114% capacity on Allure last week

[esmoov]

Just disembarked from 9 day on Allure (Aruba / Curcao / Labadee) 6200 passengers on 5400 capacity ship!!!  Yes, it felt packed.  I knew something was going on in advance when I was having trouble finding an excursion or finding only the 2:00pm excursion start time.  Also no royal up offered.  Staff shortages as well. Red neckerchief chef flipping burgers at Johny Rockets; frequently only 2 bartenders at the pool bars on deck 15; casino cashier working the x-ray machine at the Aruba embarkation. Service slow at all of the specialty restaurants. 

[barbeyg]

Not surprised. It’s summer. We sailed once in summer. It was a one-and-done for us.

[smokeybandit]

Allure's double capacity is 5500 with a max of 6800. But yes, ships are running as full as they can right now.

 

Imagine what it'll be like once the quarantine cabins are freed up

 

 

[Swar]

I'm on the Allure in September. Nice that it's full. The Independence Friday and the Symphony next month should be fun. I generally do not like people/crowds, but on a cruise ship I know how to get by: Few excursions - if any, no MDR, free drinks in the casino (tip well early in the cruise and a waiter tracks you down), good food in Playmakers (tip well on first visit and they serve you quickly throughout), Windjammer very early for breakfast, enjoy the nice balcony/suite with someone who cleans it twice a day and cribbage in the Solarium. 

My favorite cruise activities usually involve doing little to nothing. At home, I'm always doing my "tasks".

[BigKarl]

If it runs at 114% capacity I would volunteer to sleep on the pool deck if needed.  WARNING!  I do not own "Pajamas"

[loki007]

I agree, I was just on Mariner (docked beside you in Curaçao). 13th cruise and I have never seen a ship this packed. We just gave up trying to enjoy scheduled activities. MDR service was incredibly slow. We would just sit forever in between courses. All the chairs in the solarium were gone at 630am on sea days. Bar service was excellent thankfully.

I’d gladly pay a premium for lower capacity sailings. 

[Vancity Cruiser]

54 minutes ago, loki007 said:

’Id gladly pay a premium for lower capacity sailings. 

There are cruise lines that cater to this. I spoke to someone who recently went this route. It completely changed her perception of these lines. She was expecting (and this was my perception as well) a 'hoity toity' crowd but found a very down to earth crowd of relaxed cruisers enjoying less crowds and a more attentive sevice.

[Austin]

I was also on Mariner last week, but really only appreciated the crowds on the pool deck on sea days, which is typical. We were in and out of MDR in about 60-75 minutes each day. Our waiter was a veteran (he had contracts all the way back to Nordic Empress) so maybe that was why? Bars were always attentive. Only negative was Johnny Rockets did not provision onion rings and the ship only had one or two bourbons (Buffalo Trace which is all over their drink menus is not available).

[CruiseGus]

I am very glad to see this many ships sailing at near capacity. 

[Alztyrbn]

I have a friend that is currently on Disney Dream and they have a passenger count of 1046 our of 4000 capacity. I was shocked to hear Disney was still sailing at such limited capacity.

[smokeybandit]

3 hours ago, Alztyrbn said:

I have a friend that is currently on Disney Dream and they have a passenger count of 1046 our of 4000 capacity. I was shocked to hear Disney was still sailing at such limited capacity.

Their fare structure isn't great for this economy

[CruiseDaddy9]

On 7/17/2022 at 5:34 PM, esmoov said:

Just disembarked from 9 day on Allure (Aruba / Curcao / Labadee) 6200 passengers on 5400 capacity ship!!!  Yes, it felt packed.

Is there a website that reports numbers or capacity for cruises? How do you know there was 6200 guests on board?

[SpeedNoodles]

9 hours ago, CruiseDaddy9 said:

Is there a website that reports numbers or capacity for cruises? How do you know there was 6200 guests on board?

You have to ask at Guest Services once everyone is aboard.

[smokeybandit]

21 minutes ago, SpeedNoodles said:

You have to ask at Guest Services once everyone is aboard.

Or any officer really.

 

Actually everyone will know though they may not remember. Once the last passenger is off they make an announcement on how many are on the next cruise and the C&A breakdown.
 

[SpeedNoodles]

16 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Or any officer really.

 

Actually everyone will know though they may not remember. Once the last passenger is off they make an announcement on how many are on the next cruise and the C&A breakdown.
 

Huh. I've never heard this.

[smokeybandit]

18 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

Or any officer really.

 

Actually everyone will know though they may not remember. Once the last passenger is off they make an announcement on how many are on the next cruise and the C&A breakdown.
 

Maybe it's not widespread.

 

When my son was quarantined on Adventure last summer (for close contact, not covid) we were last off the ship. And heard this announcement.

[Pattycruise]

33 minutes ago, SpeedNoodles said:

Huh. I've never heard this.

I’ve heard it on both Anthem and Oasis when I did  B2B’s.

[teddy]

I’ve heard the capacity announcement when doing a back to back.   

It was included with other info for the crew before boarding started, along with the instructions “make everyone’s vacation special”. 
 

 

[SpeedNoodles]

Oh, duh. Of course, since I've never done a back-to-back.

:::: slowly backing out of conversation ::::

[teddy]

Time for a back to back then.

[CruiseDaddy9]

12 hours ago, SpeedNoodles said:

You have to ask at Guest Services once everyone is aboard.

 

12 hours ago, smokeybandit said:

Maybe it's not widespread.

 

When my son was quarantined on Adventure last summer (for close contact, not covid) we were last off the ship. And heard this announcement.

Thanks for the info!

[Leroyr55]

how can you have more than 100% capacity? We’re people sleeping and bathing on the pool deck? 

[BrianB]

I always wait until the first full day and ask at guest services or with the concierge. They have the ‘final count’ on their computers. They can also give the C&A breakdown.

[LovetoCruise87]

1 hour ago, Leroyr55 said:

how can you have more than 100% capacity? We’re people sleeping and bathing on the pool deck? 

Those who really like to eat are bunked out in the kitchen!

[smokeybandit]

2 hours ago, Leroyr55 said:

how can you have more than 100% capacity? We’re people sleeping and bathing on the pool deck? 

Ships have a double occupancy capacity (every cabin is booked with only 2 people ) and a total capacity (every bed in every room is occupied)

The capacity reports coming out of these cruises are all based on double occupancy.

 

So if a ship has 100 rooms, double occupancy is 200. Say you sell only 90 rooms, but 20 rooms have a family of four in them, that's 220 people, so you're over 100% occupancy.

[SPS]

2 hours ago, Leroyr55 said:

how can you have more than 100% capacity? We’re people sleeping and bathing on the pool deck? 

I think they made a new stateroom category: Oceanview Lifeboat!

 

[Austin]

The specialty dining reservations guy on the promenade had a printout that included the number of guests and kids that week. I took a photo of it while he was making our reservation so I could remember the capacity. The form looked like something they probably give out to all of senior crew each week with other instructions on it (formal nights, theme nights, docking times, etc).

[Freybey]

On 7/24/2022 at 11:17 PM, CruiseDaddy9 said:

Is there a website that reports numbers or capacity for cruises? How do you know there was 6200 guests on board?

yes, inquiring minds would like to know!

[Ampurp85]

15 hours ago, Freybey said:

yes, inquiring minds would like to know!

No website, you can ask guest services, or when you go to the C&A event, they will give guest count. Even before shutdown, the only way to know number of pax was when you were aboard a sailing. 

[cruisellama]

On 7/26/2022 at 9:35 AM, smokeybandit said:

Ships have a double occupancy capacity (every cabin is booked with only 2 people ) and a total capacity (every bed in every room is occupied)

The capacity reports coming out of these cruises are all based on double occupancy.

 

So if a ship has 100 rooms, double occupancy is 200. Say you sell only 90 rooms, but 20 rooms have a family of four in them, that's 220 people, so you're over 100% occupancy.

Actually capacity is limited by the number of spots on the escape craft (both motorized and inflatables).   So cabin capacity can actually be on the high side, but with excess escape capacity.