of all, on the nights when you’re docked alongside in Venice, you can explore the city after the crowds have thinned.
Details Six nights’ all-inclusive from £1,033pp, departing from Venice on March 29 (croisieurope.co.uk). Fly to Venice
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9. Norway’s Coastal Express
The northern lights over Sommaroy in Norway
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Hurtigruten’s Coastal Express ships ply the route between Bergen and Kirkenes, in the far north next to the Russian border, year round. Monthly offers are launched for solo travellers, removing the single supplement, so keep checking. The round trip takes 12 days and you’ll stop at 34 ports ranging from tiny fishing villages to cities such as Alesund and Tromso, a prime spot for seeing the northern lights — a strong possibility in November, when this voyage departs. Optional excursions include guided walks, a visit to the North Cape, a tour of the Snow Hotel at Kirkenes, husky sledding, a brewery visit and a midnight concert in Tromso cathedral. This departure is on the Kong Harald, a hybrid-powered ship with cosy observation lounges, two hot tubs, three restaurants and a bakery. All the food is sustainably sourced and inspired by Norwegian cuisine.
Details Eleven nights’ full board from £2,660pp, including flights, departing from Bergen on November 1 (hurtigruten.com)
10. Aegean in style
Some Crystal cruises call at Mykonos
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The ultra-luxury line Crystal has launched a tempting promotion for solos, with zero supplements on two cabin categories on some cruises throughout 2025. Meander through the Greek islands on the 606-passenger Crystal Symphony, which was fully refitted in 2023, on a cruise from Athens to Nafplion, Mykonos, Rhodes, Kusadasi (for Ephesus) and Patmos. There’s an enticing pool deck on board and one of the restaurants, Umi Uma, is overseen by the celebrity chef Nobu Matsuhisa. All cabins have butler service — and on this cruise, you’ll have an ocean view. No poky inside cabins here.
Details Seven nights’ all-inclusive from £4,050pp, departing from Athens on August 2 (crystalcruises.com). Fly to Athens
How to be a smart solo cruiser
All too often, the single supplement on a cruise is 100 per cent, which seems grossly unfair as a solo traveller is not going to use double the resources (food, drink, service, seats in the theatre and on tour buses) like a couple. So you have to be smart, flexible, and ready to pounce. Solo cabins are always snapped up as soon as they go on sale so engage a savvy travel agent to alert you before a new season is released. Many of the big online agents have pages on their websites dedicated to solo travel; check out Panache Cruises (panachecruises.com), ROL Cruise (rolcruise.co.uk) and Iglu Cruise (iglucruise.com). All the cruise lines have late deals pages too, which often include reduced single supplements, although you’ll need to verify whether these are serious offers rather than a paltry 10 per cent off.
Also check out solo specialist tour operators. Just You (justyou.co.uk), One Traveller (see above, onetraveller.co.uk) and Solos Holidays (solosholidays.com) all offer cruises. Join a Facebook forum; Cruises for Solos, for example, has 91,000 members, while Cruise Critic (cruisecritic.co.uk) is another way to meet fellow solos.. Experienced cruisers may join a “roll call” for their forthcoming cruise, for example, and band together to arrange independent excursions that undercut those of the cruise line.
Do you have any tips for solo cruisers? Let us know in the comments below
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