Are ships back to "full"?

[TravelGirlinDallas]

On 6/20/2022 at 12:54 PM, Ourusualbeach said:

Varies by ship.

 

Ovation in Alaska in July is almost sold out while Voyager in Europe is not even half full

Oh boy. Guess what we are booked on next? Ovation in July. I hope it's a good experience.

[Ourusualbeach]

28 minutes ago, TravelGirlinDallas said:

Oh boy. Guess what we are booked on next? Ovation in July. I hope it's a good experience.

I'm sailing July 8.  I'm hoping thst having the Presidents cruise sailing on June 24 means they have staffed up.  

[blueslily]

Sailing during summer school break and peak vacation season for families and extended families is not my ideal experience. Waiting for the summer madness to be over. 

[doppelganger2621]

Just off Allure and heard varying reports between 5000-5600 for the sailing

[BirdTravels]

On 6/21/2022 at 6:29 PM, TravelGirlinDallas said:

Oh boy. Guess what we are booked on next? Ovation in July. I hope it's a good experience.

Although our cruise was full, it was a GREAT experience! Lots to do. More (but not full) entertainment. 

 

For us, this was a twice lift-n-shifted voyage originally scheduled in 2020, then 2021, and finally sailed in 2022. There were a lot of people in the same situation... all keeping their 2018/2019 pricing for a 2022 cruise. 

 

We were on Royal's first North American restart cruise on the Adventure of the Seas. About 30% full. That was almost creepy. And you could fit the full evening's entertainment schedule on a business card (because there wasn't much of it). And by 10:30 at night, the ship's public areas were almost empty,,, entertainers in plexiglass booths singing in empty bars. While we had to be vaccinated, many of the ports had vaccination rates of <10%. 

 

We've been on 7 post-restart cruises. And we were very happy with our experience on the Quantum of the Seas. 

[TravelGirlinDallas]

On 6/21/2022 at 5:58 PM, Ourusualbeach said:

I'm sailing July 8.  I'm hoping thst having the Presidents cruise sailing on June 24 means they have staffed up.  

We’ll be boarding on 7/15, the day you disembark. Will you be posting/reviewing while you are onboard?

[Ourusualbeach]

10 minutes ago, TravelGirlinDallas said:

We’ll be boarding on 7/15, the day you disembark. Will you be posting/reviewing while you are onboard?

I won't be doing a live review, We have a lot of long excursions booked and from what I hear the internet can be a challenge.

 

I'm hoping to see something this week with either Ovation or Quantum that indicates whether or not we will be able to dock at Skagway

[Ozark_Kid]

On 6/21/2022 at 6:58 PM, Ourusualbeach said:

I'm sailing July 8.  I'm hoping thst having the Presidents cruise sailing on June 24 means they have staffed up.  

In May the only place we noticed low staff on board was in the MDR.  We had a 1st time MDR  waiter and 1st time asst.  They were also assigned more than usual tables. It helped us decide to try the UDP on Allure. We also had an excursion cancelation that they said was due to the excursion not being able to hire enough people.   So there are shortages of boat effecting things too.  With all that said we loved the cruise. 

[Ourusualbeach]

3 minutes ago, Ozark_Kid said:

In May the only place we noticed low staff on board was in the MDR.  We had a 1st time MDR  waiter and 1st time asst.  They were also assigned more than usual tables. It helped us decide to try the UDP on Allure. We also had an excursion cancelation that they said was due to the excursion not being able to hire enough people.   So there are shortages of boat effecting things too.  With all that said we loved the cruise. 

Awesome and since we have the UDP, it won't be an issue. 

[Ozark_Kid]

43 minutes ago, Ourusualbeach said:

what I hear the internet can be a challenge.

It can be a challenge but what you will like is the ability to use cellular at ports.  It might not be the same with all cell phone services but with AT&T it had great 5g at all ports except Victoria where for some reason DW iPhone did ok while my Samsung didn't.  When we left ports, if we were outside on the balcony or the Solarium,  we could stay on 5g for an hour or 2.  It surprised me.  If you do that, remember to put it back in airplane mode.

[Ourusualbeach]

7 minutes ago, Ozark_Kid said:

It can be a challenge but what you will like is the ability to use cellular at ports.  It might not be the same with all cell phone services but with AT&T it had great 5g at all ports except Victoria where for some reason DW iPhone did ok while my Samsung didn't.  When we left ports, if we were outside on the balcony or the Solarium,  we could stay on 5g for an hour or 2.  It surprised me.  If you do that, remember to put it back in airplane mode.

Thanks

[Newcruiser215]

Just off Symphony and they announced over 6000 guests were onboard. Wi-Fi was terrible. 

[TravelGirlinDallas]

4 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

I'm hoping to see something this week with either Ovation or Quantum that indicates whether or not we will be able to dock at Skagway

Yes, I’m anxious for an update on that situation, as well.

[bucfan2]

20 hours ago, Newcruiser215 said:

Just off Symphony and they announced over 6000 guests were onboard. Wi-Fi was terrible. 

Love to see and hear ships sailing full. Also love hearing the internet is terrible, as it’s nice to see people interact w/ people over electronic devices.  I realize I’m in the minority avoiding tech while vacationing. 

Edited June 27, 2022 by bucfan2

[BND]

Our EN cruise on 22 July has been sold out for over a week.  Now, what we don't know is how many cabins are put aside for quarantine.  Although, anyone notice, we're not seeing the number of people coming back and reporting positives?  I know in VA, numbers are dropping again.   So, I wonder how they adjust for that.   I'm curious about staffing because they were lacking some in Apr.  

[sandebeach]

Currently on Symphony and there are over 6000 passengers aboard. You do have to wait for an elevator. We booked shows as soon as we got on board and we’re able to get the shows at desired date and time. 

[Dinglebert]

Probably a stupid question.  If as it is said on some forums that deck 3 is being used for covid cases detected while on board then how can the ships be full.  Either the deck 3 thing is an over exaggeration or so is capacity.

[Biker19]

5 minutes ago, Dinglebert said:

ither the deck 3 thing is an over exaggeration or so is capacity.

Some day in the future RCI will lower the number or eliminate the COVID quarantine cabins (and make them available for regular guests) and they can get back to true ship capacity - we are still far from that day.

[smokeybandit]

Capacity is based on double occupancy.  So if the average people per room is 3, they can exceed double occupancy even without selling some cabins.

 

I want to say average capacity prior to covid was 107%

[Biker19]

1 minute ago, smokeybandit said:

I want to say average capacity prior to covid was 107%

RCG doesn't provide a break down by each line (RCI, Celebrity, Silverseas, etc), just an overall 108%+.

[Liljo22]

On the Liberty this past week, it was "sold out" almost a month before the cruise date.  My MIL has been on the ship several times before and she said previous cruises were more crowded.  The promenade was lightly used, there was no issue with getting deck chairs except for right around the pool and there was never a line at Rembrandt for MTD.    On the last night dinner, the maitre d' mentioned the dinner staff having to serve 2,200 people a night.  That sounds very light though.