Are ships sailing at full capacity?

[kywildcatfanone]

Considering finally booking our first cruise since the pandemic. I have read enough to know that masks are required indoors, but are ships sailing at capacity or are they capacity controlled?  Is there  anywhere to find out what the capacity is for a future sailing?  Looking at possibly a 10 day Caribbean in March, thinking it would be less crowded than a 7 day.

 

TIA

[waltd]

Last article I read said Princess can sail at full capacity minus of course cabins they have to set aside for quarantined guests. Right now, cruises on the west coast were around 40 percent capacity.   Higher during Holiday Season.    No one really knows what will happen in March. 

[paul929207]

While currently ships are sailing below  capacity, there is no guarantee that will not change before March.

 

They do not give out number of passengers until after sailing.

[Rick&Jeannie]

*Generally* ships are not sailing at capacity.  (Some may be more full than others depending on the itinerary or length of cruise.)  This does not appear to be due to any type of regulation.

 

Many people apparently are not to the point where they feel comfortable getting back on a ship.  We have taken 3 cruises since the restart and have 2 more booked.  (Fully vaxed and boosted.)  It is certainly different sailing on a cruise where the ship is at half or less capacity...but it's really nice to not have any crowding and/or lines to deal with!

[kywildcatfanone]

20 minutes ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

It is certainly different sailing on a cruise where the ship is at half or less capacity...but it's really nice to not have any crowding and/or lines to deal with!

Yes, that's part of the reason for my question.  I would be way less apprehensive about going if it was sailing at 50-66% capacity, which is why i was curious if that is tracked somewhere, or maybe the TA would know.

[Rick&Jeannie]

3 minutes ago, kywildcatfanone said:

Yes, that's part of the reason for my question.  I would be way less apprehensive about going if it was sailing at 50-66% capacity, which is why i was curious if that is tracked somewhere, or maybe the TA would know.

It is doubtful that you will be able to determine what the capacity is before you sail.  After embarkation you can just swing by the Service Desk and they will tell you.

 

Of course, this does not help you in your decision to book up front.  Obviously, bookings can (and will) likely change after you book unless you literally wait to the last minute.  You can easily keep an eye on how bookings are going by doing "mock" bookings every few days to see firsthand how many staterooms are available to choose.  Other than that (unless you have someone "on the inside" at Princess) there's really no way to get a completely accurate capacity number.

[AnyMajorCruiseDude]

It seems to change rapidly.  We have been on 5 since restart.  Two had less than 500 onboard.  Two had over 1000,  all on the Grand.  One had over 2000 (bigger ship; Majestic).  Two January cruises on Grand will be well over 2000, per info we got on prior cruises from crew/officers.  It will be interesting to see if they are able to adapt to ever increasing numbers.

[Rick&Jeannie]

27 minutes ago, AnyMajorCruiseDude said:

  Two January cruises on Grand will be well over 2000

We will be on one of those January Grand cruises...(assuming it doesn't get cancelled.)  I was curious to know how those bookings were running.

[rj59]

I saw the Grand leaving LA on Dec 19 for a 10-day, a ghost ship with 600 or so on board. I wanted to wave as it went by Navigator of the Seas (3000 on board), but I saw maybe 3 people outside. The same happened when I was on a Carnival ship in Ensenada and Ruby Princess was there, I didn't see anyone on a balcony or outside. I was on the Majestic in October, and while I enjoyed a lot of the low-capacity benefits--easy finding an atrium table, generally short coffee lines, no crowded pool deck or solarium, and easy to find dining room and theater spacing for the late shows, it could also be sad, like one drunk guy dancing by himself to the late-night DJ in the Hollywood pool area, and the vast buffet area was limited to a small section and uninspiring selections.

 

Most importantly, I felt safe with smaller crowds than I experienced on RC and Carnival, and it was less stressful with people acting like and treated like adults, so people would drink without masks in theaters and there were no patrolling mask police, as on Carnival, and I didn't care when some poor woman was in a panic in the elevator after forgetting a mask--I managed to escape Covid death after our 30 seconds together. I also had to raise a ruckus on Royal to get distanced dining, but the brilliant green-coated Princess dining magicians always got me with comfortable separation between tables. 

[AnyMajorCruiseDude]

1 hour ago, Rick&Jeannie said:

We will be on one of those January Grand cruises...(assuming it doesn't get cancelled.)  I was curious to know how those bookings were running.

All crew and officers were very aware of bookings for upcoming cruises.  They were very willing to let us know what to expect on other subsequent bookings, and encouraged us to book on other sailings to boost numbers, which we did a couple of times.

[AVCruzers]

We embarked from the Majestic just last week from a b/b.  The CD mentioned that they "capped" themselves at 2300 but each cruise we were on, there were 1300+ and 1400+ passengers.  There were 1300+ crew so you can imagine our amazing service.  I believe that ship at full capacity is close to 4400 passengers.  

[Tak8]

For me, I'm not as concerned about the ship.  I'm thinking more about the plane and uber to get to and from the ship.  

[gardenbunny]

Reading the articles today about the several ships having issues with covid cases, I noticed that capacity on them seems very high compared to the Princess ships.

So logic would seem to make you think it is much easier to avoid crowds when  fewer people are on board.

Our fellow CC Live post cruisers have all commented on how nice it is with so few on board.

We are to board Enchanted Dec 30 so I am hoping capacity will continue to be low.

Worst nightmare for me and the crazy way this new variant is working, is that I could be totally feeling fine with no symptoms but could test positive !!  

[Coral]

The Grand is currently at about 17%. Loving it!

[Coral]

3 hours ago, rj59 said:

I saw the Grand leaving LA on Dec 19 for a 10-day, a ghost ship with 600 or so on board. I wanted to wave as it went by Navigator of the Seas (3000 on board), but I saw maybe 3 people outside. The same happened when I was on a Carnival ship in Ensenada and Ruby Princess was there, I didn't see anyone on a balcony or outside.

I am on the Grand that left Dec 20th. I have heard both 450 and 468 for numbers of passengers. It is an empty ship with amazing service.

[ontheweb]

10 hours ago, gardenbunny said:

Reading the articles today about the several ships having issues with covid cases, I noticed that capacity on them seems very high compared to the Princess ships.

So logic would seem to make you think it is much easier to avoid crowds when  fewer people are on board.

Our fellow CC Live post cruisers have all commented on how nice it is with so few on board.

We are to board Enchanted Dec 30 so I am hoping capacity will continue to be low.

Worst nightmare for me and the crazy way this new variant is working, is that I could be totally feeling fine with no symptoms but could test positive !!  

It would actually be worse to be symptomatic (and test positve).And even worse to be so bad you need a ventilator.😢

[Scotto97]

14 hours ago, gardenbunny said:

Reading the articles today about the several ships having issues with covid cases, I noticed that capacity on them seems very high compared to the Princess ships.

So logic would seem to make you think it is much easier to avoid crowds when  fewer people are on board.

Our fellow CC Live post cruisers have all commented on how nice it is with so few on board.

We are to board Enchanted Dec 30 so I am hoping capacity will continue to be low.

Worst nightmare for me and the crazy way this new variant is working, is that I could be totally feeling fine with no symptoms but could test positive !!  

We are also on your cruise and feel the same way about testing Positive on Tuesday while in perfect health and no symptoms. (Triple vaxed also) We almost decided not to start packing until we passed the test.

I noticed very few rooms are available for our cruise. but unsure whether that means it will be a full ship, or whether Princess just doesn't want to sell any more rooms and many are being keep empty on purpose.

[Hlitner]

We do not think that Princess is limiting capacity, but circumstances are the same result.  We recently took two 10 day Enchantment cruises (back to back) and each was about 50-60% of capacity.  Princess has generally been able to operate with only two of the 3 MDRs actually staffed and operating.  My hunch is that the recent publicity with multiple positive cases on many cruises, missed ports due to COVID, and the fear of the Omicron Variant is going to put a serious crimp into cruise line's efforts to get their ships closer to capacity.  

 

As to testing, it is not going to solve the problem for Princess.  Testing negative a day or two before coming to the port (or even at the port) does not guarantee that nobody will develop symptoms of COVID within a few days.   The law of averages will almost make it a certainty that some folks on nearly every cruise will have COVID.  If they remain asymptomatic nobody will be the wiser.  But even a single symptomatic case (passengers or crew) can jeopardize the vessel's ability to get cleared into most ports.  In the past few weeks this has been happening with increased frequency although the cruise lines are doing their best to minimize the problem and not disclose the full extent of the problem.  It does seem that CCLs standard comment (for ships of any of their lines) is to say that there are a "small number" of COVID cases without ever disclosing the actual numbers.  But some information is still finding its way into the press and certain cruise-oriented web sites. 

 

When we recently spent 20 days on Princess, DW and I were well aware of the possibility that we could miss some (or all of the ports).  But our cruise did manage to get through unscathed (at least we were not aware of any COVID aboard) and make all the ports.  We felt lucky but also accept that cruising (and traveling) these days is somewhat akin to rolling the dice.

 

Hank

[MISTER 67]

We sailed on the Caribbean Princess on Nov 28th and there were 1600 on board, we also sailed on her this past week and there were 1400 on board. Our waiter told us that the New Years cruise sailing today was to have 2400 on board, quite a difference.

[PescadoAmarillo]

Royal Caribbean has just announced that they are not accepting new reservations for cruises departing in January. I suspect that means that CCL ships will also not be pushing to sail full in the very near future. 
 

Like others, we were thrilled to be able to eek out 5 weeks of cruising since the start up, but definitely felt we were rolling the dice, if not with our personal health, than with the cruise experience (esp with regard to ports) we would be able to experience. We used up our non refundable FCCs and are now happily watching from the sidelines. 

[Pirateskigirl]

Based on conversations, I had on the Dec 13 Regal sailing, Princess was suppose to stop limiting capacity in January, that could be changing with omicron variant.  They were offering some excellent future cruise deals for sailings between January -April 2022.  Personally, I think it will depend on the number of ships each line has sailing and where it's sailing.  If Spring Break and Alaskan sailing are selling well the numbers will rise.  I think it will be several years before it bounces back to 2019 levels. I will not lie, it was nice being on a 40% full ship.     

[WmFCoyote]

How long will any cruise line be able to remain solvent at 40% capacity? While we also enjoyed the great service and empty venues, we also wondered how long the bleeding will last until there is nothing left to bleed?

[gardenbunny]

9 hours ago, Hlitner said:

As to testing, it is not going to solve the problem for Princess.  Testing negative a day or two before coming to the port (or even at the port) does not guarantee that nobody will develop symptoms of COVID within a few days.   The law of averages will almost make it a certainty that some folks on nearly every cruise will have COVID.  If they remain asymptomatic nobody will be the wiser.  But even a single symptomatic case (passengers or crew) can jeopardize the vessel's ability to get cleared into most ports. 

So very true - I have been saying that since early 2020.  And it doesn’t matter if you are shopping at a grocery store, sitting in church, going to work, staying at a hotel, cruising on a ship…..or wherever your everyday life takes you.

Therefore I have been vaxed and boosted,  I wear my mask (when asked to do so) and go about living my life.  I will not stop what I enjoy doing until this virus finally fades away to something like the seasonal flu or common cold.  And I pray that this latest variant will finally be the beginning of the end.

 

[wineglass]

We sailed on Enchanted princess in November with 978 guests, and on Majestic Princess last week with 1700 guests. Both ship hold over 4,000. You do the math. 
with omniron rising, and increased cases on ship, suspect the numbers will down. Up side: ship less crowded and fewer lines and less chance of infection. Fewer servers in the dinning areas. Downside. Buffet serving stations reduced as well as food selection, less shows and entertainment. Service was always excellent and friendly. We would, and will(March) go again. 

[KIMMER322]

21 hours ago, Pirateskigirl said:

Based on conversations, I had on the Dec 13 Regal sailing, Princess was suppose to stop limiting capacity in January, that could be changing with omicron variant.  They were offering some excellent future cruise deals for sailings between January -April 2022.  Personally, I think it will depend on the number of ships each line has sailing and where it's sailing.  If Spring Break and Alaskan sailing are selling well the numbers will rise.  I think it will be several years before it bounces back to 2019 levels. I will not lie, it was nice being on a 40% full ship.     

That's funny,  we sailed on the Sky in December and were told they plan to sail less than 60% through 2022.🤷‍♀️