Passenger counts this week?

[emilymad]

Does anyone have passenger counts for the sailing this week. I am wondering if the numbers have increased with it being a holiday week.

 

[izzinmac]

Just got off the Magic Saturday. Were told by crew members about 1400 passengers. It was a Marvel Day at Sea 5 day cruise

 

[disEAR]

I read the Fantasy that departed on the 19th has 2100

 

[sharktums]

Currently on the Magic Marvel day at sea cruise with 1380.

 

[DCL Repeaters]

Dream Feb 14-18, 1740 passengers

 

[DLmama]

Fantasy Feb 12 - 19 had 1800 according to our server.

 

[Belle_Ann]

Dream that departed Feb 18 had around 2200 according to our servers. Seems it was the most crowded cruise in awhile

 

[Kwami]

Dream that departed Feb 18 had around 2200 according to our servers. Seems it was the most crowded cruise in awhile

I guess it's been increasing for the last few cruises. We had 1200 on 2/7 and something like 1300-1400 on 2/11. The 2/14 cruise had 1700 and then you had 2200 on 2/18.

I wonder how high it can go while still maintaining the current protocols and offerings.

 

[lanejudy]

I wonder how high it can go while still maintaining the current protocols and offerings.

Either the Dream or Fantasy reportedly had at least 2500 last fall. Supposedly they were expecting ~3000 by year-end before omicron hit and all the cancellations.

 

[disEAR]

Wonder if they’re increasing their capacity limits?

 

[lanejudy]

Wonder if they’re increasing their capacity limits?

I've said this on other threads going back to last fall... while DCL clearly has blocked some rooms for quarantine and staff, I don't believe they have a particular capacity limit in play. I believe the lower number of passengers since the restart has been due to lower demand. There was a similar thread running last fall about passenger counts and around mid-fall break time there was a definite increase in passenger volume before it dipped again. If omicron hadn't hit, I do believe they were expecting higher capacity for year-end as well.

 

[emilymad]

I am cruising at the end of March and I expect the numbers to be higher. This week is the first holiday week in a while so it will be interesting to see people's reports.

 

[Bibbidi_Boo]

I've said this on other threads going back to last fall... while DCL clearly has blocked some rooms for quarantine and staff, I don't believe they have a particular capacity limit in play. I believe the lower number of passengers since the restart has been due to lower demand. There was a similar thread running last fall about passenger counts and around mid-fall break time there was a definite increase in passenger volume before it dipped again. If omicron hadn't hit, I do believe they were expecting higher capacity for year-end as well.

But at the same time with current protocols how can they run anywhere near full capacity? The pools would have lines down the whole deck, how would you spread out the tables in the dining room, or the shows they would need to show even more shows. The kids clubs would end up excluding so many kids and so on.

What has me interested to see is how the Wish goes this summer, since those cruises are highly booked will they be able to maintain all those people still? Those cruises were not cheap at all and had no extra discounts on them.

 

[Freeman867]

I am cruising at the end of March and I expect the numbers to be higher. This week is the first holiday week in a while so it will be interesting to see people's reports.

Based on the pricing, I'd completely expect everything in March being the highest passenger counts since the restart due to Spring Break and people just being over COVID and not wanting to wait any longer to use their FCCs.

 

[Cheburashka]

Based on the pricing, I'd completely expect everything in March being the highest passenger counts since the restart due to Spring Break and people just being over COVID and not wanting to wait any longer to use their FCCs.

Maybe. I'm in a cruise group for my March cruise, and noticed a lot of people had cancelled during the surge. And people are still concerned about being turned away at port, particularly those who have to really travel to get there. So there are both push and pull factors.

 

[Bibbidi_Boo]

Based on the pricing, I'd completely expect everything in March being the highest passenger counts since the restart due to Spring Break and people just being over COVID and not wanting to wait any longer to use their FCCs.

The people over covid often are the ones that don't want to travel with the restrictions and worry of not getting on the ship.

 

[Freeman867]

The people over covid often are the ones that don't want to travel with the restrictions and worry of not getting on the ship.

That's not entirely true. There are people, such as myself, that are completely fine with masking requirements, have all 3 recommended vaccinations, children vaccinated, but are just wanting to resume life as close to normal as possible given the circumstances. I wouldn't have cruised 4 months ago (I moved a November 2021 cruise to February 2022). But I just did one a couple weeks ago and felt completely safe and fine because I was tired of waiting for things to open back up completely. I only felt that way because of how DCL is handling COVID by requiring all people who can be vaccinated to be so and requiring pre-cruise testing.

This seems to be the most common boat people are in. This is the first spring break a cruise has been available, many spring break cruise were cancelled in 2020, and many people are respectful of COVID, not treating it like it's "just the flu" and doesn't exist, but also want to resume some normalcy. As such, they're fine with the current restrictions because they're already vaccinated and wearing a mask has so little impact on someone these days.

 

[Freeman867]

Maybe. I'm in a cruise group for my March cruise, and noticed a lot of people had cancelled during the surge. And people are still concerned about being turned away at port, particularly those who have to really travel to get there. So there are both push and pull factors.

I get it, but the pull factors have always been there since the restart. The push factors seem to be higher over Spring Break and the FCC expiration coming up for those who had a 2020 Spring Break cruise cancelled than they've ever been.

 

[Bibbidi_Boo]

That's not entirely true. There are people, such as myself, that are completely fine with masking requirements, have all 3 recommended vaccinations, children vaccinated, but are just wanting to resume life as close to normal as possible given the circumstances. I wouldn't have cruised 4 months ago (I moved a November 2021 cruise to February 2022). But I just did one a couple weeks ago and felt completely safe and fine because I was tired of waiting for things to open back up completely. I only felt that way because of how DCL is handling COVID by requiring all people who can be vaccinated to be so and requiring pre-cruise testing.

This seems to be the most common boat people are in. This is the first spring break a cruise has been available, many spring break cruise were cancelled in 2020, and many people are respectful of COVID, not treating it like it's "just the flu" and doesn't exist, but also want to resume some normalcy. As such, they're fine with the current restrictions because they're already vaccinated and wearing a mask has so little impact on someone these days.

Guess it really depends on why you cruise and probably where you are form. Locally people are still cancelling cruises and not planning on any till restrictions are removed, these are mainly families though with kids. But adult couples that are mainly going to drink, sit in the sun and eat have no issue going right now. I know for us 9k is too much to spend as a family of 5 for cruise with restrictions and then limited offerings , less time in kids clubs, and so on. Big question is how it plays out if cruises are the last ones standings with extra hoops to jump through to vacation.

 

[tvguy]

Too soon to tell. There is pent up demand. There are people who don't want restrictions and testing. There are ports that may not allow ships because they feel the restrictions are too lax. There are potential passengers that may feel the same way.
I think with Easter not being until April 17th this year, when more folks and kids are off that it may be well in to May before we get a clearer picture of if people in masses are ready to return to cruising. With land base restrictions being eased in recent days, that will be a real test regarding any spikes in coming weeks.