Can smaller ship lovers find happiness on RCCL?

[lupaglupa]

My family loves to cruise. Mom and Dad have been happiest on the smaller ships. Not really small, something around 2,500 passengers. But now our teenage son wants more. He's begging for our next cruise to be on Royal Caribbean. We look at these huge ships and wonder what's in store for us. Any advice? 

[Biker19]

Just now, lupaglupa said:

Any advice? 

Try a Voyager class sailing. 

[nashirak]

5 hours ago, Biker19 said:

Try a Voyager class sailing. 

This. Voyager class are a little bigger, but still super easy to navigate. Lots to do, good entertainment. 

[dplusd]

We love Voyager and Freedom class ships.  Oasis class has lots of bells and whistles for teenagers, but we did not care this class of ship at all.  

[njkruzer]

1 minute ago, dplusd said:

We love Voyager and Freedom class ships.  Oasis class has lots of bells and whistles for teenagers, but we did not care this class of ship at all.  

Agree as to Oasis class ships.  Might also look at Anthem.  Bumper cars, ifly and lots of other things to do. 

[Stateroom_Sailor]

Speaking of Voyager and Freedom Class, how is the dining package?  We thought that food on Navigator in 2014 was mediocre, and have our 2nd cruise on Liberty booked for next year.  I'm hoping that a dining package will sweeten the pot.

[Mikew0805]

10 hours ago, lupaglupa said:

My family loves to cruise. Mom and Dad have been happiest on the smaller ships. Not really small, something around 2,500 passengers. But now our teenage son wants more. He's begging for our next cruise to be on Royal Caribbean. We look at these huge ships and wonder what's in store for us. Any advice? 

Radiance Class. (Radiance, Jewel, Serenade, Brilliance) Fantastic ships.

[lupaglupa]

I'm afraid the teen wants ALL the "bells and whistles" but we may be able to satisfy him with just some. Are there things we should be sure not to miss? 

[kernow]

Quite a few bells and whistles on Voyager class especially the newly amped ones like Navigator. I would say don't miss the ice show, we've always enjoyed it.

[Clarea]

33 minutes ago, lupaglupa said:

I'm afraid the teen wants ALL the "bells and whistles" but we may be able to satisfy him with just some. Are there things we should be sure not to miss? 

 

Peek-a-boo bridge.  Large (compared to Oasis class) Solarium pool.

[fredflint]

Make sure you have a stop at Coco Cay

[ONECRUISER]

8 hours ago, njkruzer said:

Agree as to Oasis class ships.  Might also look at Anthem.  Bumper cars, ifly and lots of other things to do. 

My Adult kids love Anthem, they doing another B2B in June on her

[George C]

Love voyager class , entertainment is really good, love the ice show . Oasis was interesting great entertainment and we found it easy to get chairs by pool. 

[sparks1093]

15 hours ago, lupaglupa said:

My family loves to cruise. Mom and Dad have been happiest on the smaller ships. Not really small, something around 2,500 passengers. But now our teenage son wants more. He's begging for our next cruise to be on Royal Caribbean. We look at these huge ships and wonder what's in store for us. Any advice? 

Just returned from a cruise on Anthem last month and I had some reservations about cruising on such a large ship. There is a link to my review in my signature. We loved Anthem and would sail again in a heart beat.

[awestover89]

I'd say try one of the new AMPed ships, Navigator, Independence, or Mariner. Lots of bells and whistles, but not as big as the megaships.

 

Personally, I love the megaships. We weren't sure if we would like them or not when we did Harmony the first time and we absolutely fell in love. IFF you can get a good deal, I wouldn't shy away from trying one once, just to see. You might be correct that you won't like it, or you might be pleasantly surprised. The biggest worry would be if you hate it and the teen absolutely loves it, downgrading for a future cruise might cause some drama. 

[finz2u]

I felt like you do.  I like the smaller ships and was afraid that on the huge ones, it would be too crowded.  Then we tried Symphony and loved it.  So take the plunge.

[ggtjr]

13 hours ago, lupaglupa said:

I'm afraid the teen wants ALL the "bells and whistles" but we may be able to satisfy him with just some. Are there things we should be sure not to miss? 

Liberty out of Galveston would be great. There is a teen group, water slides, rock climbing, and a bit laid back for the other crowd that would rather relax

[gpnfish]

Who’s paying for the cruise here?  Really!

[Spunky946]

We traveled with our two kids, and grandparents on 4 Holland cruises and after the last had gotten bored.  My father in law loves the size of the ships, at about the same size of 2,400.  We wanted a change and went on navigator of the seas right before the amped up and loved it.  It was over Christmas so it was at capacity at about 3,300 or so.  Very easy to get around and so much more fun with lots of activities, shows and game shows.  We are going on adventure of the seas, a sister ship over this coming Christmas. Everyone, even my in laws loved it.

[SRF]

Grandeur is about 2200 - 2300 pax max.

 

RCI DOES have smaller ships.

[lupaglupa]

10 hours ago, gpnfish said:

Who’s paying for the cruise here?  Really!

We trade around who chooses the vacations. So sometimes he gets dragged to cathedrals in England, in return, we listen to his opinion on cruise ships. 

[lupaglupa]

9 hours ago, Spunky946 said:

We traveled with our two kids, and grandparents on 4 Holland cruises and after the last had gotten bored.  My father in law loves the size of the ships, at about the same size of 2,400.  We wanted a change and went on navigator of the seas right before the amped up and loved it.  It was over Christmas so it was at capacity at about 3,300 or so.  Very easy to get around and so much more fun with lots of activities, shows and game shows.  We are going on adventure of the seas, a sister ship over this coming Christmas. Everyone, even my in laws loved it.

HAL was our first cruise line and the one my DH and I like best. Our last cruise was on NCL and we were surprised at how well we transitioned to what we thought was a huge ship. Then Anthem docked next to us in Bermuda. DH and I thought it looked way too big but our son had stars in his eyes!