What happens when a large portion of a ship is unsold

[Sacstephen]

Its obvious that a lot of the lines are having a hard time filling up ships in the current economy. Are there any consequences for the booked passengers if the cruise line finds itself a few weeks before the departure date with a significant percentage of the cabins unsold? Has a cruise ever been cancelled because of unsold cabins?

[RoofingPrincess]

I don't know where you're getting your information that "a lot of the lines are having a hard time filling up ships in the current economy."

A lot of Cruise Critic posters are still reporting full ships.

This may be due in part to cruise lines dropping prices on sailings that are seeing lower demand....

[yogi2929]

We once went on a repo cruise that had less than 200 pax, ship needed to get to Vancouver. This was 6 years ago.

 

The lines keep on lowering prices til they fill the cabins. Mom and sis are on a four day right now, booked last week.

[paul929207]

We just got off b2b 18 day transatlantic on the Tahitian Princess. The ship was full the cruise before us, both of ours and the one after us.

[roundlakerebel]

We booked in March 09 for Oct 18th 09 aboard Princess Emerald. I was very suprised to hear ship is full and they are only accepting wait list bookings right now. This is our 1st cruise and I am glad we booked 6 months a head of time to make sure we got the rooms. Our TA says most ships are departing ports full or near capacity.

With the economy in the toilet like it is, it's suprising to hear ships are full.:)

[smeyer418]

the publicly traded companies like Royal Caribbean report their average cruise load. The number has been consistently over 100%(because a ship isn't really full full until its at 120-130% because of how they count as full). It is really fairly rare that a ship isn't at 100% and if it looks like it will be most cruise lines will drastically lower the price to fill them up. We haven't seen drastic reductions(although some prices are down somewhat) so even in this economy they are filling the ships.

[Denny01]

I've tracked the B2B cruises we are doing this Nov 09 (E. Med and TA on Celebrity Solstice). Two months away, the E. Med is 92% full and the TA in 86% full.

 

For our Celebrity Millennium Wine Cruise in Sep 10, 12 months away and it is 50% filled.

 

Could be an issue with different lines, but I don't think it is with the larger mainstream lines.

 

The only times I've heard of cancellations is when a cruise line decides to move a ship from one cruise area to another. Celebrity dropped Australian cruises, also moved one ship from the Med and added another, all done over a year ahead, in most cruise date cases. Some people had to be rebooked and were upset, naturally, but that was not due to a specific cruise not being filled, that was a company decision on what type cruises were productive and competitive for that line.

 

Not heard of a cruise being cancelled short notice because it didn't meet some level of occupancy. A line or so (in Europe I believe) have gone bankrupt, but again these are cruise line impacts not a specific cruise cancellation.

 

Denny

[uppitycats]

They keep lowering prices until the ship is full, or nearly so. I've really not heard of ships sailing with less than a 95% or so capacity, except perhaps for the very early or very late in the season cruises.

[GORDONCHICK]

Its obvious that a lot of the lines are having a hard time filling up ships in the current economy. Are there any consequences for the booked passengers if the cruise line finds itself a few weeks before the departure date with a significant percentage of the cabins unsold? Has a cruise ever been cancelled because of unsold cabins?

 

The consequences could be positive ones. People could get upsold or upgraded to higher category cabins. This has the effect of getting people hooked on a higher category so that's what they book the next time. Also, places on the ship could be less crowded &/or service more attentive as a result.

[chipmaster]

Its obvious that a lot of the lines are having a hard time filling up ships in the current economy. Are there any consequences for the booked passengers if the cruise line finds itself a few weeks before the departure date with a significant percentage of the cabins unsold? Has a cruise ever been cancelled because of unsold cabins?

 

The supply demand curve is very elastic. IE if the supply is high and the demand is low, dropping the price quickly raises demand. I just saw some incredible prices for some upcoming winter sailings, really really good. Almost made me change my plans, but I'm sure a lot of people did and booked.

 

I doubt too much is saved by not sailing. You still paying for the crew, yes you save a few dollars in fuel, supplies, but the ship depreciation and labor are enough of a cost they are probably still ahead sailing near empty.

[celle]

I've tracked the B2B cruises we are doing this Nov 09 (E. Med and TA on Celebrity Solstice). Two months away, the E. Med is 92% full and the TA in 86% full.

 

Denny

 

How do you do this? Is there a web site where you can look up the occupancy rates?

[Krazy Kruizers]

Even before hard times -- there have been cruises that were unsold -- but not cancelled.

 

The cruise lines will do whatever they have to fill as many cabins as possible.

 

Back in 2002 our 21 day repositioning was only half full 1 week before the cruise.

 

HAL did a quick sale in CA and the cabins were quickly filled.

 

The ship wasn't full when we left Seattle -- but by the time we got to LA -- tons of passengers got on and the ship was about 99% full.

[Sacstephen]

The supply demand curve is very elastic. IE if the supply is high and the demand is low, dropping the price quickly raises demand. I just saw some incredible prices for some upcoming winter sailings, really really good. Almost made me change my plans, but I'm sure a lot of people did and booked.

 

quote]

 

Isn't there a point that they must reach pretty quickly where they can no longer drop the price because they are also going to have to reimburse based on the price drop those who purchased earlier?

[smeyer418]

[

 

Isn't there a point that they must reach pretty quickly where they can no longer drop the price because they are also going to have to reimburse based on the price drop those who purchased earlier?

 

It depends on the cruise line but for new bookings only and after final payment rarely gets the reduction and, even if they are "eligible" its only for those who ask if they are entitled to it....

[sunseeker09]

[

 

Isn't there a point that they must reach pretty quickly where they can no longer drop the price because they are also going to have to reimburse based on the price drop those who purchased earlier?

 

It depends on the cruise line but for new bookings only and after final payment rarely gets the reduction and, even if they are "eligible" its only for those who ask if they are entitled to it....

 

We booked the early saver on Carnival so if the price drops up until 2 days before we leave, we get the price reduction. If it's past final payment, we get OBC. It's a great deal I think. We've already seen our price drop once. So bring on more price reductions!

[DanJ]

They plan these things out so far in advance you just aren't going to see ships sailing with light loads. If they have a light week coming up some number of months away, they promote the heck out of it until it gets to where they want it to be. If advance bookings are really soft for a particular itinerary over an upcoming season, they will likely just cancel it all and move the ship somewhere else. I think it was Carnival that did that a few years ago with a European itinerary on a ship that was just built. It was selling soft the prior winter so they canceled that season over there and brought the ship to North America early. Can't recall the details.

[robbggo]

yes it would appear that cruiselines pull last minute sales to help fill their cruiseships

which might not seem fair for those that paid months before a higher fare

but there is another topic !

[Sacstephen]

Actually, I do not think that's unfair unless you have been specifically told you will get the benefit of all price drops up to some particular point. Otherwise, you just purchased something at the time you thought it was a fair price for the guarantee that you would have the space and a particular cabin.

[G'ma]

Its obvious that a lot of the lines are having a hard time filling up ships in the current economy. Are there any consequences for the booked passengers if the cruise line finds itself a few weeks before the departure date with a significant percentage of the cabins unsold? Has a cruise ever been cancelled because of unsold cabins?

 

To answer your question.....in over 30 years of cruising, individually, escort or hosting groups, etc., no major cruise company has cancelled because of low occupancy.

 

As for the rest.....it's true that SOME cruise lines may be having difficulty filling ships, it certainly isn't the case for others.....

 

Carnival for instance is still operating well within their average occupancy rate of 105-115% and Royal seems to be enjoying about the same.

[BruceMuzz]

Its obvious that a lot of the lines are having a hard time filling up ships in the current economy. Are there any consequences for the booked passengers if the cruise line finds itself a few weeks before the departure date with a significant percentage of the cabins unsold? Has a cruise ever been cancelled because of unsold cabins?

 

Actually it is NOT obvious at all "that a lot of the lines are having a hard time filliing up ships". With the insanely low prices thay are charging today, most of the world's cruise ships are chockablock full for every cruise.

 

My ship has been oversold for every cruise for the past 7 months. Even our Transatlantic crossings have been oversold. We haven't seen consistently high occupancy numbers like this in several years.

 

In my 34 years at sea, I have never seen a cruise cancelled due to low occupancy. Come to think of it, the lowest occupancy I have ever seen on a cruise ship was something like 85% - but that was over 20 years ago. I'm sure that a few cruises must have had lower than 85% occupancy sometime in the past 50 years, but it was a very rare event - and getting more rare today.

[BIGA961]

IMO, the whole "economy is in the toilet" routine is a politically driven mantra which this thread shows isn't nearly as dire as some would have you believe. If all of these ships are sailing full, then some of us have discretionary cash that we're spending on vacation rather than needing it to shelter, clothe, or feed our families. The whole recession thing, is so overblown by a ravenous media which needs to feed their news cycle and nothing sells like bad news. BTW, this is being written by a self-employed carpenter who works in new homes! Yes things are slower, but nothing like most areas of the world where each day arrives without the knowlege of where the next meal is coming from.

[smeyer418]

IMO, the whole "economy is in the toilet" routine is a politically driven mantra which this thread shows isn't nearly as dire as some would have you believe. If all of these ships are sailing full, then some of us have discretionary cash that we're spending on vacation rather than needing it to shelter, clothe, or feed our families. The whole recession thing, is so overblown by a ravenous media which needs to feed their news cycle and nothing sells like bad news. BTW, this is being written by a self-employed carpenter who works in new homes! Yes things are slower, but nothing like most areas of the world where each day arrives without the knowlege of where the next meal is coming from.

yep a recession is when someone else is unemployed. a depression is when you are unemployed. Yep at an almost 10% unemployment rate is sure overblown.

[DanJ]

Actually it is NOT obvious at all "that a lot of the lines are having a hard time filliing up ships". With the insanely low prices thay are charging today, most of the world's cruise ships are chockablock full for every cruise.

 

My ship has been oversold for every cruise for the past 7 months. Even our Transatlantic crossings have been oversold. We haven't seen consistently high occupancy numbers like this in several years.

 

In my 34 years at sea, I have never seen a cruise cancelled due to low occupancy. Come to think of it, the lowest occupancy I have ever seen on a cruise ship was something like 85% - but that was over 20 years ago. I'm sure that a few cruises must have had lower than 85% occupancy sometime in the past 50 years, but it was a very rare event - and getting more rare today.

 

Having to charge insanely low prices to fill the ships means they are having difficulty filling the ships in the first place. They are full, but are the cruiselines getting the money they want/need?

 

Right after 9-11 there were a couple weeks where most cruises out of North America weren't getting good load factors at all. Case in point, the Carnival Victory. We sailed on Sept 15, 2001 and we had 756 passengers, or just more than 25%. The following week, they were back over 1000, but it was several weeks before they managed to get things back to full+. This was the case for most cruises at that time even with the heavy discounting going on.

[wg6530]

We booked the early saver on Carnival so if the price drops up until 2 days before we leave, we get the price reduction. If it's past final payment, we get OBC. It's a great deal I think. We've already seen our price drop once. So bring on more price reductions!

 

Early saver seems like a good deal, and I'm glad it is working out for you. But Carnival seems to be leaving themselves ways to discount left-over cabins without offering you an OBC. From the Carnival website "A Carnival advertised fare excludes group rates, membership programs, charters or other Travel Agent promotions not offered by Carnival to the general public, including but not limited to travel agent rebates." So, if Carnival wants to deeply discount rooms to fill a ship, they can offer them through special membership programs, special TA promotions, etc without giving all the early savers any OBC. I do not know if they are doing this, but they can.

[bladerunner6]

It really is an issue of supply and demand.

 

When our cruise (12/20/09 Emerald Princess) went down to $600 for an inside, we booked. Then prices started rising and when I just looked, it was $1000, where it has been for a few weeks.

 

When it got cheap enough, people jumped in. Now that it is higher, less people are buying and the pricing is stable, for at least a while.

 

With the economy as bad as it is, it does mean you can scoop up some pretty good deals because they are going to keep lowering the prices until they get the yields they need.