What makes one cruise more popular?

[aloha of the seas]

I find it very interesting that the activity on a particular Roll Call can be so much greater than another Roll Call on basically identical cruises. I am signed up for the 9/30/09 Rhapsody Honolulu to Sydney which has a grand total of 4 posts. The 4/13/10 Rhapsody Sydney to Honolulu has over 180 posts. I feel like I am the only person who has booked the Sept cruise and should change my reservation. On the other hand if that is the situation, maybe they will reduce prices and I should wait. In any case, what does make one sailing more popular than another? Good Sailing, Murf

[scorpiomum]

i know what you mean! i have been waiting to book a med cruise and the one we like is 11 nights on 20th october...and its so much cheaper than the others. it is near mid term break which i thought would make it popular with families. i think i will book it as its so much cheaper for a GS than other cruises and the timing suits us but i just dont understand sometimes why some are more popular than others.

[Gonzo70]

I am not sure if the number of posts on a roll call thread is a good indicator of how popular a cruise is or how close the ship is to being sold out. Only a small number of people who take cruises are active posters on Cruise Critic roll call threads. Oftentimes the threads with tons of posts are due to a handful of people making lots and lots of posts.

 

That said the time of year does also make a difference. Cruises during holidays are more popular because most people already have time off from work/school. There are also peak seasons and non peak seasons.

[*Sparkle*]

From reading your post I got that the 9/30/09 Fall cruise is during a time when kids are returning to school so much people are caught up in getting children settled. Now the 4/13/10 Spring cruise is during spring break and would fill up faster because most family plan cruises in advance. But that is JMHO. :p

[tazdeb]

When we took our Radiance cruise last spring we just happened to be on the ship with a group that LOVED the captain and the ship. It was their 10th voyage on her. Needless to say they were very active AND cordgial and got everyone involved in preparties the meet and greet etc... I think if someone is a great planner and outgoing it helps the thread.