bigger, bigger, BIGGER SHIPS...

[guyver]

How about this ship

 

click on thumbnail

 

 

Too cool!! LOL. Sign me up for this one.

[MVPinBoynton]

I haven't met a ship size I didn't like. They are all good in their own ways. For a really small ship experience, I have found that European river cruises are really nice.

[Onessa]

RCCI Radiance class or X Solstice class are as big as I want to get.

 

We don't cruise so much for the cruise experience as we do for the ports. So we don't care much for the whiz-bang activities (don't really need a skating rink or flow rider or merry-go-round or zip line).

 

I prefer not to be in port the same time as a megaship (or even more than one or two other normal sized ships).

[derf5585]

Large ships need people movers like they have at airports so one can get from the back of the ship to the stern.

[fleckle]

Large ships need people movers like they have at airports so one can get from the back of the ship to the stern.

A typical Derfism!

[esther e]

2,000 pax is our absolute limit. Our dream ships are 1,000 and under, although we're pushing the envelope with the new Oceania Marina at 1200 pax. I vote for smaller, smaller, smaller ships.

[NH Cruisers]

RCCI Radiance class or X Solstice class are as big as I want to get.

 

We don't cruise so much for the cruise experience as we do for the ports. So we don't care much for the whiz-bang activities (don't really need a skating rink or flow rider or merry-go-round or zip line).

 

I prefer not to be in port the same time as a megaship (or even more than one or two other normal sized ships).

The S-class is 1/3 larger than Radiance class, thats a huge difference. That would include all of the large Princess behemoths, all large Holland America and most large Carnival ships excluding Dream class. You have a lot to choose from.

 

I cruise for the cruise experience including what it has become (Las Vagasy), because the ports are just teasers. Unless you go to Bermuda for 3 or 4 days.

[Sail Girl]

Exactly my thoughts. Although I've been cruising on Princess as of late, I did three in a row on X's M class ships. IMHO,, they are the perfect size. I'm really curious to see how the Solsticizing has changed them.....

 

Bob

 

Bob,

Will be on the Constellation in March. Am really looking forward to seeing how the "Solsticing" has changed her!

Agnes

[derf5585]

Here is another large boat

 

Click on thumbnail

[DocJohnB]

I recently read that a CEO of a cruiseline said that one of the benefits of building bigger and bigger ships is that people can "forget that they are at sea".

 

- Rick

.

I read that somewhere too. I think that particular CEO has truly lost sight of what cruising is all about.

 

When I cruise, I want to know that I am at sea . . . . . . otherwise I would purchase a land vacation.

 

Personally, I prefer "small" ship cruising . . . . but for my wallet and for reality this is probably a thing of the past . . . . . too bad.

 

I think NCL with its' EPIC and RCI with the Oasis class have gone to far. Someone earlier mentioned Las Vegasy and that is indeed what some of these ships have become and IMHO that is too bad.

 

Is the 'S' class too big. For me, personally, yes. But it is what I have to deal with if I want to continue to cruise on =X= on the itineraries I want.

[sandravb79]

Our last cruise was on Liberty OTS, and before our vacation, I wasn't only worried about the volcano ash :rolleyes: but also about the size of the ship and the number of people on it (crowds).

 

I must say, during that week, many times we have said "where are all those people?".

Last year on the Splendour, the bars were full and you had to be there early to have a seat, nevermind a "good" seat from where you could see the dance floor.

On the Liberty, the bars were empty. Not too many people on the Promenade. No crowds in the Windjammer. (and yes, the ship was pretty full, they told me that when I asked about upgrades at check-in)

 

I must admit that we never really went out to the pool in the afternoon because of too warm, but when I was swimming in the morning, I was always all by myself and late afternoon/ early evening, pool was deserted too.

 

It really surprised us and while we LOVED the cruise, we were somewhat disappointed about teh lack of ambiance in the bars etc.

 

 

 

While we still have like 3 weeks before our next cruise (Adventure OTS, chosen over Splendour OTS because of price, and because we don't care where in the Med we go, as long as we're away from home, lol) we are already thinking about the cruise after that (Caribean, in March or April). No RCCL ones really appeal to us, so we'll probably go on Equinox or Constellation.

[harryfat1]

As an FYI – here is a list of announced future ships on order per the cc web site up to 2013/2014 timeframe. If one looks at the “general mass market cruise lines”, you will see all the new ships are way over 100K tons and 2500+ people.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/articles.cfm?ID=167

 

Carnival – 130K - 3,690 passengers

Celebrity – 122K - 2,850 passengers

Costa – 114K – 3,000 passengers

Disney – 128K - 2,500 passengers

Princess – 141K – 3,600 passengers

RCI – 225K – 5,400 passengers

 

So if your personal preference is 2,300 or less passenger, you are not going to be happy with these new ships on the .

 

And as time goes on and these lines start to retire/move the older ships to other overseas lines within the corporate family, it will be harder and harder to find the smaller ships.

[Woobstr112G]

I like to know I am on a ship. I want to feel the seas movement. I also want to be able to be somewhat close to the water, I like the deck 5 area wraparound promenades on some ships. I really dont care how big the ship gets as long as the above pertains.

 

Jon,

 

Exactly.....:):):)

 

Bob

[Onessa]

The S-class is 1/3 larger than Radiance class, thats a huge difference. That would include all of the large Princess behemoths, all large Holland America and most large Carnival ships excluding Dream class. You have a lot to choose from.

 

I cruise for the cruise experience including what it has become (Las Vagasy), because the ports are just teasers. Unless you go to Bermuda for 3 or 4 days.

 

The Radiance-class and Solstice-class are from different "eras". But both are similar in that the design of the ship was the primary concern, not the inclusion of glitzy bells-and-whistles nor just big for big sake.

 

The R-Class RCI ships are some of the most thoughtfully designed of the more modern ships -- big but the spaces flow. After suffering through cruises on Voyeger and larger ships where the very idea of the skating rink or flow rider or two story casino seem to be more important than how the ships actually "work" for the pax -- I found the Solstace to be the first ship where I felt comfortable -- the first ship since Radiance-class that the answer to "how do I get to . . . from here?" to not have to include changing decks two or three times!

 

I DO cruise for the itinerary -- Five days pre-cruise in Spain, a departure from Barcelona and then a day in Monico, Tuscany, Rome and Naples or something similar is fine. Then if I find I really like Rome, my next cruise may be in or out of Rome.

 

If water park amusements were the main reason I wanted to vacation - spending a long weekend in Wisconsin Dells at some schlocky water park would be much cheaper and easier - and the actual attractions better. If I wanted to skate, I would simply wait a few months (too few unfortunately) and the pond across the road from my friends house in Portage WI would freeze sufficently for ice skating. And the Ho-Chunk tribe even has a casino in the Dells somewhere. But since I vacation to sightsee and visit museums, the concept of checking onto a ship, unpacking once and letting it worry about getting me from Venice to Athens, while I relax enroute -- perfect!

 

So I'll take a Consellation, Splendour, or Radiance-class cruise -- but as I said nothing bigger than an S-class for me.

[Mr. Luckytoo]

It really is interesting to read the responses to the "how big is big" question.

 

As for myself the biggest ship I've sailed is the Epic and to be honest it didn't feel much bigger than the Equinox which I LOVED. The problem, as I saw it, was that the Epic forgot what a cruise ship is supposed to be and is very much like a Harrah's casino resort - especially with the casino that's larger than their pools!

 

The Mrs has badgered me enough that we'll be doing an Allure cruise in December 2011

 

While what we here on CC may want - smaller more intimate ships - we are not the target audience that the cruiselines with the megaships are attempting to attract. Remember on 20% of the American public has ever cruised and RCI CEO stated that with the Oasis he wanted people to forget they are at sea!

 

To add fuel to that fire look at the ports that the Oasis docks - Labadee in Haita and soon (hahhah) to be in Falmouth Jamaica. Both of these islands are not very exciting but what RCI has done is to create a Caribbean port that they OWN. Their main goal is to get people to enter their cruiseship and STAY on their ship spending money and enjoying themselves. It is the same thing that Disney does - get people on their property and KEEP them there.

 

Bottom line is this - it's all about the $ folks. You want smaller ship be prepared to pay for that privlidge.

[cruise kitty]

S class is largest I'd be willing to go. At least they only hold 2800 max. I love the feel of being on board, seems like on the huge mega ships that you wouldn't even know you're on the ocean. I understand that larger ships are more cost effective than smaller ones are, so I don't understand why Oasis is so expensive.

[scamper]

How big is too big? Oasis and Allure. Big AND tacky.

[Mr. Luckytoo]

S class is largest I'd be willing to go. At least they only hold 2800 max. I love the feel of being on board, seems like on the huge mega ships that you wouldn't even know you're on the ocean. I understand that larger ships are more cost effective than smaller ones are, so I don't understand why Oasis is so expensive.

 

Kitty, I agree with you. I did the Equinox last December and LOVED it. Now I'm doing the Millenium next month and hope I will enjoy it as much.

 

As for why the Oasis is so expensive - simply because they can get it. Personally I can't see paying twice the fare for a balcony on the Oasis as for the Navigator or Solstice. That has been my biggest reason for not sailing that ship. However their cabin prices have fallen about 30% from the highs.

 

It used to be that the ship was only a part of the cruising equation. As the ships haave gotten bigger many, myself included, treated a cruise as a floating hotel. The newest megaships however, are advocating themselves AS the attraction. Forget about the ports, just spend time on the ship - see broadway musicals, diving shows, etc.,

 

While I'm not totally sold i do understand the business model and that is why I've decided to spend more time with =X= :cool:

[smoosh21]

So far my favorite ship has been the Coral Princess. It didn't have all the bells and whistles the the Freedom class and Oasis class offered, but it still had plenty.

[Onessa]

How big is too big? Oasis and Allure. Big AND tacky.

 

This struck me as a really good point. There are two factors really size and quality.

 

We've cruised on one NCL ship and I was really surprised how much I missed the public artwork. On Voyegeur and the next size up (I can't even remember the name!) I was struck by the lack of logic in some of the "flow" of decks -- there were so many underutilized spaces, halls that just sort of ended, areas that seemed rarely used, traffic going "through" bars. On RCCI Radiance (and Radiance Class) and Splendour, and all of the X ships we've sailed upon have wonderful overall ambiance (lots of public art, generally thoughtful color schemes, etc) and the ships just seem to "flow" well -- not too many places where you feel crowed, not places that seem to be under utilized, etc.

 

I think the S-class X ships proved that X could create and run larger ships but retain most of the "class" that X stands for in the industry.

[Rick-cruiser]

I believe that, with the advent of larger and larger ships, trying to handle 3,000 - 4,000 passengers at a time..... there is becoming a disconnect between what a cruise vacation promises to be... and what it really is.

 

- Rick

[Rick-cruiser]

I read recently that the pendulum may be swinging back the other way.. After the remaining contracted megaships (those now being built, or the ones soon-to-be built) are completed by 2013-2014, certain CEOs are saying that they will "absolutely not" build more ships of that size.. Instead, they will go back to the more "modest" medium-sized ships.. I guess they figured some things out in terms of capacity, demand, net revenue, and passengers' desires.

 

Personally... we will be looking out for any newbuilds that are under 2000 passengers, and ideally those under 1000 passengers.. It would be nice to sail on a brand new ship, but we would also be perfectly content sailing on the existing smaller ships - many of which are maintained beautifully and in fact have the more exquisite, traditional woodwork, which we love.

 

- Rick

.

[fleckle]

We may be in the minority, but there are still some of us who want to be on a cruise ship that looks and feels like a cruise ship, not an amusement park or shopping mall promenade.

 

If we had wanted the atmosphere of an amusement park or shopping mall promenade, that is where we would have gone.

[cruise47]

We may be in the minority, but there are still some of us who want to be on a cruise ship that looks and feels like a cruise ship, not an amusement park or shopping mall promenade.

 

If we had wanted the atmosphere of an amusement park or shopping mall promenade, that is where we would have gone.

 

I agree, with you 100% .

[Sail Girl]

I agree, with you 100% .

 

Fleckle and cruise 47

I agree with both of you!

My first (and only) cruise on a "Mega-Ship" was on the Liberty of the Seas. At that time she was the largest cruise ship afloat. Not for long though, as the Oasis of the Seas followed soon after.

We felt like we were in Las Vegas, not on a cruise ship.

We cruise because we like to cruise and like being on the ocean.

We like Las Vegas, too, but not as a cruise venue!

Here's to more ocean liners!