Ship sailing "Full"

[jeffjeffjeffjeff]

I sailed on the Triumph on 11/11 western. Everything on the ship was awesome. Boarding the ship there were signs that the ship was full, on the second night after not seeing any people on the balcony on either side of me i asked the steward if the ship was full and he stated that " yes the ship was full" and even told me how many people the ship held. The end of this story is that on the last morning of the cruise as we were docking at the peir in Miami i was out on the balcony and noticed the room steward standing on the 9A aft corner balcony next to me. At that time he told me that room had been empty all week. So for some reason carnival hid the fact that this ship was not full. If they cover it up this well they must have had some pratice at it i would think.

 

I hope i didnt bore you all just passing on an observation.

 

I repeat every thing about my cruise was awesome and i cant wait for the next one.

[zqvol]

I sailed on the Triumph on 11/11 western. Everything on the ship was awesome. Boarding the ship there were signs that the ship was full, on the second night after not seeing any people on the balcony on either side of me i asked the steward if the ship was full and he stated that " yes the ship was full" and even told me how many people the ship held. The end of this story is that on the last morning of the cruise as we were docking at the peir in Miami i was out on the balcony and noticed the room steward standing on the 9A aft corner balcony next to me. At that time he told me that room had been empty all week. So for some reason carnival hid the fact that this ship was not full. If they cover it up this well they must have had some pratice at it i would think.

 

I hope i didnt bore you all just passing on an observation.

 

I repeat every thing about my cruise was awesome and i cant wait for the next one.

Just a note. Every ship has a maximum number of passengers that it can carry. It is possible that the number was reached without all cabins being full. (Lots of quads and triples.)

[victory2020]

They like you to think the ships are always full, but I travel off times & they are never full. The last one I went on was Oct 30, & our waiter told me the ship has been going out 600pax short (approx 70% full)for the previous month. The crew always know if it's full or not (their tips depend on # of pax) & some are willing to share the info & some are not - I've been told by some servers they don't know if ship is full or not.

[ILuvCarnival]

LOL, as many Carnival Cruises that I have gone, there is ALWAYS a "Ship's Full" sign at the Info Desk.

 

The reason? TONS of people ask for a free upgrade when they board. Upgrades are supposed to happen before you board, not on-board. Bottom line, call in, ask for an upgrade the day BEFORE your cruise.

[ILuvCarnival]

LOL, as many Carnival Cruises that I have gone, there is ALWAYS a "Ship's Full" sign at the Info Desk.

 

The reason? TONS of people ask for a free upgrade when they board. Upgrades are supposed to happen before you board, not on-board. Bottom line, call in, ask for an upgrade the day BEFORE your cruise.

[smeyer418]

"full" for a cruise ship is almost a misnomer. Most cruise ships list there capacity as the number of lower berths ie. two to room. but most ships can carry 25% to 33% above that number so if the ship has 1250 rooms times t\2 would mean its "full" at 2500 but in fact it can and does carry 3500 people sometimes when its stuffed to the gills. even when a ship is "full" there is almost invariably a couple of empty cabins- no shows, thrown offs, died etc...and do you really think most employees really know how many people are on board? they are told we are sailing full...again whatever that means...

[alliecatn1]

LOL, as many Carnival Cruises that I have gone, there is ALWAYS a "Ship's Full" sign at the Info Desk.

 

The reason? TONS of people ask for a free upgrade when they board. Upgrades are supposed to happen before you board, not on-board. Bottom line, call in, ask for an upgrade the day BEFORE your cruise.

Can you call Carnival or do you have to go through your TA? What are the odds of them giving you a better room?

[ILuvCarnival]

You have to call who you booked your cruise with, AND...

 

You have to have booked a "Guarantee" upgrade cabin. If you did, and there is cabins still open, just before sailing, they can and many times will upgrade you for free.

[chefboyrdee]

a fantasy class ship has 1025 cabins and can hold a max. of 2600 passengers and 920 crew due to coast guard regulation for life boat occupancy. if a ship sails with 30 empty cabins double occupancy thats only 60 people. all upgrades are done prior to sailing and NOT at embarkation or the PURSERS desk. if for example a balcony cabin is cancelled the day of the sailing it might very well go empty. many people will go to the pursers desk and ask for an upgrade but when they are told they have to pay for it and are told the price most people do not take the upgrade. also if the ship is not full the upgrades have been done and the few cabins that are left are usually inside cabins on the riviera deck.

[PA Dutchman]

Boy that would be one madhouse if you could go ask to be upgraded for free because nobody was in a room. Every cruise the full sign was at the purser desk. Maybe somebody had missed the boat for that room or had to CX for some reason. What a can of worms that would be for the crew.

[LWiening]

Jeffjeffjeff..SO glad to hear that you had a great time on the Triumph...We are sailing in a few weeeks & we can't wait. Would love to hear more about the cruise..........:)

[DqALEX]

WOW I always see the ship is full sign also.

[Seydlitz]

I once saw a guy at the PURSERS desk demanding a upgrade. He was red in the face made that they did not have one. The worst part about all this is that at the time there was only one girl working the desk and the line up was a mile long and I was at the end of it. Now the people in the line were getting mad. once he finilly left he was cat called till he disappeard. hahaha I heard him say as he left that he would never sail with Carinval again. Well that is more room for us.

[truecruiser]

Is your name Jeff by any chance? :p :p

[truecruiser]

LOL, as many Carnival Cruises that I have gone, there is ALWAYS a "Ship's Full" sign at the Info Desk.

 

The reason? TONS of people ask for a free upgrade when they board. Upgrades are supposed to happen before you board, not on-board. Bottom line, call in, ask for an upgrade the day BEFORE your cruise.

 

I've never noticed that. But then again, i usually try to steer clear of the Purser's Desk, as it's always the scene of much bedlahm. I'll have to look for the sign next time.

[salty dingo]

Ships always sail FULL - but that is a relative term. It does not mean every cabin is occupied. There is always the chance for some no-shows. Those rooms would sail empty. They probably also reserve a certain number of cabins just in case a situation arises during the cruise that requires relocating people to other cabins. Any number of problems can cause that. So it should be no surprise that some cabins are empty on a full ship.

[Cuizer2]

Ships always sail FULL - They probably also reserve a certain number of cabins just in case a situation arises during the cruise that requires relocating people to other cabins.

 

No they don't. I asked one of the land based sale's managers this very question. They are not going to let a cabin go empty just because someone else's cabin might have a problem. Every empty cabin is a lost asset once the ship sails. If there is room on the ship (and the ship can be full without all the cabins being full) and there is someone who wants to pay for a cabin, then it will be sold.

[GoinCruisin]

Is your name Jeff by any chance? :p :p

 

I was going to ask the same thing!! LMAO!! There sure is alot of Jeff :D

 

OP, just because there are empty cabins, does not mean the ship is not full... for the reasons described above. They aren't hiding anything, but it's the numbers that determine a "full ship"...

[Cuizer2]

I was going to ask the same thing!! LMAO!! There sure is alot of Jeff :D

 

Maybe Jeff, JeffJeff and JeffJeffJeff were already taken. :confused:

[K.T.B.]

I sailed on the Triumph on 11/11 western. Everything on the ship was awesome. Boarding the ship there were signs that the ship was full, on the second night after not seeing any people on the balcony on either side of me i asked the steward if the ship was full and he stated that " yes the ship was full" and even told me how many people the ship held. The end of this story is that on the last morning of the cruise as we were docking at the peir in Miami i was out on the balcony and noticed the room steward standing on the 9A aft corner balcony next to me. At that time he told me that room had been empty all week. So for some reason carnival hid the fact that this ship was not full. If they cover it up this well they must have had some pratice at it i would think.

 

I hope i didnt bore you all just passing on an observation.

 

I repeat every thing about my cruise was awesome and i cant wait for the next one.

Or maybe the people who were to have that particular cabin met with something unavoidable? Death in the family or missed their flight or any number of things....

[jakesplace]

People also do not have to embark the ship at its home port. they can catch it at one of its other stops, and may disbark anywhere along the line.

[Cuizer2]

People also do not have to embark the ship at its home port. they can catch it at one of its other stops, and may disbark anywhere along the line.

 

That is not correct. If the ship is sailing round trip from Miami and the first port of call is Key West, you could not board the ship in Key West.

 

If the ship is doing a round trip from NY, and the last port of call is Port Canaveral, you cannot disembark at Port Canaveral.

 

Both of the examples I just gave would result in violations of the PSA ...

 

The Passenger Services Act is a piece of United States legislation which came into force in 1886 relating to cabotage. Essentially, it says:

 

No foreign vessels shall transport passengers between ports or places in the United States, either directly or by way of a foreign port, under a penalty of $300 for each passenger so transported and landed.

 

The law has had an interesting consequence with regard to the cruise ship industry within the State of Hawaii. Foreign-flagged cruise ships may carry passengers between ports in the Hawaiian Islands as long as no passenger permanently leaves the vessel at ports other than the origination port and the vessel makes at least one call at a foreign port. Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) introduced a new US-flagged vessel in 2004, Pride of Aloha, and introduced a second in 2005, Pride of America, to avoid this tedious 4 day at sea foreign-port call. Previously, with its foreign-flagged vessels, NCL needed to include a time-consuming detour to Tabuaeran (Fanning Atoll) in the Line Islands (Republic of Kiribati) on its Hawaiian itineraries.

[ILuvCarnival]

Plus, if your cruise is after January 1, 2007...

 

If you cruise using a birth cert. and a DL (Not a passport), and you try to fly home from ANY port outside the USA, you will not be permitted back into the United States.

[jakesplace]

That is not correct. If the ship is sailing round trip from Miami and the first port of call is Key West, you could not board the ship in Key West.

 

If the ship is doing a round trip from NY, and the last port of call is Port Canaveral, you cannot disembark at Port Canaveral.

 

Both of the examples I just gave would result in violations of the PSA ...

 

The Passenger Services Act is a piece of United States legislation which came into force in 1886 relating to cabotage. Essentially, it says:

 

No foreign vessels shall transport passengers between ports or places in the United States, either directly or by way of a foreign port, under a penalty of $300 for each passenger so transported and landed.

 

The law has had an interesting consequence with regard to the cruise ship industry within the State of Hawaii. Foreign-flagged cruise ships may carry passengers between ports in the Hawaiian Islands as long as no passenger permanently leaves the vessel at ports other than the origination port and the vessel makes at least one call at a foreign port. Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) introduced a new US-flagged vessel in 2004, Pride of Aloha, and introduced a second in 2005, Pride of America, to avoid this tedious 4 day at sea foreign-port call. Previously, with its foreign-flagged vessels, NCL needed to include a time-consuming detour to Tabuaeran (Fanning Atoll) in the Line Islands (Republic of Kiribati) on its Hawaiian itineraries.

 

YOU can embark at another port ... What happens when your flight arrives lateand you miss you departure time, you may meet the ship at its next port of call and embark...Example.. You have carnival air and your plane is delayed a day and you miss the ships departure they will fly you to the next port of call to continue your cruise.

[jakesplace]

Air Fare Supplements Program

Inbound Fly Aweigh guests from some cities west of the Rockies are entitled to overnight or day room accommodations in the port city for Miami, Ft. Lauderdale and Tampa sailings, and in Orlando for Port Canaveral and Jacksonville sailings.

NOTE: For Cruise-Only guests, transfers to and from the pier are not included in the cruise fare but may be purchased through Carnival Cruise Lines Reservations at least 7 days prior to sailing, or on board the ship (one-way only) through the Information Desk (excluding Honolulu/Ensenada).

Carnival’s Travel Hotline

If you are experiencing a travel delay en route to the ship or returning home after your voyage, call our travel hotline at 1-877-TVL-HTLN (1-877-885-4856) or 1-305-406-4779. Our representatives are on call to assist you with any question or travel emergency, 24 hours a day. .

Airline Delays

Experienced travelers know that air travel schedules can be affected by a number of factors. If your flight arrives at your ship’s home port after the ship’s scheduled sailing time due to weather or mechanical problems, contact Carnival’s Travel Hotline, 1-800-327-9501 and/or a supervisor at the airline’s ticket counter for assistance in securing hotel accommodations and flight arrangements to your ship’s next destination. If the airline is unable to secure hotel accommodations, the following hotels will offer a preferential rate. Please call prior to arrival at the hotel for reservations and identify yourself as a Carnival guest.

(Once you have reached the first port of call, proceed to the pier for embarkation. Notify the Information Desk immediately upon your arrival on board the ship. Fly Aweigh® Program guests should obtain a receipt for reimbursement of taxi fare.

This is from carnivals web site cruzer