Passenger counts this week?

[Freeman867]

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.

See, I didn't feel any of that when I went as a family of 6. There were no restrictions on kids club times, they could spend as much time in there as they wanted. The kids also spent far less time waiting in line for the Aquaduck, were able to actually do the Goofy Sports Simulator, saw every movie and theater show we wanted to, and found plenty to do with the current offerings to the point we didn't do anywhere near everything we wanted to on a 4 day cruise. That said, we were never much on the excursions, so having reduced offerings at Nassau and Castaway Cay really didn't impact us any.

As you say, locally, I can see why people may be cancelling. They're in Florida, where masking isn't as standard as in other parts of the country, so I can see how that's a turn off. They also have the beach on a daily basis, so warm weather and a beach isn't an attraction in and of itself to Florida residents where it is to much of the rest of the US. In the end, I'm not saying DCL fills up to capacity over Spring Break. Though to do so it just sounds like they need 2,000 more people per sailing for the month, which is a relatively small number when you consider typical Spring Break numbers.

 

[Bibbidi_Boo]

See, I didn't feel any of that when I went as a family of 6. There were no restrictions on kids club times, they could spend as much time in there as they wanted. The kids also spent far less time waiting in line for the Aquaduck, were able to actually do the Goofy Sports Simulator, saw every movie and theater show we wanted to, and found plenty to do with the current offerings to the point we didn't do anywhere near everything we wanted to on a 4 day cruise. That said, we were never much on the excursions, so having reduced offerings at Nassau and Castaway Cay really didn't impact us any.

As you say, locally, I can see why people may be cancelling. They're in Florida, where masking isn't as standard as in other parts of the country, so I can see how that's a turn off. They also have the beach on a daily basis, so warm weather and a beach isn't an attraction in and of itself to Florida residents where it is to much of the rest of the US. In the end, I'm not saying DCL fills up to capacity over Spring Break. Though to do so it just sounds like they need 2,000 more people per sailing for the month, which is a relatively small number when you consider typical Spring Break numbers.

The next 3-4 months will be interesting to see how things play out and to see when CDC lowers cruise travel warning lower which will also trigger changes.

 

[Freeman867]

The next 3-4 months will be interesting to see how things play out and to see when CDC lowers cruise travel warning lower which will also trigger changes.

Honestly I think this summer will bring a very close to normal cruising for those that are vaccinated. I don't think they'll relax that requirement anytime soon. What will likely happen is masks become optional as the typical summer dip of cases happens. The test at the port will be relaxed to more align with a negative PCR test within 48-72 hours of departure and maybe a rapid-antigen test at the port to catch active cases. If people are waiting for DCL to drop its vaccination requirement before cruising, yes, it'll be a very long time before they'll get on a ship.

I'm not sure they'll be able to move the needle on what the Bahamas and other destinations do with their ports. What the US is seeing on its fight with COVID is not indicative of how other countries are doing nor do they have the healthcare, testing, or vaccination infrastructure that the US does and will most definitely still impact that part of cruising into the foreseeable future.

 

[Bibbidi_Boo]

Honestly I think this summer will bring a very close to normal cruising for those that are vaccinated. I don't think they'll relax that requirement anytime soon. What will likely happen is masks become optional as the typical summer dip of cases happens. The test at the port will be relaxed to more align with a negative PCR test within 48-72 hours of departure and maybe a rapid-antigen test at the port to catch active cases. If people are waiting for DCL to drop its vaccination requirement before cruising, yes, it'll be a very long time before they'll get on a ship.

I'm not sure they'll be able to move the needle on what the Bahamas and other destinations do with their ports. What the US is seeing on its fight with COVID is not indicative of how other countries are doing nor do they have the healthcare, testing, or vaccination infrastructure that the US does and will most definitely still impact that part of cruising into the foreseeable future.

We shall see, vaccination requirement I can still see being dropped by summer and can also seeing it shift to non vax won't be able to get off in ports that require it. But I still see fully normal cruising this year with little to no restrictions.

I also expect a drop in summer travel this year. People are starting to tighten up budgets, the last recession wasn't that long ago and many remember the struggles it caused them. Normally there are many more years between big dips in the economy. Most peoples income isn't going up and the costs of everything is sky rocketing.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

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.

I agree with this but also curious what the numbers will be for our WBPC cruise in March. It sold out in 1 day. I'm sure there has been some cancellations with Delta and Omicron but those cabins are never made available to the public. I've been checking very often, in case friends could sail with us, but it's been tighter than frog's butt from day one.

 

[Kwami]

I agree with this but also curious what the numbers will be for our WBPC cruise in March. It sold out in 1 day. I'm sure there has been some cancellations with Delta and Omicron but those cabins are never made available to the public. I've been checking very often, in case friends could sail with us, but it's been tighter than frog's butt from day one.

Given that this might be the last PC cruise on the Wonder, I'd bet that it stays pretty close to sold out.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Given that this might be the last PC cruise on the Wonder, I'd bet that it stays pretty close to sold out.

Exactly. We'll soon find out if DCL just allows the numbers to happen naturally, by public selection/cancellation. The fact that we were never offered an incentive to change to a different cruise means they aren't actively trying to reduce the passenger count. Perhaps just that cancellations never showed up as available cabins on their website, was enough to lower the numbers to a reasonable amount.
Time will tell.

 

[emilymad]

And I wonder how many last minute cancellations we will see in the coming weeks. Other cruise lines are looking more attractive in recent days.

 

[Bibbidi_Boo]

And I wonder how many last minute cancellations we will see in the coming weeks. Other cruise lines are looking more attractive in recent days.

I could see this, and I wonder how many will start playing the exposed to covid card last minute that are holding out to hop DCL gets less restrictive.

It isn't even other cruises that are looking more attractive, travel many places are.

 

[emilymad]

I could see this, and I wonder how many will start playing the exposed to covid card last minute that are holding out to hop DCL gets less restrictive.

It isn't even other cruises that are looking more attractive, travel many places are.

We are somewhat is this group. We have been pricing out other alternatives with our same travel dates that we could switch to last minute. We chose DCL for our 8th cruise because we are comfortable with them in these changing times but now it seems that things are changing again and DCL is getting less attractive by the day.

 

[Bibbidi_Boo]

We are somewhat is this group. We have been pricing out other alternatives with our same travel dates that we could switch to last minute. We chose DCL for our 8th cruise because we are comfortable with them in these changing times but now it seems that things are changing again and DCL is getting less attractive by the day.

We are going the same for our Wish cruise end of august/beg of sept, having back up options in mind granted we could shift our travel dates by a week or so if we do something else. Thankfully there are so many choices out there!

 

[Disneygirlxo91]

Hoping the 3 night dream 3/4-3/7 isn’t too full! We went on the magic in December and it had about 1100 passengers it was great.

 

[juxtapose]

I could see this, and I wonder how many will start playing the exposed to covid card last minute that are holding out to hop DCL gets less restrictive.

It isn't even other cruises that are looking more attractive, travel many places are.

I can't decide if we should switch to another cruise line to avoid at the port testing, or if we should hold out and see if DCL gets rid of that or cross our fingers and hope we get on. We cruise end of May so a lot can change but we have to pay in full in a few weeks.

 

[angel's momma]

curious what the numbers will be for our WBPC cruise in March. It sold out in 1 day.

It sold out early, but not the 1st day. We booked as Silver, and I know there's first timers booked as well.

 

[mullysisters]

I dont know what to say about masks and testing. How effective is it controlling outbreaks? What I'm most afraid of for our July 18 cruise is that we might show "upper respiratory symptoms" cough etc and be quarantined for some or any of the cruise. It would literally kill me to be locked in a stateroom for even one day after paying more for this cruise than we did for a weeks package stay at a deluxe WDW resort in 2020. We were most concerned, like everyone else, about port testing but if they reduce the chances of catching a Covid case before sailing what does that mean for the other passengers who might be affected.

 

[emilymad]

I can't decide if we should switch to another cruise line to avoid at the port testing, or if we should hold out and see if DCL gets rid of that or cross our fingers and hope we get on. We cruise end of May so a lot can change but we have to pay in full in a few weeks.

We are a month out and are holding out but looking at some back up plans since we really only have 2 weeks before we can make changes.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

It sold out early, but not the 1st day. We booked as Silver, and I know there's first timers booked as well.

oops, my bad! I thought it did. We are platinum and I put in a request to my TA to get us a Cat 7A but they sold out before she could grab one. We ended up in 5C which is fine. I must have incorrectly assumed it sold out

 

[DCLMP]

We shall see, vaccination requirement I can still see being dropped by summer and can also seeing it shift to non vax won't be able to get off in ports that require it. But I still see fully normal cruising this year with little to no restrictions.

I also expect a drop in summer travel this year. People are starting to tighten up budgets, the last recession wasn't that long ago and many remember the struggles it caused them. Normally there are many more years between big dips in the economy. Most peoples income isn't going up and the costs of everything is sky rocketing.

I agree, a lot of countries are dropping their vaccine mandates for tourists. Isreal is the latest. I would expect it to be dropped before the end of the year. Disney won't have full ships until they do.

There's a lot of pent-up demand for travel, and a lot of stimulus money still sitting in people's bank accounts, but I think after this Summer we'll see people really pull back due to inflation. I remember before Covid people were complaining about being priced out of DCL.

 

[bearzabout]

I am following a trip report from someone on the Wonder. They said it had 800 passengers onboard. Considering it holds over 2700 passengers, the videos look like the ship is practically empty. My guess is the risk of getting turned away at the port is more than some can deal with. The stress would be awful. Does anyone know how many are being turned away at the port?

 

[Alaska777]

I am following a trip report from someone on the Wonder. They said it had 800 passengers onboard. Considering it holds over 2700 passengers, the videos look like the ship is practically empty. My guess is the risk of getting turned away at the port is more than some can deal with. The stress would be awful. Does anyone know how many are being turned away at the port?

This is not scientific but I’ve been following posts for weeks and it seems like 5-7% is the average.