Are Ships Really Filling Up with Pax

[mcrcruiser]

We been checking  on now 7 cruises roll calls  .  of the roll calls  6  have been going for some time  .Even as close as our Dec 10th  & Dec 17th B2B cruises on Koningsdam to the Mexican  Riviera  there really isn't that many people   posting on the roll call  unlike we  experienced  pre pandemic times

 

 Although we like to have HAL arrange the roll call on the ship with light refreshments  their minimum is 25 people in attendance  before we can contact them . The point I am making is we don't see that happening  for these 2 December cruises . Our roll calls are quite slow  .Then does this translate  to a lesser number of  total pax on the ship  for these cruises ?

 

 As far as a  Meet & Mingle We  can meet the first Sea Day & a great location is the Dutch Cafe   ,deck 4 mid ships  .It has  snacks & cocktails as well   with a  alcove   ocean viewing  

 

[FlorenceItaly]

Our November 5-12 Nieuw Statendam Roll Call is very busy!   Someone has already coordinated a Meet N Mingle with HAL.  Also, several new cruisers or those that have not cruised for many years.  The sailing does not appear to be full based on cabin availability.

[Mary229]

I don’t think roll calls are as active in general since the pandemic.  I never found much activity in roll calls for 7 -12 day cruises anyway.  Perhaps you should dig into the financials of TRIP and see if they disclose cruise critic traffic.   Maybe it is cruise critic that hasn’t recovered not occupancy rates?

[FlaMariner]

The low participation on the roll call may have to do with the type of cruise......(I'm sure demand can be soft now also so not discounting that...because I've seen some very low fares close to boarding)

 

For 7 day "milk runs" to Mexico/Caribbean there is not a lot of planning and activities that go into the cruise, in our opinion......And we find our roll calls quiet and not of any real value.

 

On longer cruises with, for some of us, "once in a lifetime" visits, there is much more planning and help needed....and on trans Atlantics/Pacifics folks like to plan for those sea day activities......and we find our roll calls quite busy w/spreadsheets and tour exchanges and activities  and on and on...and many pages long.

[mcrcruiser]

9 minutes ago, FlaMariner said:

The low participation on the roll call may have to do with the type of cruise......(I'm sure demand can be soft now also so not discounting that...because I've seen some very low fares close to boarding)

 

For 7 day "milk runs" to Mexico/Caribbean there is not a lot of planning and activities that go into the cruise, in our opinion......And we find our roll calls quiet and not of any real value.

 

On longer cruises with, for some of us, "once in a lifetime" visits, there is much more planning and help needed....and on trans Atlantics/Pacifics folks like to plan for those sea day activities......and we find our roll calls quite busy w/spreadsheets and tour exchanges and activities  and on and on...and many pages long.

 We think you are absolutely  correct  .The  longer  the cruise in general   the more posts on the respective roll calls   .I anticipate our 18 night Hawaii  will be more active  .  But what seems strange is that even the Mexican Riviera 7 night cruises did attract a fair number of people to the roll calls pre pandemic times 

   Additionally ,we do also see HAL & other cruise lines cutting prices to fill cabins . Of course they prefer not to cut prices but apparently  they must to get people on board for that extra spending at sea .  A challenge in these challenging times for all peoples ,to say the least 

 

     To us we just want to sail  on the ocean  & breathe in that wonderful clean air  even though these Mexican riviera cruises are very old hat for us personally .  Been to every Mexican port even those that the cruise lines don't see any longer   .Additionally ,it really gives my wife a great    vacation from the cooking ,clean ups & general house work  . Me ,I take care of all the finances   ,car & other essentials  like cruises LOL 

Edited October 23, 2022 by mcrcruiser

[mcrcruiser]

16 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

I don’t think roll calls are as active in general since the pandemic.  I never found much activity in roll calls for 7 -12 day cruises anyway.  Perhaps you should dig into the financials of TRIP and see if they disclose cruise critic traffic.   Maybe it is cruise critic that hasn’t recovered not occupancy rates?

Mary it was never like that pre pandemic  .We have met more friends on cruises than any where else & many on those 7 night cruises with Meet & Mingles  .  Perhaps more of the older folks are still concerned about  ships being petrie dishes for the virus  .I can't say for sure   but  it seems that way to me  & as you know HAL has appealed to those age groups  vs many of the other cruise lines  who attract the younger generations  like Carnival ,RCL ships ie  which have the water slides ,rock climbing walls ,surfing on the back of the ship ie  

[Mary229]

2 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said:

Mary it was never like that pre pandemic  .We have met more friends on cruises than any where else & many on those 7 night cruises with Meet & Mingles  .  Perhaps more of the older folks are still concerned about  ships being petrie dishes for the virus  .I can't say for sure   but  it seems that way to me  & as you know HAL has appealed to those age groups  vs many of the other cruise lines  who attract the younger generations  like Carnival ,RCL ships ie  which have the water slides ,rock climbing walls ,surfing on the back of the ship ie  

I am likely a bit younger than you and maybe it is a generational difference.  I have never joined a roll call for less than 25 days except for one current one where a particular cruise critic pal is also sailing and I look forward to meeting that person.   I rarely make the meet and mingles either, something always seems to come up. Trend or not?🤷‍♀️

[Florida_gal_50]

I agree with the posters that say longer cruises generally have more activity.  I have found that cruises in December before Christmas are usually lighter in demand.  I’m speaking of 7 day cruises.  Cruise critic is a small volume of people that actually cruise.  

[FlaMariner]

9 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

I rarely make the meet and mingles either,

 

Us too.

 

We never attend M&G either even though we are all about the back and forth help on the roll calls (for our longer cruises).

 

I find the roll calls very valuable for rounding up small tours and learning the ins and outs of the ports.

 

 

[Crew News]

As one who organizes the Meet & Greets on all of my cruises, I look forward to interacting with other cruisers interested in advice from those who have "been there and done that" to help in their planning.  The conversations always peak my interest in new cruise destinations.

 

On the social side, meeting other frequent posters here on CC is always a treat. 

[Banditswife]

Agree with most these posts.  Even pre pandemic, roll calls were hit or miss in my experience.  A lot of people use other social media sites to interact with fellow cruisers.  Since Covid, people are not as willing to mingle as they were before.  Personally, we end up finding a particular place to hang out on the ship & socialize with others who also found that same favorite spot.  My husband loves the casino, so he ends up socializing w/ other casino players.  I used to attend M&Gs, even organized one for an Alaskan cruise that didn't happen due to covid.  But since covid is here to stay, we pretty try to keep our distance.  As far as roll calls go, I think it is hit or miss- some very active, others dead.

[mightycruisequeen]

My husband & I don't usually join CC roll calls, or go to the meet & greets onboard.  That said, I wouldn't use the roll calls on CC as any sort of indicator of how full any individual sailing will be.  Just my opinion.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Now with masks going away I think more and more ships will fill up. 

[mightycruisequeen]

28 minutes ago, Gail & Marty sailing away said:

Now with masks going away I think more and more ships will fill up. 

100% agree.

[dmcfad2]

My November 5 cruise on the California coast is sold out. I, for one, will miss the 60% full cruises. They were pretty nice. 😀

[SDARCH]

2 hours ago, dmcfad2 said:

the California coast is sold out

Oh no!!!!  Not looking forward to a full ship.  We have friends that just got off the K-dam from Hawaii and they said it was packed.  Really enjoyed our not so full cruises last November and this past January.

[Mary229]

11 minutes ago, SDARCH said:

Oh no!!!!  Not looking forward to a full ship.  We have friends that just got off the K-dam from Hawaii and they said it was packed.  Really enjoyed our not so full cruises last November and this past January.

It was fun while it lasted.  We had a divided opinion in our house.   DH hated the protocols and would rather sail on a mask less full ship. 

[disneyochem]

The November 19th cruise on the Koningsdam is sold out.  It’s a holiday cruise so not too surprising.

[kazu]

I don’t find Caribbean/Mexican  cruises have a lot of posts, generally speaking. I am on 3 and one has a lot more than others.

 

Sometimes it takes a spark plug and not someone repeating info over and over again.

 

Our cruise for November has over 2200 posts and a huge congenial group - a 14 day.  124 for the Meet and Greet - And according to a roll call member on the previous segment as well, it’s going to pretty much a full ship.

 

It seems the ships are selling ok from what I can determine - but what so I know 😉 

 

 

[ScottishMaid]

All inside cabins for the Koningsdam 17 December 5 day Mexico cruise are sold out.

It looks balconies are sold out too and only outsides are left. 

The insides were selling for $209 per person plus $145 tax at one stage and kids cruise free (taxes only). That would attract many people who normally cruise with other lines to try HAL.

[mcrcruiser]

Thanks for the info every one  . 

[FlaMariner]

According to the mega online TA we use these 7 night T'giving cruises are listed as SOLD OUT

 

• 11/19 Nieuw Statendam
• 11/20 Nieuw Amsterdam

also, while looking at November, the 28 night 11/8 Australia Westerdam is listed as SOLD OUT

 

We need more sold out's to keep our 'dam ships sailing......We too enjoyed the low capacity but I'd rather have ships continuing to sail!  $$$$$$

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

16 hours ago, Mary229 said:

It was fun while it lasted.  We had a divided opinion in our house.   DH hated the protocols and would rather sail on a mask less full ship. 

You no longer need to wear a mask on the Rotterdam. 

[PMGS247]

Just tacking onto a number of good thoughts here, and something that was even mentioned in another post - social media.

 

I had a good example of this on a RCI cruise this past summer which had >6,000 PAX on board, but a very very quiet roll call here on CC.  The Facebook group on the other hand, had nearly 1,500 people and was brimming with activity every day, snowballing up to the start of the cruise, throughout the cruise (mostly duck sighting photos) and then continued pretty heavy chatter in the weeks that followed as many people thought it prudent to report back about their covid cases LOL

Edited October 24, 2022 by PMGS247

[Hlitner]

I think one can look at the OP''s question as either HAL specific (many cruises are apparently not selling-out) or the cruise industry in general.  Lines like RCI, Disney and MSC are apparently doing quite well with sales (or so it says on their blogs).  We were recently (last week) on the MSC Seashore where the ship was nearly full with about 4400 passengers and even more expected this week.  My conclusion is that the shorter (7 day or less) Caribbean market is now doing quite well whereas the longer more exotic cruises are still having issues.  

 

Now that the cruise lines no longer insist on vaccinations and/or testing, things have improved.  While we were boarding the MSC Seashore in early October we did witness one incident where a young couple apparently had no proof of vaccination nor did they have any negative test data.  They were very unhappy because the MSC folks told them they had to get tested (which was done at the port) and wait for negative results before they would be allowed to board.  The couple was quite angry and claimed they should have been notified.  When they made that remark to me, I pointed out that the information requiring "proof of vaccination OR a negative test" was clearly on the MSC web site and we had also received at least two pre-cruise e-mails with this info.  I guess being a young (20s) couple they did not read their e-mails or read the Internet :).   

 

I mention this incident as a warning to cruisers and international travelers to carefully check the health requirements of your cruise line and your destinations.  And check all this info again, a few days before your trip.  Rules keep changing and it is one's personal responsibility to know the current rules.  

 

Hank