Do ships ALWAYS sail completely full?

[jules815]

I've been following the cabins that are still available on our September cruises on FOS, and there are still lots of cabins available in all categories, especially for the first week we're sailing; 9/7. I believe final payment is due today. I know I won't benefit, but do you think they'll start slashing the prices even more?

 

We're sailing the Sunday after Labor Day.

[Paulette3028]

I've been following the cabins that are still available on our September cruises on FOS, and there are still lots of cabins available in all categories, especially for the first week we're sailing; 9/7. I believe final payment is due today. I know I won't benefit, but do you think they'll start slashing the prices even more?

 

We're sailing the Sunday after Labor Day.

 

The ship will be full.....there are people who book cruises very late, they get good prices and don't have a preference for cabin type or location.

 

The ship will sail full.

[Clarea]

You can start watching the weekly sales flyer for upcoming price drops:

 

http://www.creative.rccl.com/sales/royal/Multi_Dest/Special_Offers/rci_sales_event.pdf

 

They will generally lower prices until all staterooms are filled.

Edited June 23, 2014 by clarea

[Mrs_Tiki]

You could benefit ~ if prices for a higher category than you booked come way down, you have the potential to upgrade to the higher category by paying the difference.

 

I just switched from a PR cabin to an E1 balcony on my upcoming cruise for very few $$!

[MADflyer]

They do anything they can to fill ships after final payment. That can include price drops, but they do have some other ways to do it.

 

Some price drops do allow you to move up categories and types.

 

I was on one sailing where there were many suites available. As it got closer it turned out they sold all the suites as a promo to a casino company. I only know as those given free cabins or suites for almost nothing showed up on our roll-call at the last minute.

 

On the Freedom cruise last year on the 8th of September an inside GTY dropped to as low as $399.

Edited June 23, 2014 by MADflyer

[jamesr3939]

Ships do not always sail full. It's all about supply and demand. We once sailed on a TA (Barbados to France) on an Oceania ship that held 650 and we had 175 passengers. They closed three decks and upgraded everybody. We ended up with a penthouse and our own butler.

 

They do drop prices to try an fill what they can. Our TA usually calls us with her 90 day "short notice" fares that get faxed to TA's right after the final payment is due and people cancel.

[BillB48]

I had a teacher once that said whenever you use "always" to describe a situation you are bound to find exceptions:D! I was recently on a Royal ship that had a capacity of over 2400 pax and there was just a smidgen over a 1000 on board, granted... it was a repo cruise. From my perspective, the ship seemed to have been at capacity as I did not perceive the wide open spaces you might expect with a ship only half full. There always seem to be be ample people in the usual places at the usual times. Go figure.

 

On the issue of cutting prices to fill unsold cabins... I don't think Royal resorts to slashing prices nearly as much as they used to do to get a body in a berth. The cruise I referenced above, I bought after final payment, paid full single supplement and the price never went any lower before sailing. I had watched that cruise on previous occasions and the price had been at rock bottom levels with either 0 or 10% single supplement. While the price I paid wasn't horrible, it wasn't a cheap as one would expect if they were really trying hard to fill some bunks.

 

In the Freedom sailing you were referring to I am quite sure the ship will be at 100% capacity or above by the time you sail. If for some reason it is not it will probably be statistically insignificant except for the accounting department.

[spookwife]

I've been following the cabins that are still available on our September cruises on FOS, and there are still lots of cabins available in all categories, especially for the first week we're sailing; 9/7. I believe final payment is due today. I know I won't benefit, but do you think they'll start slashing the prices even more?

 

We're sailing the Sunday after Labor Day.

 

pretty much yes. keep in mind that 'full' equates 2 pax per cabin.. and many cabins are booked with 3 or 4 in them. just because a cabin is empty does not mean the ship has not reached it max capacity per CG regs.

 

slashing of prices may not occur at all past Final payment day.

[BillOh]

I had a teacher once that said whenever you use "always" to describe a situation you are bound to find exceptions:D!

 

That should be sticky at the top of every forum sub group :D Along with the opposite version of "never" I still remember joining this forum and after getting back from our first cruise I wondered if the crew members were racking up the points with Coco Cola as this was 2006 and Coke had recently started its rewards program and Voyager was dispensing soft drinks out of 2 liter bottles that week. If the employee kept the bottle caps that week, he could have got some good rewards.

 

I got so many rude replies saying they NEVER use 2 liter bottles on the ship. I had to produce a photo to shut a few people up. Now since then I've not seen it done, but it did happen!

[Bballmom42]

I'm a newbie here and was just wondering........how/where do you see cabins that are still available for your sailing?

[John Henry on CC]

I'm a newbie here and was just wondering........how/where do you see cabins that are still available for your sailing?

 

You can look on Royal Caribbean's website at your cruise.

 

You can use travel agencies' websites.

[PSCruiser]

I had a teacher once that said whenever you use "always" to describe a situation you are bound to find exceptions:D! I was recently on a Royal ship that had a capacity of over 2400 pax and there was just a smidgen over a 1000 on board, granted... it was a repo cruise. From my perspective, the ship seemed to have been at capacity as I did not perceive the wide open spaces you might expect with a ship only half full. There always seem to be be ample people in the usual places at the usual times. Go figure.

 

 

Wow, this would be a extremely rare occurrence, what voyage was it?

Since your observations didn't match the passenger number you had, I wonder if you got some bad info from a staff member onboard. Of course, that would be the first time that ever happened!

[Ourusualbeach]

I'm a newbie here and was just wondering........how/where do you see cabins that are still available for your sailing?

 

If you do a mock booking on Royals UK website it will give you every available cabin in whatever category you want to check. If you use the US website or most TA's websites they will only show 15 cabins that are available.

 

Here is the link.

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.co.uk

[gaylemh]

If you do a mock booking on Royals UK website it will give you every available cabin in whatever category you want to check. If you use the US website or most TA's websites they will only show 15 cabins that are available.

 

Here is the link.

 

http://www.royalcaribbean.co.uk

 

I like the UK site better than the US site. I wonder why they would have the sites set up differently.

[Beardface]

Always? No, and it probably happens far more infrequently than you'd think.

 

All those 'upgrade fairies' we keep hearing about on various cruises when someone is contacted the day before a cruise with a surprise upgrade from a balcony to a suite... All that means is that there's an unused suite that needed to be filled, and by moving out of your balcony, someone from an inside stateroom gets an upgrade. By the time the trickle down effect goes through the cycle, its probably very unlikely that those last rooms get filled even 50% of the time.

[BND]

We cruised on EX 5 days after TS Sandy hit NJ. While the ship was technically "sold out", several hundred people didn't cruise with us and had cancelled because of the storm. I want to say it was around 500, but I think it was actually more than that. They were people directly impacted. Although we met people onboard who were also impacted but they chose to cruise. RCI was letting people rebook if they were affected. Point is, while the ship was officially sold out several weeks ahead of the cruise, when we actually went, it wasn't.

 

Other than that, every cruise we've been on has been full. There's almost always a handful of empty cabins due to last minute cancellations and the rare person either missing the ship or not being able to board due to documentation issues or illness. But, especially cruising out of the NE, we find the ship showing as sold out usually 3-5 weeks before sailing.

[Pedro2400]

You can start watching the weekly sales flyer for upcoming price drops:

 

http://www.creative.rccl.com/sales/royal/Multi_Dest/Special_Offers/rci_sales_event.pdf

 

They will generally lower prices until all staterooms are filled.

 

 

We are going on Freedom Of The seas, This link have special deals up to July 20 th for FOS , When and Where could see I see the August specials when RCI announces them?

Thanks

[Clarea]

We are going on Freedom Of The seas, This link have special deals up to July 20 th for FOS , When and Where could see I see the August specials when RCI announces them?

Thanks

Same exact link. The PDF file changes every Thuirsday afternoon. Just keep watching the link, the cruises that Royal puts on sale are unpredictable.

[Pedro2400]

Thanks

[BillB48]

Wow, this would be a extremely rare occurrence, what voyage was it?

Since your observations didn't match the passenger number you had, I wonder if you got some bad info from a staff member onboard. Of course, that would be the first time that ever happened!

 

Actually I was told by more than one source on the passenger count so I am fairly confident it is accurate. By perception, I meant that if you went to the normal places at the times I was there, the Park Cafe in the Solarium, there seemed to be a reasonable number of guests lounging around. The main pool seemed like it had a good number of burned bodies out there as well. When they had a performance in the Centrum space at the railing was not easy to find, I don't recall if they had more than one show a night in the main theater... but they were fairly well attended when I went. In other words to me the ship just did not "seem" to be at less the half capacity. Looking at the ship with more than just a casual eye you could tell it was not full, however.

 

The cruise was a 3 night reposition from Colon to FLL at the end of April.

[constantcruiser]

Several years ago we sailed out of FLL on a Royal ship that was sold out. Unfortunately on the day it was due to depart, much of the East Coast was blanketed in snow and flights from most major East Coast airports were canceled. More than 600 passengers were unable to get to Florida for the cruise, and we could certainly tell the difference aboard the ship. Nearly every venue felt "empty" and service was the best we've ever had!

[Paulette3028]

Several years ago we sailed out of FLL on a Royal ship that was sold out. Unfortunately on the day it was due to depart, much of the East Coast was blanketed in snow and flights from most major East Coast airports were canceled. More than 600 passengers were unable to get to Florida for the cruise, and we could certainly tell the difference aboard the ship. Nearly every venue felt "empty" and service was the best we've ever had!

 

That is a totally unexpected situation....and at the very last minute, they cannot necessarily rebook those cabins with people who are within a short drive of the port, and who have the flexibility to book a cruise....because if they could -- the cruise line would.