Do you prefer the larger ships or the smaller ships

[jeanlyon]

I'm surprised to see that some of the Brittania cruises going in the next month or so still have loads of cabins.

[davecttr]

P&O have just added 3600 passenger places so it is not surprising that there is no instant demand out there.

 

Maybe Britannia will end up as a 'Marmite' ship with many traditional cruisers not bothering to try her as they already know about the balcony, central stairs and promenade deck issues.

[Denarius]

Everything, the say, is relative.

When I first started cruising in the early 1990s most cruise ships displaced around 30K tonnes and carried around 800 passengers. The Canberra, the "great white whale" - 49K tonnes, 1700 passengers - was huge. The QE2 -70K tonnes, 1800 passengers - was enormous. Almost as big as the legendary Queen Mary - 81K tonnes, 2100 passengers. Now Oceana - 77K tonnes, 2000 passengers - is described in this thread as a smaller ship. How things have changed.

But to answer the question, which size do I prefer. Smaller without any doubt. The big modern ships completely lack the camaraderie of the smaller ships on which I started cruising. Bigger is not for me better.

[Britboys]

My views are similar to Denarius and Host Sharon. I started cruising in 1995 when I was 35, which was generally pretty young then! My tastes are still for the more traditional style of ship and cruising. Oriana is my favourite just ahead of Aurora & Arcadia. Oriana edges it because of decor and generally restrained style.

 

We did try Azura in the Caribbean but enjoyed it least of all the cruises. I really didn't enjoy the size and consequently the excellent review of Britannia by Kevinyork on this site has confirmed for me that I will not rush off to try her despite finding her interiors very stylish and attractive.

 

I do understand why people like the big ships and sadly - for those of us who like smaller ships - I understand the economics for the cruise lines. It is just a bit of a concern that the smaller ships are gradually disappearing from the upper mid-market lines.