Alaska—are ships not full?

[DisneyCowgirl]

Watching videos of people’s Alaska DCL cruises and it looks like the dining rooms are never even close to full. Some tables are not even set. Are there fewer people on these sailings?

We just booked for 2021 and are already getting excited!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Watching videos of people’s Alaska DCL cruises and it looks like the dining rooms are never even close to full. Some tables are not even set. Are there fewer people on these sailings?

We just booked for 2021 and are already getting excited!

Could be that people may be outside, watching the views.

 

[Snowwhyt]

Watching videos of people’s Alaska DCL cruises and it looks like the dining rooms are never even close to full. Some tables are not even set. Are there fewer people on these sailings?

We just booked for 2021 and are already getting excited!

Could be emptier from second seating with the demand so high for first seating or maybe room service/Palo/other alt-dining options? I tell my servers if I will absent so they don’t over prep for us.

 

[justafigment27]

I’m going to go with second seating ... or possibly first seating with people not making it back to the ship to dine. We barely made it to our early dining time on our Skagway day and noticed lots of empty tables that night. We were in port later that day and I suspect a lot of people just didn’t make it back on time for first seating and ate elsewhere.

 

[cruisehopeful]

I know for sure that one of mine was sold out because I asked about an upgrade when I checked in and was told the ship was completely full. I know we skip MDRs several times due to eating earlier or not wanting to rush from the ports.

 

[China Expat]

Our July 27 HAL Alaskan cruise is sold out

 

[_auroraborealis_]

Port times lead to emptier dining in AK on a line without flex dining.

 

[KMack]

Ours (Sept 2019) was sold out and the reason we were on that one is because it was the only one of the season that wasn’t sold out when we booked on board 8 months earlier.

So, based on my experience and understanding, I assess that the Alaska sails are largely sold out and the picture is deceiving.

 

[Geomom]

Most of the Alaska cruises will sell out. That doesn't mean the ship is at full capacity. There are fewer kids on Alaska cruises than the Caribbean/Bahamas cruises...but a lot more kids than Panama Canal/Transatlantic cruises.

As stated above, most likely the videos were taken on 'late port days' and people missed their dining time. On our August 2016 cruise, 2 of the 3 ports had an all aboard time of 7:45PM (Skagway and Ketchikan.)

 

[ScooterScott44]

Not sure about DCL port times in Alaska since we did another line but the longer days (sunlight hours) allows people to be out longer. Our port times were 9a - 8p, 7a - 6p, 7a - 9p and 7a - 8:30p so it doesn’t really lend itself to being back on the ship for a 5pm dinner. Couple that with the fact that you can get some great, FRESH seafood at the ports, like Tracy’s King Crab Shack in Juneau or excursions like a salmon bake and there is less reason to be eating in the MDR. The photos of the dining room might not a good way to judge how full a specific cruise might be.

As a note on occupancy. The Alaska cruises are one of those that do tend to draw more adult couples. Some of the weeks should be more noticeably less crowded due to the fact that the staterooms May be fully booked but the number of guests per each room might be less than certain weeks in Alaska or other cruises altogether.

Happy planning!