When does BIG become TOO BIG ?

We've sailed with Royal more than any other cruiseline and we did prefer the larger ships.

However, after sailing Anthem in October and Allure this month, we feel the ships have become too big, too "organised" and too impersonal.

We were scheduled to sail on Harmony in May but have now cancelled and will be on Navigator instead (a change of itinerary too).

On both of the mega-ships we found that a lot of our time was spent planning and attending rather than relaxing and enjoying.

You had to book for this, book for that, stand in line for something else; make sure you were on-time - it was like attending meetings at work.

Yes, you can pre-book shows etc online but that then conflicts with dinner or other events you discover onboard, so you have to join a line to get stuff amended.

Food is an issue too. Why is it that a mega-ship can have lots of casual eateries for breakfast or lunch but serve exactly the same luke warm food in every one of them. Where is the variety? It's not like they dont have the space to offer it.

Does anyone else feel big has become too big?

For us, it's Voyager class all the way going forward (though moving one of those to Celebrity would be just perfect too)

I have yet to yet one of the largest ships. So far Independence is the largest I have been on and I loved her. I am on Anthem in March and Harmony in December so have no real experience on those yet. But some people love them - and who knows - I may love them.

I don't tend to join the activities or go to the shows - so booking the entertainment does not bother me. I love exploring the ship and then relaxing and reading. That may make me a good candidate for loving the larger ships - just don't know yet.

One thing I LOVE about RCCL is that they have so many different classes of ships to choose from. So I say stick with what you love! Once I try all the classes, that is what I plan to do.

I agree that the need to schedule shows in order to have a good selection of seats is a negative aspect of the larger ships for us.

I heard that size doesn't matter.

I had the Harmony booked for October and then decided it was too big for the ports and for some of the reasons you mentioned.

I still prefer the Radiance Class :)

How big is too big? I'm somewhat curious myself. Cruised to Alaska on Radiance of the Seas last year, which was my first cruise ever on a ship that wasn't painted gray and armed. Had a great time, decided to try out 1 of the big guys, will see what that's like.

It's definitely a personal choice.the largest ship we have sailed on is Navigator and that was too big for us with about 2500 passengers. Now we try to stick to less than 2000 as that is where we feel comfortable

I'm with the OP. One of the major attractions to cruising for me was the fact that you did not have to plan and schedule meals, activities and entertainment.

When DH and I went on Voyager of the Seas for our honeymoon, it was the largest ship around...and we loved it. No scheduling or anything but we loved the variety of things to do and areas to explore.

I can't comment yet since our Allure cruise isn't until April, but we like the huge number of activities that are available and the neighborhoods....but we are city people. And I'm a planner so don't mind at all having to pre-book things. It's part of the fun of planning.

But I do get how it's not for everyone as a lot like to take the day/hour as it comes.

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No ship is ever to big for me. I love all sizes. The main part is to enjoy myself.

With all the activities and show to book and plan is no biggies. Of course it a pain but it your own decision. I had a friend who cruised and he told me why do i need to do that or do this? i just go up to top deck and read. No one is enforcing you to do everything on the list. I pick what i want to go and just go. I usually only do one activity for the day. the rest of the day is my time. That is to relax. To me once you done something you don't need to do it again. EXCEPT BUMPER CAR!!!!

We cruise to relax. We don't need to be on a ship with robot bartenders, i-fly, north star, carousels, and bumper cars.

We prefer Radiance and Voyager class ships on RCI. Our next 3 cruises are on Brilliance, Serenade, and Navigator. We know that bigger seems to be the way of the future but by the time our type of ships are done away with our cruising days will be over.

The largest class of RCCL ships we've Cruised on are the Freedom class. We probably won't (notice In didn't say never) Cruise on any of the larger RCCL ships. We have our reasons. Recently we sailed on the Jewel and like the Radiance class a lot. Agree it's all about personal choice.

We've done the Oasis class of ships several times. Our first Oasis class cruise, we definitely booked shows and made sure we were there in plenty of time. That cruise was a more organized type cruise. Doing the ships a second time, we didn't feel the need to go, go, go as much. The only class we've yet to experience is the Quantum class. The reviews seem to be so varied, we'll probably wait until it seems the differences Royal was seeking for this new class have the kinks worked out.

We've done the Oasis class of ships several times. Our first Oasis class cruise, we definitely booked shows and made sure we were there in plenty of time. That cruise was a more organized type cruise. Doing the ships a second time, we didn't feel the need to go, go, go as much. The only class we've yet to experience is the Quantum class. The reviews seem to be so varied, we'll probably wait until it seems the differences Royal was seeking for this new class have the kinks worked out.

Reviewing the cruise is like a grain of salt. Tips are in there as well. That the best part of reviews. Despite complaining about the food , i disagree with how horrible it is. It the matter of your taste buds. I had a blast on the anthem no complaint except for one breakfast morning, but they bounced back and stay on top of it. The only way to do this is see it for yourself. I had to laugh at some of the review on how they typed up. This is hilarious. A guy said on the reviews, i am not a bar type of person which mean he rarely go to a bar. After he wrote that he said this bar was fabulous, that bartender was good. Um i thought he not a bar type and yet he go drinking at all these bars on the ship. Weird? :eek:

I would not want to do one of the big ships. I like Radiance class and voyager class.

This is a great post. One of the reasons I've been turned off by the big ships is all the planning that seems to be involved. I still can't wrap my head around having to make reservations for "My Time Dining," but that's exactly what I did the other day for our upcoming Harmony cruise. I also made reservations for Coastal Kitchen starting with the first night, and then every other night. As far as specialty restaurants, we're going to wing it and hopefully be able to get in once we're on board. (It's just my husband and I on this cruise.) How do I know 9 months ahead of time if we're going to feel like eating at Sabor on Wednesday? As far as shows, I guess we'll wing that too. Are reservations needed if you have a gold card? (I know they open up those seats 15 minutes before the show starts.) Is there gold card seating at the Aqua Theater?

I love doing all the research building up to the cruise, but once we're on board we really like to kick back and be as off schedule as possible. I'm a pet sitter and my life is one big schedule, seven days a week.

That said, really looking forward to finally sailing on a big ship, but I think I'm actually more excited about visiting Barcelona prior to the cruise, and that this will be our first transatlantic with all those sea days.

I agree that the need to schedule shows in order to have a good selection of seats is a negative aspect of the larger ships for us.

When you reserve the shows on the big ships, are they assigned seats?

No...no assigned seats on any ship, big or small!

I did Navigator (Voyager class) and then Freedom (Freedom class) and then back to Navigator. I'm doing Oasis (Oasis class next month).

I'm *guessing* that Freedom is going to be my perfect fit, but I won't know for sure until after Oasis.

I loved Navigator the first time, and going up to Freedom was a very natural step -- the ships are virtually identical, other than size, so navigation on board Freedom felt very familiar after having done Navigator. However, going back down to the Navigator was just a bit of a let-down, and I think it was mostly related to the size of the Solarium.

Finding lounges in the Solarium on Navigator was VERY difficult at all times. I actually have pictures of chair-hogging product placement at NOON ON EMBARKATION DAY for crying out loud!!!! :rolleyes: And I got cursed out by some old biddy for moving someone's things from a group of four saved loungers that had been vacant for at least an hour. :rolleyes: With Freedom's wider beam, there is more room in the Solarium for more loungers, in my experience.

Maybe I'll change my mind after experiencing Oasis.... but I really love the Freedom class.

I have stayed away from the Oasis/Quantum class ships. We enjoy the Radiance/Voyager class ships. From the reviews I read on larger ships I keep hearing that it is more like a city/mall. I enjoy knowing that I am a ship and having access to seas views.

There is nothing wrong with the larger class ships, but I don't want to sail on them just to say I did when I am happy with the smaller ships. That is one thing about cruising, there is a ship for everyone's taste.

Do I agree?

No.

I am on the Anthem right now.

I do what I want, when I want to.

No worries, no hassles.

:)

Also i wouldn't panic much. There will always be a smaller class ship somewhere because there is certain port that is not strong enough to hold bigger ship or have some height restriction or dredging harbor restriction. In Baltimore, the ship need to be small as grandeur size because of both the height and dredging depth. The bridge is much lower than the Verrazano Narrow. In Hudson Harbor, the Verrazano Narrows Bridge is higher but the height is still consider a factor. The dredging underneath is getting deeper but not deep enough. That bridge will never get ripped down till many years later. It is possible to bring Oasis or Allure to Hudson Harbor but the dredging under the bridge is not deep enough for the ship to try to duck down(if you see the video on how the Oasis sail out of ship yard to the bridge). Also it bad decision to bring oasis or Allure up to Hudson Harbor because of the Central Park neighborhood.

She Who Must Be Obeyed and I just spent two weeks on the Allure, our first mega-ship. We booked it just for experience of the ship and not the ports, and in fact we only got off the ship for one port and then for only about an hour and a half.

We disliked the thought of trying to book dining times and shows weeks and months in advance, so we only booked our boarding day dinner time before leaving home. Everything else we booked on board through the interactive TV in our stateroom for the shows and through the maître-d for the following evening as we left dinner each night. For the specialty restaurants we dialed the dining reservation number on the phone from our cabin. Easy beezy.

We found the Allure both annoying in some aspects, and enjoyable in others. We quickly adapted to or avoided the things we didn't like and found ways to have an enjoyable cruise. I posted some of my tips that others found useful here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2307453

In summary, I prefer smaller ships for a feeling of being at sea and not on a floating amusement park and shopping mall. That being said, I wouldn't hestitate to book another cruise on the Allure or try the Oasis.

I've sailed on Oasis and Norwegian Epic - neither ship was too large for me. I considered them to be the destination with the added bonus of being on the sea.

Not really sure what too large might be, but I don't see much point in sailing on one of the really huge ships on a port intensive itinerary, or anywhere besides the Caribbean.

She Who Must Be Obeyed and I just spent two weeks on the Allure, our first mega-ship. We booked it just for experience of the ship and not the ports, and in fact we only got off the ship for one port and then for only about an hour and a half.

 

We disliked the thought of trying to book dining times and shows weeks and months in advance, so we only booked our boarding day dinner time before leaving home. Everything else we booked on board through the interactive TV in our stateroom for the shows and through the maître-d for the following evening as we left dinner each night. For the specialty restaurants we dialed the dining reservation number on the phone from our cabin. Easy beezy.

 

We found the Allure both annoying in some aspects, and enjoyable in others. We quickly adapted to or avoided the things we didn't like and found ways to have an enjoyable cruise. I posted some of my tips that others found useful here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2307453

 

In summary, I prefer smaller ships for a feeling of being at sea and not on a floating amusement park and shopping mall. That being said, I wouldn't hestitate to book another cruise on the Allure or try the Oasis.

Glad to hear you were able to get into specialty restaurants without booking months in advance. :)