Is HAL still operating at less than capacity passenger numbers?

[sprockie]

Just wondering about this - thinking about booking an Alaskan cruise in May - our first since we took a break for Covid.  

 

[pmjnh]

Our cruise on the Koningsdam on 1/31 is sold out.

[oaktreerb]

From recent onboard accounts HAL is now operating at full passenger capacity.   They are still working at adding crew to increase service levels.  May would be a good time to cruise since there will be fewer children aboard due to the school schedules in most states.

[REOVA]

Depends on what full capacity means. They still have Covid cabins set aside but capacity could be double occ (where cabin allows) or maximum occ (with up to 4 in cabin). So if they only have 80% of cabins set up available for passenger booking and are sold out, is that full capacity? 

 

They've been maximizing passenger booking over the past few months but it does vary on time of year and itinerary. 

[Guest ldtr]

1 hour ago, REOVA said:

Depends on what full capacity means. They still have Covid cabins set aside but capacity could be double occ (where cabin allows) or maximum occ (with up to 4 in cabin). So if they only have 80% of cabins set up available for passenger booking and are sold out, is that full capacity? 

 

They've been maximizing passenger booking over the past few months but it does vary on time of year and itinerary. 

Are you sure that they are still setting aside quarantine cabins. Recent reports tend to indicate people are isolating in their own cabins. Other CCL lines seemed to gone back to all cabins being available to book. Also the last quarterly results from a few months back had indicated all CCl lines occupancy at that time was around 90% and it has claimed since then 

[REOVA]

26 minutes ago, ldtr said:

Are you sure that they are still setting aside quarantine cabins. Recent reports tend to indicate people are isolating in their own cabins. Other CCL lines seemed to gone back to all cabins being available to book. Also the last quarterly results from a few months back had indicated all CCl lines occupancy at that time was around 90% and it has claimed since then 

Yes there are set asides. We had set asides in August (which were full so we quarantined in our cabin) which I guess is ok now(?). The last quarterly results from a few months back would have had quarantine cabins. We never know the denominator of what 90% is so we can only ask onboard (for those crew that will disclose) what the passenger count is. People have been posting the numbers they hear and they are climbing. 2000-2600 on Pinnacle would be close to double occupancy, but during cruises with kids, you have to assume many of the cabins are more than double occupancy, meaning other cabins empty. Trying to extrapolate the cabins occupancy is fruitless so I ask for passenger count. 

 

May might be slower (After Spring break/Easter but before Summer) so ship may have less count, but Alaska is a popular cruise for HAL (and they have multiple ships there). 

[Guest ldtr]

1 hour ago, REOVA said:

Yes there are set asides. We had set asides in August (which were full so we quarantined in our cabin) which I guess is ok now(?). The last quarterly results from a few months back would have had quarantine cabins. We never know the denominator of what 90% is so we can only ask onboard (for those crew that will disclose) what the passenger count is. People have been posting the numbers they hear and they are climbing. 2000-2600 on Pinnacle would be close to double occupancy, but during cruises with kids, you have to assume many of the cabins are more than double occupancy, meaning other cabins empty. Trying to extrapolate the cabins occupancy is fruitless so I ask for passenger count. 

 

May might be slower (After Spring break/Easter but before Summer) so ship may have less count, but Alaska is a popular cruise for HAL (and they have multiple ships there). 

August was 5 months ago. A lot has changed since then. My understanding is that they dropped the quarantine cabins around the same time when they dropped the last of the Covid restrictions, that the crew had to wear masks. Which occured in the late August early September time frame.

[lissie]

17 minutes ago, ldtr said:

August was 5 months ago. A lot has changed since then. My understanding is that they dropped the quarantine cabins around the same time when they dropped the last of the Covid restrictions, that the crew had to wear masks. Which occured in the late August early September time frame.

There are definitely quarantine cabins still being used / required on Australia/NZ cruises for HAL and Cunard that  I know from recent travellers 

[REOVA]

This was from @Copper10-8 just off Koningsdam 

 

"HAL still has "Covid isolation" cabins on all their ships, so incl. K-dam, and will continue to have them for the foreseeable future while Covid is with us. No end in sight for that one. It is part of their protocol now"

[3rdGenCunarder]

With cabins set aside for covid, "sold out" doesn't mean the ship is at 100% capacity. It means all the cabins that can be sold have been sold. 

[Pittypatbr]

How can you tell if your cruise is sold out?

 

[Arizona Wildcat]

17 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

With cabins set aside for covid, "sold out" doesn't mean the ship is at 100% capacity. It means all the cabins that can be sold have been sold. 

Would suggest there are always set asides.  There are all sorts of issues that would make a cabin not usable from plumbing and electrical to ??  These cabins are in the area of 10.  There are also a small percentage of both last minute cancelations and no shows.

On a recent Princess cruise there were 6 cabins set aside for covid out of 1500.

Ship was at 96% of maximum bed numbers.

[Arizona Wildcat]

Just now, Pittypatbr said:

How can you tell if your cruise is sold out?

 

You can't because of set sides and cabins held in TA room blocks until maybe a month before sailing.  At that time you can go to several websites and count the unbooked cabins.

[REOVA]

58 minutes ago, Pittypatbr said:

How can you tell if your cruise is sold out?

 

There is a filter in the search for sold out cruises...but they can change and you can contact your TA to see about being waitlisted. 

[Ozkarnak]

On the Noordam in NZ at present and we are defined as “fully booked”. We also have spare COVID cabins as I have been sick (tested negative 3 times) but was offered another room for my healthy partner.

[RedneckBob]

Here are stats from N. Statendam last year sailings; capacity +2700

 

Thanksgiving Holiday week: full with over 2,900 passengers

Week of 12/3/22: 1900 passengers

Week of 12/10/22: 2100 passengers

Christmas Holiday: full with +2700 passengers

 

Sometimes it was full, sometimes not.

[Guest ldtr]

12 hours ago, lissie said:

There are definitely quarantine cabins still being used / required on Australia/NZ cruises for HAL and Cunard that  I know from recent travellers 

I would expect them to be there. That area is still operating under tighter covid rules. I was referring to US based cruises where control have been dropped for the last several months.

[Guest ldtr]

Let me clarify things a bit. Prior to the end of the restrictions in the US. HAL and the other cruise lines, had quarantine zones where they blocked off a large portion of a deck.  Around 10 to 15% of ship capacities. Atbthat time they also had additional capacity restrictions. After September those quarantine zones are now gone. The capacity sales limits are now gone. Are they still using unsold cabins to potentially move people to if they want to quarantine most likely. Are they likely to have a small number of cabins that they will not sell possibly.  but that number will be pretty small and unlike the old quarantine zones, not apparent to anyone walking around the ship.

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

On my sailing on the Konigsdam in February 2022, passenger count was just over 700, On my Sailing in December 2022, passenger count was about 2600. Which sailing did I enjoy more?  I think generally most lines at least during the holiday season sailed at or near capacity. We shall see what the late winter spring season holds.

[friendswithdave]

Our 12/11/22 sailing on the NA had around 1500 passengers with a capacity of 2100, or around 70% full.

[AFNavigator]

20 hours ago, RedneckBob said:

Here are stats from N. Statendam last year sailings; capacity +2700

 

Thanksgiving Holiday week: full with over 2,900 passengers

Week of 12/3/22: 1900 passengers

Week of 12/10/22: 2100 passengers

Christmas Holiday: full with +2700 passengers

 

Sometimes it was full, sometimes not.

Want crowded?  We were on the Carnival Breeze Christmas 2018.  It was running at just over 130% capacity, with 4,800+ passengers compared to its 3,690 2/cabin capacity.

[Crew News]

Rotterdam had 2900+ for two holiday weeks.

[leerathje]

We are on an 11 day Southern Caribbean on the Rotterdam, leaving Fort Lauderdale on February 4.  Our cruise has shown as "sold out" on HAL's website for a number of weeks now.  Every now and again you might see a couple of cabins come available, but they are usually gone the day they show as available.  A friend was interested in joining us on our cruse, and my TA checked on Dedcember 15, and said it was in fact sold out.

 

Leanne

 

Edited January 11, 2023 by leerathje

[friendswithdave]

A little tidbit I learned years ago when we had young children. Theme parks have very light crowds between Thanksgiving week and the time around Christmas. Same with cruise ships. We've cruised in mid-December for a few years now and love the relatively uncrowded ships during this time.

[KAKcruiser]

Cruises are also less expensive during the time period between Thanksgiving and Christmas.