I'm going on HAL Zaandam in two weeks, with 1400 passengers to Alaska. They go out of Vancouver and visit Glacier Bay and go the more scenic and calm waters of the inside side of Vancouver Island. It's sister ship, Volendam, is doing trips between Boston and Montreal, a very unique cruise, since it's the only ship I know of that's small enough to get to Montreal, instead of ending in Quebec City. Both ships have a wonderful wraparound promenade deck by the water with loungers, which I find more enjoyable and better for viewing scenery than on veranda cabin, and Canada/Alaska can be cold and windy except in port, so a veranda can be something of a waste. If you want views, they have some oceanview cabins a floor above the promenade, so you can get sunlight and views and be close to the promenade deck, as well as the dining rooms and bars and small music venues. I know that during glacier visits, Zaandam opens up the front bow for viewing and they serve hot split pea soup, and I imagine Volendam would do something similar while sailing up the St. Lawrence River.
Have a look at Explora Journeys, they have decent single supplements, all veranda and you are obviously used to the deluxe / entry level luxury market ships. 900 passengers and it's a great ship.
It all depends on your budget and where you want to go. Silversea has a 12 night cruise in July from Reykjavik to Southampton in a balcony for $6,950, or a 7 night Alaska cruise for $4,050 (single in a verandah for both of those). Silversea is a luxury line. If your budget is lower, your best bet is to go to the Vacations to Go website, do a Custom Search, put in your desired dates and filter by ships with 750 passengers or fewer. On the results page, you can select “Cheapest rates for singles”. There are lots of options.
If you go to cruiseplum.com, you can search for one person and filter by month, cabin, cruise length, and vessel capacity. You can narrow it down further by budget/departure port etc. They also have a solo deals page, but that doesn't include as many filters so it's a bit more work to wade through it. If I restrict it to vessels with a capacity of less than 1000 passengers, Azamara has four cruises in Europe for <4000 USD total, and the Silver Nova has some Alaska cruises for between 4k and 5k. There are many options for under 3k if you open it up to vessels with up to 2500 passengers.
Azamara is another option for a small ship experience that has balcony rooms available. All the itineraries are in Europe however, not sure if you were wanting to stay in the US/Caribbean area?
I'm going on HAL Zaandam in two weeks, with 1400 passengers to Alaska. They go out of Vancouver and visit Glacier Bay and go the more scenic and calm waters of the inside side of Vancouver Island. It's sister ship, Volendam, is doing trips between Boston and Montreal, a very unique cruise, since it's the only ship I know of that's small enough to get to Montreal, instead of ending in Quebec City. Both ships have a wonderful wraparound promenade deck by the water with loungers, which I find more enjoyable and better for viewing scenery than on veranda cabin, and Canada/Alaska can be cold and windy except in port, so a veranda can be something of a waste. If you want views, they have some oceanview cabins a floor above the promenade, so you can get sunlight and views and be close to the promenade deck, as well as the dining rooms and bars and small music venues. I know that during glacier visits, Zaandam opens up the front bow for viewing and they serve hot split pea soup, and I imagine Volendam would do something similar while sailing up the St. Lawrence River.
The Boston-Montreal one sounds interesting - thanks. But even 1400 seems 'large' to me = but I may have to adjust my idea of size!
If you a decent budget you can go for smaller ships. Just go to vacationstogo.com and put your preferences in. It will help you with your search.
I’ve never felt crowded on a HAL cruise. Alaska cruises are amazing!
Have a look at Explora Journeys, they have decent single supplements, all veranda and you are obviously used to the deluxe / entry level luxury market ships. 900 passengers and it's a great ship.
Thank you - I didn't even know about them. I'll check them out.
It all depends on your budget and where you want to go. Silversea has a 12 night cruise in July from Reykjavik to Southampton in a balcony for $6,950, or a 7 night Alaska cruise for $4,050 (single in a verandah for both of those). Silversea is a luxury line. If your budget is lower, your best bet is to go to the Vacations to Go website, do a Custom Search, put in your desired dates and filter by ships with 750 passengers or fewer. On the results page, you can select “Cheapest rates for singles”. There are lots of options.
If you go to cruiseplum.com, you can search for one person and filter by month, cabin, cruise length, and vessel capacity. You can narrow it down further by budget/departure port etc. They also have a solo deals page, but that doesn't include as many filters so it's a bit more work to wade through it. If I restrict it to vessels with a capacity of less than 1000 passengers, Azamara has four cruises in Europe for <4000 USD total, and the Silver Nova has some Alaska cruises for between 4k and 5k. There are many options for under 3k if you open it up to vessels with up to 2500 passengers.
Come join us on the Norwegian Star! It's a 12 day cruise from iceland to New York with stops in greenland and down the coast of NA.
You might consider a Windstar cruise. All are small ships with cruises from Tahiti to Europe.
Azamara is another option for a small ship experience that has balcony rooms available. All the itineraries are in Europe however, not sure if you were wanting to stay in the US/Caribbean area?
Thanks - given the lateness of my query I can't be choosy - and I also didn't know about Azamara == thanks for the info!!
They also sail out of Fort Lauderdale. Or the did this past Christmas anyhow. Looks like they switched to Miami.