What's it like to be on a low occupancy cruise?

[Tikibird]

From what I have found out via res agents and online, I am pretty sure our ship is only about 50-60% full. It's probably because people don't want to fly into Acapulco and I did notice these nifty little ACA-FLL cruises are no longer on the list after ours which is the last one.

 

So what can we expect in terms of shipboard activity? Less lines in the buffet or will they cut the service in half?

[Vexorg]

Generally they'll do whatever they need to in terms of last minute deals in order to try to fill up the ship as much as possible (although I can see where people wouldn't be all that thrilled about flying through Acapulco right now.) Couldn't tell you what the ship would be like with less passengers though, but I can't imagine they'd be reducing services that much because even with a ship that's 60% full there would still be somewhere around 1,200 passengers.

 

I'm on the Ruby in less than four weeks, and when I checked last night there was still quite a bit of availability, particularly for balcony classes. I'm hoping there's a decent chance at an upgrade as a result.

[flamomo]

I have never been on a Princess cruise where the "Full Sailing" sign was not on the Purser's Desk counter, no matter what the capacity of the ship was.

[RickEk]

Yes, they will do their utmost to ensure that the sailing is close to or is full. That being said, if they don't fill the ship, you won't notice any less service onboard. It's not like they will let some of the crew go just because the ship isn't full... :p

[jonikal]

I have never been on a Princess cruise where the "Full Sailing" sign was not on the Purser's Desk counter, no matter what the capacity of the ship was.

 

 

That is totally standard operating procedure because the staff then has a perfect excuse not to move people out of cabins they have been assigned to, and which may not be to their liking.

[KirkNC]

I would bet a good deal of money that the ship has more than 60 percent occupancy. They would almost be giving cabins away if that was true.

 

Kirk

[LARGIN]

The ship will be filled with Spanish speaking people as Princess will offer very very low rates to residents of Mexico.

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

I suspect if the ship is not full, they will market it to Mexican travel agents and try to fill it that way. We noticed that was SOP when a ship embarked in San Juan, it was marketed to Puerto Ricans if the ship was not full.

[ready2travel54]

From what I have found out via res agents and online, I am pretty sure our ship is only about 50-60% full. It's probably because people don't want to fly into Acapulco and I did notice these nifty little ACA-FLL cruises are no longer on the list after ours which is the last one.

 

So what can we expect in terms of shipboard activity? Less lines in the buffet or will they cut the service in half?

HOw do you find out how full the ship is?

[dfields1814]

We were on a transatlantic that was only 2/3 full. Most the passengers were seniors ... very much seniors. The daytime cruising cruise was fine but the nightlife was lacking. They had to use crew to do karoke. The second seating at the theater was nearly empty. We never had to wait for a seat in the MDR or the buffet. By 11:00 the ship's nightlife was pretty shut down.

[compozer]

On our November cruise, there were tons of cabins available a month before sailing. I looked a week before and everything was waitlisted. If i ever do another November cruise, I'm waiting until the last minute.

[ssbeagle]

We were on the Grand Princess for a transatlantic crossing and the ship had only about 1800 pax on board for the first part and 1400 for the last three days. It was wonderful. The crew and staff were more relaxed and provided excellent service. The dining staff were fast and efficient and even had time to do more special things for us. It's so nice not having to fight for seats or wait in lines for anything. Unfortunately, that doesn't happen very often as they try to fill the cabins with last-minute bookings.

[Glaciers]

You may find that some services, including drinks, may be discounted in hopes the volume increases to meet their quotas.

[DrivesLikeMario]

I have never been on a Princess cruise where the "Full Sailing" sign was not on the Purser's Desk counter, no matter what the capacity of the ship was.

 

They always put that sign out even when the ship is clearly not sold out.

[Pam in CA]

The only time I've ever been on a cruise that wasn't at or close to full capacity was a HAL cruise. As said, Princess will market to Mexicans who are more than happy to find a cruise at bargain prices. It's not just Americans who cruise.

[Phyljim]

We sailed on the Star Princess, Rome to Rio last Dec. Approximately 1200 passengers on board out of 2600. Filled with Brazilians and Argentinians, everything was in 3 languages. They closed the Capri dining room, moved all people in cabins on 5,6 & 8 to the upper decks...upgrades.

 

Was strange, but nice. No lines for anything. Hard on the entertainers tho, they were all english speaking, and most of the passengers were not. First time we had ever experienced a half capacity ship.

[Cruisin' Chick]

About 10 per cent of our passengers on our December cruise didn't make it onboard (unless some of them flew on to Hawaii to get onboard). They were on flights booked out of London through Princess (the Brits onboard that we met seemed to have all left before the major blizzard hit).

 

Didn't have problems getting seats at the shows.

[Putterdude]

We have never had the experience of sailing on a ship that wasn't pretty much sold out...like others have said they will do anything they can do to fill the ship at what price they can.

[BoPippy]

I don't know how full the ship was,but on a Hawaii/Tahitti cruise back in the 1990's,it felt like we were on a private yacht.It was kind of eerie!!!I asked one of the crew and he said joking,that it was a geriatric cruise.

I couldn't figure it out.In the dining room,there seemed to be a good crowd,but during the day and evenings empty and nothing going on.

When we crossed the equator,they had a good turnout for those festivities,but that was the only time many people seemed to be out and about.

That was the only time this ever happened.:confused:

[PescadoAmarillo]

I was once on a Celebrity ship from Fort Lauderdale to La Guaira, Venezuela at the beginning of December for 14 nights. I went alone because the cruise line was waiving single supplements and DH was busy at work. The ship had only 700 passengers (could hold 1700). It was pure heaven. This was back in the day of two traditional dinner seatings, but they changed that and just had one, at 7pm, which was also perfect. No crowds anywhere, high brow entertainment (which I love), and my schedule was my own. It was certainly a relaxing get away!

 

I have never been on a Princess ship which didn't claim (at the purser's desk) or feel 100% full.

[Sunviking]

From what I have found out via res agents and online, I am pretty sure our ship is only about 50-60% full. It's probably because people don't want to fly into Acapulco and I did notice these nifty little ACA-FLL cruises are no longer on the list after ours which is the last one.

 

So what can we expect in terms of shipboard activity? Less lines in the buffet or will they cut the service in half?

 

If I'm calculating your cruise date correctly, you will be sailing on Easter Sunday. If that is the case you will no doubt have many Mexican families on board. Children get a long vacation at Eastertime in Mexico and Princess will probably market to those families to fill any space. My daughter and I sailed from Acapulco to FLL over Easter 2 years ago and there were many family groups on board. We had a very nice time and no difficulty with too many kids.

[gcsmith]

I think the odds of filling the ship with Mexican nationals is low. The cruise ends in Ft. Lauderdale (part of the US). This would require a visa and this is not easy for Mexicans to acquire. Yes, many of them have them already, but you are now looking at a few factors. 1) Visa requirement - can't get it at the last minute. 2) Expensive return flight, not a round trip cruise like San Juan. 3) Income inequality in Mexico - the ones that can afford a trip probably already have something planned.

 

Too bad, because Mexicans are great people - would make a good trip!

[texastwostepper]

Generally they'll do whatever they need to in terms of last minute deals in order to try to fill up the ship as much as possible (although I can see where people wouldn't be all that thrilled about flying through Acapulco right now.) Couldn't tell you what the ship would be like with less passengers though, but I can't imagine they'd be reducing services that much because even with a ship that's 60% full there would still be somewhere around 1,200 passengers.

 

I'm on the Ruby in less than four weeks, and when I checked last night there was still quite a bit of availability, particularly for balcony classes. I'm hoping there's a decent chance at an upgrade as a result.

 

If the OP is on the Coral Princess out of Acapulco April 24 for the 10 day Panama Canal trip, the cost of an inside cabin is down to $605. A balcony is going for $999 (as I recall).

[DGSFlorida]

We cruised this same route last October. The ship was about 60% full from Fort Lauderdale to Acapulco in spite of Princess special pricing. More than 100 of us were lucky enough to book the 2 10-day cruises back to back and avoid the Acapulco airport, etc. On the return trip I would estimate 75 to 80% occupancy and a lot more Spanish spoken as guests embarked in Mexico. The second leg was actually less expensive than booking a return flight. As I recall, inside cabins were $397 per person plus charges for the 10-day cruise.

[smslms]

We sailed about 2 weeks after 9/11. The ship was at 50% capacity. As I recall it didn't impact service in any way but there was understandably a somewhat somber tone in regard to entertainment, conversations with fellow passengers etc. Docked in San Diego, hotels and restaurants were virtually empty. Servers would come by the table and chat endlessly, nobody really knew what to make of it all. Truly an eerie feeling.