My cruise is half empty?

[Hgwells01]

My TA advised me our 2 Mar cruise from Hong Kong on the Volendam is still pretty empty, I'm thinking its a little late for a flash sale to fill it, am a bit disappointed as our last one on the Noordam was such fun and exciting with lots of interesting people to chat to at dinner and onboard at times, im wondering if it's good or bad, there shouldn't be too many queues I guess, anyone else been on a cruise where it's not very full?

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

You can all ways call Holland to check your self ..

[Krazy Kruizers]

Several times we have been on ships that were about 75% full.

It didn't bother us.

[take us away]

We have sailed on partially full cruises and loved it: no lines, fewer hassles, the crew has more time to interact with passengers so service seems a bit better. Have found that there is always someone to chat with on a cruise. On our less-full cruises, HAL grouped passengers at dinner with several empty tables near by - it was almost as if each table had their own personal dining stewards - so no worries there. Have seen a flash sail 5 days before sailing so there is still hope, especially for Australian passengers.

 

Maybe you will get an awesome upgrade - check with your TA and have them contact HAL and ask. Have a wonderful time!

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

I would love to be on a ship that was not full.

[Grannycb]

I agree with Take Us Away. Half full ships are a cruiser's dream. Service is great and there are no lines.

Edited February 18, 2015 by Grannycb

[Himself]

What ever will be will be. Just go and enjoy the cruise,

[amster65]

Look at it the other way, its half full:D

[POA1]

Our first cruise was on the old Noordam which had a capacity of 1,200 passengers. On our sailing out of New Orleans in early December, there were 620 passengers on board. The service was beyond outstanding.

 

We would love to sail on less full ships, emptier planes, etc. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised as well as spoiled.

[whogo]

Your travel agent may be misinformed. Cruise lines do not usually tell how well a cruise is selling.

[xlxo]

Hmm.... Mar 2 is Hong Kong to Singapore....

 

I would love a half empty ship to avoid all the crowds in the dining and shows.

• Dining window seats would be easier.
  
• Deck chairs would be easier.
  
• Pool and fitness space would be easier.
  
• More choices for dining times.
  
• Buffet would be easier.
  
• Easier time with last minute booking excursions.
  

 

Your travel agent may be misinformed. Cruise lines do not usually tell how well a cruise is selling.

Perhaps.... but when I see huge price discounts on Mar 2nd.... I might go on that trip if I can get away from work.. Edited February 18, 2015 by xlxo

[cruz chic]

Your travel agent may be misinformed. Cruise lines do not usually tell how well a cruise is selling.

 

I agree. I believe that hal would be the only ones to have that info unless they are tight with someone at hal.

[freestyling]

doing a fake booking on HAL sire it shows a total of 16 rooms available, however the price for 14 days looks pretty decent !

[Sir PMP]

My TA advised me our 2 Mar cruise from Hong Kong on the Volendam is still pretty empty, I'm thinking its a little late for a flash sale to fill it, am a bit disappointed as our last one on the Noordam was such fun and exciting with lots of interesting people to chat to at dinner and onboard at times, im wondering if it's good or bad, there shouldn't be too many queues I guess, anyone else been on a cruise where it's not very full?

 

It's half full because it's a very cold cruise, but look at it this way, more food for you....

[Susie51]

Enjoy the more personalized service!

[NJpassenger]

Curious if anyone has a guess as to why upgrades would be more likely if ship has not sold well. I see it mentioned whenever speaking of less than capacity selling cruises. How would they assign cabins/upgrade, maybe try to keep cabins booked close to each other to make it easier and to have less stewards on duty??? or maybe get rid of whole categories or area of ship?? Just wondering if anyone has had really good upgrades in ships that have not sold well.

[sail7seas]

Seems most of us are in agreement it will be wonderful to sail with less than a full complement of guests. Enjoy the wonderful service, the opportunity for stewards to not be stressed and rushed..... You likely will be very spoiled. :)

 

Have a great cruise.

[SilvertoGold]

This specific (March 2) 14 day cruise is part of a lot of Collectors cruise combinations.

 

I wonder how full all these segments, before and after, will be.

[PathfinderEss]

Look at it the other way, its half full:D

Personally I could only dream of being on a half full ship, how wonderful that would be.:)

[take us away]

Curious if anyone has a guess as to why upgrades would be more likely if ship has not sold well. I see it mentioned whenever speaking of less than capacity selling cruises. How would they assign cabins/upgrade, maybe try to keep cabins booked close to each other to make it easier and to have less stewards on duty??? or maybe get rid of whole categories or area of ship?? Just wondering if anyone has had really good upgrades in ships that have not sold well.

 

We had the pleasure of an upgrade (yes, it was free) from an outside to a SA. The ship was maybe 70% full and lots of SA suites were open. It was a last minute upgrade as our TA called us while we were on our way to the ship to let us know!

[chrispb]

It's half full because it's a very cold cruise, but look at it this way, more food for you....

 

Cold? You must be joking????????

[wander]

In November 2011 I was on a 35+ day cruise that was NEVER over 1/2 full! What a great experience. For the first about 8 days - less than 25% full. Talk about getting spoiled - both passengers and crew.

 

Reasons - well many folks simply afraid to cruise. ALSO, there was a major change in the itinerary - was to go from Portugal to India, but 911 ruled out the Suez Canal. So, it went from a about 3 week cruise to a 5 week cruise, going around the bottom of Africa and ending in Singapore. Some folks could not cruise that long and some did some want the new itinerary,

 

Well, they changed the itinerary, added a few weeks, did NOT charge us any more, paid our gratuities and treated us royally the whole time. (This was NOT on HAL, but on another very nice line that since has been gobbled up by a bigger line.)

 

The first few days the crew really enjoyed the light workload, but then they started to get board and boy did we all get great service, TOO GREAT AT TIMES. (Once I picked-up my coffee cup to take a sip and my empty saucer was wisked away to be washed.)

 

Why did more folks board after about 8 days - a very special pricing offer was made for folks in the UK who joined us. Most came with a UK well known English Garden expert who had put together an English Garden tour in Cape Town, Durban and Port something, SA. All passengers were invited to attend the leader's sea day lectures (fascinating) and this was not a wild, noisy or party prone group. (We could not participate in their wonderful sounding private tours of public and private gardens in SA.)

 

They emptied the lower two decks and moves folks up to better balance the workload. Not spectacular moves that I heard of, but up higher on the ship for many. From what I could tell, many of the the UK folks were assigned cabins in a part of one of the emptied decks.

 

A WONDERFUL!!!!! in all ways cruise. PS there were still more folks to chat with than was possible on the half+ empty ship.

Edited February 19, 2015 by wander
typo

[SilvertoGold]

Cold? You must be joking????????

 

That's his trademark: always joking.

[Spender Nui]

As others have said I much prefer a less crowded ship.

[Tante Amalie]

Is there a reliable way to determine how full a cruise is? The fake booking seems harder with the new site and I don't think they ever showed all the empty cabins.

 

Is there some other technique for assessing occupancy?