Big Ship vs. Mid-size Ship

We've only taken 3 Caribbean cruises on ships with approximately 2000 passengers, and have been happy enough with facilities, dining, etc. We're considering a Mediterranean cruise in May, and the ship holds 4200 passengers. There's also a lot of facilities that, being in our early 70s, we're not going to use. Our main concern is that a much larger ship would make embarkation and debarcation at ports, that much slower. We also wonder what effect a ship of this size has on the one's whole experience. We realize that some ships are even larger. We like to walk around the perimeter for fitness, lie outside on lounges reading and relaxing, partake of games, etc. with other passengers, but don't care much for what we envision as a very glitzy experience. In other words, is it possible to have a low key cruise experience on a very large ship?

If you are not inclined to want all the bells and whistles, why would you want to be on a ship which emphasizes them? Beyond your disinterest towards much of what a mega-ship has to offer, why would you want to be among a lot of people who are interested in those things?

Conversely, people who do want the go-go and glitz of such ships would find smaller, more traditional, ships dull - and they also would be less likely to have much in common the bulk of the passengers happier in that environment.

The reason we're considering this ship and cruise is because of point of embarkation, timing and itinerary. If a smaller ship had all of this, we'd definitely choose that. What we really want to understand is the difference, if any, in enjoyment of the cruise on a bigger ship. Many thanks.........

It will be a very different experience.

On a very large ship you could meet someone the first day and never see them again.

It likely will be fairly impersonal.

And there is the logistics of the size of the ship in terms of getting from location to location.

Keith

I think that it depends on the ship. We've found that Royal Caribbean's large ships have a very favorable public space to passenger ratio, so the ship doesn't feel so crowded even though it has a lot of passengers. Also, they generally have embarkation and disembarkation down to a science.

Even if you don't use all the bells and whistles on the ship, they are fun to watch (for example, I don't rock climb or use the flowrider or ice rink, but I enjoy watching others!) Also, a lot of bells and whistles mean that the other passengers are positively occupied in spaces that you are NOT in, which helps to make the ship feel less crowded.

I don't think that the large ships (except Oasis/Allure) feel impersonal. You still tend to run into the same people - for example, if you tend to hang out at the adult pool or go to the trivia, you will see the same people there.

I say that if the ship you are looking at has the itinerary, embarkation port and price that appeals to you, then you should give it a try!

The ships are built for the number of passengers that they hold...aside from a larger ship with more walking, you really won't notice THAT much difference!

We do not like those Mega ships.

Being on a ship with around 2000 passengers is large enough for us.

We have no plans to ever sail on a mega ship.

Reason 1, Why pay (and you are in your fare) for all the bells and whistles you aren't going to use.

Reason 2, This is the important one. I want to know I am on the water, I want to be able to see it at any time. I don't want to feel like I'm on "Main Street".

I have seen more then one poster comment about not feeling they were on the ocean due to all the ship structure.

JMHO :)

What ever you do, have a wonderful cruise! :D

The reason we're considering this ship and cruise is because of point of embarkation, timing and itinerary. If a smaller ship had all of this, we'd definitely choose that. What we really want to understand is the difference, if any, in enjoyment of the cruise on a bigger ship. Many thanks.........

Pninas, welcome to CC :)

I would be keen to hear what you think and what differences you noticed if you do decide to book this large ship. :) Please consider doing a review if you do cruise on a biggie!

Which cruise lines have you cruised and which cruise line is the big ship? The cruise line will make just as much of a difference than the size of the ship.

The advantage to big ships is that they are newer. They are less likely to have problems with plumbing or air conditioning. They have more choices in dining, more choices in activities. They are more likely to have families on them as well.

I'm facing the same ongoing situation. The huge new mega-ships are, to me, no longer cruise ships but floating all-inclusive resorts. The focus on these ships is inward toward all the many "things to do" to take your attention away from, for me, the prime reason to be on the ship in the first place...the ocean. On my next cruise, probably in January, I think I will just get a good balcony cabin...my balcony becomes my quiet place to read and look at the sea. I'm even thinking of having my dinners brought to the cabin, if this is possible. I can still use any or all of the ships facilities but can avoid the crowds. Cruising has changed drastically and the "glory days" are - alas - gone for good. However I'm hoping I can work some of the rest and relaxation back into the trip. Good luck...

If you do not use all the large ships have to offer, you will probably be more comfortable on a small to mid size ship. We find the large ships more impersonal and like some of the other posters will not book a large ship if we can get a similar itinerary on a smaller ship.

It is also so much easier to get around on smaller ships and many times they can get into ports that larger ships can not.

We've only taken 3 Caribbean cruises on ships with approximately 2000 passengers, and have been happy enough with facilities, dining, etc. We're considering a Mediterranean cruise in May, and the ship holds 4200 passengers. There's also a lot of facilities that, being in our early 70s, we're not going to use. Our main concern is that a much larger ship would make embarkation and debarcation at ports, that much slower. We also wonder what effect a ship of this size has on the one's whole experience. We realize that some ships are even larger. We like to walk around the perimeter for fitness, lie outside on lounges reading and relaxing, partake of games, etc. with other passengers, but don't care much for what we envision as a very glitzy experience. In other words, is it possible to have a low key cruise experience on a very large ship?

It would be very useful to know the ship and the ports. Without that I will take a stab at some of your questions. I have taken 25 cruises, 5 of them in Europe. We have also been on all size ships. We enjoy different ships and the different sizes and activities and atmosphere. My first reaction to your question was that I would take the larger ship in the Caribbean and the smaller ship in the Med. but you have given very valid reasons for the cruise you are looking at.

Europe is all abut the ports. Generally a 12 day cruise will have maybe 3 sea days. Your typical day will be up early, breakfast, touring, and if you get back to the ship early you will probably grab a snack and take a rest in your room or the pool deck, then get ready and have dinner and show. Early bedtime because you are exhausted and need to get up early the next morning.

Are you limiting yourself to one cruise line? If so, I would look at other cruise lines to see if they have a similar cruise on a smaller ship.

In general, getting on and off the ship is not a problem in ports where you dock. It is a problem in ports where you tender. If you are planning on taking excursions this would be less of a problem debarking since the excursions get priority. Except for times when we have had to wait on very long lines for tenders, the line to get back on the ship has never been a deal breaker.

Your biggest issue may be the walk back and forth across the ship. Since we like walking this is not a problem for us. The larger ships usually have multiple places to get food. To help with getting around larger ships I suggest booking as early as you can to get a midship cabin.

You can make your sea days as active or as quiet as you want. We usually find a quiet place to relax away from the immediate area of the pool, read, nap, take a walk and let the world go by. It really doesn't matter what ship we are on. But we like having the activities available if we want to participate. Can you have a low key experience? It may not be the same as a small ship, but you should be able to find quiet spots. If the ship has a promenade deck there are usually places to sit, look out at the ocean, and you will not even think about the size of the ship. It is possible to have a low key experience on a larger ship.

For us, part of the fun is experiencing new cruise ships. We had a cruise scheduled to the Med. on Queen Elizabeth which was cancelled because of propulsion problems. We ended up taking a last minute cruise on Oasis. Difference of night and day. We had a blast. For many hours of the day we found loungers away from the pool and just relaxed and read.

I would go to the boards for the cruise line you are contemplating and read everything I could about the ship and some reviews. Since some cruise lines do embarkation and debarkation better than others, I would ask this question there.

I'm going to be Negative Nellie on this one. My first few cruises were on ships in the 40-50,000 gross ton size, with about 1200 passengers (I think). Then moved up to the 80,000 gross ton size carrying approximately 1900 passengers.

For our Med cruise we wanted to see Italy & Greece. I found a wonderful 12 day itinerary from Civitavecchia (Rome) to Monte Carlo, Livorno (Pisa & Florence), Naples, Santorini, Kusadasi (Turkey), Mykonos, Athens, Katakolon (Olympia), Corfu and ending in Venice. ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC itinerary. However, the ship was the Grand Princess at 109,000 gross tons carrying approximately 4000 folks. I debated and mulled for days wondering if we would be happy on this cruise.

I finally booked it and while the cruise was lovely, our experience on the ship was not. I deliberately booked an aft cabin to be close to the main dining room 3 decks above our cabin. Unfortunately almost everything else was forward. We are two elder ladies with limited mobility. We only made it to the main show room in the bow one time to meet up for a tour. The rest of the time we contented ourselves with the lounge show mid-ships.

And the space to passenger ratio was not good either. We waited in lines for food, public restrooms, elevators, store purchases, tendering, purser's desk, etc. And when there were sales going on in the atrium, it was impossible to even get by all the people to go anywhere. We finally started staying in our cabin/balcony reading or playing cards to have alone time.

The Costa Concordia (at 114,000 gross tons with approx. 5000 folks on-board) sinking, pretty well sealed our decision that we would never sail such a large ship again.

OP, go with what you are comfortable with. If you have doubts, don't do it.

We used to only sail on small ships and nearly cancelled the first time we "had" to take a larger ship cruise.

It had about 3000 passengers(up from our previous cruise which had about 500).

Thank goodness I did not post on CC asking for advice! Judging from most of the posts upthread, we would've cancelled and missed out on a great time.

Since then we have taken many cruises on all different sized ships, with the largest being just under 4000.

While we do prefer small ships, we have never had a bad cruise nor one we regretted taking.

Enjoy your cruise. :cool:

We have always cruised on ships with about 1200 to 2600 passengers and prefer the smaller ships. Then last summer we cruised on a 380 passenger ship and really liked it much better. Now we realize we much prefer the smaller ships but the ones in the 1000+ passenger range are ok too. You could try a mega ship and see if you like it - we have no interest in doing so. Different strokes!

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As for the ease of embarkation in ports, we waited for well over an hour outside the ship one day, and over 20 mins at the next port-in heavy rain-for re-entry to Independence OTS....it's something we've rarely mentioned since, as all ships can have blips, but I don't think you can take it for granted that you'll always have easy access.