Crowds on Ships

[skphotography99]

Hi Everyone!

 

My mom and I will be cruising on the Destiny this January and are very excited. This will be my moms first cruise, and my second. So needless to say we are still pretty new to the cruising world.

 

To prepare for this cruise I have been tirelessly looking up information that will help us out come our trip. I have seen many posts about crowding on ships, and I have to say its scaring me a little bit. I was wondering if this was due to it being summer and kids are off from school? Or are Carnival ships usually crowded year round? My only cruise was on Royal Caribbeans Jewel back in January and it wasn't that crowded since it was during winter break for only college students, and families weren't on that cruise. I'm hoping that the winter cruise will be less crowded than summer months!

[crazyfrazee]

Cruising on Destiny, there will be larger crowds than most other ships. I will never get back on it. I have been on many of the smaller ships and really like them. I think if you do some searching, you will find the same t5hing I'm saying here about Destiny=crowds. Especially on Lido in the food lines.

[firefly333]

RCL has quite a bit more space per passenger. They have larger pools especially and more open areas. RCL also does islands for food where you dont have to stand in the entire buffet line to get one or two foods you want, carnival you will have to stand in the line even if you want to skip the salad or stuff at the beginning of the line.

 

Go to the buffet at off times.. dont do the free drawings. I find many ways to avoid the crowds and lines most of the time.

 

Wait 30 to 45 minutes after they start to disembark the ship, you can walk right off.

 

stuff like the above.. you wouldnt be bothered by lines or crowds more than likely with a little planning.

[firefly333]

Cruising on Destiny, there will be larger crowds than most other ships. I will never get back on it. I have been on many of the smaller ships and really like them. I think if you do some searching, you will find the same t5hing I'm saying here about Destiny=crowds. Especially on Lido in the food lines.

 

It is true, Destiny, Triumph and Victory all have a buffet poor design with the same space as little Fantasy class ships approx.

 

Conquest class they put in two buffet areas, and corrected this poor design.

 

We had pipes burst overhead .. and only had one line open one cruise ..

 

the buffet is the worst problem of this class of ship.. but its cheap right OP? The price is worth it.

[SkyMaster]

Like "Fly" says, with just a little bit of planning, you'll be just fine. I've never had a big problem with crowds on ships, other than RCI Mega-ships where they don't seem to have a clue on how to control the crowds. (Seems as though they don't plan anything, and have everyone going the same place, at the same time.) Go aboard with a positive attitude, do just a little bit of planning, and you'll have a wonderful cruise.

 

"SKY"

[Foxinspace]

Crowding especially on Sea Days has to be inevitable. There is only so much room for people to rattle around in. While in port however, if you stay on the ship you have free run, no lines anywhere.

 

As others have recommended, if you want to avoid crowds, plan ahead. If you want a chair by the pool go early. Have a late lunch and you'll miss the worst of the lines. If you do ATD, leave yourself a little extra time in case they can't seat you right away.

 

I sort of figure just about any vacation has lines. If we were going to Disney or some other theme park, 70% of our vacation would be in line.

[firefly333]

Like "Fly" says, with just a little bit of planning, you'll be just fine. I've never had a big problem with crowds on ships, other than RCI Mega-ships where they don't seem to have a clue on how to control the crowds. (Seems as though they don't plan anything, and have everyone going the same place, at the same time.) Go aboard with a positive attitude, do just a little bit of planning, and you'll have a wonderful cruise.

 

"SKY"

 

I feel the opposite, that Oasis they planned the crowd flow very well. Just goes to show how two people with the same experience can come away thinking the opposite.

 

Im now doing Allure it was so interesting to do oasis.

[Laurie S.]

Yep, I was on Oasis in August and never saw a crowd problem.

[Crusing from Colorado]

Cruising on Destiny, there will be larger crowds than most other ships. I will never get back on it. I have been on many of the smaller ships and really like them. I think if you do some searching, you will find the same t5hing I'm saying here about Destiny=crowds. Especially on Lido in the food lines.

 

I think it's all relative. I keep hearing about how crowded the Destiny, Dream and Magic are, but I've sailed on the Destiny and the Magic and not had any problem with being crowded. My next cruise will be on the Sunshine (The Destiny with more cabins). After reading people complianing about how crowded the Destiny already is and how over crowded the Sunshine will be I get a little nervous about cruising on the Sunshine, then I remember what a great time I had on the Destiny!

 

It all depends on how you approach your vacation, if you insist on doing things at the busiest times (like lunch buffet at 12:00) it's going to be crowded. If you're flexible on your times you should be ok.

 

(Disclaimer) That of course is my experience only and results may vary by user ;)

[SkyMaster]

I feel the opposite, that Oasis they planned the crowd flow very well. Just goes to show how two people with the same experience can come away thinking the opposite.

 

Im now doing Allure it was so interesting to do oasis.

 

HA! Very true! My Oasis experience was that you couldn't even walk in the public areas of the ship, because of parades, exhibits, jewelery sales and other things going on, and half the elevators were out of order so you had to walk up and down to get anywhere. RCI used to be my favorite line, but after that cruise, I haven't been back! Perhaps they were just having "growing pains", as my cruise was one of the first on that ship. :eek:

 

"SKY"

[susie8862]

Like "Fly" says, with just a little bit of planning, you'll be just fine. I've never had a big problem with crowds on ships, other than RCI Mega-ships where they don't seem to have a clue on how to control the crowds. (Seems as though they don't plan anything, and have everyone going the same place, at the same time.) Go aboard with a positive attitude, do just a little bit of planning, and you'll have a wonderful cruise.

 

"SKY"

Avid RCCL patron. Have been on the Allure and the Oasis. Just the opposite is true. There are sooo many venues and soooo many pools and pool areas....OMG ....never crowded anywhere.

[okgirl]

Crowding at peak times in the buffet area is a problem on all ships. On the very rare occasion that I go to the buffet I wait until well after the opening time.

 

I also try to eat in the MDR for breakfast and lunch as often as they are open, the FunTimes will list the hours. I'm not sure if the Destiny has the Punchliner Brunch yet, but if it does that will be in the MDR on Seadays from 9:00 to 1:30 or so. On port days the MDR is open for regular breakfast but closed at dinner.

 

There are also many other dining venues on the Lido that will have shorter lines.

 

To avoid lines along the Promenade in the evening I try to just avoid that area and use the midship elevators as much as possible since they are close to the Casino.

[bobsfamily]

To answer your specific question about cruising in Jan... almost all ships have a lower head count as most rooms may be "filled" but with doubles instead of quads. Generally speaking a cruise in Jan. should be less crowded.

[crusinfamof4]

If you go to the buffet or meals at off times, it is no problem. For the mongolian wok, I was the third person in line-waited for them to open for 10 minutes-but I would rather spend 10 min waiting for a place to open than 30 minutes trying to get my food.

 

Also, if you are going to eat and the lines are too long for you, you can always order room service.

[Bill W.]

If you go to the buffet or meals at off times, it is no problem. For the mongolian wok, I was the third person in line-waited for them to open for 10 minutes-but I would rather spend 10 min waiting for a place to open than 30 minutes trying to get my food.

 

Also, if you are going to eat and the lines are too long for you, you can always order room service.

 

If I have to eat at off hours just to avoid lines, something's wrong.

 

This class ship from the get-go was overcrowded and poorly laid out, and is only going to get worse when they add more cabins and cut public space.

 

And the Destiny is the worst of those three. Apparently, even Carnival thought so!

[skphotography99]

Thanks everyone for the advice! It looks like there is a collective thought between everyone who posted in that with a little planning, you can avoid major crowds. It looks like we will be trying to go places during "off" hours instead of the rush hour.

 

I have read that the buffet lines are usually what keep people waiting. On the Destiny are there are venues to eat at? I know that some mornings we can do MDR and hopefully avoid the chaos in the buffet. Since this is my first cruise I have been doing a lot of reading and saw some carnival ships have a Red Frog Pub or a place for fish and chips. Anything like that on Destiny?

[novinha]

All the tips are great. But I have to salt it with this...I first came on this site after my first cruise. A lot of the stuff we complain about on here, or praise, may not even be noticed by someone who just wants to cruise to have fun and is out to have a great time, no matter what. I never knew what a chairhog was or a butt in at the buffet, etc. Until that very thing was pointed out to me.

 

As far as crowds go, use the same philosophy that you'd use on land. Mine is, if you want to avoid the crowd just don't try to be first anywhere. And sometimes being middle or toward the end has it's own perks.