Traveling alone or solo travel, as it’s now called, has become quite popular. This is due to the increase of singles in the US. In the 1960’s 72% of adults over 18 were married. Among today’s growing single population, 63 percent have never been married, 23 percent are divorced, and 13 percent are widowed.

Historically, when you book a tour or a room on a cruise as a single, you are changed what is known as a single supplement. This is a premium charged to single travelers. The amount involved ranges from 10 to 100 percent of the standard accommodation rate.

Single travelers feel having to pay an additional amount is a form of discrimination. Tour companies and cruise lines have been forced to recognize there is a real need to service and market to single travelers.

A few ocean cruise lines have built new ships with the single traveler in mind. These new ships have rooms that accommodate only one person. The rooms are smaller than the normal size rooms for two people, but you aren’t paying a single supplement charge. One cruise line even has a lounge dedicated to those who are booked in the single staterooms. They are giving you an opportunity to meet each other!