Are Cruise Ships Sailing At Full Capacity Now?

Full cruise ships are a significant indicator of demand and profitability in the cruise industry. Royal Caribbean Group’s Jason Liberty stated that the threshold for profitable sailing is when a ship reaches 90% capacity in current conditions. However, travelers are now questioning when the cruise industry will return to full capacity. All Royal Caribbean ships have limited capacity ranging between 30 to 50%, and the company plans to increase capacity ship by ship over time.

Carnival Corporation’s newest ship, Carnival Mardi Gras, is nearly full, with Carnival Mardi Gras departing from Port Canaveral on its maiden voyage. The line currently sails 27 vessels and plans to add seven more in the next nine years, averaging about 1.5% growth in capacity per year through 2033. Carnival is the first major cruise line to reach this capacity mark.

Royal Caribbean International plans to bring back all 24 ships back in action by the end of May. In 2024, the lines aim to have ships sail full and over capacity. All three major cruising groups (Carnival Corporation, Royal Caribbean) are currently operating at 100% capacity.

However, questions remain about whether cruise ships will sail full or limit guest occupancy on board. Safety, security, and well-being of guests, crew, and communities are paramount. Royal Caribbean Cruise Itinerary Updates, Weather Alerts, and other travel details are available to help travelers stay informed about the latest cruise itineraries.

Are cruises popular right now?

The Profile of the Cruise Demographic. Looking at the profile on the cruise industry, 4.8 million passengers took ocean cruises in 2022, with 1.75 million of those passengers visiting the Caribbean, the Bahamas, and Bermuda. Over 43% of the cruise ship passengers were Americans, demonstrating the huge popularity of the cruise industry in this demographic. What’s also interesting to note is that 45% of global cruise travelers in 2019 were first-time cruisers.

The cruise industry worldwide generated $13.6 billion dollars in revenue in 2022, with the U.S. being the largest contributor in terms of paying passengers. What’s also interesting is that approximately 32% of cruise passengers traveled with their family. It speaks to the appeal of cruises as a vacation option for families, as well as the industry’s ability to provide a wide range of activities and amenities that cater to the needs of all family members. This statistic is a valuable insight into the cruise industry and its potential for growth.

Cruisers are looking to take bucket-list trips. Here, a colony of African penguins on rocky beach in… (+) South Africa.

Do cruise ships fill up?

So what about ships clearly they need a lot of fuel. And i’m not just talking about large quantity.

Are cruise ships running at full capacity?

What Is Going On And Should You Be Worried?. In 2024 the lines are aiming to have ships sail full and over capacity. All three major cruising groups (Carnival Corporation, Royal Caribbean Group and Norwegian Group) have told investors that sales in 2024 are way above any previous year, and occupancy of their ships is already running at 109% capacity and above.

For those of you not sure what that means, the capacity of a ship is measured based on the number of fixed beds, which on average is around double occupancy per cabin. But many cabins have sofa beds or beds that can be pulled from ceiling recesses for kids or friends to share cabins.

As demand is high, they are overselling using “guaranteed fares”, which just guarantees a cabin grade not a specific cabin, on the assumption that people will drop out when final balance payment is due and again between then and departure and they can take everyone.

Are more people going on cruises?

This continues a marked jump in cruising from pre-pandemic numbers: 2023 saw 31.7 million people take a cruise, which represented 107% of the cruise volumes in 2019, and the “cruise (industry) is forecast to grow to nearly 40 million passengers” by 2027, said the CLIA.

The Covid-19 pandemic changed many aspects of life, but hopping aboard a cruise ship doesn’t appear to be one of them. The cruise industry is booming at record highs in 2024, representing a jewel in a tourism sector that was largely shutdown during the pandemic.

The continuing upward trend in cruise statistics comes despite various concerns about the industry. This includes anger about overtourism being driven by cruise ships, as well as continued flag-waving over the environmental impact of these massive vessels. Through all of it, how have the cruise industry’s numbers continued to surge?

Subscribe to The Week. The Week provides readers with a wide range of perspectives from 200 trusted news sources.

Can you find out how full a cruise ship is?

Go online and create a mock booking. Before your cruise departs, you can head online and recreate your booking. This will tell you whether certain cabin categories are sold out, as well as a rough estimate of how many rooms are available within each.

Let’s take this sailing onboard Carnival Freedom which departs on November 11, 2023. At the time of writing, the website indicates that all interior and ocean view rooms for this particular sailing are sold out. While this doesn’t reveal how many people will be onboard, there are only two categories of rooms with availability!

Of course, you can also check a third-party website, too, such as Expedia, Cruises.com, or CrusiesOnly.

How full are most cruise ships?

Cruise ships can have occupancy levels above 100% when cabins are filled with more than two people. Most cabins are built for two people, and that’s the number of occupants that a cabin has to have to be considered fully occupied, according to the accounting standards used by cruise lines. But cabins on some ships also have pullout sofa beds and pull-down bunks that allow for extra passengers — usually children. When some of them are occupied, that can boost a ship’s reported occupancy numbers above 100%.

“We’re just delighted,” Bayley said of the sky-high load factors on Icon of the Seas.

Join over 700,000 readers for breaking news, in-depth guides and exclusive deals from TPG’s experts.

How many passengers are on cruise ships now?

The average number of passengers on a ship according to the cruise industry is 3,000 so about 1,000 crew for the average ship.

Are cruises filling up?

Cruise Industry Present Day & Forecast. Cruise tourism is booming once again and is rebounding faster than other forms of travel and tourism! With 31.5 million passengers having sailed in 2023 and 35.7 million expected to sail in 2024 (CLIA), there’s no denying that the future of cruising is bright. Cruise is a resilient industry, and it continues to be one of the fastest-growing sectors of tourism.

• 31.5 million cruise passengers sailed in 2023
• 35.7 million cruises passengers expected to sail in 2024
• 56 new cruise ships on order between now and 2028
• 73% of cruise travelers say travel advisors have a meaningful impact on their decision to cruise
• 82% of travelers who have cruised before say they will cruise again
• 75% of the U.S. population is within driving distance of a cruise port
• 10% of cruise travelers take three to five cruises a year
• 27% of cruisers over the past two years are new-to-cruise (an increase of 12%)
• Passengers sailing on expedition itineraries has increased 71% from 2019-2023
• Millennials are the most enthusiastic about planning a cruise holiday
• North America remains the largest cruise market
• Caribbean remains the top destination for cruisers
• Average age of a cruiser is 46 years old
• Cruise industry is expected to reach $28B in revenue by the end of 2024
• Cruise industry supports over 1.2M jobs worldwide

Cruise Industry Investment. The cruise industry has invested over $50 billion dollars towards driving innovation and transformations over the next 4 years. In pursuit of a more responsible, efficient, inclusive, and enjoyable vacation experience, cruise lines are investing in LNG-powered ships, eco-friendly cruise travel, enhanced use of technology onboard, more onboard entertainment and activities, multi-generational experiences, and much more!

How to find out how many cabins are left on a cruise?

Do Mock Bookings for a Sailing You’re Interested In. If you have a specific sailing in mind, you’ll want to be doing mock bookings for that sailing starting the week after final payment is due. During the booking process you’ll be able to see how many cabins in any category are left.

If you’re already booked on that cruise and see that there are open higher-category rooms than what you’ve got booked, contact the line or your travel agent to see if there are any upgrade offers open.

It’s more difficult if you’re not already booked. If you see lots of empty cruise cabins, you can try contacting the line to see if a sales rep or a travel agency will offer you a good deal. Chances are high, however, that if no sale is advertised on the website, you won’t be offered a discount.

If this is the case, keep checking in. If cabins don’t start filling up as the sail date gets closer, the chances of a sale popping up increase.

What is the occupancy rate of cruise ships?

After more than one year of hiatus, cruise operations resumed in the Caribbean in June 2021. Some test cruises took place in the Mediterranean market in the summer of 2020. Throughout 2021, occupancy rates remained low, around 50%, with the number of passengers bouncing back to 13.9 million. In 2022, occupancy rates improved to around 78%, with 20.4 million people taking a cruise, and by 2023, the number of passengers, at 30.7 million, exceeded pre-pandemic levels. However, 2022 brought new challenges for the industry with an increase in the price of food by 20%, an important cost component in a cruise offering. Further, the war in Ukraine impacted Baltic cruises as St. Petersburgh, Russia, could not be called, inciting a redeployment of ships to other markets. Labor shortages were also experienced as Russian and Ukrainian seafarers were much less available. Further, an economic downturn in China seriously undermines future growth prospects in the region. It may incite cruise lines to revise their deployment in a region that, before the COVID-19 pandemic, showed significant growth.

How to tell if a cruise is sold out?

One trick I learned is to check expedia cruises to see if it’s really sold out, oftentimes there will still be cabins available that show up there but not on the cruise lines main booking engine. There usually aren’t many cabin options but there are, oftentimes, multiple categories and some good deals.

Not very smart on the part of the cruise line since the 1st and 2nd passengers pay a lot more than the 3rd and 4th. At some point I’d stop allowing 3rd and 4th bookings and fill up those other rooms.

On some sailings, though, those 3rd and 4th actually go for more. This is usually sailings where you have a lot of kids. I experienced this personally on a Christmas sailing in 2019. It was cheaper to book 2 rooms rather than a 3 person room. However, we had 2 adults, 1 kid. But sometimes, in the case of babies or toddlers and 1 adult, you can’t put them in a room by themselves. So, if you hypothetically have a Mom cruising by herself with two very young kids, you have to have a three person room…particularly, if one next door or directly across the hall isn’t available.

Carnival has certain rules based on ages of kids about where/how you can book them. I don’t know them all, but (for example), my kids can be booked directly across the hall in an inside room or next door in an inside room now, but not in a balcony by themselves and not anywhere else. But they are 8 and 10 now. Kids over a certain age can be booked like 5 doors away; and then over age 18 but under 21 can be booked anywhere but still have to have a “guardian” (i.e. someone over 25 who is responsible for them) on board.