How many people are on my cruise?

[reeinaz]

Are there any websites that can tell you how full a cruise is? 

[nascarcruiser]

Ships will sail at capacity.  Google your ship name and cruise line.  I googled Carnival Breeze capacity and it holds 3690 people 

[ReneeFLL]

Not all sh

23 minutes ago, nascarcruiser said:

Ships will sail at capacity.  Google your ship name and cruise line.  I googled Carnival Breeze capacity and it holds 3690 people 

Not all ships sail at full capacity. 

 

OP, I don't know if there is a website where you can look. The only way that I'm aware of is to ask once you're on board.

[leaveitallbehind]

Well there is more than one way to measure passenger capacity.  A ship's normal passenger capacity is based on the total calculated by double occupancy per stateroom.  But as many staterooms are configured to allow a mix of more than two passengers, the actual total capacity is significantly greater.  That total capacity is limited by that dictated by total lifeboat capacity, which then is the ship's actual maximum capacity.

 

But in today's market, most mass market cruise ships do sail at full capacity on most itineraries based on double occupancy, meaning there typically won't be many, if any, unoccupied staterooms.

 

I am not aware of anywhere where sailing capacity information for a given itinerary is published.  There is no reason a cruise line would release that in the first place.

Edited September 8, 2019 by leaveitallbehind

[reeinaz]

7 minutes ago, leaveitallbehind said:

 

I am not aware of anywhere where sailing capacity information for a given itinerary is published.  There is no reason a cruise line would release that in the first place.

Ok. That's understandable. So is there a website that tells how many cabins have been booked/remain available? But I'm guessing that even if there were, naming the site would be against the rules. I've even considered just going to a booking site and tallying the available cabins but I think I read somewhere that all the available cabins aren't listed, only 15 at a time or something.

 

I'm going on my 1st cruise in a few months and I would love to get some sense of how crowded it will or won't be before I board.

[Aquahound]

9 minutes ago, reeinaz said:

I'm going on my 1st cruise in a few months and I would love to get some sense of how crowded it will or won't be before I board.

 

In truth, the best you'll get ahead of time is anecdotal info from people who have cruised on your ship and at the same time.  What cruise is it?  

Edited September 8, 2019 by Aquahound

[navybankerteacher]

9 minutes ago, reeinaz said:

Ok. That's understandable. So is there a website that tells how many cabins have been booked/remain available? But I'm guessing that even if there were, naming the site would be against the rules. I've even considered just going to a booking site and tallying the available cabins but I think I read somewhere that all the available cabins aren't listed, only 15 at a time or something.

 

I'm going on my 1st cruise in a few months and I would love to get some sense of how crowded it will or won't be before I board.

If you are sailing Seabourn, Oceania, or Viking, I can assure you that you will not feel crowded.  If you are sailing Cunard, Celebrity, or HAL, you are not likely to feel crowded, but you might feel a bit bored from time to time (especially on HAL), but that will really depend on how much external stimulation you need.  Some people can feel bored at the circus, while others can feel stimulated by four hours in the Dutch Masters room at the Metropolitan Museum in New York.  If you are sailing Royal Caribbean, Carnival or NCL, you are less likely to feel bored but much more likely to feel crowded (especially on NCL).

 

i suggest you go on the CC site for your line, and the roll call for your cruise, and pay attention to what people familiar with the line and ship are saying. Also, you should check out the reviews for the ship - and see what people say about it  — especially if they are talking about itineraries like your upcoming one.

[leaveitallbehind]

43 minutes ago, reeinaz said:

Ok. That's understandable. So is there a website that tells how many cabins have been booked/remain available? But I'm guessing that even if there were, naming the site would be against the rules. I've even considered just going to a booking site and tallying the available cabins but I think I read somewhere that all the available cabins aren't listed, only 15 at a time or something.

 

I'm going on my 1st cruise in a few months and I would love to get some sense of how crowded it will or won't be before I board.

 

Each cruise line website will show you available staterooms by category if you do a mock booking.  But that will not be an indication of what the final booking totals will be as that won't be finalized until a couple of days before sailing.  Assume, as indicated before, that most cruise lines ships sail at full capacity with most itineraries.  That will almost certainly be the case.  At least it has been in our 27 years of cruising.

 

What difference would that make anyway?  All ships are designed to handle their passenger capacity in all venues - just as a hotel would. You will not sail on a ship with many empty staterooms.  If a ship shows that it holds, as example, 3,500 people, that is likely the number that will be on board.  Don't worry about that - pick a cruise line with an itinerary that you like and ship venues that are attractive to you and enjoy your cruise.

 

Besides, what you are asking to find is not information that would be available.  And even if the cruise lines were to report that - which they do not - as indicated they would not know that information until a couple of days before departure.  

Edited September 8, 2019 by leaveitallbehind

[ilikeanswers]

I don't know if this is true but I was once told that the number of people who book on cruise ships and on airplanes are considered industry secrets. That to reveal those numbers to the public before date of departure would be a competitive disadvantage to those companies and if someone was revealed to be leaking that information they could be up for corporate espionage😳. 

 

It does sound over the top but then again the corporate world is hypersensitive so I wouldn't put it past them either😜. 

[donaldsc]

56 minutes ago, leaveitallbehind said:

 

Each cruise line website will show you available staterooms by category if you do a mock booking.  But that will not be an indication of what the final booking totals will be as that won't be finalized until a couple of days before sailing.  Assume, as indicated before, that most cruise lines ships sail at full capacity with most itineraries.  That will almost certainly be the case.  At least it has been in our 27 years of cruising.

 

What difference would that make anyway?  All ships are designed to handle their passenger capacity in all venues - just as a hotel would. You will not sail on a ship with many empty staterooms.  If a ship shows that it holds, as example, 3,500 people, that is likely the number that will be on board.  Don't worry about that - pick a cruise line with an itinerary that you like and ship venues that are attractive to you and enjoy your cruise.

 

Besides, what you are asking to find is not information that would be available.  And even if the cruise lines were to report that - which they do not - as indicated they would not know that information until a couple of days before departure.  

 

 

[donaldsc]

57 minutes ago, leaveitallbehind said:

 

Each cruise line website will show you available staterooms by category if you do a mock booking.  But that will not be an indication of what the final booking totals will be as that won't be finalized until a couple of days before sailing.  Assume, as indicated before, that most cruise lines ships sail at full capacity with most itineraries.  That will almost certainly be the case.  At least it has been in our 27 years of cruising.

 

What difference would that make anyway?  All ships are designed to handle their passenger capacity in all venues - just as a hotel would. You will not sail on a ship with many empty staterooms.  If a ship shows that it holds, as example, 3,500 people, that is likely the number that will be on board.  Don't worry about that - pick a cruise line with an itinerary that you like and ship venues that are attractive to you and enjoy your cruise.

 

Besides, what you are asking to find is not information that would be available.  And even if the cruise lines were to report that - which they do not - as indicated they would not know that information until a couple of days before departure.  

 

I would disagree w that statement.  The total passenger capacity depends upon safety issues and not how many people can comfortably fit in the interior spaces.  You could have the interior space be very uncomfortably overcrowded as long as their were sufficient lifeboats for all the people on board.

 

I know that Princess did a renovation to one of their ships (I forget which one) that took away interior space to add a significant number of cabins and almost everyone who has sail on her has complained that the public areas are hopelessly over crowded.

 

We did Alaska on the Golden Princess this summer.  Compared to other non-Princess ships that we have been on, the ship seemed as if it was wall-to-wall people and I would not sail on her again because of the over crowding.

 

DON

[navybankerteacher]

1 hour ago, ilikeanswers said:

I don't know if this is true but I was once told that the number of people who book on cruise ships and on airplanes are considered industry secrets. That to reveal those numbers to the public before date of departure would be a competitive disadvantage to those companies and if someone was revealed to be leaking that information they could be up for corporate espionage😳. 

 

It does sound over the top but then again the corporate world is hypersensitive so I wouldn't put it past them either😜. 

It’s not a matter of being “hypersensitive”;  it is simply good business practice.  If the general public could find out how well a cruise was selling, it would be much easier to determine whether prices would go up or down as sailing date neared.  The last thing a line wants is for their customers to be able to play that game.  Being able to predict a coming shortage - or a surplus - of any commodity: be it oil, orange juice, pork bellies, or bunks on a coming cruise is vital information.

 

The lines want you to think you had better buy now:  it helps them manage inventory (adjust prices) and maximize their revenue.  Remember— while they want you to enjoy your cruise, what they really want is for you to pay as much for it as they can possibly make you — they are in business to make money —- not to give you cheap vacations.

 

While you wouldn’t put such secretiveness past them, they are smart enough to not put your desire to cruise cheaply past you —. yes, they know that you are hypersensitive about not spending any more than you must.

 

 

[CruiserBruce]

No website shows number of actual bookings, and as you can't see how many guarantee bookings there are on a given sailing,  seeing number of "available" cabins is misleading. So, as discussed here frequently, just assume your ship will be full, as it probably will be, or so close you will have difficulty telling the difference. 

[leaveitallbehind]

8 hours ago, donaldsc said:

 

I would disagree w that statement.  The total passenger capacity depends upon safety issues and not how many people can comfortably fit in the interior spaces.  You could have the interior space be very uncomfortably overcrowded as long as their were sufficient lifeboats for all the people on board.

 

I never said that it did.  Re-read my comments from a prior post: "That total capacity is limited by that dictated by total lifeboat capacity, which then is the ship's actual maximum capacity".  Clearly by that maximum passenger capacity is determined by safety measures.

 

What I was saying in the statement you quoted is that the venues on board are designed to handle the passenger load of the ship.  Certainly some become more crowded than others at different times and some ships feel less crowded in certain spaces than others.  As example, RCI Oasis class ships hold 6,000+ passengers but IMO feel less crowded overall than smaller ships with less passenger capacity as as result of the size of the ship and number of different venues.  

 

But the point is moot as indicated in that most mass market cruise lines ships sail near or at capacity on most sailings.  The OP is not likely to find a ship that is significantly less full, nor will that information known until just before sailing or be available to the public.

 

Edited September 8, 2019 by leaveitallbehind

[cb at sea]

It may not be 100% "fully booked", but it won't be only 1/2 full, either.  Your ship will be close to capacity, on almost every sailing.

[Heidi13]

1 hour ago, leaveitallbehind said:

 

I never said that it did.  Re-read my comments from a prior post: "That total capacity is limited by that dictated by total lifeboat capacity, which then is the ship's actual maximum capacity".  Clearly by that maximum passenger capacity is determined by safety measures.

While the ship's maximum compliment is limited by the survival craft, it is not solely dictated by "Lifeboat Capacity" and the survival craft capacity must exceed the ship's compliment.

 

To clarify - for deep sea voyages with > 12 pax, SOLAS permits the lifeboat capacity to be only 75% of the ship's compliment, with sufficient Class 1 Lifeboats on each side for 37.5%. The balance can be provided by liferafts - davit launched or Marine Evacuation System. In addition, the ship must have additional liferafts for 25% of the compliment.

 

While most of the large cruise ships still have lifeboats, a number of Flag States now accept liferafts being the only Survival Craft aboard a ship. When working, I haven't sailed with lifeboats in over 20 years.

[clo]

When making our final payment with the Oceania rep I've been using for a few months now, I asked how booked it was.  This is S. America, Brazil to Argentina in December.  He said about 75% but may that's just the standard answer.

[leaveitallbehind]

9 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

While the ship's maximum compliment is limited by the survival craft, it is not solely dictated by "Lifeboat Capacity" and the survival craft capacity must exceed the ship's compliment.

 

To clarify - for deep sea voyages with > 12 pax, SOLAS permits the lifeboat capacity to be only 75% of the ship's compliment, with sufficient Class 1 Lifeboats on each side for 37.5%. The balance can be provided by liferafts - davit launched or Marine Evacuation System. In addition, the ship must have additional liferafts for 25% of the compliment.

 

While most of the large cruise ships still have lifeboats, a number of Flag States now accept liferafts being the only Survival Craft aboard a ship. When working, I haven't sailed with lifeboats in over 20 years.

 

Thanks for the clarification.

[SRF]

IIRC, RCI averages 104 - 108% of the double occupancy capacity for their cruises over the year.

 

So pretty much, most sail full.

[Markanddonna]

You can't find out until you board and even then, it may not be told to you.  I've seen the actual number and breakdown into age groups posted in the kitchen on several cruises when I took a behind the scenes tour.

[reeinaz]

Thanks all. I was asking simply out of curiosity. I also understand that ships can feel more or less crowded because of the layout. With all of my bookings, I've been trying to avoid "peak" times to try and minimize the chances of being on a very crowded cruise. It also helps that those off peak dates tend to be the cheaper dates. So I wasn't looking at how to get a bargain cruise, just how to increase my chances of a more enjoyable one.

[DarrenM]

Get there really early and count everyone on.