Same old small ship or something bigger?

Hello NCL fans! So this is our dilemma. We live fairly close to Boston, so are in love with the cruises that leave from this port. This past year we took the nine night repositioning cruise ending in San Juan. It was amazing, and we booked the mini suite we wanted for the same itinerary next year. On the Dawn. Again. Although we would love to try a different, larger ship, none of the itineraries thrill me as much as the one we are booked on for next year. Are we missing the time of our life by bypassing a big ship, or is the Dawn pretty good? I should also add that I hate crowds and waiting lines. Thanks for your advice. Love, Christine

The Dawn is my favourite NCL ship. I found the public areas excessively loud in the Getaway, particularly near the pub. The theatre itself has no visual appeal in my opinion, however they did have the best dancers I’ve ever seen!!! Speaking of the theatre, I missed going there each night for my dose of entertainment (on the Getaway), and didn’t like signing up in advance for a show ticket. I also prefer watching the comedy show in the main theatre versus trying to find a seat in a small, crowded, comedy club. The Getaway’s balcony was teeny/tiny but I really liked the interior of our stateroom.

Different people like different things. I think the Dawn and Jewel class (almost the same) are a good size ship. Look at our past sailings. The big ships are cool,but......

I totally resisted megaships. My favorite is the Sun.

Two Jade cancellations led us to the Epic. We loved it. We were in the Haven so we missed a lot of crowds I think.

Would have never chosen Epic but fate showed me to give different a chance!

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The mega ships tend to be more limited on itinerary, simply because they don’t fit in as many ports!

We’ve been on most of the Jewel class, the Dawn, the Epic, the Breakaway and the Getaway. My wife’s favorite is probably the Epic. The Breakaway Class is almost too big for me - and the ship is designed to be the destination. I prefer the Jewel class, where it’s a comfortable size and visits (relatively) interesting ports.

I’m glad we’ve been on enough different ships for each of us to have a favorite.

I think it’s a worthwhile exercise to try a couple of options. It’s not like your cheating on the Dawn :)

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We broke down last year and finally took a Mega Ship (The Escape). It was a great ship and we had a blast but at the end of it we both said we liked the smaller ships better. You get more personalized attention. Bartenders, waiters and room stewards seem to know your names on the smaller ships.

That said, I would not hesitate at all to take another Mega Ship, I would just know that the experience would be different. Not bad or worse, just different.

PS. We loved our 9 day repo on the Dawn and im waiting for 2019 schedule to come out to see if we can do it again

....bigger. It is a completely new experience. We welcomed it after years of becoming familiar with the common size ships.

Look carefully at what the big attractions are on the larger ships. You may discover that a family with children or a more adventurous type would enjoy the bells and whistles of a larger ship. We prefer the Jewel class. The Breakaway class added more decks but the public decks, esp the pool deck is so cramped. They doubled the passengers but didn't add a proportional amount of public areas, except for bars and specialty restaurants.

As Platinum Plus, have done many of the ships but the Dawn is my favorite. We recently sailed Escape with 6 y.o granddaughter and that was perfect with her. For us (64 and 72) it was too big and we did not utilize all the amenities. The Dawn is easier to maneuver, less crowded and more intimate Plus I like the confined casino better than layout ion the new ships

The only big ship we’ve cruised on was the Epic and at the end of the cruise my wife and I and my SIL and BIL all agreed that big ships aren’t for us. Keep in mind that we are retired and in our mid to late 60’s.

Some people love the big ships so I would suggest you take a cruise on one of the mega-ships to find out for yourself. My wife and I have three future cruises booked, one on the Star and two on the Jade. My favorite ship is the Jade.

Hello NCL fans! So this is our dilemma. We live fairly close to Boston, so are in love with the cruises that leave from this port. This past year we took the nine night repositioning cruise ending in San Juan. It was amazing, and we booked the mini suite we wanted for the same itinerary next year. On the Dawn. Again. Although we would love to try a different, larger ship, none of the itineraries thrill me as much as the one we are booked on for next year. Are we missing the time of our life by bypassing a big ship, or is the Dawn pretty good? I should also add that I hate crowds and waiting lines. Thanks for your advice. Love, Christine

Have to admit, we are totally sold on the smaller and mid sized ships. We did both the Epic and the Breakaway last year, though they have positives, for us the negatives outweigh the positives. I am not saying you shouldn't try a mega ship, you should once at least, but you are doing fine with the mid sized ships. they are friendlier and are easier to navigate.

Hello NCL fans! So this is our dilemma. We live fairly close to Boston, so are in love with the cruises that leave from this port. This past year we took the nine night repositioning cruise ending in San Juan. It was amazing, and we booked the mini suite we wanted for the same itinerary next year. On the Dawn. Again. Although we would love to try a different, larger ship, none of the itineraries thrill me as much as the one we are booked on for next year. Are we missing the time of our life by bypassing a big ship, or is the Dawn pretty good? I should also add that I hate crowds and waiting lines. Thanks for your advice. Love, Christine

:) Talk is Epic will homeport in Boston for 2019 :D

We are in the same boat and made the decision to just do it! Also live near Boston and love the ease of cruising locally, but felt the Dawn didn't really offer us enough the last time we were on her. Decided to give a "megaship" a try on the Escape out of NYC next June. Can't hurt to give it a try, any cruise is a good one! If its not our thing, we will go back to smaller ships and hope that they assign a new one out of Boston in 2019.

we are going on the Dawn for two weeks next October .Love going from Boston no airports half hour drive from home.Like the small ships better than mega.Hope we get a new ship soon. I herd good things about the EPIC.All cruises are great 17 and counting.

We too live near Boston and loved the Dawn. We also loved the idea of the easy drive getting to/from the ship.

Finally tried a bigger NCL ship last week (Getaway). I wasn't impressed. The Getaway (and I assume most of the bigger ships) had better entertainment, but in my opinion that is just about the only area the Getaway beat the Dawn.

That all being said, my advice is to "try it" - it's really the only way you will know.

Are you west of Boston such that trying a big ship out of NY might be an easy option?

We came very close to booking that repositioning trip on the Dawn - we were booking late and when the hurricane wiped on SJ, we decided to avoid the uncertainty and booked Getaway instead. I'm a bit bored with Bermuda, so, looking forward to booking a future Dawn repositioning trip.

90,000 tons isn't a small ship!

:) Talk is Epic will homeport in Boston for 2019 :D

Where did you hear this ? I have always heard that Boston cannot accommodate that many people for embarkation.

For us the Epic would not be an improvement over the Dawn because of the size. We prefer the smaller ships with more personalized attention and not having to plan your cruise out before you leave. We agree it is time for another ship but of the same size.

Where did you hear this ? I have always heard that Boston cannot accommodate that many people for embarkation.

 

For us the Epic would not be an improvement over the Dawn because of the size. We prefer the smaller ships with more personalized attention and not having to plan your cruise out before you leave. We agree it is time for another ship but of the same size.

Our 14 day Eastern roll call, Post 280 ;)

I live on Nantucket. We did the repositioning cruise November 3; it was amazing! Signed up for the same cruise next year, but we are feeling a little bored with the Dawn. But everything else, the ease of leaving from Boston, the itinerary, it all rocks. I have been on way bigger ships but actually do love the smaller ones.

90,000 tons isn't a small ship!

My thoughts as well, but remember many of the newer cruisers do not remember the days of ships being considered large if they held 1500 people. I guess to them our view of "mid sized" seems small. Who would have guessed 20 or so years ago there would be ships holding 5000 people sailing? ;p;p

I was on Breakaway in April and Dawn in September this year. I had a great time on both ships. To answer your question, I don't think you're missing anything on the smaller ships. In my opinion, the the main reason for the mega ships is to fit more cabins, not more entertainment (sure they added more public spaces, but not at the same ratio as cabins). I'm going on the smaller Gem for my next April sailing, but I would gladly go on any ship in the fleet knowing I would have a great time.

Hello NCL fans! So this is our dilemma. We live fairly close to Boston, so are in love with the cruises that leave from this port. This past year we took the nine night repositioning cruise ending in San Juan. It was amazing, and we booked the mini suite we wanted for the same itinerary next year. On the Dawn. Again. Although we would love to try a different, larger ship, none of the itineraries thrill me as much as the one we are booked on for next year. Are we missing the time of our life by bypassing a big ship, or is the Dawn pretty good? I should also add that I hate crowds and waiting lines. Thanks for your advice. Love, Christine

When I have the option between a large ship and a small ship, the small ship is always my first choice.

The newer and bigger the better.

I gave up on ship shopping and now focus more on the ports ... if she goes where I want, then size doesn’t matter. <out of context, the last phrase might get me in trouble>

Ditto on what padams2017 said. When I booked our Epic cruise I thought bigger ship more and bigger venues. WRONG! The theater was the same size as Jewel Class ships which is why reservations were suggested on the Epic to see the evening shows in the theater. Another thing I didn’t like about the Epic was the number of elevators. The smaller Jade with a passenger capacity of 2400 had 12 elevators yet the Epic with a passenger capacity of 4100 had only 16 elevators. That’s just 4 more elevators for an additional 1700 passengers. Not surprisingly though, the casino was much bigger. All cruises are good but I’m not a fan of the big ships.

I believe the next class of ships NCL has ordered will have a passenger capacity of just 3300. It will be interesting to see what the deck plans of those ships will look like.