Capacity though September 2021

[018041]

Hello, I am getting different answers from everyone at NCL I speak with. Can someone please confirm the maximum capacity and or occupancy % for sailing on the Encore in Alaska in September?

 

Thanks in advance!

[complawyer]

sorry, but in reality, i dont think that anyone who posts on this site, can actually give you a correct answer.

 

probably even ncl wont know until sailing gets close

[018041]

Just looking for an estimate. 

[www3traveler]

Mr. Del Rio said that each ship coming on line would sail at 60% for the 1st 30 days and IF things go well gradually increase.  Given how things are going, by mid to late September my guess would be 65% to 70%.

[JamieLogical]

Everything I have seen/heard/read leads me to believe it is about 60%

 

As an indication, I am sailing on the 9/26 Breakaway to Bermuda. I was tracking inventory since I booked. As of a week ago Wednesday (18th), there were at least 789 rooms left. On Friday the 20th, all but three categories suddenly flipped to "sold out". Based on double occupancy, 789 rooms would be almost exactly 40%. So it seems they switched almost everything to "sold out" when they hit that 60% threshold.

[LNielsen]

I was told by an NCL agent that it starts at 60% for the first 30 days of sailing, then goes to 80% which would be early September and, finally,  to 100%.   She made it sound like 80% to 100% would also have a 30 day window.  Who knows at this point if those timeframes will hold due to the uptick in COVID numbers.  My conversation with her took place two weeks ago.  

Edited August 28, 2021 by LNielsen
Punctuation

[SwimmingDragon]

16 minutes ago, LNielsen said:

I was told by an NCL agent that it starts at 60% for the first 30 days of sailing, then goes to 80% which would be early September and, finally,  to 100%.   She made it sound like 80% to 100% would also have a 30 day window.  Who knows at this point if those timeframes will hold due to the uptick in COVID numbers.  My conversation with her took place two weeks ago.  

This should be correct. It is per ship. So Encore will have run 30 days by September, so it will go to 80% unless something changes because of the cdc or covid. Breakaway will begin at the end of September, so will run at 60% until just before the end of October.  Then they will run at 80%. At which time Encore will be at 100%.

[LNielsen]

6 minutes ago, SwimmingDragon said:

This should be correct. It is per ship. So Encore will have run 30 days by September, so it will go to 80% unless something changes because of the cdc or covid. Breakaway will begin at the end of September, so will run at 60% until just before the end of October.  Then they will run at 80%. At which time Encore will be at 100%.

We’re sailing on Encore, boarding tomorrow actually, and I wanted to be sure of passenger capacity before our cancellation window closed.  So, yes, I should have clarified early September  pertained to Encore.   
 

[rad798]

While Mr. Del Rio is telling everyone that the first sailings of each ship will be at 60%, the staff at NCL evidently did not get the memo.

The inaugural cruise of the Jade sailed at around 75% capacity.

Pretty sure the first cruise of the Encore was around that amount too.

 

I think NCL would sail at 100% if they could sell it.

 

While 15% more is not that big of deal. I just wish NCL would do what they say for a change and stop with the sly marketing schemes.

[JamieLogical]

40 minutes ago, rad798 said:

While Mr. Del Rio is telling everyone that the first sailings of each ship will be at 60%, the staff at NCL evidently did not get the memo.

The inaugural cruise of the Jade sailed at around 75% capacity.

Pretty sure the first cruise of the Encore was around that amount too.

 

I think NCL would sail at 100% if they could sell it.

 

While 15% more is not that big of deal. I just wish NCL would do what they say for a change and stop with the sly marketing schemes.

 

To be fair, I haven't seen ANY cruise line officially announce the capacity of any of their ships prior to the restart. I have only seen some lines say how many passengers are onboard once a sailing has started.

[rad798]

10 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

 

To be fair, I haven't seen ANY cruise line officially announce the capacity of any of their ships prior to the restart. I have only seen some lines say how many passengers are onboard once a sailing has started.

Of course NCL would not announce this. It does not fit their narrative.

With a little searching, it is easily found though.

While everything on the internet is not true, here is one story about the Jade inaugural sailing and the occupancy stated. Others are out there.

Live From Norwegian Jade: What It's Like On The First NCL Cruise Back in 16 Months (cruisecritic.com)

This is from the UK managing editor of Cruise Critic. So, I would think that is a reliable source.

 

[JamieLogical]

3 minutes ago, rad798 said:

Of course NCL would not announce this. It does not fit their narrative.

With a little searching, it is easily found though.

While everything on the internet is not true, here is one story about the Jade inaugural sailing and the occupancy stated. Others are out there.

Live From Norwegian Jade: What It's Like On The First NCL Cruise Back in 16 Months (cruisecritic.com)

This is from the UK managing editor of Cruise Critic. So, I would think that is a reliable source.

 

 

Unclear why you quoted me in your post, since what you said seems to have little/nothing to do with what I said? If anything, it's an example of what I said. No line has announced ahead of time what capacity any ship would be sailing at. We just get reports once the ships have sailed.

[rad798]

3 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

 

Unclear why you quoted me in your post, since what you said seems to have little/nothing to do with what I said? If anything, it's an example of what I said. No line has announced ahead of time what capacity any ship would be sailing at. We just get reports once the ships have sailed.

Sorry, I misread what you said. Missed the "prior" Must not be fully awake yet.

 

With that being said, NCL and Mr. Del Rio have stated numerous times that his ships will start at 60% and move up in capacity from there.

[LNielsen]

8 hours ago, rad798 said:

While Mr. Del Rio is telling everyone that the first sailings of each ship will be at 60%, the staff at NCL evidently did not get the memo.

The inaugural cruise of the Jade sailed at around 75% capacity.

Pretty sure the first cruise of the Encore was around that amount too.

 

I think NCL would sail at 100% if they could sell it.

 

While 15% more is not that big of deal. I just wish NCL would do what they say for a change and stop with the sly marketing schemes.

I believe, and could be incorrect, it is the CDC  that is setting the capacity at 60, 80, and 100%.  That would preclude the Jade from having to adhere to the numbers as the CDC has say over ships sailing from US waters only.   We are currently on Encore and I will report back once I find out our exact number of passengers.  I was told between 2,300 and 2,400 passengers, which is well under the 60% passenger threshold.  

[anyman]

19 hours ago, JamieLogical said:

Everything I have seen/heard/read leads me to believe it is about 60%

 

As an indication, I am sailing on the 9/26 Breakaway to Bermuda. I was tracking inventory since I booked. As of a week ago Wednesday (18th), there were at least 789 rooms left. On Friday the 20th, all but three categories suddenly flipped to "sold out". Based on double occupancy, 789 rooms would be almost exactly 40%. So it seems they switched almost everything to "sold out" when they hit that 60% threshold.

 

How do you check room counts left?

[JamieLogical]

1 hour ago, LNielsen said:

I believe, and could be incorrect, it is the CDC  that is setting the capacity at 60, 80, and 100%.  That would preclude the Jade from having to adhere to the numbers as the CDC has say over ships sailing from US waters only.   We are currently on Encore and I will report back once I find out our exact number of passengers.  I was told between 2,300 and 2,400 passengers, which is well under the 60% passenger threshold.  

 

The Return to Sail framework from the CDC does not set capacity limits. You are incorrect.

[FlGoodShips]

Hey Jamielogical 

How do you check how many cabins are available??

[JamieLogical]

Just now, FlGoodShips said:

Hey Jamielogical 

How do you check how many cabins are available??

 

I use a TA site that shows more than 15 rooms per category (NCL and many TA sites only show 15 even if there are more), click into each category, and then enter the numbers into a spreadsheet. Unfortunately, we are not allowed to mention TA sites by name here on Cruise Critic, so I can't give you more details. 

[LNielsen]

8 minutes ago, JamieLogical said:

 

The Return to Sail framework from the CDC does not set capacity limits. You are incorrect.

Which is why I stated I may be incorrect.  

[JamieLogical]

Just now, LNielsen said:

Which is why I stated I may be incorrect.  

 

And I was confirming. Sorry, I wasn't trying to sound harsh... sometimes text on the internet doesn't convey inflection.

[davencl]

On our aug 21 to 28th cruise I just got off of we were told their were 2700 on board including crew. From the cruise director the first night. 

  That seems low as normally the Encore holds 4000 passengers and 1700 crew.

[Old & Retired]

7 hours ago, davencl said:

On our aug 21 to 28th cruise I just got off of we were told their were 2700 on board including crew. From the cruise director the first night. 

  That seems low as normally the Encore holds 4000 passengers and 1700 crew.

If that number is including crew, I would guess at least 1000 crew, then you only had 1700 paying passengers?

[JamieLogical]

I know that when I was on the Equinox, they were running with 50% crew because, while the CDC has not put a limit on capacity, they have said that crew cannot share quarters, so every crew member needs their own room. I believe NCL's Breakaway and Breakaway class ships are designed with individual crew quarters, so that may not be as much of a limitation for them. On the Equinox, though, crew typically have shared quarters, so they essentially had a capacity limit on crew.

[BermudaBound2014]

This is the actual transcript from the last earnings call. Here is a cut and paste of Mr. Del Rio's response to a question posed from JPMorgan's team. I've linked the entire transcript here you want to read it and there is an audio if you are interested in hearing the words come out of Frank's mouth. 

 

 

Frank J. Del Rio -- President and Chief Executive Officer

Yeah. As Mark mentioned, we're starting every vessel in the 60% to 70% range of load factor. That's not anyone's requirement, it's not a CDC mandate. It's something we think is a responsible way to start operations, train our crew, get our feet wet, so to speak. If all goes well, after 30 days, we'll increase that to 80% load, and after 60 days, we will resume trying to fill the vessel as in pre-pandemic level.

 

To the OP: I would expect significantly less than 80% for a September Encore Sailing. Personally, I expect less than 80% for some time to come. The reality is people aren't buying cruises right now. If NCL could fill the ship after 60 days, they would, but they can't and articles like this aren't helping the industry:

 

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/28/is-it-safe-to-go-on-a-cruise-during-covid-pandemic-2021-restrictions.html

 

https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/southeast/2021/08/27/629034.htm

 

The CDC also issued additional warnings about cruising on August 20th which have prompted many people to cancel:

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices/covid-3/coronavirus-cruise-ship

 

[018041]

C an someone with the ability (and time) 🙂 please post the availability on the Encore 9/11 cruise to try and determine capacity. Thanks in advance!