cruise completely booked?

[debbs0723]

We are sailing out on the 4 day cruise that just happens to be around MLK and during the kids sail free. I noticed last night there are no openings left for that cruise. Do most DCL cruises book solid? I'm just wondering how horribly crowded it is going to be?

Thanks,
debbie

 

[calmpets]

It depends on when you sail. The most crowded time I've ever sailed was Easter week, and while it was noticeable more crowded than my usual experience, it wasn't oppressive or uncomfortable. Another thing to bear in mind is that they do limit capacity, so it's not like they will fill every room on the ship with four passengers. Once they reach a certain capacity they will only allow doubles to be booked, which prevents them from having more children than the kid's clubs can handle.

 

[kcashner]

It is DCL's goal that ALL cruises sail completely full. If it doesn't fill thru normal channels, they offer special rates to certain groups (FL res, military, TA, CMs) to fill it! You are looking at a holiday weekend with the kids sail free promotion--yup, that will be full and will have a lot of kids.

The ship "fills" in several ways. First, it can fill each of the 800+ cabins. However, a cabin may not contain the maximum number of guests allowed in that cabin. For instance, 2 people in a 3 person cabin is still a full cabin but means that the ship will not be totally at max capacity. The ship also fills in lifeboat capacity and kid programming age groups. There are times when you can book 2 adults, but can't book one adult and one kid because the kid's programming is full at their age group.

SO...how full/crazy will the ship be? DCL does a great job of spreading out passengers. Since this cruise is over a school break, my guess is that you'll have lots of school aged kids and relatively fewer toddlers. Parents will be split between interacting with kids and sending kids to programming and enjoying the adult areas They'll add a movie or two to the normal schedule to give an "easy" extra option for school aged kids.

The ship won't FEEL full, but it will be nearly full.

 

[MassDisLovers]

We have only sailed on very busy, "full" DCL cruises - (President's week, Christmas and Easter weeks) and , yes, the ship is full, but you never really feel crowded. There's so much to do that the passengers seem to be dispersed among the various activities. Yes, it will be hard to get a chair by the pool, but from what I've seen on these boards, that is true every week, regardless of the crowd. The bookings are regulated by children's ages, so you won't have to worry about your kids being in overly crowded clubs. When they reach the limit for that age group, no more reservations can be made for a family with a child in the that age category. This ensures that the clubs are manageable for staff and fun for kids.

DCL is great at managing crowds, you'll be fine. And, by the way, once we had a room problem on a "full" cruise and lo and behold - there was a cabin to be moved to, so "full" doesn't mean that every cabin is occupied.You're going to have a wonderful time.... enjoy!

 

[debbs0723]

Thanks everybody. I hadn't even considered it being problem yet in the kids clubs but it would have been a thought sooner or later. you guys have made me feel better. Although I know disney doesn't stay open just for us we aren't one to usually travel on holiday weekends there for the crowds. In fact we had wanted to do parks first then cruise but I figured i'd rather be on the cruise during the holiday weekend and do parks the weekend after.

Thanks again,
Debbie

 

[HallsofVA]

I've also noticed several cruises that appear to have sold out of 4 person staterooms since they don't appear when booking 4 people, but you see them with 3 or less.

 

[debbs0723]

I've also noticed several cruises that appear to have sold out of 4 person staterooms since they don't appear when booking 4 people, but you see them with 3 or less.

That never even occured to me.

 

[disney1990]

Is that the 1/17 cruise? We are on that cruise.

If you go and try to book with only 2 adults, you will find there are lots of options. Must be that there are enough children already in the clubs.