Low passenger count?

[scdreamer]

This might be a silly question, but does Oceania ever cancel a cruise due to low passenger count? We are less than three months out from a 23 day Caribbean/Amazon itinerary and it appears that the ship has a large inventory of cabins in almost all categories still available.

 

We have made our own air arrangements, as well as making the time for this adventure, and when another CC poster mentioned the low number of passengers on this particular sailing, it made me a little nervous.

 

Hopefully, the cabins will fill up. I would imagine there may be some good deals coming down the pike. But what would happen if a ship is not full enough to justify the cost of sailing?

[JimandStan]

This might be a silly question, but does Oceania ever cancel a cruise due to low passenger count? We are less than three months out from a 23 day Caribbean/Amazon itinerary and it appears that the ship has a large inventory of cabins in almost all categories still available.

 

We have made our own air arrangements, as well as making the time for this adventure, and when another CC poster mentioned the low number of passengers on this particular sailing, it made me a little nervous.

 

Hopefully, the cabins will fill up. I would imagine there may be some good deals coming down the pike. But what would happen if a ship is not full enough to justify the cost of sailing?

 

Don't be concerned in the least. Believe me, it is a non-issue.

Cancelling a cruise for low passenger count is something that no cruise line would ever consider unless they were in the last stages of failure. It would be economic suicide.

 

Looking at so called "available"cabins online is not a true barometer of occupancy, as we civilians have no way of knowing what quantity of those cabins are being held by (or for) Travel Agents. -or how many "Guarantee" cabins have been sold by Oceania but not placed yet.

 

In short: Sit back, take a deep breath, and think Caribbean thoughts!

[Viv0828]

if the cabins don't fill up, i imagine they will drop prices till they do fill up??

[Paulchili]

Just my 2 cents' worth -

I have never heard of this happening on Oceania before. I suspect that they would make offers that would be "irresistable' to fill the ship, if necessary.

After all, if the ship did not sail on your itinerary, they would still have to pay the staff for doing essentially nothing. What about the following segment (which may be full) - how would the ship get there to accommodate the passengers on that trip? Why would they sail half empty or even cancel your cruise and sail completely empty?

I suspect that you will be just fine and your cruise will sail.

Please let us know what happens.

PS My post was being composed while I was multitasking and watching football and the above answers were posted by the time I finished mine - thus others beat me to the answer making my post redundant :).

Edited September 12, 2016 by Paulchili

[scdreamer]

Thank you all for the reassurances ... I am sure you are correct.

 

I wasn't at the point of worrying about it, but the post I saw did give me pause, and made me curious as to the possibilities.

[LHT28]

I have never heard of Oceania cancelling a cruise due to lack of interest

 

years ago even the TA were sailing at less than capacity but they still went ahead

It is not like they can send the crew home for 2 wks because they are not a full ship

Just think of all the extra lobster you can get if they sail 1/2 full

:D

[ChatKat in Ca.]

They will send some amazing last minute offers via select agencies to past guests and the agencies clients. We sailed on a cruise not long ago where there fare was listed wrong because of semantics about half price and paid... 1/4 of the fare.

 

They will offer some specials to the people on the adjacent cruises.

 

There are some special websites for retired travel related professionals that will have some amazing deals. My friend has traveled on 50+ days sailings for less that $50 a day for a cabin.

 

If you price it right, they will come

[SellaVee]

There were exceptional circumstances last year when the start of the world cruise was delayed and the point of embarkation changed leading to many people cancelling. The ship still sailed even though on the first segment it was only just over half full.

 

This year there appeared to be a lot of capacity on our Baltic cruise 3 months out but by the time we sailed it was full.

 

Like the other posters I've never heard of Oceania cancelling a cruise due to under capacity.

[Gogie]

The first cruise my wife and I took was Istanbul to Athens in October 2001 on the Norwegian Dream. Given the events in early September of that year NCL changed the itinerary, deleting stops in Egypt and Israel and making it basically a Turkey and Greek Islands cruise. Many people cancelled (for awhile NCL allowed them to do this without penalty, using their cruise fare for a future cruise, I believe). We decided to go since not only was it our first cruise it was our 20th anniversary celebration. The ship ended up sailing half full (about 850 passengers out of around 1700 capacity) and the staff to passenger ratio was virtually 1:1. The cruise was terrific. The ship staff were extremely attentive and the locals in Turkey were extremely friendly (we spent 3 days in Istanbul before the cruise and made stops at Ephesus and Antalya during the cruise). I wouldn't worry about a ship not being full. If anything, the fewer people that end up going the better it is for those that do.

[sammiedawg]

I agree with what has been said.

My travel agent says Oceania will also offer free sailings to their land based employees and travel agents. Her office often gets freebie offers for transoceanic.

[Noxequifans]

To SCDreamer; you started your post by stating it might be a silly question. In my opinion the only silly question is the one that is not asked. I am happy to see that a number of posters have responded with information.

 

I post this as I have observed some snarky responses recently where a poster asked a question. I think it is important that this Oceania board be kept a welcoming and safe place where questions can be asked without fear of the poster being criticized or belittled.

[JoePDX]

To SCDreamer; you started your post by stating it might be a silly question. In my opinion the only silly question is the one that is not asked. I am happy to see that a number of posters have responded with information.

 

I post this as I have observed some snarky responses recently where a poster asked a question. I think it is important that this Oceania board be kept a welcoming and safe place where questions can be asked without fear of the poster being criticized or belittled.

 

Very well said. :)

 

Civility costs nothing and offers great rewards.

[pinotlover]

I agree that the OP's question is not silly at all, and could be important to a first time O cruiser. I believe that the answers given are truthful and meaningful.

 

However, the other comments about no questions being silly depends upon one's definition of silly I suppose. Not long ago we had three (3) threads going, all on the 1st (front) page, asking the exact same question(s) about dinner reservations in the specialties. We have likewise seen the exact same threads appearing together on the policy of bringing alcohol aboard O ships. Would a thread that asked "Has Oceania changed it policy on bringing alcohol aboard changed in the last 36 hours?" be considered silly or just rude? Because a thread 4 down (and last discussed 36 hours ago) from it is on the exact same topic asking and answering the exact same question(s)!

 

Additionally, when someone starts a thread that says "I have read here abc on what O does," and then follows it up with a four paragraph dissertation on why they like XYZ cruise line, is it really a question or just a troll on O's board as to why they like XYZ. Should we: (a) call them out for trolling; (b) ignore them, or © just say "yes, all that you have read is true about O's policy"?

[janecambridge]

Very well said. :)

 

Civility costs nothing and offers great rewards.

 

Yes well said.As a newcomer to Oceania,I tried hard to find answers but often the thread was so long and going in different directions that it seemed easier to ask again.My thread about Speciality Restaurants had a snarky and rude response,but eventually a chunk of postings were removed and the poster apologised.

All other postings were positively responsive and I just hope it helps others.

"Watch your sharp tongue,it may cut your own throat"

 

I hope I can be one of those previous passengers who can get a good deal on a low count cruise..

Edited September 12, 2016 by janecambridge

[kitty9]

While not Oceania, I was on a Crystal cruise, on a ship that holds 960 passengers, and we had less than 330 passengers on board, and they still sailed. It was rather nice, having that whole ship with around 1/3 the normal number of passengers. And the experience was exactly the same, despite having so few passengers.