Formula for Calculating Ship Spaciousness

[Flying is for Planes]

I have been doing a little project on finding an easy way to calculate if a ship is crowded or not. Its fairly basic yet I believe effective. It is a simple calculation of the gross tonnage per passenger. I know it does not take in to consideration all factors but I wanted to devise something simple for people to use

 

GROSS TONNAGE divided by TOTAL PASSENGERS

 

Scale

 

Below 30 This ship will feel crowded all of the time

35 – 40 This ship may often feel crowded

40 – 45 This is a mainly spacious ship

45 - 50 This ship will generally feel less crowded and spacious

50 – 60 This ship will have a very spacious feel and not too crowded

60+ One of the most spacious and least crowded ships

 

Examples

 

Carnival Fantasy 26.77

Carnival Conquest 29.72

MSC Fantasia 31.61

Carnival legend 33.18

Quantum of the Seas 34.20

NCL Breakaway 35.75

Adventure of the Seas 35.94

Radiance of the Seas 36

Sun Princess 38.54

NCL Jade 38.92

Regal Princess 39.16

Allure of the Seas 40.74

Nieuw Amsterdam 40.87

Grand Princess 41.92

Celebrity Solstice 42.8

Celebrity Millennium 46.66

Queen Mary 2 57.25

Crystal Serenity 63.96

[time4u2go]

It just seems like there's SO many other factors:

 

How many crew versus how many passengers?

How spacious are crew areas?

How many elevators?

General layout of the ship.

 

...I'm sure there's many others.

Edited August 6, 2014 by time4u2go

[Flying is for Planes]

It just seems like there's SO many other factors:

 

 

I was trying to keep it simple:p I think as a rough guide it works

[dancinman66]

Most lines have this information already available

Google it and you can easily check one ship against another

Also passenger to crew ratios should determine likely service noting more crew equates more cost

 

 

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[MADflyer]

Prior to the entry of the Sovereign of the Seas into the cruise market, every ship was assigned a 'Space Ratio' Things started to change around 1990.

 

The formula did involve just passenger to gross tonnage and took into account the distribution of public areas in relation to cabin area as well.

 

This along with the 'Crew Ratio' were used to compare ships. A ship with a high space ratio along with a 1:1 crew ratio was considered to be the ideal.

 

Ships with class variance like the Cunard vessels were assigned multiple ratios based on each class of service.

[NightOne]

I was trying to keep it simple:p I think as a rough guide it works

 

I did something similar myself last year and if I recall correctly the Voyager Class ships had the least tonnage per passenger and thus would typically be the most crowded. (for Royal)

[comxkid]

The formula did involve just passenger to gross tonnage and took into account the distribution of public areas in relation to cabin area as well.

 

This would be a key factor in any formula that I devised. This is the reason that so many lament when public space is converted into cabins.

 

I would guess that the Royal Promenade would factor positively into the formula. From experience, I never felt crowded on a ship until my cruise on the Brilliance of the Seas to New England. You could not move through the Deck 5 due to the number of people shopping and hanging out in the Centrum.

[Clarea]

I did something similar myself last year and if I recall correctly the Voyager Class ships had the least tonnage per passenger and thus would typically be the most crowded. (for Royal)

Actually, I thought Voyager class (before any refits) had some of the best passenger to space ratio.

 

It's also important to pick a type of passenger count and use it consistently. For example, when I use double occupancy capacity of Voyager (3114), I get a ratio of 44. When I use max capacity (3840), I get a ratio of 35.7. Huge difference. The 5 or 6 times I've been on Voyager, passenger count has been in the 3400 range. So the passenger count number that is used can change the ratio dramatically.

[Cruising89143]

The industry standard is based on gross tonnage divided by the number of lower berth passengers. This formula has been used for years.

[NightOne]

Actually, I thought Voyager class (before any refits) had some of the best passenger to space ratio.

 

It's also important to pick a type of passenger count and use it consistently. For example, when I use double occupancy capacity of Voyager (3114), I get a ratio of 44. When I use max capacity (3840), I get a ratio of 35.7. Huge difference. The 5 or 6 times I've been on Voyager, passenger count has been in the 3400 range. So the passenger count number that is used can change the ratio dramatically.

 

I forgot what numbers I used but agree that the passenger count has a large impact on it. Overall, I think the numbers can give you a rough idea of what is going on but there are too many other factors to make any formula tell the true story. Different demographics are going to drive traffic to different areas of the ship which definitely contributes to how crowded a ship will feel to that demographic and other demographics. (Example: a ship full of kids probably will make the pool very crowded and the champagne bar not so much)

[dna1990]

Is there any merit to the concept of more balcony rooms these days? Meaning anytime more people spend more time in their cabin - then ship will feel less crowded.

 

Is this how Oasis helps manage such high pax counts - many folks take in CP or the water from their balcony?

 

I think gross tonnage while I understand here a first measurable mark - but it has to be more on amount of public spaces. Just because you add 4 more decks of cabins, if you don't add more pools or lounges - then the displacement of those cabins is going against the formula not with it.

 

 

As many people stay glued to the big screen on today's pool decks - I am all for that. Put better TVs/Games in staterooms, and leave more deck room for me.

[cb at sea]

There is a book, I think called "Cruise Ships"....it details everything about every ship.

[rcixfan5]

http://travel.travelocity.com/ecruise/ShipFinder.do?Service=TRAVELOCITY

 

Travelocity has been calculating "space ratio" for years.

 

Space Ratio Details

 

Space ratio: The enclosed space (cubic feet) per passenger on the ship.

Example:30000/1000=30 cubic feet

Where 30000 is Ship Size expressed in Gross Tonnage and 1000 is the passenger capacity on ship.

Note: Space ratio does not necessarily correlate with stateroom size. Ships can have small staterooms but very large public areas, yielding a higher space ratio number.

The higher the ratio, the more passengers will have a sense of the ship's roominess.

 

 

 

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[robandana]

Is there any merit to the concept of more balcony rooms these days? Meaning anytime more people spend more time in their cabin - then ship will feel less crowded.

 

Is this how Oasis helps manage such high pax counts - many folks take in CP or the water from their balcony?

 

I think gross tonnage while I understand here a first measurable mark - but it has to be more on amount of public spaces. Just because you add 4 more decks of cabins, if you don't add more pools or lounges - then the displacement of those cabins is going against the formula not with it.

 

 

As many people stay glued to the big screen on today's pool decks - I am all for that. Put better TVs/Games in staterooms, and leave more deck room for me.

 

I totally agree, we have cruised on the Grand Princess and found the space to passenger ratio great and later that same year on the Crown Princess which is basically the same ship but with one more deck of balcony's...it always seemed crowded...it has basically the same common areas but like 700 more passengers.

 

With RC the Voyager class is great...unless you have bad weather and no one can be outside...then it feels very crowded...:eek:

[DEIx15x8]

Ship design, cabin sizes, and deck layout can really throw the formula out the window. Large cabins obviously means less public space even with a high ratio just like an older ship with the same ratio could be better because of her smaller cabins. A ship with poor passenger flow or inadequate path way sizes will obviously feel more crowded even if the ratio is better. The big thing with RCCL ships that throw the numbers out the window though is the large open spaces they love using. I believe the Oasis class has the best ratio followed by the Voyager and then Freedom classes. The problem is the Promenades are huge and take up a ton of space but only deck 5 of it adds to the actual usable space ratio while the other decks of open space are artificially inflating the calculated ratios. This is why the Quantum classes numbers look worse compared to the others than they really are.

[Starry Eyes]

I have seen that ratio for years. So far, it has not predicted whether I will feel crowded or not, probably because there are so many variable as others have mentioned and more. It may depend on where I want space vs where the ship designer put that space. And even weather. On a cruise blessed by warm, sunny weather the pool deck may be overcrowded, but, as I am happier elsewhere, I am not crowded at all. Same cruise with wind and rain, everybody is apt to feel inside public areas are crowded (unless they are hanging out in their suite). Another example, with just DH and I sharing a cabin, we can do well with fairly tight quarters (if well designed). So, I'd rather have square footage in public area vs the extra walking space Carnival places in its cabins; somebody else would certainly prioritize the other way. I might, too, if there were 3 or 4 of us sahring a cabin.

[mjldvlks]

Actually, I thought Voyager class (before any refits) had some of the best passenger to space ratio.

 

It's also important to pick a type of passenger count and use it consistently. For example, when I use double occupancy capacity of Voyager (3114), I get a ratio of 44. When I use max capacity (3840), I get a ratio of 35.7. Huge difference. The 5 or 6 times I've been on Voyager, passenger count has been in the 3400 range. So the passenger count number that is used can change the ratio dramatically.

 

Great points -- I also have Voyager as the least crowded on this basis. I have had a hard time replicating OPs numbers. I personally use double occupancy as the rule of thumb to try to get an apples to apples comparison.

 

This is however a very rough comparison in any event. Since gt is essentially a measure of interior space, it makes a big difference how that space is used. High ceiling [Royal Promenade for example] may have a lot of interior space that is not useful for reducing crowdedness. Also, some line monkey with the gt number. RCI has a real bad habit of using estimates in their ads rather than the official registered numbers. The Freedoms for example are advertised as 160,000 when they are officially 154 and change. Finally, design can make a huge difference. Here I have to give major props to RCI. I have never felt crowded on any RCI ship [well maybe during a parade on Independence, but that is different]. On Celebrity Mercury on the other hand, I felt crowded all the time because traffic flow was poor and spaces were smaller and more closed in -- much prefer the RCI ships.