Has anyone ever been on an underpopulated ship? ?

[ElvisAndretti]

Has anyone out there ever sailed on a ship that was noticably undersold? Does that effect the quality of the experience in any significant way? (good or bad)

[CruiserBruce]

The only time was when, at day 15 of a 19 day repositioning cruise, 2/3s of the people got off. This was the 15 day option. So, for 4 days, the ship was pretty empty.

 

Generally ships sail so full you can't tell if they aren't full.

[Goldygolfer]

We did a 31-day cruise on Azamara Quest which was actually 3 cruises btob. For the first 7 days the ship was almost at capacity. The next 2 "legs" were repositioning from Europe to Asia and the ship was less than half full - approximately 310 passengers.

Full capacity is 694 passengers and 408 crew.

It was wonderful - The ship wasn't crowded; it was easy to leave and return to the ship when in ports and we were very spoiled with more than one crew member per passenger.

We also got a great deal and would do it again in a heartbeat.

[Seago2]

I was on Caribbean Princess last August and we sailed out into Hurricane Irene. Many passengers elected not to cruise or were unable to fly into NY as the airport was closed. It was rough for the first day or two but then it was absolutely gorgeous and we had a nice, not-full ship :).

[paul929207]

We were on the Ocean Princess last spring. With the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, the pirates in Somalia, the Arab Spring in Egypt and the demonstartions in Greece, there were about 500 passengers on a ship that held 680. We had a wonderful time

[Cruisin' Chick]

On my last cruise, about 200 passengers (about 10 per cent of the capacity) didn't make it onboard due to bad weather in the UK (where they were coming from) and bad weather here in LA. The Brits we did met onboard all had booked flights a few days before (which is why most of us here recommend not flying in on the day of your flight).

 

I think the main impact was being able to get to the theaters without dealing with a full house. But it was also the source of talk onboard.

[gerryl12]

We did the repositioning cruise from China to Vancouver on the Diamond Princess last spring and the ship was only about 80% full even with last minute flash sales. This was due to the earthquake and tsunami in Japan and a lot of peoples fear that something would happen. It was great as there were no line-ups for the dining rooms and the shows were easy to get into.

[Piggeldy]

We did a winter cruise (Dec 08) on Hurtigruten's Trollfjord. She is already a small ship (sleeps 646, max. capacity of 822) but we were only 10 roundtrip passengers! :D About 50 people joined us in Kirkenes for the Christmas half of the trip.

 

Hurtigruten also provides short trips to locals (taking them from one port to the next) but the ship was fairly empty and it was wonderful. Extremely attentive staff, no crowds, always great seats in the panorama lounge, perfect service for dinner, never any lines anywhere...

[isujim]

Our last 3 cruises..............Royal Caribbean, Princess and HAL (we like to mix it up:))........none were full. They weren't overly undersold, but I would say anywhere from 300 to 150 short of capacity. We just wondered if it was a sign of the economic times.

[cb at sea]

On a ship that holds 2500, missing 150 won't be noticable!!!

[rkacruiser]

It was in 1980, but I sailed on Royal Viking Sky from New York to Copenhagen and there were only 250 passengers on a ship that could hold 500. Lots of room on an already spacious ship with wonderful service, food, and entertainment.

 

How I miss Royal Viking Line!

[Talisker92]

Very sadly, I was on the Regent Navigator right after 9/11. We had been in Europe when it happened, so we could get to the ship on a foreign airline.

Over half the passengers could not get there, and we were moved up to consolidate the housekeeping.

Needless to say, it was a somber cruise.

[isujim]

On a ship that holds 2500, missing 150 won't be noticable!!!

 

Thanks:rolleyes:

[Krazy Kruizers]

The only time was when, at day 15 of a 19 day repositioning cruise, 2/3s of the people got off. This was the 15 day option. So, for 4 days, the ship was pretty empty.

 

Generally ships sail so full you can't tell if they aren't full.

 

Yup -- it was like sailing on a Ghost ship -- Westeram.

HAL thankfully changed all that the next year -- you should have been on that cruise -- it was better.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Years ago we did a 14 day Med cruise on the Cunard Princess -- included Egypt.

The ship was suppose to hold about 800 people. There were only about 400 of us on the cruise.

It was really nice as many of us got to know each other.

[CruiserBruce]

Yup -- it was like sailing on a Ghost ship -- Westeram.

 

HAL thankfully changed all that the next year -- you should have been on that cruise -- it was better.

 

What did they change? No 15 day option?

[Krazy Kruizers]

Bruce

 

It was changed to a 21 day cruise.

 

I did a review here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=992111

[pms4104]

In Fall of 2009 we did a Carib sailing, the first following the T/A from Europe ... rumor had it there were only 1700 onboard, and the ship capacity is near 2600. It was a lovely experience, not too crowded but not too empty either ... and the frosting on the cake was that we were given a free upgrade to a full suite.