Thanksgiving capacity prior to covid?

[DrSea]

Just wondering what the capacity was during Thanksgiving prior to COVID? Last year, I was on a Thanksgiving cruise and the ship was around 50% capacity. This was during COVID though. I am planning on booking a cruise this year and suspect levels may go back to pre COVID capacity presuming the economy doesn't crash and we aren't in another war with another dictator. Thanks

[Jimbo]

Full House

[PhillyFan33579]

I have cruised multiple Thanksgiving cruises and they were always packed, with the exception of Celebrity Millennium last Fall. 

[Surfguyxxx]

6 hours ago, Heymarco said:

It was 80% on Liberty 2021 with 900 kids onboard.

Yikes 😳

[not-enough-cruising]

7 hours ago, Heymarco said:

It was 80% on Liberty 2021 with 900 kids onboard.

Tup, I was on that one, we were amazed how full the ship was at that point post 2019.

 

To the OP, we sale often at Thanksgiving, at the ships are always 100% plus capacity

[JT1962]

Definitely full with lots of kids. If you want a better experience, sail in the first 2 weeks of November or December.

[Biker19]

10 hours ago, DrSea said:

Just wondering what the capacity was during Thanksgiving prior to COVID?

RCG fleet wide capacity was about 108% and likely higher for RCI ships during holiday sailings.

[BirdTravels]

12 hours ago, DrSea said:

Just wondering what the capacity was during Thanksgiving prior to COVID? Last year, I was on a Thanksgiving cruise and the ship was around 50% capacity. This was during COVID though. I am planning on booking a cruise this year and suspect levels may go back to pre COVID capacity presuming the economy doesn't crash and we aren't in another war with another dictator. Thanks

We

were on the Quantum a few weeks ago. It was nearly 100% double occupancy with nearly 800 kids onboard. Almost all of the unvaxxed kids were unmasked. 

Edited July 16, 2022 by BirdTravels

[ONECRUISER]

Depends on the Ship/Class. Did 7 Thanksgivings Pre-CV 2010-2019 on Brilliance or Serenade. Doing usually longer Cruises they had about 1800-2050 is sticking in my head, this when they hold 2100 double and 2500 in all Berths. These Longer sailings had 50-75 Kids at most. 

[BecciBoo]

Doesn't this question really depend on the vessel you're considering?  We've done 2 Thanksgiving cruises both pre pandemic.  Both full and lots of kids.  But one was Freedom, the other Liberty. So around 3600 peeps full capacity.

[Sunshine3601]

As I much as I would love to sail for Thanksgiving day we have always avoided because ships are almost always at max capacity.  Expect the same this year.

[retired dude]

3 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

We

were on the Quantum a few weeks ago. It was nearly 100% double occupancy with nearly 800 kids onboard. Almost all of the unvaxxed kids were unmasked. 

and they wonder why the covid still sickens us.......

[not-enough-cruising]

3 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

We

were on the Quantum a few weeks ago. It was nearly 100% double occupancy with nearly 800 kids onboard. Almost all of the unvaxxed kids were unmasked. 

How could you tell the vaxxed  kids from the non vaxxed?

[smokeybandit]

3 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Almost all of the unvaxxed kids were unmasked. 

Did you ask every unmasked kid if they were vaccinated to know this?

[Sunshine3601]

3 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

We

were on the Quantum a few weeks ago. It was nearly 100% double occupancy with nearly 800 kids onboard. Almost all of the unvaxxed kids were unmasked. 

Royal does Not require unvaccinated children to wear a mask.

Recommends but not required.

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/faq/questions/will-i-have-to-wear-a-face-mask-onboard-my-cruise

Edited July 16, 2022 by Sunshine3601

[smears]

52 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

How could you tell the vaxxed  kids from the non vaxxed?

 

 

Depending on the date of the sailing, it could be because there was no vaccine approved for kids under a certain age.

[Sunshine3601]

35 minutes ago, smears said:

 

 

Depending on the date of the sailing, it could be because there was no vaccine approved for kids under a certain age.

Birdtravels was referring to a cruise a couple weeks ago.   Royal does not require children of any age to wear a mask.   And only children 12 or older are required to be vaccinated.

[smears]

ahhhh

[Mum2Mercury]

We sailed once on Thanksgiving -- it's been well over a decade ago; our oldest was in high school yet.  She's now 28, a college graduate, a wife and mother.  So it must've been more than 15 years ago:

 

- We sailed at over 100% capacity.  100% capacity would mean 2 people in each cabin ... but with so many children, we were over 100%. 

- The dining room was over-full (this was pre-My Time Dining), and we were assigned to a side-room (I think it was called Melodies -- this was on Mariner), the kind of room that would've been great if you were traveling with a big group -- but, for us, it felt like being at the kids' table.  I greatly disliked this seating assignment, and I asked for a change, but -- because the ship was so full -- it was impossible.  

- All the venues, including the kids' clubs, were crowded.  I'm talking about the elevators, the buffet, everything.  It definitely affected our enjoyment of the cruise.  

- We used to book waaaaay early to get exactly the cabin we wanted, and I'd watch for price drops.  This is the only cruise we've ever taken that never had a price drop -- so it was the most expensive cruise we've ever taken.

 

My husband and I are in complete agreement:  We will never sail on a holiday again.  

[BecciBoo]

I didn't notice the 100%....at all.  Having too much fun with my Grandkids!  I get to cruise with them on holidays only.  But that's not sayin much.  I never notice much around me at all on a cruise.  I am in my own little world and it's good.  Ques bother me but I've only noticed a long que to get into the skate shows, not much else.Holidays are getting to be rather tedious for me these days so I much appreciated not having to cook, clean or put up with extended family drama on those 2 cruises.  I'd do it again in a heartbeat, but they are rather expensive.

Edited July 17, 2022 by BecciBoo

[ARandomTraveler]

I have a Thanksgiving cruise booked this year. I assume it's going to be overly packed and hard to reserve dining and shows, but the timing worked best for us this year, plus I really wanted the break from doing all the cooking and cleaning.

 

Surprisingly, I've had 4 or 5 price drops on my cruise in the last 2 months, which makes me wonder if they aren't booking as much (or as quickly) as they expected. I assumed prices would just go up and up and up after I booked, but I'm not seeing that happen. 

 

Airfare might be a reason for lower bookings amongst larger families who have to pay for 4 or 5 people to fly, but I don't think it's deterring smaller groups of 2. Heck it might not even be deterring the larger families, I'm just making guesses here.
 

Flight prices are going up so that doesn't seem to be stopping travel in general, but perhaps there will be less big families on board than normal. I guess we'll see. I won't know the difference because I've never sailed that time of year before. 

[DrSea]

14 minutes ago, ARandomTraveler said:

Surprisingly, I've had 4 or 5 price drops on my cruise in the last 2 months, which makes me wonder if they aren't booking as much (or as quickly) as they expected. I assumed prices would just go up and up and up after I booked, but I'm not seeing that happen.

So this is what actually prompted me to start this tread. I think the demand for Thanksgiving is not as strong as Pre-Covid levels.

 

There are some pretty affordable options on RCL for Thanksgiving. Right now, when comparing all the lines, RCL has the lowest prices. So I am wondering if the demand this year is a little anemic.

 

The only thing preventing me from pulling the trigger is that the deposit is nonfundable at the lower price. It's almost x2 the price for the refundable deposit.

 

I feel that the demand is pretty strong this summer as cruises are being sold out. It seems like it is a little different with the winter season.

[ARandomTraveler]

2 minutes ago, DrSea said:

So this is what actually prompted me to start this tread. I think the demand for Thanksgiving is not as strong as Pre-Covid levels.

 

There are some pretty affordable options on RCL for Thanksgiving. Right now, when comparing all the lines, RCL has the lowest prices. So I am wondering if the demand this year is a little anemic.

 

The only thing preventing me from pulling the trigger is that the deposit is nonfundable at the lower price. It's almost x2 the price for the refundable deposit.

 

I feel that the demand is pretty strong this summer as cruises are being sold out. It seems like it is a little different with the winter season.

Check different room categories. My oceanview balcony cabin on Symphony only cost $130 more for the refundable option. And I bought "cancel for any reason" insurance (which will refund me 75% of the cruise fare if I cancel after final payment), which only cost me $180 for 2 people. So for an extra $310 I'm guaranteed to get at least $2,000 refunded to me if needed. 
 

And if prices keep dropping, I'll call right  before final payment and switch to the non-refundable option and get that $130 back. I asked the agent over the phone if I could do that and he said I could. And during a couple of my price drop phone calls, the agents asked if I wanted to stay refundable or switch to non-refundable, so I'm fairly confident that's an option.  

[Blizzard54]

Last Thanksgiving the Harmony was at 104%.

[Tatka]

We always sail during Thanksgiving. Since 2017 on Anthem. Full sailings. I love Thanksgiving though. With so many large families sailing many with kids, indoor pool is full, but Solarium is less fool than during off-season when mostly couples sail.