A Sold Out Cruise Ship Usually Isn’t Actually Full – Here’s Why

When a cruise line says a sailing is “sold out”, it generally means all available cabins have been sold.

It does not necessarily mean every available bed on the ship will be occupied.

Cruise ships have two very different capacity figures:

• Number of cabins occupied/sold
• Maximum number of passengers the ship could physically accommodate

This is why a “sold out” sailing can still have hundreds – or even more than a thousand empty beds.

My Recent Legend Of The Seas Cruise Was A Perfect Example

On my recent Legend of the Seas cruise, there were around 6,500 passengers onboard.

The ship can carry an amazing 7,600 passengers at maximum capacity.

My sailing was during the school holidays too, so there were lots of families onboard.

Despite being sold out, there were still around 1,100 fewer passengers than the theoretical maximum capacity.

The ship was sold out because the cabins had been sold – not because every bed was being used.

My Cabin Could Sleep Four, But There Were Only Two Of Us

I had a lovely cabin onboard, and although there were only two of us in it, it was designed to accommodate up to four passengers.

Obviously, the cruise line can’t sell the two spare beds separately to random strangers – that would be terrible!

Once my cabin was booked, that entire cabin was taken out of inventory.

So from the cruise line’s point of view, the cabin was 100% sold, despite only 50% of its potential passenger capacity being used.

How Cruise Ship Cabins Hold More Than Two People

Many cabins have additional sleeping spaces such as:

• Sofa beds
• Pull-down/Pullman beds
• Bunk-style beds.

A cabin may therefore accommodate three, four or sometimes even more passengers.

Couples travelling alone will leave those extra beds unused.

Families and groups are much more likely to fill them.

What Does “Double Occupancy” Mean?

The capacity figure cruise lines commonly use are based on two passengers per cabin.

Prices are also based on two people sharing – that is why it often costs double if you are sailing as a solo passenger.

This is usually much lower than the ship’s absolute maximum passenger capacity.

• As an example:
  • 2,500 cabins onboard
  • Two people in every cabin = 5,000 passengers
  • But if many cabins can sleep three or four, maximum capacity might be nearer 6,500.

This is why ship capacity numbers can seem confusing – depending on which figure you’re looking at.

Why Cruise Ships Almost Never Sail At Their Absolute Maximum

To reach maximum capacity, an unusually high proportion of cabins would need to have every third and fourth bed occupied.

Lots of cabins will naturally have just one or two people in them.

Even during busy school vacation periods, not every cabin capable of sleeping four will contain four people.

Maximum capacity is therefore more of a theoretical upper limit than the number you’d normally expect onboard.

School Holidays Can Make A Sold Out Ship Feel Much Fuller

During school holidays, there are generally more families travelling.

There will be far more third and fourth beds in use.

That means passenger numbers can be considerably higher, even if exactly the same number of cabins are sold.

A sold-out cruise outside school holidays with mostly couples onboard could have noticeably fewer people onboard than a sold-out summer cruise with lots of families sailing.

This means that two “100% sold” sailings on the same ship can feel completely different depending on whether they are sailing in peak season/school holidays or not.

Can A Cruise Line Stop Selling Cabins Before Every Cabin Is Sold?

Passenger capacity isn’t purely about beds onboard.

Cruise lines also have operational and safety limits, including lifeboat capacity and occupancy limits within particular areas of the ship.

There can therefore be circumstances where a cabin technically has space – but can’t be sold to another group of three/four because of overall or local occupancy restrictions.

This explains why booking systems sometimes won’t let you book four people into a cabin even though it appears available.

Sold Out Doesn’t Necessarily Mean Overcrowded

The number of passengers matters – but ship design matters too.

A ship with 6,500 passengers may handle crowds better than a much smaller ship carrying far fewer people.

Where people congregate onboard matters more than simply looking at one big capacity number.

One thing I was really surprised about when I sailed on Legend of the Seas was that it didn’t feel too busy.

I was sailing in the school holidays, and there were plenty of children onboard, and third and fourth beds in cabins occupied – but the ship had clearly been designed to spread the passengers out around multiple venues onboard.

It also helped that a lot of the children were in the area with waterslides and pools during the day – and I simply avoided that area and found things to do elsewhere!

The Number To Look For When Comparing Cruise Ships

When you are choosing a ship, don’t just look at “maximum capacity”.

Look at what double occupancy / normal passenger capacity is as well.

Maximum capacity tells you what the ship could carry.

Double occupancy gives a better idea of the passenger number the ship was primarily designed around.

During school holidays, expect the actual number onboard to move closer towards maximum capacity.

Have a look at the peak-season summer holiday cruise I took on Marella Voyager below. There didn’t seem to be too many families with children travelling, and the ship didn’t seem too busy.

(This could be because Marella doesn’t really attract as many families as, say, P&O or MSC. Marella charges children the full fare from the age of thirteen, whereas MSC and P&O sell discounted children’s fares until they reach eighteen).

This can make a big difference to the cost if you are travelling with children.

Before You Go

Have a look at the bunk beds or Pullman beds you could end up sleeping in if you have four people booked into one cabin here:

You Could End Up in a Bunk Bed on Your Cruise – Here’s Why (I Have)

I took a cruise on Windstar Pride, which only has a maximum of 312 passengers onboard. I quickly found it didn’t really suit me! Here’s why:

I Took My Most Expensive Cruise… It Wasn’t Right for Me (Windstar’s Star Pride)