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Royal Caribbean's Big Ships Vs Little Ships

KathleenM17

By KathleenM17,
in Royal Caribbean International

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JJSMaine

JJSMaine

Posted
Posted
What benefits do you lose on the smaller ships?

 

Wow... what you will not find

 

Ice Rink

Flow Rider

Royal Promenade

Larger children's programs and facilities

As many restaurants and bars

As many other cruisers (although more people may not be perceived as a benefit)

As many balcony cabins

The newest amenities (although almost all ships have undergone refurbishments and updating)

 

anyone else think of what I missed

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payitforward

payitforward

Posted
Posted

I like the Voyager and Freedom classes best. They are big enough to offer plenty of activities, entertainment and spaces to suit all of the people I travel with. But they are also small, and easy enough to navigate so I can actually FIND the people I travel with. While Allure was nice, it felt a little too big for me. I always ended up in the bank of elevators on the opposite end of the neighborhood I wanted to get to. Then I would have to go up or down a floor, cross over and go BACK up or down. It wouldn't have been a huge deal if I didn't use a mobility scooter, but because I couldn't take the stairs, it meant a lot of extra time waiting for elevators.

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Turtle05

Turtle05

Posted
Posted

I'm not sure we would enjoy anything smaller than Voyager class at this point in our lives. I've sailed on the Voyager, Liberty, Majesty, and Allure. I hated the Majesty. Nothing to do. My husband and I are very active, so I could possibly only deal with a small ship if it was very port intensive. Unfortunately my husband's one and only cruise so far has been on the Allure, so he is very spoiled! He also really enjoyed the flow rider, so I doubt I'll be able to take him anywhere warm on a ship without one! I am excited that the Freedom is starting Southern Caribbean cruises.

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leaveitallbehind

leaveitallbehind

Posted
Posted
Wow... what you will not find

 

Ice Rink

Flow Rider

Royal Promenade

Larger children's programs and facilities

As many restaurants and bars

As many other cruisers (although more people may not be perceived as a benefit)

As many balcony cabins

The newest amenities (although almost all ships have undergone refurbishments and updating)

 

anyone else think of what I missed

 

I guess I should have been more clear - I guess I did not understand what was meant by the poster as "benefits" thinking it was referring to some on board perks or C & A benefits. What is being describing are differences in features or venues, which I certainly understand are not present with the smaller ships as you point out. Sorry - I didn't interpret these as "benefits".

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sea shepherd

sea shepherd

Posted
Posted
I guess I should have been more clear - I guess I did not understand what was meant by the poster as "benefits" thinking it was referring to some on board perks or C & A benefits. What is being describing are differences in features or venues, which I certainly understand are not present with the smaller ships as you point out. Sorry - I didn't interpret these as "benefits".

 

 

All the things I have mentioned are C&A benefits. As a PC member.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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leaveitallbehind

leaveitallbehind

Posted
Posted
Wow... what you will not find

 

Ice Rink

Flow Rider

Royal Promenade

Larger children's programs and facilities

As many restaurants and bars

As many other cruisers (although more people may not be perceived as a benefit)

As many balcony cabins

The newest amenities (although almost all ships have undergone refurbishments and updating)

 

anyone else think of what I missed

 

All the things I have mentioned are C&A benefits. As a PC member.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Yes, and I get that, and thank you sea shepard for responding to my original question.

 

But as you see I was responding to JJSMaine, who was listing venue and feature differences, NOT C & A benefits. Again, I clearly know of these venue differences, but did not think of them as "benefits" as referenced in your post that I originally quoted.

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Turtle05

Turtle05

Posted
Posted
Love the smaller ships - they have all that we need. I also like that there is more flexibility of ports - the big ships are so limited. Hope that Royal will strive to keep the smaller ships around for a while. Katherine

Not sure this will change any time soon. I'd imagine as long as the ships aren't shut down by any sort of legal entity and RCI continues to make money, the smaller ships will stay around. The Majesty is almost 25 years old I believe, and she's still going strong :cool:

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Saab4444

Saab4444

Posted
Posted
Not sure this will change any time soon. I'd imagine as long as the ships aren't shut down by any sort of legal entity and RCI continues to make money, the smaller ships will stay around. The Majesty is almost 25 years old I believe, and she's still going strong :cool:

 

 

 

They need some smaller ships to remain competitive. Can you imagine a major cruise line that is not able to offer cruises e.g. to the Norwegian Fjords or Greek isles because all their ships are too big?

 

 

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Clarea

Clarea

Posted
Posted
They need some smaller ships to remain competitive. Can you imagine a major cruise line that is not able to offer cruises e.g. to the Norwegian Fjords or Greek isles because all their ships are too big?

Could be the corporation will leave those cruises to one of it's other cruise lines.

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_linda_

_linda_

Posted
Posted

Radiance, Voyager or Freedom for us. Oasis and Anthem OTS were amazing but the big things are so big that it felt like less space left per passenger. Esp the sundecks, felt the sun loungers were squashed into walkways.

 

 

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CRUISEFAN0001

CRUISEFAN0001

Posted
Posted

We've been on all 3 Oasis class so far...and never felt crowded despite their size. Our cabins were great, the onboard activities and selections were terrific, and the service was always very good.

 

We also recognize that smaller ships are important, in that they serve certain ports that can't support the Oasis class ships, while others serve special places requiring a smaller vessel like Alaska Inside Passage and other locations.

 

The variances in Radiance class, Voyager class, Freedom class, Quantum class, and Oasis class allow Royal to serve a wide range of passenger experiences and worldwide locations - we get that. Once we complete our Ovation of the Seas cruise next year, we will have been on all 5 size categories of ship. We've seen tons of enjoyment in them all (pun intended)..

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Shipof6Fools

Shipof6Fools

Posted
Posted

I just came off the Harmony of the Seas at the end of October. Great ship with tons of stuff to do and eat. But to me it had a major design flaw. The windjammer was just to small for 6000 plus people. I get it that they have so many places to eat they expect foot traffic to spread out to other places but at the end of the day it was my least favorite ship (from RCL). I like the ships in the following order Enchantment, Liberty, Harmony. As the ship gets bigger it looses that quaint feel. Really want to try a Radiance class.

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KathleenM17

KathleenM17

Posted
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Really interesting to read and discover which size of ship people prefer. I've never sailed on a smaller RCCL ship, but I had the chance to see Vision of the Seas once and I thought it was in bad shape and in need of a total refurb. I think that when I think of the smaller ships, that they are much older in style. And that's the main reason I like the bigger Oasis class styles - I like the modern feel. Its not about zipling etc for me. i just like to feel I'm in a modern space and have lots of outdoor areas to explore - eg Boardwalk / Central Park etc.

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bobmacliberty "Live from...." Rare

bobmacliberty

Posted
Posted

We have only sailed Explorer class and larger so far. Allure is definitely our favorite to date (a family vacation with 2 teen kids) but we enjoyed Explorer and Freedom classes as well. Will give Serenade a shot in February without the kids. Will be interesting to see if we miss the features of the larger ship, or enjoy the smaller ship benefits.

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