Are ships sailing at full capacity?

[Coral]

3 hours ago, Hlitner said:

I agree with the posters who said that Princess is not hiding the actual numbers aboard.  In fact, when we were recently on the Enchanted we heard the usual speech that broke down the passenger numbers by country.  On our 2 cruises (starting Nov 10) we had about 1800 passengers.  We were never told the actual number of working crew but there were certainly some reductions among the wait staff in the MDRs (one of the 3 MDRs was kept closed during our 20 days).

 

I asked a crew member how many crew were onboard and he had no reservations telling me. He said 800 vs normal 1150/1200 on the Grand. There was no official announcement though.

 

I did hear several new crew had arrived and were doing 14 day quarantine. We also had one of our dining rooms closed but that was fine for our sailing. Heck, one dining room would have been enough but we had access to two of them.

Edited January 5, 2022 by Coral

[hsmom]

11 hours ago, capriccio said:

On the Caribbean Princess right now.  Full capacity (all berths)is 3500..  Last week there were 2500 passengers.  This week there are 1001!  No waits for elevators, excellent service, happy staff and passengers.  Passengers following the masking protocols too. 

An interesting tidbit from the CD:  over 500 passengers are first time Princess cruisers.

Would you mind checking on the numbers for the next to weeks? We arrive on Sunday. Thanks.

[capriccio]

15 hours ago, hsmom said:

Would you mind checking on the numbers for the next to weeks? We arrive on Sunday. Thanks.

I checked with customer service about next week and received a vague reply:  “in the 1000s - not as many as last week (2500) and not as few as this week (which he said was in the 900s).”

 

Sorry he wasn’t more precise.

[MissP22]

4 hours ago, capriccio said:

I checked with customer service about next week and received a vague reply:  “in the 1000s - not as many as last week (2500) and not as few as this week (which he said was in the 900s).”

 

Sorry he wasn’t more precise.

If the numbers continue to decrease like that it might not pay to sail at all. 😢

[Coffeeluvr05]

I can't see them sailing at full capacity for the foreseeable future with the need to be able to have isolation cabins for guests and crew that end up with Covid while sailing.  

[PrincessLuver]

9 minutes ago, Coffeeluvr05 said:

I can't see them sailing at full capacity for the foreseeable future with the need to be able to have isolation cabins for guests and crew that end up with Covid while sailing.  

 

The crew we have talked to on this voyage seems to think Princess is going to come out of the current situation just fine and they like the way they are slowly integrating staff, ships and programs.

 

From the looks of the way people are enjoying themselves on this cruise with drinks at the pool and bars at night, dancing, participation in cruise director activities, full tables in the casino and just in general I have a feeling Princess is doing OK at least on this cruise.  

 

We certainly are totaling enjoying the reduced number of passengers and it just makes everything seem so much more special...........

[Coffeeluvr05]

@PrincessLuver My comment did not indicate in any way that Princess would not be ok or that guests were not enjoying the lesser capacity cruising.  I'm thinking you might have been meaning to quote another post instead.

[skents]

Currently on the Regal.  Our head waiter last night said there are  1500 on board. They were at 2000 before the CDC made their announcement against going on a cruise. 

[UT-Volsfan]

On the Grand Princess now.  We have 1,188 passengers on board.  This is the third cruise where we have enjoyed the reduced numbers on board.

[kywildcatfanone]

17 hours ago, UT-Volsfan said:

On the Grand Princess now.  We have 1,188 passengers on board.  This is the third cruise where we have enjoyed the reduced numbers on board.

I am jealous, would love to sail on a ship no more than 40% capacity.  

[kywildcatfanone]

I have another question, and do not want to start a new thread for it.  We booked a balcony cabin for our upcoming cruise, usually we do not because we don't tend to spend that much time in our cabin and don't get the benefit of the balcony, but because of covid, my wife wanted a balcony so that if something happened and we needed to quarantine, at least we would have a balcony.

 

So, if you have to quarantine and you have a balcony cabin, do they leave you there, or do you move to another cabin, and if so, are the quarantine cabins all balcony cabins?

[minnesotasisu]

2 minutes ago, kywildcatfanone said:

I have another question, and do not want to start a new thread for it.  We booked a balcony cabin for our upcoming cruise, usually we do not because we don't tend to spend that much time in our cabin and don't get the benefit of the balcony, but because of covid, my wife wanted a balcony so that if something happened and we needed to quarantine, at least we would have a balcony.

 

So, if you have to quarantine and you have a balcony cabin, do they leave you there, or do you move to another cabin, and if so, are the quarantine cabins all balcony cabins?

From what I have read, you would be transferred to another balcony stateroom in a quarantined area of the ship so they could have control of who visits that area. Food would be delivered to you during your stay. We had another cruise booked and had a balcony cabin for the same reason you suggested but we ended up canceling that cruise and booked this one. Once I realized they were giving balcony cabins to quarantined guests we booked an interior cabin. We're not hoping to get moved to a balcony cabin though....

[capriccio]

2 minutes ago, kywildcatfanone said:

I have another question, and do not want to start a new thread for it.  We booked a balcony cabin for our upcoming cruise, usually we do not because we don't tend to spend that much time in our cabin and don't get the benefit of the balcony, but because of covid, my wife wanted a balcony so that if something happened and we needed to quarantine, at least we would have a balcony.

 

So, if you have to quarantine and you have a balcony cabin, do they leave you there, or do you move to another cabin, and if so, are the quarantine cabins all balcony cabins?

On the Caribbean Princess right now.  From what I’ve read and heard from some staff is that those requiring quarantine are moved to a balcony cabin regardless of the cabin category they booked.  I believe there is more info on the Princess website about FCC for the days in quarantine.  The amount would be based on the fare paid for your booked cabin.

[Clownfish Cruiser]

23 hours ago, skents said:

Currently on the Regal.  Our head waiter last night said there are  1500 on board. They were at 2000 before the CDC made their announcement against going on a cruise. 

 

I hope to be boarding the Regal next Friday! Thanks for the report on the numbers. I hope the remainder of your cruise is fantastic!