Will Disney Sail a near Half Empty Ship?

[AdamEfimoff]

Out of curiosity I counted the number of available cabins on the Fantasy sailing on December 21st. I know that this is not scientific, but by my count there are approximately 550+ available cabins for booking. I looked online and there are 1250 cabins on the ship. Assuming they book some of those cabins through last minute bookings, would they sail that ship at nearly half capacity (I mean there are almost 20 concierge rooms available, which is where they make pretty substantial bucks).

Anyone know what they usually do in these types of situations?

Where is this a cruise to?
But aren't there 5 ships? Why isn't it selling?

 

[Pinkgurlshubby]

When we had our Dream cruise it was booked some 18 months prior to cruise. There were a lot of specials advertised and the ship was very empty. We had booked it for 2 reasons. We wanted a specific stateroom, 10166, and we wanted to see the ship and CC decorated for Christmas. So happy we did because we booked one more cruise after that one and then stopped. DCL is way out of our budget now. We wanted to cruise on the Fantasy to be able to have been on all 4 ships but not anymore. We make 6 figures and drive 10 year old cars to save for holidays but can't afford DCL anymore.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Where is this a cruise to?
But aren't there 5 ships? Why isn't it selling?

The Fantasy does primarily Caribbean cruises (Eastern, Western, and Southern)
Disney currently only has 4 ships - Magic, Wonder, Dream, Fantasy.

 

[Dug720]

Where is this a cruise to?
But aren't there 5 ships? Why isn't it selling?

If it's 12/21, they are talking about 2019. That's still over a year out. Not at all surprising it's not sold out yet. Plenty of time.

 

[SailorJen]

We got a half price GTY at 90 days sailing for 2 staterooms this past June, as my daughter is a Cast member. Had to pay in full at 90 days. Assigned staterooms. Paid about $5600, 3 adults & 2 children. Has reservations for next June, same AK cruise, cost over $11k.

Cast member do get discount for cruise?

 

[Dug720]

Cast member do get discount for cruise?

IF they are being offered, they will be on the Hub. They are usually very last minute and very restricted.

 

[WB1971]

We sailed on the fantasy half empty 9/2016. Cruise was delayed a day and shortened to 6 nights with an alternate itinerary due to the hurricane that closed Port Canaveral. Disney offered full refund and a discount on future cruise for anyone who wanted to cancel, or a prorated credit of one night for those who sailed. We were told half the passengers cancelled. MDR felt empty. Was a great cruise.

 

[mmouse37]

Cast member do get discount for cruise?

Yes, but not to be discussed on a public forum. There is a cast member forum on this site that you need to contact the admins to get access to and post questions cast member related.

MJ

 

[mmouse37]

We sailed on the fantasy half empty 9/2016. Cruise was delayed a day and shortened to 6 nights with an alternate itinerary due to the hurricane that closed Port Canaveral. Disney offered full refund and a discount on future cruise for anyone who wanted to cancel, or a prorated credit of one night for those who sailed. We were told half the passengers cancelled. MDR felt empty. Was a great cruise.

We have been on a few very empty cruises. Our latest, the Quebec to NYC cruise started out empty but they offered almost every type of discount the last few months before the cruise....Fl resident, Canadian resident, military, travel agent, cast member, etc. The cruise had only 400 hundred kids instead of 800-900. Was mostly an adult cruise.

Back in 2016 we were supposed to be on the Magic from NY to the Bahamas but Hurricane Matthew was coming up the coast and the day before the cruise DCL changed the itinerary to a Canadian one. Many people cancelled. DCL offered refunds if you did not want to sail. We decided to go anyway since we live in NY. There were so few people that on the second day they combined the two dining times into one dining time at 7:30 ish. It was great!!! Ship was very empty.

MJ

 

[FigmentSpark]

I've got to say, I'd love to do a Canadian cruise, but their timing is always when school is in and before (not during) Canadian Thanksgiving (when 4 day weekends are common). So, I save my money for spring break in the Caribbean instead.

 

[K&TLoveDisney]

DH and I were also on the Magic from NY to Bahamas and ended up going to Canada because of Hurricane Matthew. On embarkation day, the terminal was very empty. I asked how many people were going (due to cancellations and rebooking). I was told 1,100 were still scheduled to sail (but that was not the final # as offices in FL were closed due to hurricane). I heard the final tally after we set sail was 950 people on board. That turned out to be the best cruise ever.