High Season and Capacity Cruises

[heyabbott]

Our 1st cruise will be during spring break on the Westerdam and it's about 95% booked.

Some resorts have more help during high season when the property not only will be filled, but also when the guests are paying a premium due to the time of year.

Do cruises act the same way?

Will there be any differences between a cruise during a slow period in February, and a sold out cruise during Easter?

[Esme]

More kids! :D

[dakrewser]

Our 1st cruise will be during spring break on the Westerdam and it's about 95% booked.

Some resorts have more help during high season when the property not only will be filled, but also when the guests are paying a premium due to the time of year.

Do cruises act the same way?

No, at least not HAL. Their ships are 95%+ filled on every sailing. You'll find most cruise ships are better than 90% full all the time. After all, unlike a resort property, the ship can change to a different port and itinerary with each season...

[RuthC]

The short answers are: "no", and "yes".

Ship crew will be at the same level the cruise before and the cruise after you. That is cabin and dining stewards, assistant steward, bartenders and lounge stewards staffing levels will not change.
Cruise staff may increase for Club HAL, but otherwise don't expect a difference.

The difference between this cruise and one during a slower period is that you can expect more children and younger families during a school vacation week. The ship will have more more people overall, so it might seem a bit more crowded, and service might be a bit slower.

That is not to say that the ship will be over-run with kids. HAL doesn't have as many kids as some other lines do. And this is not to say that the ship will feel crowded; it shouldn't as HAL ships have a good space ratio anyway.

But it will be different than a non-school-vacation week.

[localady]

I was told by a HAL rep. that HAL will determine the number of kids on the cruise and will bring more HAL Club staff aboard if there is more kids than on it's normal cruises.I will report back after the cruise to let you know if this was really done.:cool:

[JDee]

I was told by a HAL rep. that HAL will determine the number of kids on the cruise and will bring more HAL Club staff aboard if there is more kids than on it's normal cruises.I will report back after the cruise to let you know if this was really done.:cool:

Where will HAL get those extra's?? My understanding is that all cruise staff hiring is done after extensive back ground checks and require employment contracts. Do they have a secret "send more help" button??http://boards.cruisecritic.com/images/icons/icon5.gif Doesn't sound too practical trying to transfer a few employees from one ship to another, provided they are at the same port......

[localady]

Where will HAL get those extra's?? My understanding is that all cruise staff hiring is done after extensive back ground checks and require employment contracts. Do they have a secret "send more help" button??http://boards.cruisecritic.com/images/icons/icon5.gif Doesn't sound too practical trying to transfer a few employees from one ship to another, provided they are at the same port......

I agree it seems difficult, but that was what I was told by the HAL rep. when I called to inquire about the number of children they would allow on one ship at a time. I was told that they will not limit the number of children on board, but that would have additional staffing for the children at "peak times". How they do that, I have no clue.:cool:

[kruzkeen]

I know a lady who retired very early from a teaching career. I think she came into some money and thought enough was enough. In any even, she has a contract with NCL with their kid's programs. She works summers and winter and spring school breaks. She was in Europe all summer and is on the new Spirit of Something out of Hawaii right now.

I would think that HAL and other cruise lines have a list of people who can work in their programs and are willing to do short contracts.

[ekerr19]

We have seen a transfer of crew and staff a couple of times. Our last Spring Break cruise, we took on some crew from the Oosterdam who was at HMC the same time we were. They were finishing their voyage and we were starting ours. The crew were on the last tender with us and didn't seem to be to happy to be going to the Maasdam - one expressed dismay over the port, Norfolk - because it is so cold.

We frequently cruise around the Holidays and only once were we disappointed with Club HAL's staffing. In our experience, they are usually prepared for the amount kids that will be onboard.

You can also call and find out how many kids they are anticpating on your cruise - we like to know and our TA will call HAL about 30 days prior to departure and get the breakdown (teens, kids).