Solo travellers can save £1,900 a day by picking UK’s best value cruise line

Solo holidaymakers looking to set sail without breaking the bank should head straight for Ambassador Cruise Line, according to a new study examining which operators offer the best value for solo travellers cruising from UK ports. 

The findings by Croatia small ship cruises operator Croatia Cruises examined 19 cruise lines departing from British shores, scoring them on three factors solo travellers care most about: cabin costs for one person, how many staff look after each passenger, and the choice of shore trips on offer. 

Ambassador Cruise Line sailed to victory with a top score of 71.1 out of 100, charging solo travellers just £156.18 per day while still providing decent staffing and plenty of excursion choices for passengers travelling alone. 

P&O Cruises bagged the runner-up position scoring 70.8, thanks to having the most staff per passenger at 3.04, beating all other cruise companies analysed. The impressive service levels made up for P&O’s slightly steeper daily rate of £194.52 for solo cabins. 

MSC Cruises took third place with a score of 69.5 due to its cheap daily rates of £160.90 with solid staffing levels of 2.67 crew members for each passenger aboard their ships. 

Carnival Cruise Line and Costa Cruises filled out the fourth and fifth positions with scores of 67.7 and 65.8, respectively. Carnival tempts solo travellers with 885 different shore excursions, one of the highest numbers available, while Costa keeps things affordable with daily rates of just £163.23. 

Princess Cruises landed in sixth place despite boasting 897 shore trip options, but its higher daily rate of £248.47 pulled down its overall score to 65.4. 

Cunard took the seventh spot scoring 58.3, offering a massive 994 shore excursions but consequently charging solos £249.97 per day. 

Norwegian Cruise Line, Virgin Voyages and Holland America Line completed the top ten list with scores of 55.9, 55.8 and 53.2 respectively, all offering hundreds of shore excursions but with daily prices above the £230 mark. 

Top 10 cruise lines for solo travellers from the UK 

At the bottom end of the rankings, several luxury cruise lines performed poorly due to their sky-high prices, even while offering more shore excursions to solo passengers willing to pay premium rates for their holidays at sea. 

Disney Cruise Line ranked third from the bottom of all cruise lines analysed, scoring 29.4. Disney’s daily rate of £572.63 hurt its ranking despite its famous family-friendly entertainment options and character experiences. 

Seabourn scored a dismal 20.8, ranking second from bottom with the worst staff-to-passenger ratio at just 1.20 and a steep daily rate of £879.56 for singles wanting their own cabin. 

Scenic Discovery Yachts sank to the very bottom of all cruise lines with the lowest score of 11.3, mainly thanks to its jaw-dropping price of £2,091.48 per day, an incredible 13 times more expensive than the best-value Ambassador Cruise Line. 

Anastasia Tretjakova, Senior Travel Advisor and Sales Manager at Croatia Cruises commented, “The results prove solo travellers can get a quality cruise experience without paying ridiculous prices. Ambassador Cruise Line wins by combining cheap rates with solid service levels, making them perfect for people holidaying alone. 

“For solo cruisers, having enough staff on board really matters since it directly affects how much personal attention you receive. P&O Cruises stands out with their exceptional 3.04 staff per passenger, which explains their high ranking despite not having the absolute cheapest cabins. 

“Shore trips give solo travellers the chance to explore destinations and meet other passengers. Lines like Cunard and Princess that offer nearly 1,000 different excursion choices give singles amazing options throughout their trip.”