What is the atmosphere on a 1/2 or less full ship?

[hrmkr]

Hello everyone,

 

We will be sailing on the Getaway in early November.  Seeing posts from someone doing a live review that is on the ship now and they said that there is around 1400 people on board.  Maybe around 1,000 next week.  Guessing our sailing will be low since it is in the sailing offseason. 

 

What is the vibe of the ship when there is not so many people onboard?  Sure it will be great not dealing with the lines but does it feel like a ghost town and how is the normal energy and excitement compared to when the ship is full?

 

Happy cruising!

[wolft927]

7 minutes ago, hrmkr said:

Hello everyone,

 

We will be sailing on the Getaway in early November.  Seeing posts from someone doing a live review that is on the ship now and they said that there is around 1400 people on board.  Maybe around 1,000 next week.  Guessing our sailing will be low since it is in the sailing offseason. 

 

What is the vibe of the ship when there is not so many people onboard?  Sure it will be great not dealing with the lines but does it feel like a ghost town and how is the normal energy and excitement compared to when the ship is full?

 

Happy cruising!

I sailed on the breakaway in March this year and was about 50% full. Still had a good vibe, pool deck always busy but you did notice in shows it was a little light 

[deweytrader]

It is great!  I loved all our reduced capacity sailings we were able to squeeze in!

[ChiefMateJRK]

Sounds fantastic to me.  I've been on two since the crisis, and both were great.

[Av8torcrj]

We did our standard exercise circuits on deck 7, promenade, on the Gem numerous times and never saw another soul. It was like a ghost ship. On the joy I had the haven courtyard, pool and hot tub to myself for hours, multiple times. We loved it.

[complawyer]

isnt the "vibe" what you make it. if you enjoy cruising, wont you have a good time regardless of the amount of people on board. we were on the jade last april and it sailed at 1/3 capacity.

 

if you like eating at the buffet, less people and easier to find a set, less people inthe theater and specialty restaurants. less waiting to board and disembark.

 

you're on vacation on a luxury cruise ship, enjoy! what could be bad?

[odie1024]

We sailed the Breakaway last October which was at 30% and actually loved it. Will not look forward to a ship at 100% capacity.

 

[cruiserbear55]

Our last cruise was at 45%, and it was wonderful!! Never a wait, never a line. The crew bent over backwards to help you. Was like having your own private butlers wherever you happened to be.   Not looking forward to a full ship in the future. But, whatever, one must cruise!!

[BirdTravels]

3 hours ago, hrmkr said:

Hello everyone,

 

We will be sailing on the Getaway in early November.  Seeing posts from someone doing a live review that is on the ship now and they said that there is around 1400 people on board.  Maybe around 1,000 next week.  Guessing our sailing will be low since it is in the sailing offseason. 

 

What is the vibe of the ship when there is not so many people onboard?  Sure it will be great not dealing with the lines but does it feel like a ghost town and how is the normal energy and excitement compared to when the ship is full?

 

Happy cruising!

The vibe has been good.
 

And there are things that hide the fact that the ship is a light load. Like they put out fewer loungers around the pool, so it feels more “normal”/crowded (I.e., not a lot of empty loungers). 

[DaggoB]

We were on the Breakaway which docked in New Orleans last December with what the news said  was an outbreak of Covid. Seventeen total. There were around 1400 cruisers and more staff vs cruisers. Best cruise we ever had. It will never happen again but we enjoyed every minute. We even won an upgrade to the haven 2 bedroom family villa from  the club balcony suite w/large balcony. 

[JGmf]

Was on Gem in December 2021 and Joy in April 2022.  Both with reduced number of passengers.  Gem maybe less than half full? 

 

Good: no lines for anything.

Bad: bar scene and night life dead.

[susiesan]

I've been on 2 less than half capacity cruises in the last year, recently on Dawn with 900 pax out of 2400. It was wonderful. I could always get a seat anywhere for a show or in a lounge, no lines at the buffet, always seated at the same table with the same waiters in the dining rooms as they were never full. Staff ration was 1 to 1 so excellent service everywhere. 

The only negative for me was hardly anyone attended the trivia and NCL did not have prizes so it wasn't much fun. 

[Robkat]

We were on a cruise in Sept last year which was at just about 30% occupancy; then one in November at just under 50%; then 2 NCL cruise in Feb at about 50% and then two weeks later at 65%.  They were all fantastic cruises and we loved experiencing the less crowded ships.

 

Two weeks ago, we were on the Getaway at around 90% and we found it startlingly crowded ... It was pretty much as it had been pre-shutdown, but we really felt that we had to get used to having the normal amount of people back on.

The vibe you have on any of these cruises, we think, is mostly up to you.  If you need/want to be surrounded by lots of people, you might find a cruise with lower occupancy a bit "flat".  We thought it was fantastic and enjoyed it while it lasted.

If your Getaway is back to sailing out of Port Canaveral for your cruise, you might find that it's quite busy, even though it could be considered off season.  That's just a popular embarkation port for families.

But you shouldn't worry, as it looks by reading all these posts, most people really enjoy the novelty of having a lower occupancy cruise ... It's all in your own mindset.

Have a great cruise!

Edited September 10, 2022 by Robkat
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[Raleigh Traveler]

We were on the Sun to Alaska in late June and about 50%. It was nice to not be crowded but as another mentioned, some things like Trivia were lightly attended at times. Once it was just my wife and I and the cruise staff. Also we were never asked if we wanted to share a table in the MDR and no Meet and Greet. And yes, the buffet was actually doable. I think the vibe was impacted by Covid as well....people tended to stay to themselves and not a lot of interaction like before.

[blueslily]

The vibe is awesome! Would jump on that opportunity again in a heartbeat! I dont really cruise for the impact of having other people on a ship. Fewer people on the ship is lovely to me 🙂🏝🛳👍🌞

[MotownVoice]

 Bit like owning a mega ship I’ll imagine. 

[Sixtytwo]

We did a New York to Rome TA on the Gem in April '22 with about 900 passengers. We had a great time! NO LINES anywhere! The vibe was good, but after a few days it did seem strange that we never waited for anything. No lines. No pushing and shoving to get on/off an elevator. Shows were, more or less, sit anywhere. Truth be told, it really was strange.

[BlueWatersCruising]

We were on the Joy in February 2022.  It was not crowded but there were enough people onboard to still make it a fun cruise.  Not having to be packed in shoulder to shoulder was nice but if your entertainment is being a people watcher then the lower crowds might be a disappointment.  I did sort of miss the hype that more crowds can bring to events.

[blueslily]

22 hours ago, blueslily said:

The vibe is awesome! Would jump on that opportunity again in a heartbeat! I dont really cruise for the impact of having other people on a ship. Fewer people on the ship is lovely to me 🙂🏝🛳👍🌞

 

Also, I was often in elevators by myself. Man, I did not miss folks jamming themselves into the elevators.  Dinner was quick. Being on deck was actually relaxing at times. The buffet was not a zoo. And more and more. Definitely was pleasant for me. 🙂👍

[cabincop]

I was on Getaway TA in April only 1400 passengers. It was great no lines, great service, elevators empty. Don’t know what I’ll do when it fills up again. Though sadly casino was mostly empty. I’ll be on Joy in October don’t expect it to be at full capacity. 

[schmoopie17]

I'm imagining that our November TA will be about half full. Also imagining not having to line up at bars for drinks. No problem.

[Swells1]

How exactly does one find out in advance if their ship is at capacity? Personally, I don't care too much, but I like to show off my impressive knowledge to my fellow sailors. 

[The Shrike]

We were on the Star in July and it was a little over 50%.  We absolutely loved it.  We did a VRC last November that had 95 people on it (190 max capacity).  It was fantastic.

[cruiserbear55]

2 hours ago, Swells1 said:

How exactly does one find out in advance if their ship is at capacity? Personally, I don't care too much, but I like to show off my impressive knowledge to my fellow sailors. 

 

  All NCL ships are currently sailing at 100% capacity. That should impress everybody!! I think what you are really looking for is the occupancy rate. That question has been asked multiple times on CC recently.

   The only way you can tell ( and it would just be a guess) is to go on NCL and do a mock booking for your cruise. You would need to check each category of cabin. Very time consuming. The website only ever shows fifteen open cabins per category. So if you find, let's say, fifteen open midship balconies, you could assume there are more they are not showing you. If you found this on each cabin category, you could extrapolate that out and come to the assumption that the cruise is not sold out, or is not selling well. On the other hand, if you found no or very few open cabins, you could assume the ship is at or near capacity. Now, if you take the time to do this, that should really impress your fellow cruisers! Good luck.

[da1425]

3 minutes ago, cruiserbear55 said:

 

  All NCL ships are currently sailing at 100% capacity.

 

Except for POA.