Future cruises being sold to full capacity

[Iamcruzin]

2 hours ago, rtazz17 said:

Just wow. I cant believe how you could say that. Why dont you buy a yacht and sail by yourself? Seriously,I don't get these type of posts. Its like people want to be hermits. Cruising is for socially active people. Smh

Overreact much.  You can still be social without have it be shoulder to shoulder, cheek to cheek next to each other. It's been over a year so maybe you forgot how crowded it gets on deck on a sea day and how they pack the main dining rooms. I have enjoyed the uncrowded restaurants, beaches and public transportation over the past year and it has nothing to do with being sociable.  Many here have been looking forward to sailing on the ships with 50% capacity so I know I'm not the only one who feels this way.

[Miloomar]

On 6/24/2021 at 1:17 PM, S.A.M.J.R. said:

While fewer passengers on the ship would be a better experience, do any of you dreaming about it realize fewer passengers would mean the cost would go up for each passenger?

 

So the AotS cruises going right now... do you think those are selling for 3-4x the normal cost due to reduced capacity? 

[S.A.M.J.R.]

9 minutes ago, Miloomar said:

 

So the AotS cruises going right now... do you think those are selling for 3-4x the normal cost due to reduced capacity? 

Do you think a cruise line would be able to survive long term only selling 50% of the berths at the prices they're currently charging?    Look at the airlines.  They limited capacity, some longer than others, but I don't think any are.  Same with restaurants, stores, etc. 

[Blizzard54]

I expect that with postponing major refits and some slowdown of newbuilds they can hold on for some time.  It could be another year or 2 before things get back to whatever the new normal will be.

[vjmatty]

21 hours ago, rtazz17 said:

Just wow. I cant believe how you could say that. Why dont you buy a yacht and sail by yourself? Seriously,I dont get these type of posts. Its like people want to be hermits. Cruising is for socially active people. Smh

There is a big difference between being a hermit and simply not wanting to sit practically on top of each other. Wanting a little bit of personal space around you doesn’t mean you’re antisocial. 

[broadwaybaby123]

I guess we'll have to wait and see!

[ONECRUISER]

On 6/24/2021 at 1:59 PM, Iamcruzin said:

It doesn't have to be a 6ft distance but it would be nice to be able to get into a lounge chair from the side and not have to crawl onto it from the bottom.

Agree. Miss the Days when Royal had a small table with every 2 Lounge Chairs. Good some separation from others and keep drinks/things off Deck...

Edited June 26, 2021 by ONECRUISER

[CruisingHogFan]

On 6/25/2021 at 4:18 PM, rtazz17 said:

Just wow. I cant believe how you could say that. Why dont you buy a yacht and sail by yourself? Seriously,I dont get these type of posts. Its like people want to be hermits. Cruising is for socially active people. Smh

This is one of the dumbest posts I’ve seen and comes across as another “I’m going to tell you how you should enjoy your vacation”
 

The great thing about cruises is there is something for everyone! If you want to be socially active great. If you want to stay on your balcony and have room service the entire trip that’s also great!!

[cruisegus]

On 6/24/2021 at 2:07 PM, Jimbo said:

If any cruiseline wants to fill a ship, even in these times they can easily do it. They just lower the price so low it kind of forces people to buy the left over cabins.

There are people out there even in these times that WILL jump at cruises again if the price is dirt cheap.

Why Carnival CEO said today "demand is outweighing capacity"

no such thing as a cheap cruise in the future

[Iamcruzin]

3 hours ago, ONECRUISER said:

Agree. Miss the Days when Royal had a small table with every 2 Lounge Chairs. Good some separation from others and keep drinks/things off Deck...

At the risk of dating myself I remember the same thing on Carnival and Princess back in the 20th Century 

[Tyro1]

On the talks of profitability, we will get a very clear picture in the next few earnings calls for how profitable these cruises currently are. I can see a future where the new class of ships/renovated  are re focused to have less passengers and more space due to analytics they start seeing in the next year. For example if they sail at 80% capacity, they have guest spend and loyalty increase. But they will not stay at the current 30% for long. Just look at the theme parks, they started the same way, they started at very limited capacity that there wasn’t even demand for, but slowly people started to visit more and more (also due to the low lines and crowds) and the word of mouth spread, so the demand exponentially grew, and the capacity increased with it. 

[Iamcruzin]

7 hours ago, cruisegus said:

Why Carnival CEO said today "demand is outweighing capacity"

no such thing as a cheap cruise in the future

Demand is outweighing capacity because there are a lot of people who are running out of time to spend those FCCs  and there is limited capacity to being with.  It will all taper off once all of the ships are in full service at full capacity. Basic laws of supply and demand. The cruise lines basically baited people with the increased FCCs knowing that when cruising would start up that they would have to raise the prices which seem to be a lot higher than the extra bonus they gave for taking a credit 

[coffeebean]

On 6/24/2021 at 10:30 AM, gadaboutgal said:

Having a low number of guests versus full capacity is so appealing.  Currently, Adventure only has a bit over 900 passengers and it is so amazing.  No waiting in lines, no chair hogs, no crowded promenade.  I wish they would extend the limited capacity well into 2022.

The cruise lines are in business to make money. Unless they continue to raise prices, they have no option but to fill their ships to capacity if they can. Cruise lines have been dealt a really raw deal by not being able to operate for over a year. Give them a break and hope they can operate at full capacity sooner rather than later.

[coffeebean]

On 6/24/2021 at 12:46 PM, Arzeena said:

👍

BTW in some MDRs I felt it was cheek to cheek😉

Nice play on words there. LOL.

[sunshinetricia]

Any word on the capacity of the current Adventure sailing? I had read the last two were around 25%. I'm wondering if they are starting to increase yet. 

[coffeebean]

On 6/25/2021 at 9:41 AM, graphicguy said:

If the cruise lines have come out of this with ANY information, I think it’s that overcrowding, even the largest of their ships, isn’t going to be a thing they can do…maybe ever again.

 

As far as the new ships on the horizon, even before COVID, the likes of Royal were looking at smaller ships as the newest under construction…NCL, too (although I question their actual survival at this point).

 

Any “stuffing” of cruise ships with crew/passengers will now have to contend with the contingency of what happens when/if COVID, NORO, or any other sort of virus breaks out and the steps they’ll have to take to combat such an event.  Cruise ships were all kept very clean to begin with.  Now, they’ll be scrubbed, sanitized and cleaned to within an inch of their lives.  Protocols for passengers and crew will change, too.  I don’t see the self serve buffets coming back.  I’m thinking there are probably more enhanced safety measures will be enacted for EVERYONE.

 

Pricing?  The open market will prevail.  But, there was no lack of ships, routes, or sailings before COVID.  Unless one (or more) of them go under (NCL?), that’s not going to change.  It’s hard to convert a cruise ship into anything else, other than a cruise ship.  So, competition will keep prices within reason.  HIgh prices can’t be supported forever.  Given the choice of leaving a ship(s) empty, or sailing with reduced pricing, they’ll take the latter.

 

I still don’t see full capacity sailings (if there ever will be such a thing again) until next year.

Speaking of NCL.......I hope beyond hope they do not go under. They are one of my favorite cruise lines. NCL, is sailing 100% vaxxed from Florida and their website says there will be no restrictions at all on their ships and their buffets will be self serve.

[CRUISEFAN0001]

1 minute ago, coffeebean said:

Speaking of NCL.......I hope beyond hope they do not go under. They are one of my favorite cruise lines. NCL, is sailing 100% vaxxed from Florida and their website says there will be no restrictions at all on their ships and their buffets will be self serve.

It's fair to forecast that some of the cruise lines may indeed fail, as they are all operating with fragile budgets. Kudos to the 100% vax requirement on NCL...all cruise lines should be abiding by those requirements. 

[coffeebean]

On 6/25/2021 at 5:18 PM, rtazz17 said:

Just wow. I cant believe how you could say that. Why dont you buy a yacht and sail by yourself? Seriously,I dont get these type of posts. Its like people want to be hermits. Cruising is for socially active people. Smh

 

On 6/25/2021 at 5:28 PM, sfaaa said:

Remember Zika virus from a few years back? No one cares or talks about it these days.

Zika did not cause a global pandemic. If "Zika virus" crossed my lips more than twice or three times while it was a virus of concern, that was a lot.

[coffeebean]

On 6/25/2021 at 5:18 PM, rtazz17 said:

Just wow. I cant believe how you could say that. Why dont you buy a yacht and sail by yourself? Seriously,I dont get these type of posts. Its like people want to be hermits. Cruising is for socially active people. Smh

I get what @Iamcruzinsaid and do agree. I do not care to be so close to diners at the next table that I feel compelled to engage in conversation. That is just too close. This is one of the main reasons hubby and I pretty much dine exclusively in specialty restaurants. There is a bit more room between tables and I much prefer that bit of space.

 

I also would prefer to have at least 12" between the pool loungers so I can enter from the side and not have to climb onto the lounger from the end. Nothing wrong with that, IMHO.

 

Do my preferences for a bit of space make you think that I'm anti-social? Sometimes, hubby and I like to have a private conversation when dining in an upscale restaurant. And........we gladly pay for the privilege to do that.

[coffeebean]

On 6/26/2021 at 7:48 PM, ONECRUISER said:

Agree. Miss the Days when Royal had a small table with every 2 Lounge Chairs. Good some separation from others and keep drinks/things off Deck...

You mean there are no little tables to place a drink on? I don't ever lounge at the main pool so I guess I just never realized there are no more little tables. Hubby and I go to the adult solarium pools area on ships and from what I remember, there are little tables between the loungers.

[pcur]

I don't think this is a matter of when, but more IF:

 

IF children are vaccinated

IF passengers from other countries can provide assurance they've been vaccinated

IF shipboard cases of COVID are few and far between

 

Right now we are around 60% of US adults vaccinated with 1 or more doses (as of the first week of June 2021), and it's been about 6 months since they started vaccinating.  All the first dosers have another week to go before they get their 2nd doses.

[graphicguy]

1 hour ago, coffeebean said:

Speaking of NCL.......I hope beyond hope they do not go under. They are one of my favorite cruise lines. NCL, is sailing 100% vaxxed from Florida and their website says there will be no restrictions at all on their ships and their buffets will be self serve.

Agree.  I hope those who have NCL cruises scheduled will have a great time, and all will go according to plan.

 

Personally, I've got a bone to pick with them.  I was one of their most loyal customers/passengers.  They begged me to keep rolling over my fare to the next cruise (cancel), then the next cruise (cancel), then the next cruise (cancel).  Finally, after much fanfare, they announced "we're back", only to cancel on me for the last time.  Enough was enough.  I finally requested my refund, after they used thousands of dollars of mine as a free, interest free loan.

 

Even now, NCL originally told me they would deposit my refund in two weeks from my request.  Then, they told me 4 weeks.  Now, they say it will be 90 days.

 

I do not want to see them go under because I know many of you here are waiting to cruise with them, again.  I also don't want to see them go under before they give me back the money they promised (which is my money to begin with).

 

That said, I'm fearful.  They could have had revenue sailings by now.  They had staffed ships (Joy and Gem) ready to go in the Caribbean.  They punted those (and me) under the guise of needing the staff for both ships to sail the Encore to Alaska....all the while raising the price of that cruise to astronomical levels.  The optics are terrible, customer service and retention even worse,  as I've been driven away from NCL, by NCL.

 

As such, I looked at Royal.  Their wishy-washy stance on COVID Vaccinations made me look elsewhere.  Ended up on Celebrity, who seems to be really trying hard to get this whole start up going again, and doing it well.

Edited June 28, 2021 by graphicguy

[Itchy&Scratchy]

1 hour ago, coffeebean said:

You mean there are no little tables to place a drink on? I don't ever lounge at the main pool so I guess I just never realized there are no more little tables. Hubby and I go to the adult solarium pools area on ships and from what I remember, there are little tables between the loungers.

I think they may have meant the balcony. Or not. Probably not. I take that back.

Edited June 28, 2021 by Itchy&Scratchy

[richstowe]

On 6/25/2021 at 4:54 PM, S.A.M.J.R. said:

We just booked Mariner for next July.  According to one of the TA's we were getting quotes from,

 

SUMMER 2023 is already at 80% full capacity so we suggest making a decision early rather than later in order to avoid room categories being unavailable or price increase.

 

I'm assuming she means 2022.

 

I'd assume she means whatever will get you to book a cruise or two or three . 🙃

[DirtyDawg]

On 6/26/2021 at 10:51 PM, cruisegus said:

no such thing as a cheap cruise in the future

Your statement reminded me of what a CEO of one of the largest oil company's said to me in 2008. Back then Oil was $140+ per barrel, demand was high, and supply was restricted. He said with a straight face that we'd never see $100 oil again, meaning 'no such thing as cheap oil in the future'.  He was right in one sense, oil has hardly ever gone to $100 since 2008, but it has been up to, not down to!

 

Prices can go up. 📈 Prices can come back down. 📉

 

Edited June 28, 2021 by DirtyDawg