Half full ships?

[Silverhairedbee]

Since NCL substantially increased their prices in the European market I would be interested to know if the ships are leaving full.

 

Certainly the Dec/Jan cruises we are used to enjoying are still nearly double the price they were last year.

 

Given that MSC are matching loyalty levels and are still very competitive have many leapt ship to them?

 

I am not asking about value here as I know cruising is very personal.

[kirsty_r]

From friends who have cruised over the summer quite a few sailings this summer in the end have been full...

 

 

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[casofilia]

We have not been on many cruises that were anything but very close to totally full.

[newmexicoNita]

OP

 

believe they are going out full or very close. If they were you would see price adjustments etc. And though you said you are not talking value, that still does have to be considered. MSC is only competitive to try and increase their market. From what I have heard from friends and relatives who have sailed them, except for the beauty of the MSC ships they are not all that great. Yes you are right, it is all a personal preference.

[BirdTravels]

We have been on three NCL cruises this year so far (although not Europe) and all have sailed over capacity.

[NEW 2 CRUISIN]

We have been on three NCL cruises this year so far (although not Europe) and all have sailed over capacity.

 

 

 

Over capacity?

Really?

[emoji849]

[tallnthensome]

Given that MSC are matching loyalty levels and are still very competitive have many leapt ship to them?

 

I am not asking about value here as I know cruising is very personal.

We sailed the Escape and are sailing the Bliss in March. With that being said,

My family of four, two kids, sailed the new MSC Seaside in April. It wasn't to Europe, but the Western Caribbean. I will tell you that the service on MSC was impeccable! The new ship was grand. The food was excellent in both the buffet and MDR was very good. The price of our balcony was great and NCL couldn't touch the price. It was our first MSC cruise, we were nervous, but it won't be our last. Sailing in Europe may be different on MSC as you will have many Europeans on it of course. The Seaside in Miami also had many Europeans aboard when we sailed and it was just as enjoyable as any NCL cruise and the passengers were friendly and well behaved. Try it .....

[Huntingdon1701]

My two recent cruises had one completely sold out, and the other one with only a few insides left for sale - so the prices don't seem to have had an impact. That may be because people have booked so far ahead though, and later down the line there may be a sharper drop off.

[gkr283]

We have been on three NCL cruises this year so far (although not Europe) and all have sailed over capacity.

Who gets left behind when the boat sinks?

 

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[The Other Tom]

Over capacity?

Really?

[emoji849]

Capacity is calculated at 2 people per cabin. Obviously some cabins have more than that, so ships sail at over the calculated capacity.

[The Other Tom]

All cruise lines offer deep discounts to airline employees and others in the travel industry. Therefore, most ships sail full but not everybody pays the list price.

[gkr283]

Capacity is calculated at 2 people per cabin. Obviously some cabins have more than that, so ships sail at over the calculated capacity.

That would be full ship capacity. Max capacity world be every berth filled. When talking about capacity it should be qualified as it's a pretty fluid number.

 

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[NLH Arizona]

From what I have heard from friends and relatives who have sailed them, except for the beauty of the MSC ships they are not all that great. Yes you are right, it is all a personal preference.

My friends who normally sail Royal Caribbean tried MSC, because of the price, and were sorely disappointed with their MSC cruise.

 

I cruise the first week of December and my cruises have always been full.

[www3traveler]

Over capacity?

Really?

[emoji849]

 

Capacity is considered to be 2 persons per cabin. Many cabins can hold 4 or more passengers especially the Suites and cabins meant for families. Not unusual during the Summer vacation period or over major holidays like Thanksgiving and Christmas.

[graphicguy]

There’s never been any NCL cruise I’ve taken that didn’t sail full. I believe some think NCL would have fewer passengers given pricing. I’ve not seen anything that would suggest that, yet.

 

What I have seen is an uptick in freebies and OBC offered, however. Not sure how much, or if, that affects sailing full.

 

It’s like airlines. Very few flights sail less than full these days.

[AMOCruiser]

How do you know when a cruise ship is "full"?

[GA Dave]

There’s never been any NCL cruise I’ve taken that didn’t sail full. I believe some think NCL would have fewer passengers given pricing. I’ve not seen anything that would suggest that, yet.

 

What I have seen is an uptick in freebies and OBC offered, however. Not sure how much, or if, that affects sailing full.

 

It’s like airlines. Very few flights sail less than full these days.

 

graphicguy, so far our upcoming cruise looks like it may not be full. There are still some categories that are barely at or slightly above 50% sold. I have been keeping track for quite a while and, unless they do some last minute deep discounts and marketing, I think we may have lucked out by having a "light" load. (yn)

[GA Dave]

How do you know when a cruise ship is "full"?

 

When it settles up to deck 8. :')

 

Seriously, as previously mentioned, some of the frequent cruisers ask the CD, HD, etc. what the load is.

[graphicguy]

graphicguy, so far our upcoming cruise looks like it may not be full. There are still some categories that are barely at or slightly above 50% sold. I have been keeping track for quite a while and, unless they do some last minute deep discounts and marketing, I think we may have lucked out by having a "light" load. (yn)

Thanks, Dave. I’ll take a look. I haven’t been following it since I booked. School just started. So, I think all the cruise lines are looking at these Sept sailings with pricing corrections in mind.

 

Hope to see you on board!

[kochleffel]

Max capacity world be every berth filled. When talking about capacity it should be qualified as it's a pretty fluid number.

 

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Maximum capacity is the lifeboat capacity, including crew. On some ships, filling every berth would exceed the lifeboat capacity. Where that could happen, the line will limit the number of staterooms (that would sleep more than 2) that can be sold filled. I've been told that the lifeboat capacity is typically about 25% more than the nominal (2 persons per double cabin) capacity, but that the number of potential berths be greater than that.

[kirsty_r]

I guess if your cruise is no longer on sale it’s full and if it’s selling with high discounts e.g some of the Caribbean ones at present given hurricane season it’s not so full!

 

 

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[sanger727]

Cruise lines are excellent at filling their ships. They will do deep discounts at the last minute and offer cheap to free cruisers to gamblers if they need to to fill the ship. Any body filling a bed that can spend money onboard is worth more to them than any empty bed. I would expect the ship to still sail full, regardless of how it is selling.

 

 

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[PATRLR]

Maximum capacity is the lifeboat capacity, including crew. On some ships, filling every berth would exceed the lifeboat capacity. Where that could happen, the line will limit the number of staterooms (that would sleep more than 2) that can be sold filled. I've been told that the lifeboat capacity is typically about 25% more than the nominal (2 persons per double cabin) capacity, but that the number of potential berths be greater than that.

I hope this is wrong. I was told the lifeboat capacity was on the order of 25-50% higher than maximum capacity when counting all available boats including inflatables for those that have them. If it's possible to fill a ship such that souls = seats on lifeboats, there is no room for error on launch, load, etc. Didn't the Concordia immediately list so bad they couldn't launch boats on one side?

[PATRLR]

graphicguy, so far our upcoming cruise looks like it may not be full. There are still some categories that are barely at or slightly above 50% sold. I have been keeping track for quite a while and, unless they do some last minute deep discounts and marketing, I think we may have lucked out by having a "light" load. (yn)

Do you mind sharing which cruise this is?

[Two Wheels Only]

Didn't the Concordia immediately list so bad they couldn't launch boats on one side?

With so many things wrong on Concordia, it's hard to compare.

 

The captain didn't give the order to abandon ship until over an hour after impact. If the lifeboats were launched when they were supposed to be launched, the outcome would have been much better (fewer, if any, casualties).