Reduced Capacity Cruises

[gotcha3]

I've read several comments from those on Summer 2021 cruises that talk about reduced capacity on some Celebrity ships. Does anyone know how long this might last, how much reduction, fleetwide, etc? I've not seen anything about this from Celebrity and the news, well, let's just not go there. Thanks in advance, gotcha3
 

[canderson]

All Celebrity ships have been sailing at reduced capacity either by intent or by bookings since the restart.  Until Delta showed up, they had hoped to get back to normal capacity by the Holidays, but that plan didn't last long.  We have seen figures everywhere from 33% to 60% from in these threads from those aboard ships over last months.

 

I doubt we'll see much more than 50% for a while yet.  Once Delta burns out, and assuming that nothing comes in behind it that causes the cycle to repeat, then perhaps Celebrity will open up more bookings, and passengers will be booking more trips.

[mom says]

From what I've read from trip reports, it seems like few ships are even close to a reduced capacity level. Just not that many people willing to cruise at this time, for several reasons.

[morpheusofthesea]

One of the definitions of luxury travel in the hotel/cruise ship industry is a high crew to guest ratio. It translates into better service, no waiting, instant gratification. We have been taking advantage of the situation every month (for 7 days each month) since July. This reduced capacity gives passengers, even in the lower categories the same benefit as the suite venues. The US has lifted its ban on European travelers starting November 2021 and I would venture to guess the ships might be filling up and capacities increased at this time, on Caribbean cruises from the US ports. I will report back next week on the capacity on Edge. 

 

Edited September 25, 2021 by morpheusofthesea

[billybeachboy]

I recently sailed on Celebrity Silhouette which had only 850 approx pax on board, the entire shipped lacked atmosphere as most venues were empty, on one occasion the theatre had no more that 30/40 punters in attendance.   One plus point was no waiting for the lift!   🙂

[Sox Fan Cruiser]

While on the summit in August, we booked a cruise in March 2022 on the Reflection.  At that time they weren’t allowed to book the ship at more than 50% capacity. That could definitely change as things are moving almost daily but it does give some sort of idea what is in Celebrity’s head right now.

[Naplesgolfer]

We sailed on the Edge Sept 11th. I was told the ship sailed with 880 passengers. Also later in the week a crew member remarked that the next week was going to be even lighter at around 700 passengers.

[tonyinoc]

900 on the APEX when i sailed 2nd week of September just the right amount if you ask me 😉 i did book it again in April and got a email from the CEO (standard I assume) thanking me saying that all sailings will be at reduced capacity, but did not give a percent 

[Moonarino]

6 hours ago, billybeachboy said:

... the entire shipped lacked atmosphere as most venues were empty. ...   One plus point was no waiting for the lift!   🙂

Is that a complaint? 😜 J/k, I get what you mean. But for me it's all on the plus side, very much looking forward to having that much more room -- and much less noise? -- on a not-so-small cruise ship such as Apex (November). I mention noise because I'm prone to something close to noise-induced vertigo, which is a big reason why I've largely given up on a certain other cruise line.

 

The info I kept reading several weeks or months back was that capacity would be reduced to 50% or less for several months, with gradual increases in capacity over time. How gradual over how much time? After Apex this November (39 days!), we're cruising RCCL in May 2022 and Princess next November, and we do expect ships to become more "crowded" on each of those, but how much so is yet to be determined. I'm guessing there's no real answer to this question now or in the next several months.

Edited September 25, 2021 by Moonarino

[BigAl94]

Many seem to ignore the fact that reduced capacity cruises are driving cruise lines closer to bankruptcy.

[LGW59]

5 minutes ago, BigAl94 said:

Many seem to ignore the fact that reduced capacity cruises are driving cruise lines closer to bankruptcy.

well until then, if/when??  come sail away!

[canderson]

24 minutes ago, BigAl94 said:

Many seem to ignore the fact that reduced capacity cruises are driving cruise lines closer to bankruptcy.

If continuing to idle the ships that are back in service would have saved money, you don't think the lines would be doing it?  And note that some ships aren't due to restart until next year.  And note that it is frequently reported here and seen online that it is the higher margin cabins that have been selling best and are often unavailable.

 

Tell me - with the high margin cabins selling best, where is the break even point with today's staffing levels?  Some insight into a P&L for any given ship class would be of interest.

[OtherFigment]

859 total guests scheduled to board today on edge, 190 retreat.

[canderson]

29 minutes ago, OtherFigment said:

859 total guests scheduled to board today on edge, 190 retreat.

So while suites represent 12% of Edge cabins, on this cruise, suite pax represent 22% of passengers.  So the high ratio there seems to be holding for now.

Still, that's a very light sailing.  Something less than 30% of cabins occupied.

 

 

 

Edited September 25, 2021 by canderson

[drakes2]

1 hour ago, BigAl94 said:

Many seem to ignore the fact that reduced capacity cruises are driving cruise lines closer to bankruptcy.

I thought the same. I'm scheduled to sail on the Silhouette November 12 first sailing after the canceled TA. No one seems to know if it will be cancelled as they need 3 more days to make up their quarantine period unless things change with CDC requirements. 

[SAILSKAT]

On board the Summit out of Miami right now.  The staff at Luminae told us that last week's cruise had about 400 passengers and this week we are just under 300.  (I believe full capacity of this ship is nearly 2000.). They are so happy to have guest on board and everyone is upbeat and smiling (you can see it in their eyes, since they are all masked.). They clapped for us as we boarded the ship and everyone  keeps saying "welcome back, we're glad you are here."

 

There were about 25 people in Luminae for lunch and I've been in the  solarium all afternoon and have seen less than 10 guest in this area.  It's nothing like I've ever experienced before.  Very serene and laid back for sure.  The staff are over the top attentive and friendly.  

 

They are taking the "healthy at sea" mantra to heart for sure, we had to show our vaccine card and negative test at least 5 times from curb to ship and we were greeted with the "washy washy" lady on the gangplank.  You get to take off our mask as soon as you board (if you want to).

[Northern Aurora]

I am posting from the Millennium.  We boarded on September 17 to start a B2B.

 

We were told when we boarded on September 17th that about 660 passengers were onboard.  When we did our B2B meeting the documentation officer told us there were 643 revenue generating passengers on the ship.  He also told us there would be about 770 on this current leg.  We are in a Suite for both legs, and have been told that the Suites are essentially sold out.  Luminae looks “normal” to me.

[Moonarino]

3 hours ago, BigAl94 said:

Many seem to ignore the fact that reduced capacity cruises are driving cruise lines closer to bankruptcy.

Not ignoring at all. Hopeful. Booked 3 cruises myself since May, doing all I personally can (lol). I'm sure deposits are a huge shot in the arm right now. 2019 was a good year for the "big 4" (my term), over $3 billion in profits from what I've seen. Lost $10 billion in revenues in 2020, but lots of various industries occasionally have a very bad year yet survive (like farming, how/where I grew up). Over the past year the travel industry (as many others) got help from Uncle Sam and other govs. Current forecasts are still fair to good. Royal Caribbean Group (incl. Celebrity) is at or near the top of most cruise industry forecasters' list. Carnival and NCL are in there too. No worries I believe, as long as they can keep sailing (and selling upscale staterooms).

Edited September 25, 2021 by Moonarino

[davekathy]

We'd like to see reduced capacity and all vaccinated cruises until 2023. 

[Fouremco]

1 minute ago, davekathy said:

We'd like to see reduced capacity and all vaccinated cruises until 2023. 

Yes, but...

 

Our next cruise is in March 2022, and I don't know if there were ever any booking restrictions imposed. From what I can see, it appears that bookings are well above reduced capacity levels. Or at least levels as we know them today.

 

So, while I completely agree that it would be preferable to continue with reduced capacity and all vaccinated cruises, I have a nagging concern over how they would achieve target capacity if they already have bookings above this number. There have been lots of options discussed in the past, but there's no simple answer. 

[sunonfire]

Just out of curiosity. - are the cabin stewards finishing the cabins earlier? In the past, we would go to breakfast and return to our cabin and it was all done. We have noticed in recent years that wasn’t the case.

[sunonfire]

3 hours ago, Rv6flyer said:

Millennium for Sept 17 cruise was 29%. No lines for anything and crew was happy to see customers.

How was the main dining room? Were the guests spread out? What about service? Usually the buffet is open for embarkation - was the main dining room opened also for lunch on embarkation day? 

[goofysmom99]

I got off the Summit today.  315 pax and crew ~700, 14.8% occupancy.  I was usually alone in Cafe al Bacio.  One evening, I was the only person in Rendezvous, outnumbered 4 to 1 by a very good jazz quartet.  Suites had the highest occupancy percentage, but there were still vacancies.  Very much a "private yacht," as the captain referred to it.  Happy, attentive, chatty crew.  Nice thing is that you can use all that OBC to give extra gratuities.  Figured they needed it more than the casino.

[davekathy]

2 hours ago, Fouremco said:

Yes, but...

 

Our next cruise is in March 2022, and I don't know if there were ever any booking restrictions imposed. From what I can see, it appears that bookings are well above reduced capacity levels. Or at least levels as we know them today.

 

So, while I completely agree that it would be preferable to continue with reduced capacity and all vaccinated cruises, I have a nagging concern over how they would achieve target capacity if they already have bookings above this number. There have been lots of options discussed in the past, but there's no simple answer. 

I know what you're saying as we have a B2B Caribbean cruise, March 2022. 

[59impala]

Hi, Im wonerding whether Celebrity are selling reduced capacity cruises right through until September 2022. 
We are considering a cruise on the Apex, Amsterdam to Rome departing September 11 2022. It seems odd that all the infinity verandah cabins are sold. Would this be because they only have sold half the capacity at this stage and will release more as the covid situation becomes clearer??

Does anyone have any clues, or is it just because this is a great itinerary and is nearly sold out??

Thanks in anticipation.