Royal Caribbean's Big Ships Vs Little Ships

[flowmaster]

This is my first reply! So Hi!

 

My wife and I tend to love the bigger ships. I have become kind of a flowrider addict and have not sailed on a ship without one int he last 5 years. I think it all depends on what your interests are. We really do enjoy spending time on the ship. We have done the western and eastern Caribbean itineraries too many times to count. Some of the ports are worth getting off again and again... BUT.. you can't argue with having the whole ship to yourself when all the other guests are off exploring the port of call! SOME things are closed but for the most part you can make a really great day out of just staying on the ship! We once did a back to back and stayed on for the full 14 nights. To this day it was one of our favorite trips! I will agree with most of you that the bigger ships can sometimes be too crowded. We have figured out that it really depends on the people. If you have a lot of "New cruisers".. It takes people a good 3 or 4 days to get their bearings. non the less, we love it and will continue sailing the big ships until they get bigger and we get an "upgrade"

 

:)

[Clarea]

This is my first reply! So Hi!

 

My wife and I tend to love the bigger ships. I have become kind of a flowrider addict and have not sailed on a ship without one int he last 5 years. I think it all depends on what your interests are. We really do enjoy spending time on the ship. We have done the western and eastern Caribbean itineraries too many times to count. Some of the ports are worth getting off again and again... BUT.. you can't argue with having the whole ship to yourself when all the other guests are off exploring the port of call! SOME things are closed but for the most part you can make a really great day out of just staying on the ship! We once did a back to back and stayed on for the full 14 nights. To this day it was one of our favorite trips! I will agree with most of you that the bigger ships can sometimes be too crowded. We have figured out that it really depends on the people. If you have a lot of "New cruisers".. It takes people a good 3 or 4 days to get their bearings. non the less, we love it and will continue sailing the big ships until they get bigger and we get an "upgrade"

 

:)

Hi, and welcome to Cruise Critic.

[lenquixote66]

I'm curious! Which do you prefer out of Royal Caribbean's big ships / little ships? I personally love the larger ships as there is more to explore and enjoy. I also enjoy how modern they are.

 

Do you have a preference of ship size for cruising with Royal Caribbean? If yes, why!:confused:

 

 

Small ships .On the large ships you may never see a person more than once but on a small ship you may see them many times.

[chrisby]

Bigger will always be better to us. We sailed on the Grandeur about four years ago and were quite bored after being on Explorer three straight times before that. We sail Anthem now and love her, as well as Quantum! We don't really socialize much so we don't usually care to see anyone once, much less more than once!!

 

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[sross6019]

Like the "midsize" the best. I consider midsize the Voyager to Freedom class.

 

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[joandian]

While I am very pleased with all of Royal's ships up to and including the Freedom Class, I am very fond of the Vision and Radiance classes. Oasis class not so much, Q class have not had a chance to kick the tires yet.

 

This is my answer exactly.

[mcrcruiser]

Between the Royal , Celebrity * Azamara sized ships they got it all covered :cool:

[Lordnlkon]

Oasis class ships by far. Dual flowriders and the ships just have so much to do. They feel less crowded than the smaller ships as well. We're young in our 30's and very active so the smaller ships are rather boring for us.

[Turtle05]

Oasis class ships by far. Dual flowriders and the ships just have so much to do. They feel less crowded than the smaller ships as well. We're young in our 30's and very active so the smaller ships are rather boring for us.

Ha I think we could be friends! I also loved being able to pre-book all the shows.

[billosr]

I vote for the intimacy and lack of crowds on smaller ships

 

 

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[SchoolNurseMom]

While we have never had a bad cruise, we do prefer the smaller ships. Seems like we get more personable service on them.

[juju2454]

We have been on the voyager class and enjoyed it, we have been on 2 of the really big ships (breakaway and silhouette) and they were lovely too, we are booked for the vision class grandeur ots for xmas through the 3 of january 2018-19 and I am hoping my grandsons will be okay with less to do. I know there is rock climbing and basketball etc, and the pool is bigger and they will be of age to go in the solarium to swim when it is too cold for the outside pool which will be a good thing. They will go to the teen group occasionally, but on Silly they were i there way too much and missed much of the cruise.

 

I look forward to the smaller size but the rest of the group SIL and DD, and grands have only been on the Silly , so it may be quite a shock. We shall see!! ;p

[KathleenM17]

Oasis class ships by far. Dual flowriders and the ships just have so much to do. They feel less crowded than the smaller ships as well. We're young in our 30's and very active so the smaller ships are rather boring for us.

 

Yes I agree - that maybe the larger ships are better for younger cruisers? We're in the same age bracket and fear boredom on the smaller older ships.

[Joe12]

Mr. Big Ship Fan here.

As you can see, I have done all 3 Oasis Class ships, and spent 3 weeks on Harmony in the space of 9 months. Love those big girls.

 

Anthem was OK but it is just so different. Wouldn't do her from NJ again but am thinking of giving the class a 2nd try with Ovation in Alaska.

 

Had great experiences on Voyager/Freedom Class ships. They are a great size and perfect for a first time cruiser. However, my experiences on Indy and Explorer were quite early in my cruising days, and I worry that I would be disappointed in them if I went back after the newest/largest ships like the Anthem or the Harmony. I have heard that even the Freedom Class is beginning to show some raging.

 

Radiance Class: Loved Jewel as a first timer, but as the ship became more of the destination, the Serenade just didn't cut it for us. Beautiful ships but too small. Just not for me. Would take a really enticing itinerary to get me back on one.

 

Vision Class: Did Enchantment and did not like it. It is basically an older and less beautiful version of the Radiance Class. As young Brits, I don't think we fit in with the Baltimore demographic, so certainly will not be making an appearance on the Grandeur, and likely never will try Rhapsody or Vision either.

 

Not done Empress or Sovereign Class - no desire to.

 

I do consider myself a bit of a ship snob, but I think it is important to know what to expect and to know what you like. We didn't know nearly as much about cruising as we do now when we went on EN and ended up on a ship that simply didn't fit our needs. Do your homework and know what a ship will offer.

[molsonschooner]

We have been on the voyager class and enjoyed it, we have been on 2 of the really big ships (breakaway and silhouette) and they were lovely too, we are booked for the vision class grandeur ots for xmas through the 3 of january 2018-19 and I am hoping my grandsons will be okay with less to do. I know there is rock climbing and basketball etc, and the pool is bigger and they will be of age to go in the solarium to swim when it is too cold for the outside pool which will be a good thing. They will go to the teen group occasionally, but on Silly they were i there way too much and missed much of the cruise.

 

I look forward to the smaller size but the rest of the group SIL and DD, and grands have only been on the Silly , so it may be quite a shock. We shall see!! ;p

FYI, voyager class ships are bigger than Silhouette

[Lady Chew]

We've been on all 3 Oasis class ships (in their first year of service) and will go on the next one as well. They are truly amazing feats of engineering, and they are beautiful as well. Tons of things to do, lots of places to eat. We have only been in "regular" balcony cabins, and find them a little lacking in storage, but at least we know in advance to expect that. The only thing that is a drawback is the limited ports big enough for them.

We like the Freedom & Voyager class better, still plenty of things to do and a few more ports available. We've also sailed on Radiance & Vision class for a few longer or European cruises. The older ships seem to have much more in-cabin storage than the newer ones. (again, I'm talking about "regular" balconies ...)

We have loved all of our cruises on Royal ships!

[NotTheBatesMotel]

So far, my favorite is Freedom class. There’s a bunch to do, but plenty of sea views. I stared at the Oasis class all starry-eyed for 7 years, thinking as soon as I sailed on an Oasis class ship I wouldn’t want to sail smaller again. Much to my surprise, after sailing on Allure I realized that the mega ships aren’t for me. The shows were amazing but having to go out of my way to see the ocean when I was on a ship ruined it for me. The food was also the worst we’d experienced. I’m sailing on Grandeur in April-not sure how the smaller ship will feel but I’m looking forward to it nonetheless.

[actuarian]

My wife and I love the Radiance class ships. We also enjoy the Voyager class but, for us, anything larger than Voyager class is just too big. We did not mind the size of the Oasis and the Allure when they first came out because, even though we thought they were too large and much too regimented (reservations required for every show), the large amount of public space made up for a lot. Those two ships also used to have the best Concierge Clubs in the fleet. However, the Concierge Clubs are now turned into much more crowded Diamond Clubs with fewer services and that public space has shrunk very noticeably, some used for added staterooms and suites and the rest for spaces that are available only to PC and Suite Class cruisers. Now those ships seem much more crowded. We were last on the Oasis three months ago but we will not be back there at least until we get the remaining 360 points that we need to become PC. For the next few years, it will be Radiance Class and Voyager Class with a very occasional Freedom Class.

[mango skin]

Both small and large classes have their pros and cons. I will say that sailing with a young family, we prefer modern ships for cabin comfort and amenities which tend to be the "newer ships".

 

If we had our way, we would definitely do the smaller ships but modernized. Anthem was a perfect size! Awesome time we had except the different dining every night. We prefer traditional dining on Anthem size.

 

We also did Voyager, which we loved, loved, loved as well pre-kids. Oasis, nice zip lining and aqua theater shows, kids activities but terrible crowds and lots of walking to get to everywhere. Don't forget something in your cabin, disastrous! Also, itinerary was very limited due to size of ship. Staff not as customer oriented. We would not re-book unless it was a Mediterranean route. Allure-same thing as Oasis.

 

Liberty, we had a great time, nice size, good itinerary selection, best of both worlds.

 

Adventure, the oldest ship we have ever done. We loved itinerary but ship was very out dated. Our kids still had a great time in kids Club.

 

Freedom, same class as Liberty. We haven cruised Freedom yet but this is our next upcoming ship which we cant wait to get on in the summer! We booked one of the brand new, modernized cabins. Flow rider and everything else, we're looking forward to having a blast! Awesome itinerary, finally a few new ports we haven't been to before!

[AdamKnows]

I'm a Voyager class and larger type of cruiser. I love the royal promenade.

[srlucado]

Small, small, small. Rhapsody was my favorite ship. Liked it better than Voyager class. We board the Liberty on Dec. 3. First time on Freedom class. Maybe I'll change my mind?

 

I also like the Rhapsody best. I was on the 12/3 Liberty cruise, and it was just too much. Too crowded, too many kids.

 

I wish the Rhapsody was still sailing out of Galveston. Did that twice, and would love to do it again. That ship seemed a perfect blend of size, comfort, amenities, and staff/pax ratio.

[gottagoacruzn]

For me, I enjoy the smaller ships that those big mega ships. My next cruise will be on the Enchantment in May to the W. Caribbean, out of Galveston. Not sure at the moment, if those mega ships will be callin my name.

[Mikew0805]

I like them all, however I really love the Majesty of the Seas, and the Radiance class ships.

 

Majesty just very comfortable, and never felt crowded.

[SailorJeff66]

With only one cruise on the Empress under my belt, couldn't say for sure. My next cruise is BOTS, so definitely somewhat bigger, with more to do. I'm ambivalent about Oasis class. Sure, LOTS to do, but I think you lose that personal touch. Time will tell.

[IceManCan]

Bigger will always be better to us. We sailed on the Grandeur about four years ago and were quite bored after being on Explorer three straight times before that. We sail Anthem now and love her, as well as Quantum! We don't really socialize much so we don't usually care to see anyone once, much less more than once!!

 

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100%. I am not a sit in a pool chair for 8 hours kind of guy. I get stir crazy on a small ship. I'm also a flowrider junkie and love the variety a large ship has to offer.

 

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