Nervous about capacity

[Tntt]

My cruise on independence  is showing sold out the last week of April, this will be our 1st  cruise back  since covid, I was thrilled that the ships were at reduced capacity but it seems RC has raised their capacities here lately. I am a little nervous rather or not the cruise is sold out due to reduced capacity or if it is 100% full. I know during spring break the ships were full but during my cruise dates spring breaks should be over and kids should be back in school. How can I found out independence of the seas capacity limits?

[Ourusualbeach]

Just now, Tntt said:

How can I found out independence of the seas capacity limits?

you cant unless you know someone on board the week before who can ask one of the officers or concierges on board

[shipgeeks]

Our February cruise was showing as Sold Out, but in fact sailed with less than 50%.  Could be a way of keeping capacity at a certain level.

[Starry Eyes]

Would you cancel if you knew your sailing would be at (or close to) full capacity?

[colliece]

Just got off the Odyssey on Sunday, we sailed at 92% capacity, this weeks sailing is over 100%.  I am going to be honest and some may disagree, but it was not as great an experience.  I know the lines need larger capacities to make a profit, but their were not enough deck chairs or activities on board for that many people.  Long lines for or reservations required, never did get to to iFly or the Zone Zero. 

 

Got spoiled with 50% capacity on our last few cruises.  I would personally pay more to have fewer passengers on board, but we may be in the minority. 

 

On an unrelated note, I wish the "Chair Hogs" would have to walk the plank.  I would be up early to go to the fitness center and at 7am there was plenty of chairs, but at 8:30 after my workout and before breakfast, every chair was "claimed" with a towel/boo/etc.  They they would be unoccupied for hours.   

[kruzerci]

I just got off a ship on Monday and can assume I contracted COVID onboard, even though everybody is tested and vaccinated. It's life. A few days under the weather but I am fine. Its the price of doing business these days.

 

I would expect all ships to be at capacity in the near future, if not already. If you are concerned, consider cancelling under CWC. 🤷‍♂️

[Bead Pirate]

They are back to full capacity based on reports this week. I have enjoyed the last three sailings this year being at reduced capacity however we are getting on Oasis Sunday and a friend on board is saying 100%+ for this sailing (to be expected for Spring Break).

 

I suspect we have seen the last of reduced capacity until the next round of COVID flares up.

[Sunshine3601]

I am onboard Anthem this week and we are at 78% capacity and website was showing they were just about sold out (only had a couple interiors and maybe 1 or  2 OV's available).    

we definitely loved sailing with reduced capacities in January but it is nice to have the "fun vibe" back onboard.    

We are doing a b2b and hear we should have similar amount of passengers next week.  

[bucfan2]

If nervous about capacity, time to choose an alternate style of vacation.  If you would have been comfortable at 50%, you missed your window of opportunity.

Edited March 25, 2022 by bucfan2

[EatonDoolittle]

1 hour ago, colliece said:

Got spoiled with 50% capacity on our last few cruises.  I would personally pay more to have fewer passengers on board, but we may be in the minority. 

 

 

 

 

I'm with ya on the 50% or less.

I've had 4 glorious low occupancy trips since Nov, but I'm afraid that the Golden Age of Cruising

(post - Covid edition) is soon over.

 

 

 

[ptf2009]

1 hour ago, colliece said:

Just got off the Odyssey on Sunday, we sailed at 92% capacity, this weeks sailing is over 100%.  I am going to be honest and some may disagree, but it was not as great an experience.  I know the lines need larger capacities to make a profit, but their were not enough deck chairs or activities on board for that many people.  Long lines for or reservations required, never did get to to iFly or the Zone Zero. 

 

Got spoiled with 50% capacity on our last few cruises.  I would personally pay more to have fewer passengers on board, but we may be in the minority. 

 

On an unrelated note, I wish the "Chair Hogs" would have to walk the plank.  I would be up early to go to the fitness center and at 7am there was plenty of chairs, but at 8:30 after my workout and before breakfast, every chair was "claimed" with a towel/boo/etc.  They they would be unoccupied for hours.   

We were on Odyssey at the end of January with 2 other couples when the ship was at about 40% capacity. While it is a beautiful new ship, we all wondered how it would work at full capacity. Our concerns were for the venues that just did not have that many seats: Playmakers (not many seats to watch popular sporting events), 270 (The Book show where the best seats were right up front..but bring your earplugs as it is very Loud music and the show makes no sense at all). No worries about needing a seat for the Music Hall as you could hear the extremely loud music all around that area. We couldn't even imagine the lines for the bumper cars, I-FLY, and other activities. 

 

Because of the above, we will not go on that class of ship again.

[Jasukkie]

I'm going to sail what I have booked and then take a break for awhile. I really loved the low capacity cruises. It's not covid fears, it's just getting too crowded and loud. It may be time for me to switch to one of the more elderly lines lol. 

[ZoeyVictoria]

5 hours ago, colliece said:

Just got off the Odyssey on Sunday, we sailed at 92% capacity, this weeks sailing is over 100%.  I am going to be honest and some may disagree, but it was not as great an experience.  I know the lines need larger capacities to make a profit, but their were not enough deck chairs or activities on board for that many people.  Long lines for or reservations required, never did get to to iFly or the Zone Zero. 

 

Got spoiled with 50% capacity on our last few cruises.  I would personally pay more to have fewer passengers on board, but we may be in the minority. 

I agree with you wholeheartedly.  We had the same experience with the Mardi Gras.  It was a fantastic experience in September, so we went again in February.  It was not even close to the same experience.  There were not enough seats to see the shows, I did not get a chance to ride the roller coaster again, and it was just plain crowded everywhere.  We loved cruising at reduced capacity and will be disappointed to see it change back to normal.  I expect our Celebrity cruise next week to still have reduced occupancy, but prepared for Harmony to be crazy full in mid-April.

Edited March 25, 2022 by ZoeyVictoria

[colliece]

4 hours ago, ptf2009 said:

We were on Odyssey at the end of January with 2 other couples when the ship was at about 40% capacity. While it is a beautiful new ship, we all wondered how it would work at full capacity. Our concerns were for the venues that just did not have that many seats: Playmakers (not many seats to watch popular sporting events), 270 (The Book show where the best seats were right up front..but bring your earplugs as it is very Loud music and the show makes no sense at all). No worries about needing a seat for the Music Hall as you could hear the extremely loud music all around that area. We couldn't even imagine the lines for the bumper cars, I-FLY, and other activities. 

 

Because of the above, we will not go on that class of ship again.

We will not as well, we did not really enjoy the vibe on the Odyssey, other than the service some of the best waiters and bartenders we have ever had, but do not enjoy lines or have to stalk a lounge chair.  Ship was pretty, but just did not feel it was designed well for such large capacity sailings.

[akcruz]

4 hours ago, ptf2009 said:

We were on Odyssey at the end of January with 2 other couples when the ship was at about 40% capacity. While it is a beautiful new ship, we all wondered how it would work at full capacity. Our concerns were for the venues that just did not have that many seats: Playmakers (not many seats to watch popular sporting events), 270 (The Book show where the best seats were right up front..but bring your earplugs as it is very Loud music and the show makes no sense at all). No worries about needing a seat for the Music Hall as you could hear the extremely loud music all around that area. We couldn't even imagine the lines for the bumper cars, I-FLY, and other activities. 

 

Because of the above, we will not go on that class of ship again.

 

Agree wholeheartedly, we were one day of Feb with 65% capacity, was crowded in another of areas and wondered how it would be at 100%.  There was 1 day we had to search for 2 pool chairs, most all were full.  Have been on other Quantum class ships and knew they were tight, figured this was our chance to try Odyssey at a lower capacity, glad we did it when did.  Also happy there are other classes of ships, something for everyone.

[TheInnocentAge]

6 hours ago, Bead Pirate said:

They are back to full capacity based on reports this week. I have enjoyed the last three sailings this year being at reduced capacity however we are getting on Oasis Sunday and a friend on board is saying 100%+ for this sailing (to be expected for Spring Break).

 

We were lucky enough to be on Symphony last year at 20% capacity (more crew than passengers, according to the Diamond and Suite concierges). Yes, those days are gone, but what a great experience to have what felt like the entire ship to ourselves.

Edited March 26, 2022 by TheInnocentAge

[leaveitallbehind]

I agree that with two cruises at around 40% capacity in October and December, we got a little spoiled with the empty ship feeling.  And with capacity tracking upwards now towards full capacity sailings, we will miss those cruises.

 

However, sailing at full capacity again down the road won't be an issue.  Nervous? Why should we be? That was how it was for the first 29 years of our cruising experience!  The recent two cruises were really just a fluke regarding normal capacity anyway.

 

Just glad to be back cruising and anxious for things to return to as much of normal state as possible.

[BirdTravels]

8 hours ago, Tntt said:

My cruise on independence  is showing sold out the last week of April, this will be our 1st  cruise back  since covid, I was thrilled that the ships were at reduced capacity but it seems RC has raised their capacities here lately. I am a little nervous rather or not the cruise is sold out due to reduced capacity or if it is 100% full. I know during spring break the ships were full but during my cruise dates spring breaks should be over and kids should be back in school. How can I found out independence of the seas capacity limits?

So,,, capacity is a bit over rated. We were at about 60% capacity two weeks ago and the elevators were packed with people (like pre-pandemic), seats in theaters were all filled. Tables were all occupied in the dining rooms. Crowds in most venues. That's what you should expect.

 

Royal will tell you that over a million people have sailed since restart. And almost all of them are really happy to be back cruising.

 

We are really happy to be back cruising. And are booked on one a month for a while. 

 

You will be fine. Stop obsessing over numbers, because at the end of the day, they don't mean much. 

[CatLadyFemme]

I feel this OP.  As someone who haha been isolating over two years and yet still got COVID (from my partner who works at a Starbucks) and is struggling with long COVID, I was hoping our cruise next month would be slightly less hectic to ease back into it (and was lucky enough to get my 4th just today due to my immune issues). We plan on masking indoors, though am guessing no one else will. 🤷🏻‍♀️
 

We have a few more RCI cruises booked over the next two years, but I just noticed Cunard’s TA is the same cost as the RCL TA we booked for next year. Stating to think it may be time for us to jettison to an “old fogey” cruise line (as someone posted) to hopefully be a little less hectic as far as lines and seating. I certainly don’t expect Royal to change their MO.

 

To those of y’all telling us to just suck it up and chose something else, it is not always that easy. As a disabled person with food allergies, cruising is one of the only ways I can travel to multiple places, especially where they might not be aware of/able to cater to food allergies. Flying on a plane wipes me out for the whole next day. Cruises are perfect because I only have to deal with the physical impact of travel once, get to go cool places, enjoy fun entertainment, and know I can eat safely. We all cruise for different reasons;  no need to get crabby when those who have a anxieties around illness or access issues are wistful we had been able to cruise when the capacity was at 50% (my PCP would have had a cow if I had suggested traveling last year). We all love cruising or we would be here 💜  

[CatLadyFemme]

Didn’t get to edit quick enough. Should end “or wouldn’t* be here.”

Edited March 26, 2022 by CatLadyFemme

[layteacher]

I just got off a Carnival cruise this week and will be going on a RC cruise next week. Praying RC is better. The lines were horrible! Took 3 hours to get on the boat and 3 hours to get off the boat. What few shows they had were completely full way before show time. Ice machines were always broken, no coffee machines working, food was terrible. If the one on RC is not better then I am done cruising for quite some time. 

[BND]

I don't get why anyone is "nervous".  100% capacity is happening.  Covid is here to stay, like the FLU.  The cruise lines need to be back at full capacity.  If you don't like it, don't cruise.  You're more likely to catch it at home than on a cruise.

 

We did a b2b in Nov/Dec on HOTS.  First week was about 40%, second was about 60%.  We board EN in 8 days and expect more than 60%.  We had a great time on our b2b.  We cruise to cruise, not for the food or coffee, but to cruise.  As I've said before, remember when people were saying they'd "just be happy to be back on a ship"?  

[Morecruisesplz]

9 hours ago, Starry Eyes said:

Would you cancel if you knew your sailing would be at (or close to) full capacity?

Yes

[smplybcause]

Honestly, while not official I doubt any cruise line is limiting capacity right now beyond the number of cabins they're holding for quarantine. Whether they reach it or not any given week is another question. 

[GatorGirl1313]

Cruised on Oasis over Thanksgiving and ship seem packed although I don't know what the capacity was.  Despite having reservations we were refused entrance to 2 shows because they somehow overbooked them.  Long lines for all entertainment and some venues were way too small...like kareoke lounge.  It was hard to sign up for Zipline and experiences as they were either closed or full for the day. I just don't remember waiting in lines on cruise ships 10 years ago.  I still enjoyed the cruise but felt I paid more for promised amenities that we actually didn't get to use or enjoy 

Edited March 26, 2022 by GatorGirl1313
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