Pros and Cons of Pacific Princess

[GARNERSINMH]

We have only cruised once before on a LARGE ship with RCCL, Voyager. My hubby has minor motion issues, but had no problems on Voyager. The next cruise we're looking at is on Pacific Princess, which is much smaller. Can anyone weigh in on the pros and cons of a smaller ship? Any motion issues? Thanks!

[paul929207]

We really enjoy the smaller ships (Ocean, Pacific and Royal Princesses). We find you get to know people (passengers and crew) much better than on the big ships. We are retired, so we take longer cruises and love the itineraries offered with the Little Girls. We arrive in port and don't overewhelm the area the way big ship do. The lines are usually very short. At worst there are about 669 people in from of you. :)

[Toto2Kansas]

We love the Pacific Princess, the size is great for cruising to those special ports, and not a lot of waiting in long lines or crowded areas.

But when it comes to motion, if the seas are rough, there does seem to be quite a bit more motion on this size of ship then the larger ones in the fleet. We lost dozens of passengers running from the dining room that first night at dinner with hands over mouths, and the seas were not even rough yet. lol

 

Best advise would be to pick a midship cabin as low as possible, just in case. And have him start taking seasickness preventions before he even boards the ship. ;)

[Druke I]

I much prefer the small ships.

 

Much more intimate - you can really get to know your fellow passengers.

 

Motion is more a function (byproduct) of hull form/fineness, and sea state than it is of size.

[kruisey]

I much prefer the small ships.

 

Much more intimate - you can really get to know your fellow passengers.

 

Motion is more a function (byproduct) of hull form/fineness, and sea state than it is of size.

I am booked on a 39 day trip on Ocean Princess next year Singapore to Dover.

Will we get alot more motion than the larger ships?

[paul929207]

Yes, we (my wife and I are with you for most of the trip) will probably feel more motion than on the bigger ships. How much more is subjective. Other than sailing thru Hurricane Danny last summer on the Ocean/Tahitian, the worst we have had was on the Star off South America

[gertz]

Well I agree with everything everyone has posted and If it is a port intensive cruise say like Alaska I think there wonderful. Love the MDR and their version of the HC is way superior to the larger ships.

But on longer cruises with lot of sea days give me the Island, the Coral, the Diamond, the Sapphire, The Grand, Star & Golden any day.

The small ships for us just do not have enough to do when there are a lot of sea time. The main show lounge is poorly designed so it is hard to view anything unless you are up close. You can only take so many hula lessons and trivia can become boring.

Don't think the motion was any better or worse than other ships. But I've never been sea, air, or car sick so might not be the best judge.

[kruisey]

Yes, we (my wife and I are with you for most of the trip) will probably feel more motion than on the bigger ships. How much more is subjective. Other than sailing thru Hurricane Danny last summer on the Ocean/Tahitian, the worst we have had was on the Star off South America

I did have a days motion sickness on Island Princess one nite out of LA towards Hawaii really badly:eek:.One night on way to Tasmania on Diamond Princess quite rough but was not ill at all everything was flying on floor in cabin during the night.

Had a one nighter on Pacific Princess last year loved that little ship thats why I decided on Ocean Princess.:)

Will have to think about this now it has been brought up about motion on smaller ships.

[Druke I]

Your question is hard to answer.

 

Depending on the fequency and heights of waves, there may or may not be more motion on a small ship than there is on a larger ship in the exact same sea conditions. Prevailing winds are also a big factor, and the bigger the ship, the more surface the wind has to affect.

 

We've sailed some 51 nights on Renaissance class ships (one of which is Ocean Princess), and they were all smoother than 4 nights we had on Golden Princess during an Atlantic storm. Golden Princess is roughly 3 times the size of the R class ships.

 

Our roughest trip was on the little Golden Odyssey, a 10,000 tonner, in the China Sea, attempting to outrun the back end of a typhoon, way back in Nov 86. We had green water over the bridge, screws out of the water, and inclinometer pegged. Very rough indeed.

 

Luckily, I am not usually affected by motion upon the waters, so I look upon it much differently than one who does suffer from motion sickness.

 

You mentioned the Tasman Sea - which has a reputation for being rough. The three times we have crossed it, it has been smooth!

 

There is no predicting sea state. It can be smooth one instant, and very rough the next.

[yyjguy]

While there are some advantages, as noted above, there are also some areas that might concern you. The problem areas in my mind are: very very limited promenade deck space for walking, limited deck area for sunning, very small pool-even with a low passenger count, low ceilings, poor ride in certain types of rough seas, no forward or aft viewing without tall glass panels in the way, low ceilings........ Think about it before you book, especially if you enjoyed a large or mega ship in the past.

[paul929207]

I did have a days motion sickness on Island Princess one nite out of LA towards Hawaii really badly:eek:.One night on way to Tasmania on Diamond Princess quite rough but was not ill at all everything was flying on floor in cabin during the night.

Had a one nighter on Pacific Princess last year loved that little ship thats why I decided on Ocean Princess.:)

Will have to think about this now it has been brought up about motion on smaller ships.

We have nearly 175 nights on the Little Girls and never had anything fly around the cabin.

[Toto2Kansas]

We have nearly 175 nights on the Little Girls and never had anything fly around the cabin.

 

Paul, I agree, never had anything fly around the cabin except sailing through a hurricane once..........but that was on a larger ship.

 

But we had passengers dropping like flys last fall on the Pacific that first night out of the dining room. The seas weren't that bad sailing from Honolulu, but you could feel the motion a lot more than on larger ships. We loved it, that is why we booked an aft cabin, but there were many that were really not doing well. I always wondered what they might have done had we really hit some rough seas? ;)

[kruisey]

I am going to go on this trip.After Michael mentioning it was rougher on The Golden.

My sister and I travelled on the ferry to Jersey from south coast of England 1952 boy was that ever rough in the English Channel:eek: No stablisers in those days.Most were sick but not my sister and I.

The itinerary for this cruise is really something special one that I doubt the larger ships would handle.

For me it is this itinerary and the feeling of comfort I personally found on my one night on Pacific Princess last year + the food was great.Even had a chef preparing a special pasta in the dining room for everyone to try.:)