Weird question:Any ships to small for you ?

[l_josiah]

Are there any ships that just don't have enough to float your boat?:rolleyes:

[DC2OC]

Depends.I think one could become too big before 2 small.............Frank:)

[bubbadog]

ya i prefer radiance class or larger on rci and grand class on princess,i just like lots of room and things to do,guess i just need lots of breathing room lol:))):p ;)

[sept10dsm]

Depends.I think one could become too big before 2 small.............Frank:)

I agree, I seem to like the smaller ships too.

[perkyblue]

I've only cruised on Voyager OTS and Carnival Legend. I'm afraid I'd get bored on a smaller ship. I'd love to try Freedom OTS, but I think anything bigger than that would be too much. I would feel less special being one out of 6000 pax and it's hard to imagine a high level of service when they're dealing with so many people. I absolutely can't imagine doing a ship that holds fewer than 1000 pax. That would definitely be too small and boring for me.

[funfamilyfun]

We sort of felt that way on the Monarch. Although....it could have been because we didn't know how to relax...it was our first vacation without our kids....this time we are bringing the kids!

[Tanker4]

First one I ever cruised on was NCL's Sunward II back in the mid 80's. We had so much fun we went back 2 more times. As I recall, it carried 750 passengers with a crew of 250 or so. Of course times have changed since then. We've cruised the Mariner twice, Enchantment once and the Sovereign 5 times along with a few CCL and NCL cruises thrown in. That said, we still prefer the smaller ships and have always found plenty to keep us as busy as we want to be.

 

Happy Cruising!!

 

Tanker4

[leoandhugh]

ships have just gotten to be too big; I don't want to take a vacation with 3000 passengers. Guess i am fortunate that I do not need "things" or activities to entertain me all day long. Just give me a good show at night, a small casino and a good library - well stocked - and you have my business. The thought of going to some small Caribbean island with 6 or 7 other ships (at least one of which is sure to have almost 3000) is a real "turn off" and a waste of money. But, unfortunately, that is the future of the cruise industry - more passengers and more "bells and whistles" to entertain them. I am glad to have almost 40 cruises without going on giants of the sea, with the exception of trans Atlantic crossings where most passengers know how to relax and find a quiet place in which to do just that.

[sept10dsm]

ships have just gotten to be too big; I don't want to take a vacation with 3000 passengers. Guess i am fortunate that I do not need "things" or activities to entertain me all day long. Just give me a good show at night, a small casino and a good library - well stocked - and you have my business. The thought of going to some small Caribbean island with 6 or 7 other ships (at least one of which is sure to have almost 3000) is a real "turn off" and a waste of money. But, unfortunately, that is the future of the cruise industry - more passengers and more "bells and whistles" to entertain them. I am glad to have almost 40 cruises without going on giants of the sea, with the exception of trans Atlantic crossings where most passengers know how to relax and find a quiet place in which to do just that.

I agree with your views. The new ships are just too big and too many passengers. I like the smaller under 2000 passenger ships myself. I don't look forward to the mega ships.

[Tanker4]

ships have just gotten to be too big; I don't want to take a vacation with 3000 passengers. Guess i am fortunate that I do not need "things" or activities to entertain me all day long. Just give me a good show at night, a small casino and a good library - well stocked - and you have my business. The thought of going to some small Caribbean island with 6 or 7 other ships (at least one of which is sure to have almost 3000) is a real "turn off" and a waste of money. But, unfortunately, that is the future of the cruise industry - more passengers and more "bells and whistles" to entertain them. I am glad to have almost 40 cruises without going on giants of the sea, with the exception of trans Atlantic crossings where most passengers know how to relax and find a quiet place in which to do just that.

Well said leoandhugh !!

 

Tanker4

[andyjo0930]

We have been on the Empress of the Seas twice (Royal Carribeans only "yacht".. lol) and we actually enjoyed it very much. It has some of the same features as the bigger ships (rock climbing wall, Portafino's), but there everything is closer together and it only takes a few minutes to get where you want to go on the ship. We have done the Soverign and will be on the Grandeur in May, but so far, the Empress is our favorite.

[BillOh]

Are there any ships that just don't have enough to float your boat?:rolleyes:

 

 

I'm getting ready to book a 3 day on Majesty. I think I can handle the small ship for 3 days. I loved Voyager for 7 days and will try a 7 day on Freedom next year.

[Sailfish]

Besides offering more to passengers in the way of activities, most smaller ships are older and have more issues. Not always, as there are exceptions, but decor and design are not as nice and clean as newer ships. There always seems to be problems with plumbing and mantenance; and the overall appearance seems often to indicate a lot of wear and tear.

 

I know many of these same issues plague newer ships too - heck, given the amount of passenger traffic these ship get, it's a wonder they look so good after a year or two. But one reason I prefer newer ships is they have fewer problems. Voyager class ships are beginning to age - remember when they were new - so this is not just a small ship problem. But you see more negative feed back from past guests from smaller, older ships because they have problems with plumbing and related odor issues, not to mention old parts and deterioting outdoor spaces.

 

Thanks to Royal Caribbean's understated interior design, even their smaller, older ships like the Sovereign and Monarch of the Seas are not as dated as Carnivals smaller ships. But I'll take a newer, larger ship any day!!

[Bruin Steve]

I think I can offer a totally different perspective on this...

 

We've cruised on several different cruise line since the 80s...

 

Back when we started, most of the ships were "smaller"...of course, they all seemed large at the time...First time I cruised on the Grandeur of the Seas--70,000 gross tons, I thought "What a Gigantic ship!"...

 

It has gotten to where my absolute favorites are the Celebrity M-Class ships (Millennium, Constellation, Infinity and Summit) at 91,000 gross tons, but with only 2,000 passengers...(One thing I've learned is that it's not so much the size of the ship but the space-to-passenger ratios...a 100,000 gross ton ship with 3,000 passengers feels a whole lot like a 50,000 gross ton ship with 1,500 passengers)...

 

Anyway, last summer, we cruised on the Oceania Nautica...it's a 30,000 gross ton ship that carries 684 passengers. It's one of the old Renaissance ships--Oceania has three of them, Princess has two...and RCI has just acquired two others by virtue of some corporate acquisitions and has assigned them to Celebrity...So, these are not really "old" ships...at least in design and appearance...all are refurbished nicely and have a very modern feel to them...but they are truly "small", at least compared to most of the mass-marketed ships...they are one-third the size of the Brilliance of the Seas or the Millennium...less than a fifth the size of the Freedom of the Seas or Liberty of the Seas...

 

Overall, it's a pretty nice cruise experience...The space-to-passenger ratios are pretty good--comparable to the Celebrity M-Class--so they always feel pretty roomy...(Compare this to, say, the Monarch-whcih we were just on in January-...that's 70,000 gross tons but carries 2,700 passengers--incredibly crowded...and it feels that way)...

 

OTOH, there are some faults (I don't know how many of these are attributable to the ship size and how many to Oceania's management style...I guess I'll have to sail on one of the Celebrity sister ships to see for sure)...

 

1) The "showroom" is really just a lounge and has very little in the way of stage and backstage facilities...so they can't really accommodate the impressive shows we've become used to on the larger ships...

 

2) I'll assume a lot of it is due to the economies of scale, but the non-meal food availability was lacking...I guess it's harder to keep late night buffet or round-the-clock pizza open when you have only 680 passengers rather than thousands

 

3) There are far fewer "amenities"...ie, no kid's lounge or program

 

Face it, you are dealing with fewer people and less deck space...

...which can be both a good and a bad thing...

 

Good in that it's a more intimate feeling...less crowded, less impersonal...but bad in that you don't have all of those amenities and extras and choices you get on a larger ship...

 

For me, we kept comparing the Nautica to the similar Med cruise we did a couple of years earlier on the Millennium...and decide we prefered the Millennium...though we could understand how some people would prefer the Nautica...

 

The questions also come in what you get going LARGER than the Millennium...Is it that important to have all that extra space for Ice rinks and Surfing/wave simulation pools and roller blading tracks, etc.? I guess it does if you're a 16 year old kid...or you're cruising the Caribbean with 3 or 4 "at-sea" days in a 7 night cruise...But would it mean anything to a 50 year old adult on a 14 night Med cruise, port-intensive with only 2 at-sea days?

 

Clearly, to me, the space-to-passenger ratio is more important...But could it be also more important to deal with getting only 600 or 2000 passengers tendered off a ship rather than 3,000 or 4,000?

 

My take, I guess, is that there is an OPTIMUM ship size...where you have enough economy of scale to provide really good entertainment, late night food choices and sufficient amenities while not being SO big that you make the cruise too crowded and oppressive...I guess that's why I like the M-Class so much...2,000 passengers seems like a pretty danged good size to fit into that comfort zone...

 

Of course, next ship I sail witll be the new Mega-Monster Liberty of the Seas...we'll give it a try and see if I adjust my ideas any...

[piercetc4]

we like the larger ships- did enchantment for a 4 day and it was fine for a 4 day but think for many more days than that it would be too small for us- doing sov for a 3 and 4 day and know it will be fine for that amt of days- our favorite is still voyager class with all the space and amenities- walking the ship help keeps the weight down while on a cruise...lol - i could not tell a difference in the crowded feeling factor from the enchantment to the mariner -

[karena1]

It's funny, I remember our first cruise on the Monarch and we thought it was something to behold. Now we would not think of going on anything that small except for the every year Labor Day 3 night cruise we do on the Sovereign out of Canaveral. We have been on both the Radiance Class and the Voyager class and love them both. next year we are going to try the Liberty. I like the Radiance class for the small feel on a bigger ship, but love the Voyager class for the Promenade, the balcony style seating at the pools, and Ice Skating show. So we like them both for different reasons.

[jtwisconsin]

I'm getting ready to book a 3 day on Majesty. I think I can handle the small ship for 3 days. I loved Voyager for 7 days and will try a 7 day on Freedom next year.

 

 

Funny how we now think a 70,000 ton ship that carries 2700 passengers is small. :cool:

 

When we were on board Majesty, I was talking with a first-time cruiser waiting in line at the bar. She commented how large the ship was, and then I said "Hard to believe this is one of the smaller ships." She looked at me with this stunned expression and said "your kidding, right?"

[OGCFreddie]

First one I ever cruised on was NCL's Sunward II back in the mid 80's. We had so much fun we went back 2 more times. As I recall, it carried 750 passengers with a crew of 250 or so. Of course times have changed since then. We've cruised the Mariner twice, Enchantment once and the Sovereign 5 times along with a few CCL and NCL cruises thrown in. That said, we still prefer the smaller ships and have always found plenty to keep us as busy as we want to be.

 

Happy Cruising!!

 

Tanker4

 

Hey, Tanker. That was my second cruise...the good old Sunward II. My first was on the Calypso that was with Paquet Cruiselines (a French Line). Wasn't a great first cruise, but at least they had free wine at dinner :)

[l_josiah]

Are there any ships that just don't have enough to float your boat?:rolleyes:

 

Thanks for all of the feedback. Our family is going on Enchanment in April

and I was a little worried that it might be too small. We have two boys (8,6) who need to entertained. But hey its a first cruise- not bad, right??

[glgolfer]

No - Our first was the Song of Norway - 23,000 tons and 1300 PAX.

We've been on 2 river boats and the 15,000 ton 670 PAX Hurtigruten ship Midnatsol in Norway.

Also been on the Freedom of the Seas and the QM2. As long as we're on water, don't care what size.

[Tanker4]

Hey, Tanker. That was my second cruise...the good old Sunward II. My first was on the Calypso that was with Paquet Cruiselines (a French Line). Wasn't a great first cruise, but at least they had free wine at dinner :)

If you go over to the "what ever happened" threads you can see what happened to her. Look for the Sunward II. She's still sailing over in the Med. Renamed the Coral with Louis Cruise Lines. Hard to belive the old girl's still out there!

[KAJOKG]

We sailed on Celebrity's Zenith and hated it. Everyone worries about crowds on big ships, but the Zenith crowds were unbearable. Could hardly move in the botique area. A larger ship handles crowds much more efficiently since there are so many places for people to gather. My preference is a mid size ship like the Coral Princess or HAL's Volendam and the Jewel. But when we went to Europe and had 5 consecutive sea days, I was most grateful to be on the Golden Princess....cannot get bored on that ship.

[vator90]

When we book a cruise, the ship doesnt have to have all the bells and whistles of the latest and greatest. As far as size, you just can't beat the Emress size ship. I dont need a golf cart to get from one end to the other, and the whole ship stays in the same time zone. That was meant tongue and cheek. However, if RCCL would build a ship the size of Empress or even just a bit under the M class(which we agree with others is a very well laid out and nice sized ship), and make it almost all balconies, I think folks would reconsider the size of the vessel. I also believe that a ship is like a city, when your on the smaller ships, you just seem to get service that is unbeatable. Bigger ship, big city mentality, IMHO. My children have been on the Empress three times, and they really do like the ship, maybe because they know their way around so well. The other thing is, you never hear someone come off of a smaller ship saying "there was so much, and the ship so big, that we didnt have time to see everything."

[2ladies]

Seabourn - too quiet and staid for a 'rowdy' like me!!