Ships are now packed liked sardines?

[Expat Cruise]

8 hours ago, JG&Lcruisingnewbies said:

To be honest my experience is that Europe cruises are not quieter. even outside of school holidays large ships in Europe are sailing at full capacity.

 

every cruise I’ve sailed has been on largeish ships between 2000-5000 capacity, south to The Med, and north to Belgium, Germany & Netherlands. all but our 1st one were full. My cruise to Norway In August on Sky Princess I expect will sell out too.

 

cant comment on the smaller ships in Europe though.

 

Re. Party routes. Perhaps avoid those in Europe too. routes on short cruises, Southampton to places like Le Harve, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, can sometimes be party routes. Especially, by personal experience & friends experience, on RCCL & MSC. On the short trip I did on the independence of the seas I was pleased they were refusing to do drinks packages. Or it would have turned into what’s known as a “Booze Cruise” 😂 

 

The shortest Europe cruise we have done was 14 days, and not 2 seven day back to back. If you do longer cruises, and repositioning cruises, you will find it less crowded.  

 

[Guest ldtr]

On 5/26/2023 at 2:13 PM, AtlantaCruiser72 said:

Want to avoid crowded ships with thousands of passengers?  Simple, pay the commensurate higher fares and book on a smaller vessel with higher space ratios.  Lines such as Oceania, Azamara or Viking are great options for guests dissatisfied with the increasing size of vessels from Celebrity, Holland and Princess

While they are smaller ships and do not carry thousands, they are also tending to sail at capacity.

[AtlantaCruiser72]

18 minutes ago, ldtr said:

While they are smaller ships and do not carry thousands, they are also tending to sail at capacity.

But with larger suites and higher space ratios of guests to public space, and far fewer third/fourth guests, even at capacity they lack the crowding found on Mass Market ships

[icat2000]

Avoid peak buffet times or get up really early when first opens (just not on port day). Go later on. Same with dining don't go the 6 pm - 7pm time. Try later after 7.30 pm. Order room service breakfast.

[JG&Lcruisingnewbies]

10 hours ago, Expat Cruise said:

The shortest Europe cruise we have done was 14 days, and not 2 seven day back to back. If you do longer cruises, and repositioning cruises, you will find it less crowded.  

 

 

 

True, I can’t comment on other starting ports in Europe, but I follow the ships leaving Southampton. And from there at least, the longer duration cruises are currently leaving at capacity. Maybe the last minute offers are making that happen consistently, but I wouldn’t want someone to book a cruise in Europe & be shocked at the number of people on board

 

id love to go on Repositioning cruise because as you said, it’s usually quieter. Have to wait until our daughter leaves school for that one

[Expat Cruise]

9 hours ago, icat2000 said:

Avoid peak buffet times or get up really early when first opens (just not on port day). Go later on. Same with dining don't go the 6 pm - 7pm time. Try later after 7.30 pm. Order room service breakfast.

We have found that the MDR is much better and has few guests for Breakfast & Lunch. We always go to the MDR after dropping our carry on bags on the first day, and most of the time only a handful of tables has guests. At diner, the MDR seems to be slower when it first opens, it seems many do not want to eat at 5pm.