Sold out

[sp29488]

Does most cruises sail with a full ship (sold out)?

[Cruise-Crazy]

Recently they seem to.

[beauty1492]

Yep! Our last crusie the cabin was terrible and we were told there wasn't another on the ship other than interiors.

[jimbo5544]

Yep! Our last crusie the cabin was terrible and we were told there wasn't another on the ship other than interiors.

 

OK..... I may be sorry for asking, but what made your cabin terrible?

[Roscoe13]

Some sailings may have empty cabins but that doesn't mean that they aren't sailing at or very full to capacity. The life boat capacity can not be exceeded, if you get a bunch of people sailing quad or even quint then you could reach life boat capacity prior to filling all the cabins.

 

Often times the seeming retired personnel that are checking you in at the cruise port will have a bag packed and ready to sail last minute to keep the ship at or near full.

[Tapi]

Carnival is very aggressive at selling all of their sailings at 100% or more capacity. Very rarely will you see a sailing leave with empty cabins, and if you do, most of the times it's because of a "no show" or last minute cancellation.

[Tapi]

Often times the seeming retired personnel that are checking you in at the cruise port will have a bag packed and ready to sail last minute to keep the ship at or near full.

 

 

I don't know about the "retired personnel" at the port, but Carnival (and probably all cruise lines) do have a standby program for employees and their friends where they can list for a sailing and hope for an empty cabin. If cabins are available, these employees will be confirmed right at the port a few minutes prior to departure time. Most of the time the only thing that they need to pay are the port taxes and surcharges. Not a bad deal! We have similar privileges in the airline industry and its one of the biggest incentives for many to work in this industry.

[notyours75]

It is rare for a cruise ship to sail that is not at capacity. Now keep in mind that capacity means different things. Take the Carnival Freedom for instance, its normal occupancy (often times referred to as 100%) is 2980. This figured is derived from each cabin having two occupants. However the max capacity is 3754. This number is reached by every available bed in every available cabin being full. Many cabins have a couch that turns into a bed and others have upper beds that fold down so cabins can easily sleep 2, 3, 4 sometimes more depending on their configuration. These would typically be families with children. There could also be single occupants in each cabin, even though they probably paid a single supplement (usually 150%) to be there, but on some sailings that aren't selling well Carnival will waive this fee.

 

So if they say that the cruise ship is full, no cabins are available it means someone is in each cabin that is available for sale. Sometimes cruise lines put employees, visiting executives, entertainers, etc in guest cabins depending on their status and availability. Lets be honest if the Carnival CEO comes on ship he's probably not going to stay in the crew decks.

 

For the most part if they say we're at 105% capacity that would tell you that there are around 2980 adults and 150 kids would be a good estimate. Keeping in mind that you could see 4 adults in one cabin or two kids in one cabin with two parents in another, there are endless combos.

 

The fares charged by the cruise lines are just paying their bills. The costs to run a ship are pretty flat whether there are 1000 guests or 3000. They make most of their profits on alcohol, excursions, gambling, and art. If the cabin is empty, no one is buying those profitable items. That why you'll meet people who paid next to nothing for your cruise but are say huge gamblers, drinkers, etc. Carnival knows who their big spenders are regardless of your VIFP level and when the bookings aren't up to speed those PVPs get on the phone and the email offers start going out.

[sfaaa]

Not just sold out but usually sold out months in advance to the dismay of Carnival haters.

[zqvol]

Does most cruises sail with a full ship (sold out)?

 

 

Whether they do or not is anyone's guess, but if you ask you will always be told that the ship sails full.

 

Most however are not 100% sold out. 100% full (sold out), with every berth and life boat space taken is a rare occurrence.

[zqvol]

Some sailings may have empty cabins but that doesn't mean that they aren't sailing at or very full to capacity. The life boat capacity can not be exceeded, if you get a bunch of people sailing quad or even quint then you could reach life boat capacity prior to filling all the cabins.

 

Often times the seeming retired personnel that are checking you in at the cruise port will have a bag packed and ready to sail last minute to keep the ship at or near full.

 

 

A common myth. There is life boat capacity for every passenger berth on the ship, even with all the triples and quads full. In addition there is alos excess capacity on the life boats.

[Tapi]

100% full (sold out), with every berth and life boat space taken is a rare occurrence.

 

 

It's not a rare occurrence. In fact, during the summer months and other high season sailings, Carnival will impose what they internally refer to as a Maximum Occupancy Restriction which means that they will not sell a cabin unless all of its berths will be filled. In other words they won't sell 2 people a cabin designed to hold 4 people. This practice is due to the fact that Carnival can indeed sell every single berth during these high demand sailing. You can bet that the ship is sailing at its maximum capacity (all berths filled) from May until August in addition to all other holiday periods.