Have you been on a sold out ship?

[XMom]

Just wondering if anyone has been on a sold out Disney ship and if so, was it crowded beyond belief or did you not really notice a difference? I am a little nervous since I see our Feb 20th MR Cruise is possibly sold out.

Thanks!!

 

[Anj]

My Oct '09 cruise was sold out and it didn't feel crowded, other than the embarkation line-ups. We had no problems finding chairs (several sets of loungers, we actually had a choice of locations - with umbrellas) at CC, the line-ups for characters were very short (maybe a few people ahead of us each time) and we were never turned away from Flounders even without a reservation.

 

[KSDisneyDad]

Our last two cruises were sold out. One was a 15-night Panama Canal trip and it never felt crowded. We had about 7 sea days not including the day through the Panama Canal itself.

The other one was a Kids-Sail-Free 4-night Wonder cruise this past March. It did feel very crowded on the Sea Day, but other than one day, it wasn't too bad. I think the difference was that a lot of people were taking advantage of the gorgeous weather on our one and only sea day, making Deck 9 more crowded than I'd ever seen it. It felt like none of the kids were in the clubs that day!

Even with that one crowded Sea Day, the crowds on the ship are nothing like the parks!

 

[lindylou2_2002]

we were told that our dover barcelona repo was sold out no upgrades etc, but it didnt feel crowded (although if the rumors ar to be belived the albanions we picked up from dinghys were given cabins with varandas) which if we were fuill would be impossible

 

[Melcatfish]

we were told that our dover barcelona repo was sold out no upgrades etc, but it didnt feel crowded (although if the rumors ar to be belived the albanions we picked up from dinghys were given cabins with varandas) which if we were fuill would be impossible

They were Algerians - they would have had to float a lot further to get to our ship if they were coming all the way from Albania!!

We were on the Dover to Barcelona cruise also and then the Med cruise straight after (got home today) both cruises were apparently sold out, no upgrades available etc... Neither cruise felt overly crowded, busy at times of course but no more or less than any other. In general Disney is well versed in the art of line and crowd management!

Mel
x

 

[lindylou2_2002]

They were Algerians - they would have had to float a lot further to get to our ship if they were coming all the way from Albania!!

We were on the Dover to Barcelona cruise also and then the Med cruise straight after (got home today) both cruises were apparently sold out, no upgrades available etc... Neither cruise felt overly crowded, busy at times of course but no more or less than any other. In general Disney is well versed in the art of line and crowd management!

Mel
x

lol i knew that I gt that it started with an A thats pretty good for me

 

[NancyIL]

Just wondering if anyone has been on a sold out Disney ship and if so, was it crowded beyond belief or did you not really notice a difference? I am a little nervous since I see our Feb 20th MR Cruise is possibly sold out.

Thanks!!

The person on the other thread with the sold-out cruise is on the DREAM to the Bahamas! I checked availability for your MR cruise, and it is NOT sold out.

 

[cats mom]

Just wondering if anyone has been on a sold out Disney ship and if so, was it crowded beyond belief or did you not really notice a difference? I am a little nervous since I see our Feb 20th MR Cruise is possibly sold out.

Thanks!!

Is it one of the kids sail free cruises?

This is just my personal opinion; but having been on different versions of a sold out DCL ship, I definitely thought the cruise that was maxed out in several different age groups felt much more crowded than the cruise that had lots of adults, but was light on kids, even though both cruises were sold out.

I know some folks will say that the kids are in the clubs much of the time anyway so it doean't matter, but I definitely noticed a difference.

If it's a kids sail free cruise I think it probably will feel a bit more crowded than an off season cruise, but at least you know what to expect going in, and you can still have a great time!

 

[lovethedream]

we were told that our dover barcelona repo was sold out no upgrades etc, but it didnt feel crowded (although if the rumors ar to be belived the albanions we picked up from dinghys were given cabins with varandas) which if we were fuill would be impossible

I used to fly a lot. On sold out flights, there were always a few who did not show up and they would board standby passengers in their place. While I know that flying is a bit different than going on a cruise, I can only imagine that with a few thousand people on board, somebody somewhere is going to miss the boat for whatever reason. Missed a flight, car broke down, somebody got sick... Since I have never heard of standby on a cruise, I would imagine that those cabins stay empty.

I remember on the Freedom, we saw several (two to four) families board the boat in Puerto Rico. I am reasonably sure they missed getting on board in Miami and were catching up with the ship as they had way too much baggage and I cannot imagine somebody leaving the ship and all family members re-boarding after buying matching luggage in a Puerto Rico shop.

 

[ibouncetoo]

Also, the ship can be 'sold out' without all the cabins having people in them....depends on the # of people in the sold staterooms and the number of people assigned to the muster stations.

Also 'no upgrades' could still mean open cabins in the lower catagories.

The ONLY difference I've noticed in my 7 cruises is the adult to child ratio (lower on the 2 two-week cruise), so on those the adult areas felt a little more 'active'.

 

[Pattiwig]

We were on two sold out cruises, never felt crowded. Busy at Goofy and Mickey pools, but nothing we couldn't handle.

I agree with PP, Disney is very good at crowd management.

 

[MouseLovinMom]

All but one of our cruises have sailed full. The first day feels crowded to us with people exploring (and dragging their carry on bags along) but by dinner time, people have spread out. Even the dining room doesn't feel crowded, there are always empty seats and often tables. We've always felt that DCL does a good job spreading people out around the ship. Now, if you WANT to have the "it's summer in the Magic Kingdom" experience and find a crowd, check out Shutters in between dinner seatings!

 

[tvguy]

We were on a New Years cruise, and it was sold out.

Only time it felt crowded was Disembarkation morning....well, the New Year's eve party in the Attrium was packed, but that's the same situation as disembarkation, everyone on the ship in one area (actually the Attrium for disembarkation too) at once.

 

[Wilver]

How do you know if your cruise is sold out?

 

[whamma]

I'm pretty sure both of our cruises were sold out because it was Easter week both times (7 night Western Magic & 4 night Bahamian Wonder). I never felt like we were crowded or it was "full". In fact, the reason why we first chose a cruise is that I really didn't want to spend Easter week at WDW because I knew it would be crazy busy! I figure that the ship is made to hold a certain number of passengers comfortably and even full it would accommodate everyone well. IMHO that thinking holds true. (Of course, since then I've spend Christmas week at WDW so I know what busy REALLY is at WDW now too and I'd do it again.)

 

[Bullseyebaby]

We've been on 2 NYE cruises that were "sold out". Yes it is crowded, but they handled everything just fine.... and the Bingo payouts were much bigger!
I would say the pool gets a bit crowded, but we didn't hang out there with so much other stuff on board. Getting off the ship did take a little longer so if you are booking a flight, make it in the afternoon if you can.

 

[nicki.momof3]

Just wondering if anyone has been on a sold out Disney ship and if so, was it crowded beyond belief or did you not really notice a difference? I am a little nervous since I see our Feb 20th MR Cruise is possibly sold out.

Thanks!!

Our 7 night cruise last summer was sold out and I would never have know it.

The ship can handle a ton of people and it did so very well.

 

[Mickeyhugger]

Every Disney we've sailed was 'full,' (we've always sailed spring break or Thanksgiving.) Never felt crowded.

 

[mickey7879]

Our Dec 05 cruise said it was sold out. Was a little worried til we boarded. Didn't feel crowded or busy at all.

 

[Edd]

I have been on three Disney cruises sold out. I think the total passengers were slightly over 2800, that is what the porters told me. I know the stats say Disney ships hold 2400 passengers. So I really don't know the correct figure.

One of problems I saw was at the Beach Blanket buffet breakfast when there were no seats available or the dirty dishes were still on the only available tables. I usually could find another table to set the dirty dishes on. Another was all the dirty dishes out in the hallways a lot. I have never used room service on any ship so maybe not used to it..

The other is the pools which are completely filled during sea days. Many chairs on deck were filled with towels and cases. You can't usually get a spot unless you go up and put your junk on it early in the morning because they seem to stay filled all day long.

To me they felt like they were crowded and maybe that is because I had been on other bigger ships before cruising the DCL.