More fun or too lonely with low crowds?

[miguelgar83]

Curious what those who have returned from recent cruises have thought about the extremely low crowds on the ships. Would you say it makes it more fun, or does it start to get a little eerie to have a nearly empty ship? Maybe both?

 

[Lizgistix]

It was like WDW after reopening. A little weird, but enjoyable because it wasn't crowded.

 

[Calantha]

We were on the Dream with about 1300-1400 - which seemed like a good number. There were always people around, but never a shortage of seats at the pool, shows, etc. I think if I would be weirded out by any of the cruises with less than 1000...at least on a ship that size.

 

[bobbiwoz]

We were on Magic January 3-8 with around 900 passengers and thought it was a great cruise. The number of passengers only became obvious in the theater because I did notice empty seats. Once the show began numbers were forgotten. The shows were great!!

 

[dcassetta]

Magic on 1/17 with about 800 guests was great. It was most noticeable on CC. We went to a number of activities, and all were well attended. In fact, for Disney movie trivia they ran out of seats in the Promenade Lounge.

 

[yowcruiser]

Curious what those who have returned from recent cruises have thought about the extremely low crowds on the ships. Would you say it makes it more fun, or does it start to get a little eerie to have a nearly empty ship? Maybe both?

Overall, more fun... but yes eerily quiet at time with overall energy levels a bit more flat... this was most obvious when watching Aladdin on the Fantasy... the Genie's joke did not generate the fun atmosphere it generally does...

 

[miguelgar83]

Woah, just saw your planned epic summer 2022 vacation! That does sound quite epic!

 

[mmouse37]

Curious what those who have returned from recent cruises have thought about the extremely low crowds on the ships. Would you say it makes it more fun, or does it start to get a little eerie to have a nearly empty ship? Maybe both?

Definitely had mixed feelings. We sailed the Magic on Jan 22nd. Only 650ish guests onboard. I thought it was eerie. It was great getting with no lines and getting a seat by the pool and never really waiting for an empty elevator (they were always empty) I still feel I missed the energy and vibe and a fuller ship. We still had a great time and the wonderful service is still there but walking on the pool deck was a ghost town. Castaway Cay was empty, the dining rooms looked only a 1/3 full. We had a rotation of RRLLA (Rapunzel's Royal Table, Lumiere's, Animator's). Once before we had a super low guest capacity when Hurricane Matthew came up the East coast and they combined the two dining seatings into one at 7:15. That was great!! I can only assume they did not do this now because of social distancing. They closed one MDR each night. Also they stagger your arrival to the MDR within the early or late seating meaning we were told to come at 8:25 pm for dinner. First night we we waited until 8:25 but asked if possible if we could come earlier and our Server was thrilled. He said of course come at 8:00 when the dining room opens. There was NEVER a line when the MDR's open as so often happens on a normal cruise.

I really felt bad for some of the entertainment people onboard (not the Main Stage but the variety acts). Anyone who has cruised the Magic or Wonder know Promenade Lounge is always hopping and busy during the evening. There are kids dancing to whatever performer is playing. Every time we walked past Promenade Lounge the singer was singing to an empty lounge literally. We sat down once to have a drink and there was only one other person in the whole lounge. Most times there was no one in there before/after dinner yet the singer kept singing. I missed that energy and people watching.

We were the only ones debarking the ship at 8:15....no one in front of or behind us. We had Little Mermaid tags and there was only about 15 pieces of luggage in that section.


Adult pool mid morning


CC at noon







The taxi line after debarking


Deck 9 in the afternoon.

It was weird not seeing many people anywhere. Yes, I would sail again with low numbers but did feel something was missing.

MJ

 

[DSLRuser]

MORE FUN!!!!

With less people, it forces you to "interact" with people by maybe going out of your way to introduce. Since it is not so busy, or loud, you can have a conversation. In a pool or hot tub, not as awkward to say high to a person or couple. To me, when it is crowded, I shut down to avoid the crowds.

We met a few couples the 1st and second night, and Dort of hung out. Was just great.

 

[kathi]

We sailed twice in September (Fantasy and Dream) with 1100 passengers and it was AWESOME. Loved every minute of it.

We sailed twice in December (b2b Fantasy over Christmas/New Year) with about 2300 passengers and it was a mixed bag.

I was much happier with the lower crowds and would hesitate to sail with the higher capacity until covid is more under control.

 

[lunaland]

Just off the 1/24 Wonder with under 300 onboard. A lot of fun in some ways, but for me (an introvert!) Too quiet. That said, the group of a grand total of 9 of us in the smoking session had a lot of good times.

 

[CamColt]

I'm not sure I would say it's more (or less)fun, but it made for a wonderful experience. We still seemed to have the cruise camaraderie with fellow passengers in Satellite Falls, at the pool bar, in the night clubs etc...

 

[Intr3pid]

It was awesome doing our B2B on Magic earlier this month. Just a wonderful experience just not having the queues anywhere.

The best perk of the low numbers? Scored a cabana on CC even when the cruise was booked just three days before sailing!

 

[miguelgar83]

It was awesome doing our B2B on Magic earlier this month. Just a wonderful experience just not having the queues anywhere.

The best perk of the low numbers? Scored a cabana on CC even when the cruise was booked just three days before sailing!

That *is* a pretty great perk!

 

[squirk]

Those half-empty ships look like a little slice of heaven.

Not that I’d want every cruise to be like that, but it does indeed look, literally, like a refreshing change of pace.

I don’t sail until late May. I wonder if ships will be back to full capacity by then….

 

[Sherrilatte]

Sailed first week of January...it was heaven, but the hot tubs in the adult area stayed crowded--regardless of the time. I did not get a chance to enjoy them.

 

[Cheburashka]

Curious what those who have returned from recent cruises have thought about the extremely low crowds on the ships. Would you say it makes it more fun, or does it start to get a little eerie to have a nearly empty ship? Maybe both?

I sailed the Magic in October with what was reported to be about 1,400 guests onboard. It was lower crowd than usual, but never felt deserted at all. Always people around, though it was easier to have solo time in the adult hot tub/pool/get a lounger, etc. There was still a long line for Bingo. The past few weeks have been a lot lower than that due to Omicron & a harsh winter, but I wouldn't count on the last few weeks' situation to stick around that long.

 

[Happy100]

I am looking forward to not having to "locate" pool chairs or theatre seats being saved but will miss some of the energy with larger crowds.

 

[hippiechicken]

I loved it on the 1/28 Wonder! I don't like crowds. I probably would not have done things like karaoke and interactive games if there were lots more people. I thought it was perfect. I heard we had about 800 guests, but it didn't seem like I saw more than a few hundred. There was not a wait for anything-characters, pools, sharwarma. It was perfect.

 

[squirk]

I loved it on the 1/28 Wonder! I don't like crowds. I probably would not have done things like karaoke and interactive games if there were lots more people. I thought it was perfect. I heard we had about 800 guests, but it didn't seem like I saw more than a few hundred. There was not a wait for anything-characters, pools, sharwarma. It was perfect.

You still couldn’t self-serve at Cabanas, could you?