Anyone know if there is a reason for limited capacity sailings?

[chamima]

I keep reading about ships sailing 40% - 50% full but wondered if there was a government mandated or cruiseline mandated capacity limit or if that was just the current demand level?

Anyone have any facts?

[deliver42]

It was recommended by the CDC as a way to start cruising. Now the cruise lines are increasing the capacity. How much depends on the demand of various itineraries and ships.

[D C]

Right now, I don't think capacity is limited except by demand (along with whatever percentage of rooms they have set aside for isolation).  Good question. 

Edited December 19, 2021 by D C

[Jeremiah1212]

There is no official capacity mandate in place. The limited guest count is a combination of cruise lines own directives and weak bookings.

Edited December 19, 2021 by Jeremiah1212

[Jim_Iain]

Agree with above,  originally Celebrity limited bookings to get people back on their ships.    Now because of the Global pandemic almost all ships are in the Caribbean an personally I believe there is far more supply (all cruise lines) and unequal demand. 

[canderson]

12 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Agree with above,  originally Celebrity limited bookings to get people back on their ships.    Now because of the Global pandemic almost all ships are in the Caribbean an personally I believe there is far more supply (all cruise lines) and unequal demand. 

And as noted by a lot of posts in many 'live' and post-cruise threads, the resulting high crew:pax ratios on many cruises along with the genuine happiness of crew to be working again has been providing some truly memorable shipboard experiences of the kind we haven't seen in years and may never see again.  The supply/demand for X cruises can't remain this good for us forever.  We were very happy to have experienced it while we could. 

 

 

[eee123]

I'm scheduled to go on the Summit on Dec. 26. From checking out booking options, it looks as if there aren't that many rooms left.

 

 

Should I assume the boat will be pretty full? Or are there a huge amount of rooms blocked out, or is there any way to know this? Trying to thread the risk/reward needle here in deciding whether to proceed with the trip.

 

[Jeremiah1212]

7 minutes ago, eee123 said:

I'm scheduled to go on the Summit on Dec. 26. From checking out booking options, it looks as if there aren't that many rooms left.

 

 

Should I assume the boat will be pretty full? Or are there a huge amount of rooms blocked out, or is there any way to know this? Trying to thread the risk/reward needle here in deciding whether to proceed with the trip.

 

 

A short 4 nighter sandwiched between two holidays is going to be pretty full. There's a chance you'll an uptick in cancellations later this week but how many is anyone's guess. 

[sergel02]

On 12/19/2021 at 8:07 AM, canderson said:

And as noted by a lot of posts in many 'live' and post-cruise threads, the resulting high crew:pax ratios on many cruises along with the genuine happiness of crew to be working again has been providing some truly memorable shipboard experiences of the kind we haven't seen in years and may never see again.  The supply/demand for X cruises can't remain this good for us forever.  We were very happy to have experienced it while we could. 

 

 

I went on a cruise during the pandemic and had a similar situation. It’s was really nice, and staff seemed kind of bored actually since there weren’t many guests lol.

 

I got to wonder if cruise lines could sustain this more if they didn’t purchase new ships every couple years. Many cruise lines, before the pandemic, were ordering new ships every year or two and updating older ones. It’s kind of nice to have a less crowded experience and they could advertise some of the draws of the smaller ships like enrichment activities and less crowded ports. 
 

 

23 minutes ago, eee123 said:

I'm scheduled to go on the Summit on Dec. 26. From checking out booking options, it looks as if there aren't that many rooms left.

 

 

Should I assume the boat will be pretty full? Or are there a huge amount of rooms blocked out, or is there any way to know this? Trying to thread the risk/reward needle here in deciding whether to proceed with the trip.

 

It may be Celebrity limiting the amount of rooms as well. I’m not sure how to know this, but I haven’t heard of any ship being full these days. 

[Oldsweets]

We are on Reelection with a capacity of what (3000) and the captain announced 782 aboard and its heaven.  We are booking all the celebrity Cruuse we can while the capacity is reduced as it is simply marvelous.  The crew on the Christmas Cruise is as outstanding as you would expect and we never wait nor find lines.  We advise you avoid cruising for now and allow us to fully enjoy these reduced capacity Cruises. Clearly I am minding although we are spoiled and want to enjoy this perk as long as possible. 

Edited December 20, 2021 by Oldsweets
Spelling

[davekathy]

We like to see the limited capacity cruises continue. Covid isn't the only reason either. 😁

[CruiseNYC]

We are on the Millennium now (Dec 13-23) sailing with only 400+ passengers. We will stay on for the 4-night Christmas cruise (Dec 23-27) and we’ve been told there will be 1700+ on board!

[upwarduk]

When cruising restarted in UK, there was a limit set by the government.

I believer this has now increased to a limit of 50%.

Deck 6 was reserved for staff, so they could have a room themselves and for isolation purposes.

[StillLooking4Adventure]

We went on a 5 night cruise Thanksgiving weekend.  We had a stated occupancy of 480. Before sailing the room availability on the website did not reflex that low capacity.  I believe they block out at least some cabins.

 

One would think if they are limiting capacity they would publicize it as a selling point, but they are not disclosing that information for some reason.

[Covepointcruiser]

With the recent surge in COVID infections, let’s hope they keep sailing well below capacity.

[as3369]

Sailed on the Celebrity Flora to the Galapagos on Oct 31st.  It's a small ship with only 50 suites / 100 passenger capacity.  On our sailing there were 63 guests with 84 crew.  It was a FABULOUS trip.

[dabear]

On 12/8/2021 at 8:26 PM, canderson said:

Anybody else remember the master of the Martini bar on Constellation, Sudi?  Amazing talent.  I hear he's still running his own agency to supply bar crew to the lines.

I've heard the same. We were in the martini bar last week on the Millie. I mentioned Sudi's name and the bartender did a number of Sudi's tricks.

[Dolebludger]

While I know of no legal mandate concerning capacity, crowded conditions are disease spreaders. Pre-pandemic, some but not all cruise ships were horribly crowded — especially on budget lines. It seems to be a matter of cruise lines wanting to avoid another shutdown that would result from high numbers of onboard infections.

[canderson]

39 minutes ago, Dolebludger said:

It seems to be a matter of cruise lines wanting to avoid another shutdown that would result from high numbers of onboard infections.

As noted before, Constellation's inaugural 'restart' cruise on 11/7/21 was at over 70%.  I'm quite convinced that bookings and staffing are the only limiting factors at present.

 

 

Edited December 22, 2021 by canderson
Usual phone typoz

[Spif Barwunkel]

On 12/20/2021 at 1:15 PM, Oldsweets said:

We are on Reelection with a capacity of what (3000) and the captain announced 782 aboard and its heaven.  We are booking all the celebrity Cruuse we can while the capacity is reduced as it is simply marvelous.  The crew on the Christmas Cruise is as outstanding as you would expect and we never wait nor find lines.  We advise you avoid cruising for now and allow us to fully enjoy these reduced capacity Cruises. Clearly I am minding although we are spoiled and want to enjoy this perk as long as possible. 

i am wondering if christmas cruising on reelection is the same on other class ships. what do you think. are decorations nicely done and appropriate.

[WonderMan3]

Seems like a missed opportunity not to promote sailings as limited capacity, even highlighting what the max percentage is by sailing. That would be a selling point for me during a pandemic.

[canderson]

7 minutes ago, WonderMan3 said:

Seems like a missed opportunity not to promote sailings as limited capacity, even highlighting what the max percentage is by sailing. That would be a selling point for me during a pandemic.

It is certain from many first hand reports that not all of them are sailing at even as low as 70%, so it would be impossible for X to promote in that fashion with any general kind of statement.  Again, from what we can tell at the moment, less than 100% bookings + cancellations, and ongoing staffing/quarantine are the only limiting factors. 

 

So while I'd agree that it can be a great time to cruise, especially if you hit a really low % itinerary, it's not because Celebrity is trying to keep it that way.

 

 

 

 

Edited December 23, 2021 by canderson

[Arizona Wildcat]

Also the CDC protocols were extended 2 months.  Now expire in February. 

[canderson]

18 minutes ago, Arizona Wildcat said:

Also the CDC protocols were extended 2 months.  Now expire in February. 

January 15th, 2022.

And nothing regarding capacity.

 

RCL, on other hand, has just announced that it has closed bookings through early January to reduce capacity.  Not sure if they will choose to extend, or whether X will follow suit.

 

 

 

 

[the penguins]

3 hours ago, WonderMan3 said:

Seems like a missed opportunity not to promote sailings as limited capacity, even highlighting what the max percentage is by sailing. That would be a selling point for me during a pandemic.

Maybe but X's publicity is that there is huge demand and to book early - bookings don't match the hype. Also the ships breakeven at 30% anything below that is not good for 'X'. Finally they want to keep prices as high as possible.