Eurodam Far Below Capacity - what's up?

[groundloop]

I'm on Eurodam at this very moment sailing toward Alaska.  The ship didn't feel very full to us so I asked our server about it, she said there are only around 1200 guests on board.  I'd have thought we'd be packed right now, any wild guesses?

 

 

[Guest ldtr]

Not surprising   CCL reported that its occupancy (2 berth per cabin) during the quarter covered in its last 10Q  (Dec-Feb), a period that is usually one of the busiest was only 54%.

[Taters]

6 minutes ago, groundloop said:

I'm on Eurodam at this very moment sailing toward Alaska.  The ship didn't feel very full to us so I asked our server about it, she said there are only around 1200 guests on board.  I'd have thought we'd be packed right now, any wild guesses?

 

 

A lot of potential passengers aren't cruising because they are required to be vaccinated against Covid. 

 

Another batch of potential passengers aren't going to cruise until mask mandates go away.

 

Traveling is hard these days with frequent airline schedule shuffling and cancellations, and some folks aren't interested in dealing with this scenario.

 

There are a lot of reasons why folks aren't cruising right now, but IMHO, these are just a few of the reasons that ships are sailing below capacity.

[Guest ldtr]

1 hour ago, Taters said:

A lot of potential passengers aren't cruising because they are required to be vaccinated against Covid. 

 

Another batch of potential passengers aren't going to cruise until mask mandates go away.

 

Traveling is hard these days with frequent airline schedule shuffling and cancellations, and some folks aren't interested in dealing with this scenario.

 

There are a lot of reasons why folks aren't cruising right now, but IMHO, these are just a few of the reasons that ships are sailing below capacity.

Another group is not traveling because the mask mandates have gone away.

 

Another group is not traveling because the cruise lines are, in many cases, not providing the same quality of an experience as pre-covid.

 

Some are not traveling because they have used up their FCC and are not traveling because of the current prices.

 

Some are not traveling because they do not want to fly to the cruise ports

 

Some are not traveling because with inflation and the cost increases and hotels have pushed it out of their budgets

 

Take your pick, lots of reasons why the ships are not full.  

[aliaschief]

With staff shortages some capacity limits are being controlled by the cruise line. Probably not going to see full capacity with a possible 80% staff.

[TiogaCruiser]

Is eurodam one of the ships who had pax booked as part of a cruise tour that HAL canceled?

[Guest ldtr]

4 minutes ago, TiogaCruiser said:

Is eurodam one of the ships who had pax booked as part of a cruise tour that HAL canceled?

no. the cruise tours would all use a one way cruise, which would mean out of Vancouver. The Eurodam is doing  closed loop cruises out of Seattle.

[sfocruiser]

11 hours ago, groundloop said:

I'm on Eurodam at this very moment sailing toward Alaska.  The ship didn't feel very full to us so I asked our server about it, she said there are only around 1200 guests on board.  I'd have thought we'd be packed right now, any wild guesses?

 

 

We were on over Memorial Day and we had 1,900.  Crew said it was the highest since Covid 

[AncientWanderer]

30 minutes ago, sfocruiser said:

We were on over Memorial Day and we had 1,900.  Crew said it was the highest since Covid 

 

Same on our May 7 Eurodam sailing.  Very full ship.  

 

Maybe it's just a lull right now.  The earlier sailings were people getting out there before schools let out.  Lots of families wait until July/August for summer vacations.

Lucky OP!

[Sir PMP]

11 hours ago, groundloop said:

I'm on Eurodam at this very moment sailing toward Alaska.  The ship didn't feel very full to us so I asked our server about it, she said there are only around 1200 guests on board.  I'd have thought we'd be packed right now, any wild guesses?

 

 

Bankruptcy.

[AncientWanderer]

17 minutes ago, Sir PMP said:

Bankruptcy.

 

Well, could be, but Alaska won't be their downfall.  Plenty of cruise passengers in Alaska this summer.  

[BermudaBound2014]

20 minutes ago, AncientWanderer said:

 

Well, could be, but Alaska won't be their downfall.  Plenty of cruise passengers in Alaska this summer.  

 

There aren't plenty of cruisers in Alaska this summer. In fact, the Alaskan market is flooded right now because ships aren't sailing many foreign ports. BoA just stated that cruise bookings for the summer are below what was anticipated.

 

HAL is offering a free cabin promotion to people like me, casino deals to others, and the last minute pricing also indicates poorly sold cabins. They don't offer prices like this on ships that are selling well.

 

 

 

August is even cheaper! Anyone know if final payment on an August cruise is already due? These prices, this far in advance, indicate very poor bookings. Almost alarming.

 

Edited June 12, 2022 by BermudaBound2014

[groundloop]

1 hour ago, sfocruiser said:

We were on over Memorial Day and we had 1,900.  Crew said it was the highest since Covid 

 

 

I just talked to another crewmember and she said the past two weeks Eurodam has been packed.  I guess we just got lucky.  

 

I'd been checking the HAL website occasionally and up until a few weeks ago it looked like this cruise was going to be pretty full.  That's what made me curious.

[J&Dhighdesert]

Just got off the Eurodam Saturday.  We were  told the  previous week there were 1,900 and on our cruise 1,600.  The number for our trip was perfect for the crew to serve.  The 1,900 seemed far to many for the staff.

Jo

[groundloop]

3 minutes ago, J&Dhighdesert said:

Just got off the Eurodam Saturday.  We were  told the  previous week there were 1,900 and on our cruise 1,600.  The number for our trip was perfect for the crew to serve.  The 1,900 seemed far to many for the staff.

Jo

 

So it sounds like we happened to find a date in a lull.  

 

I get the impression the crew is still geared up for the larger crowds and don't quite know what to make of such an "empty" ship..... it's impossible to eat breakfast without constantly being accosted by servers looking to fill my coffee, pour me some juice or water, etc.  😁  But hey, I'll take that over being ignored.

[idiebabe]

14 hours ago, groundloop said:

I'm on Eurodam at this very moment sailing toward Alaska.  The ship didn't feel very full to us so I asked our server about it, she said there are only around 1200 guests on board.  I'd have thought we'd be packed right now, any wild guesses?

 

 

Count your Blessings!  We were on 5/28 Sailing and had almost 2000 Guests.  Way too much for the Dining Staff in the DR to handle especially after having 1300 Guests the week before and being Short-staffed, etc.  

 

Enjoy it!! 

 

[idiebabe]

3 hours ago, TiogaCruiser said:

Is eurodam one of the ships who had pax booked as part of a cruise tour that HAL canceled?

We were originally booked on Westerdam and they cancelled some of those Sailings and merged them onto the Eurodam.  

[acadran]

Curious about the stability/rocking on the Eurodam to Alaska.   I was just reading a review and the gentleman said there was a lot of rocking to the point people avoided the main dining room, had trouble walking and that he would not sail on that ship again.

 

We are considering the Eurodam out of Seattle.  We are not ones to get sea sick and don't mind a bit of rocking.   Just wondering if it was his particular cruise and the weather/ocean conditions that week.   

[CruiserBruce]

9 minutes ago, acadran said:

Curious about the stability/rocking on the Eurodam to Alaska.   I was just reading a review and the gentleman said there was a lot of rocking to the point people avoided the main dining room, had trouble walking and that he would not sail on that ship again.

 

We are considering the Eurodam out of Seattle.  We are not ones to get sea sick and don't mind a bit of rocking.   Just wondering if it was his particular cruise and the weather/ocean conditions that week.   

Wouldn't sail on that ship because the sea was rough, or was the person implying the ship was unstable? Sounds like some questionable reasoning...

[westcoastsue]

The Eurodam does not sail the inside passage but up the west coast of Vancouver Island. You are in open ocean and are more susceptible to weather. On the 5/21 sailing it was quite rough going north. The Maitre’d  in the MDR told us that room service was very busy that evening - it was a gala night too. Rocky on the return too but not as bad. I’m happy we don’t get seasick!

[groundloop]

23 hours ago, acadran said:

Curious about the stability/rocking on the Eurodam to Alaska.   I was just reading a review and the gentleman said there was a lot of rocking to the point people avoided the main dining room, had trouble walking and that he would not sail on that ship again.

 

We are considering the Eurodam out of Seattle.  We are not ones to get sea sick and don't mind a bit of rocking.   Just wondering if it was his particular cruise and the weather/ocean conditions that week.   

 

The Eurodam is no different in that respect than any other cruise ship I've ever been on.  When you get into 8 to 10 foot seas it's going to get a bit rough, there's just no way around that fact.  

 

If that guy can't handle a little bit of rockin' and rollin' he needs to stick with land based vacations.

 

Funny story - right before the covid shutdown I was on Carnival Elation.  The last evening there was an 'ask the captain' Q & A session where a lady asked  if it "was always this rough" (up to that point the cruise had been the smoothest I'd ever been on).  That night we got into tropical storm force winds and 20 ft. seas..... I'm sure that woman never set foot on a ship again.

[SumoCitrus]

On 6/11/2022 at 10:25 PM, Taters said:

A lot of potential passengers aren't cruising because they are required to be vaccinated against Covid.

 

Correct. Cruise lines are going to have to decide whether they want to have passengers or close up shop and call it. CCL stock trading below $10 today...

[acadran]

1 hour ago, groundloop said:

 

The Eurodam is no different in that respect than any other cruise ship I've ever been on.  When you get into 8 to 10 foot seas it's going to get a bit rough, there's just no way around that fact.  

 

If that guy can't handle a little bit of rockin' and rollin' he needs to stick with land based vacations.

 

Funny story - right before the covid shutdown I was on Carnival Elation.  The last evening there was an 'ask the captain' Q & A session where a lady asked  if it "was always this rough" (up to that point the cruise had been the smoothest I'd ever been on).  That night we got into tropical storm force winds and 20 ft. seas..... I'm sure that woman never set foot on a ship again.

Funny.   

[cruisingrob21]

Additionally I believe there is a record number of berths sailing in Alaska this year, so when you have fragile demand for a vacation that may be a higher risk of contracting a communicable disease than say renting a beach house or house in the mountains, or camping, combined with a glut of capacity, prices will be low and ships wont sail full.  This is especially true as Alaska is a traditionally a "family" cruise destination so I would imagine more families are gravitating toward NCL, RCCL, Carnival rather than Princess, HAL, or X as those lines are more highly regarded as catering toward families.

 

I think demand may pick up a bit more by late June/early July when many of the schools in the PNW are out (most are still in until mid june or later).

[jeh10641]

You were lucky to have so few on board. A lot of cruise lines are now canceling passengers already booked because of crew shortages. However, there was some good news in that area as crew staffing sites are being expanded and turn outs have been high.

 

Jim