How full is my Cruise in Oct?

[krittykat]

I know there is some way you can get a ball park idea how full/booked the ship is but I am truly unable to figure it out. 
We are sailing on the Dawn out of Southampton on 10/15 around Spain/Portugal, ending in Rome.   I know it is one of the smaller ships that NCL sails (which I like). Since we are just under 4 weeks away, I am trying to find out how booked is our cruise?  Not looking to upgrade personally but never was one for crowds.

Anyone know or can figure this out?

[cruiserbear55]

47 minutes ago, krittykat said:

I know there is some way you can get a ball park idea how full/booked the ship is but I am truly unable to figure it out. 
We are sailing on the Dawn out of Southampton on 10/15 around Spain/Portugal, ending in Rome.   I know it is one of the smaller ships that NCL sails (which I like). Since we are just under 4 weeks away, I am trying to find out how booked is our cruise?  Not looking to upgrade personally but never was one for crowds.

Anyone know or can figure this out?

 

Go to NCL and do a mock booking. Check each category of cabins. And all the sub categories. This is very time consuming. If you see fifteen available cabins for each category, you can assume there is more available and the ship is not sold out.  On the other hand, if you find no or very few cabins available, you can assume the ship is sold out or close to it.

[ronheg]

We were on the Star on 9/4.  We had 1600 passengers.  70% capacity.  

[schmoopie17]

25 minutes ago, cruiserbear55 said:

 

Go to NCL and do a mock booking. Check each category of cabins. And all the sub categories. This is very time consuming. If you see fifteen available cabins for each category, you can assume there is more available and the ship is not sold out.  On the other hand, if you find no or very few cabins available, you can assume the ship is sold out or close to it.

That doesn't always work. I have done a mock booking every day this week to see if the price of our Nov 1 TA has dropped. When trying to book a balcony, nothing comes up except "guarantee" cabins. You might think that there are no other balconies available. Not so. I did an online chat with NCL and she told me there are plenty of balconies available, but you have to call to book.

Edited September 18, 2022 by schmoopie17

[cruiserbear55]

15 minutes ago, schmoopie17 said:

That doesn't always work. I have done a mock booking every day this week to see if the price of our Nov 1 TA has dropped. When trying to book a balcony, nothing comes up except "guarantee" cabins. You might think that there are no other balconies available. Not so. I did an online chat with NCL and she told me there are plenty of balconies available, but you have to call to book.

 Sorry, it was the best I could come up with. Do you have other suggestions?

[schmoopie17]

1 hour ago, cruiserbear55 said:

 Sorry, it was the best I could come up with. Do you have other suggestions?

This has been a hot subject on CC for as long as I can recall (almost 20 years). I have never found a fool-proof method.

[krittykat]

1 hour ago, cruiserbear55 said:

 

Go to NCL and do a mock booking. Check each category of cabins. And all the sub categories. This is very time consuming. If you see fifteen available cabins for each category, you can assume there is more available and the ship is not sold out.  On the other hand, if you find no or very few cabins available, you can assume the ship is sold out or close to it.

Unfortunately, that doesn't work. It no longer gives the ability to choose a cabin in any category. Only treats  it like a guarantee cabin. So no way to tell.

[krittykat]

Just now, krittykat said:

Unfortunately, that doesn't work. It no longer gives the ability to choose a cabin in any category. Only treats  it like a guarantee cabin. So no way to tell.

Ok, well..one can dream about 60 percent occupancy, I guess. 

 

[Av8torcrj]

Out of curiosity I looked at your dates on cruise dot com. Looks like lots of cabins available to me considering how close the departure is. 15 club balcony open with those numbers repeated in other categories. 

[cruiserbear55]

27 minutes ago, krittykat said:

Unfortunately, that doesn't work. It no longer gives the ability to choose a cabin in any category. Only treats  it like a guarantee cabin. So no way to tell.

 

  Didn't realize NCL wasn't showing open cabins any longer. Last time I did a mock booking, three months or so ago, open cabins were still listed. Av8torcrj is correct in the site they mention still shows available cabins. Don't know why NCL would stop showing them. We've always enjoyed the selection process. Picking a cabin from the list and then going to Cruise Decks.com and seeing what is above and below the recommended cabin, then making a decision as to whether it would be a good cabin "fit" or not. Obviously, will now have to win the lottery and just book the Garden Villa!!

[kjquilts]

I looked at a New Hampshire site that shows more than 15 staterooms per category...

 

BA balconies     94 on deck 9    1 on deck 10

BI aft facing balcony      1 on deck 8

MB Club balcony     guarantee

MA Club Balcony           37 on deck 11

SP Family Suite              12 on deck 10

SD Forward Facing Suite w/large balcony   2 on deck 10     (lol I want one of them)

SB Family Suite w/balcony   6 on deck 12

S3 Owners Suite w/ 2 balconies   2 on deck 9

S4 2 Bdrm Dlx Family Suite with balcony   5 on deck 11

 

I didn't check out interiors or oceanviews - some balcony categories were guarantee

[OrcaGirl]

1 hour ago, krittykat said:

Unfortunately, that doesn't work. It no longer gives the ability to choose a cabin in any category. Only treats  it like a guarantee cabin. So no way to tell.

 

It could vary by cruise. I did a mock booking on the NCL website this morning for my January cruise and was able to see which specific cabins were available in another category. YMMV.

[cruiserbear55]

7 minutes ago, kjquilts said:

I looked at a New Hampshire site that shows more than 15 staterooms per category...

 

BA balconies     94 on deck 9    1 on deck 10

BI aft facing balcony      1 on deck 8

MB Club balcony     guarantee

MA Club Balcony           37 on deck 11

SP Family Suite              12 on deck 10

SD Forward Facing Suite w/large balcony   2 on deck 10     (lol I want one of them)

SB Family Suite w/balcony   6 on deck 12

S3 Owners Suite w/ 2 balconies   2 on deck 9

S4 2 Bdrm Dlx Family Suite with balcony   5 on deck 11

 

I didn't check out interiors or oceanviews - some balcony categories were guarantee

Can you give the beginning and ending letters of the site here in NH. Nobody I know that cruises can find it. Evidently, I don't know the right people!!

[kjquilts]

six letters    starts with something that rhymes with sea

 

[Nclgetawaymenhoney]

13 minutes ago, kjquilts said:

I looked at a New Hampshire site that shows more than 15 staterooms per category...

 

BA balconies     94 on deck 9    1 on deck 10

BI aft facing balcony      1 on deck 8

MB Club balcony     guarantee

MA Club Balcony           37 on deck 11

SP Family Suite              12 on deck 10

SD Forward Facing Suite w/large balcony   2 on deck 10     (lol I want one of them)

SB Family Suite w/balcony   6 on deck 12

S3 Owners Suite w/ 2 balconies   2 on deck 9

S4 2 Bdrm Dlx Family Suite with balcony   5 on deck 11

 

I didn't check out interiors or oceanviews - some balcony categories were guarantee

Yes I just went there as well did every category total 245 open cabins all categories subcategories Happy sailing.

[krittykat]

44 minutes ago, Nclgetawaymenhoney said:

Yes I just went there as well did every category total 245 open cabins all categories subcategories Happy sailing.

Thanks! That helps

[DaggoB]

On The NCL website they are guaranteed cabins. They pick out the cabin for you. Call NCL and they let you pick out the cabin you want and it costs more than on the web site. More money in their pocket. 

[kdpatte]

no matter what I search for I can't figure out the NH website.  Any way to get another clue?

[PATRLR]

6 hours ago, kdpatte said:

no matter what I search for I can't figure out the NH website.  Any way to get another clue?

I think know which one they are referring to.   The last three letters might be used to describe Andy Dufresne.  

But I have a different site that I use that also provides the information.  Everyone loves Cheap Cruises, don't they?

 

[pickle11]

On 9/18/2022 at 12:30 PM, krittykat said:

I know there is some way you can get a ball park idea how full/booked the ship is but I am truly unable to figure it out. 
 

There is no way to find out.  And I still do not understand why a ships occupancy is now a major concern ever since cruising has restarted.  Seems to be a topic every other week.  I have never booked a cruise considering a ships occupancy percentage.  I always prepare for a full ship with long lines and rude cruisers.  And will still have a fantastic time.  Off to Mexico next week on Celebrity.

[SeaShark]

The problem with the available cabins methodology is that it fails to take into account the number of people that are IN a booked cabin. You could have a cruise where half of the cabins are not booked, but if the booked cabins all have 4 guests in them* then you are at 100% capacity.  Likewise, if every cabin on the ship was booked by a solo traveler, then the ship would only be at 50% capacity with no available cabins.

 

*(And yes, I know that not ALL cabins will have 4 guests...it is just an example...nothing more.)

[graphicguy]

20 minutes ago, SeaShark said:

The problem with the available cabins methodology is that it fails to take into account the number of people that are IN a booked cabin. You could have a cruise where half of the cabins are not booked, but if the booked cabins all have 4 guests in them* then you are at 100% capacity.  Likewise, if every cabin on the ship was booked by a solo traveler, then the ship would only be at 50% capacity with no available cabins.

 

*(And yes, I know that not ALL cabins will have 4 guests...it is just an example...nothing more.)

Yeah….overall, it’s at best, a guessing game.  Plus, they don’t really know a total count until everyone is checked in and on the ship.

 

I know I’ve tried to pinpoint the amount of guests before sailing.  And, given the wildly inaccurate guesses (and many times glitchy WEB sites), I’ve come to the conclusion no one can make a reliable estimate, including me.

 

Doesn’t matter.  I’m booked and sailing regardless of there’s 1 guest or 6,000 guests sailing.

[PATRLR]

9 minutes ago, graphicguy said:

Yeah….overall, it’s at best, a guessing game.  Plus, they don’t really know a total count until everyone is checked in and on the ship.

 

I know I’ve tried to pinpoint the amount of guests before sailing.  And, given the wildly inaccurate guesses (and many times glitchy WEB sites), I’ve come to the conclusion no one can make a reliable estimate, including me.

 

Doesn’t matter.  I’m booked and sailing regardless of there’s 1 guest or 6,000 guests sailing.

I agree it doesn't matter and agree it's a guessing game.  Another thing we don't know is how many GTY bookings there are.   But that doesn't stop my curiosity 😉.  I just looked at my Nov 13 Encore and see 260 cabins I can book.   That gives me a bit of an idea.  Just a bit.

Edited September 21, 2022 by PATRLR

[graphicguy]

Just now, PATRLR said:

I agree it doesn't matter, but that doesn't stop my curiosity and its a guessing game.  I just looked at my Nov 13 Encore and see 260 cabins I can book.   That gives me a bit of an idea.  Just a bit.

I can see that.  But, even NCL’s booking site isn’t all that accurate (and glitchy).  My TA complains all the time that she’ll make a booking, and until it’s accepted by NCL, she doesn’t tell her customers it’s official.

[SeaShark]

8 minutes ago, PATRLR said:

I agree it doesn't matter, but that doesn't stop my curiosity and its a guessing game.  I just looked at my Nov 13 Encore and see 260 cabins I can book.   That gives me a bit of an idea.  Just a bit.

 

But even that is missing important data...saying "260 cabins I can book" doesn't mean anything without also having the total cabin count.

 

Not only that, but you still have to deal with venue capacity. Even on a ship sailing with less than 100% capacity, restaurants, bars, and other venues can be easily packed and overcrowded if large groups of people decide to go at the same time.

Edited September 21, 2022 by SeaShark