you can have the larger ships

[girlsjustwannacruise]

I like the Fantasy Class, but they are VERY dated.

 

The Conquest class ships are not too bad, but it always seems like you are waiting in a line - esp. on the Lido deck, in buffet lines, while tendering and getting off in ports.

 

The worst ship is the Sunshine - never again!

 

The Spirit are our favorite. We will even pay a little more if need be. It is so sad that Tampa no longer has one and some of them have disappeared. Here is an idea for Carnival, send the Sunshine to Australia or China and bring one of the Spirit class ships back here.

 

What you said.

[cdamion]

In general, I definitely like the Spirit class better. Less crowded, easier movement around the ship.

 

This being said, I realized I like the Breeze better. More places outside to relax (as long as you don't really care about the pool that is way to tiny for that size ship). Also, the Breeze has the Cove Balconies, which I love.

 

It will be Breeze or else Spirit class from now on for me.

[girlsjustwannacruise]

Nope, we're not fans of the "mega" ships. You can't possibly have the same service on a larger, 4,000+ passenger ship, as you would on say, one of the Carnival Spirit-class ships (my favorite Carnival ships). Today, at least on many of the mainstream cruise lines, it's a matter of supply and demand. It's more of catering to the entire family. The more bodies you can fit on the ship, the better. To meet the demands of the cruisers today, the ships include attractions like Rock-climbing walls, Ice Skating, Bowling, Bumping cars, etc., so the more venues, and money-making fun things that people are willing to pay for, the more the ships will continue to be built larger and larger in size. We like to sail on ships that look like ships, not like amusement parks or shopping malls.

 

The new ships are here to stay I'm afraid, and we're having a hard time picking future cruises. We know eventually we'll probably have to try a new "mega" ship, but I just hope they throw a few smaller ships in every so often. I miss the days where we could sail into smaller ports. I miss looking over our balcony onto Front Street while in Bermuda.

 

We're still holding on to the "old days" of cruising on smaller ships, and sadly those days are quickly diminishing. Going forward, if Mega ships are all we have to choose from, I guess we'll make the best of it.

 

I agree! I can take my kids rock wall climbing in the city and bumper cars and all those things as well. I like to "feel" like im someplace special, and to me I guess that is being closer to the ocean and not so many fancy frills. BUT I understand that lots and lots of people love this type ship.

[vwrestler171]

I like all the ships I have been on, no matter the size. Although, until recently the bigger ships were the only ones with the 2.0 upgrades.

[erinmarie424]

I love the size and smaller number of passengers on the Fantasy class ships. But I love all the branded bars, Guys, BI that are on the larger ships too. So happy that Carnival put them (most anyway) on a couple of the smaller ships - can't wait to sail on the Fantasy this fall!

 

 

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[GUT2407]

Am I alone in feeling that the smaller to midsize ships (i.e. spirit class) are better as far as less congestion? and I really PREFER these smaller ships.

 

Every time Carnival makes another larger ship I feel like....

 

1. Im sad because im afraid the smaller/midsize ships are going to disappear

2. im secretly happy because somewhere in the back of my mind (the imaginative part) im hoping that everyone will swarm to the larger ships and the cost for cruising on the small/midsize ships will drop.

 

Am I a freak of nature?

 

No freak, in fact I think the Soirit class are too big.

[dcwalker]

Our first two cruises were on Inspiration. Then we were on the Dream, then Liberty. Liberty was ok, but I did not like the Dream. I am so happy that our upcoming cruise is Ecstasy. It was only on Inspiration that I really felt I was on a boat on the ocean. The Dream to me was like a big floating city. My husband and sons, though, loved it. Of course.

[kurukthemal]

I agree with the OP and mostly on sea days. My thought is you can only have one top deck where the pool is located. I was on the NCL Escape and it literally felt like a sardine can. It looked and felt unsanitary. We just were on the Fascination and even though it was sold out, I never felt it. The pool deck always had chairs available and it never felt crowded.

 

I have heard that the Oasis class ships on Royal are good because the s ships are wider. I would like to check that out some day.

 

Until then, give me a nice mid size ship.

[missholly24]

Splendor was a disaster of congestion. Lines lines and more lines. My favorite was the lido buffet with the drink station right next to it. A few feet for the entire ship to walk back and forth between almost at the same time. LOL...ok exaggerating, but it was a bottleneck every morning and afternoon. Wheel chairs forget it. They needed an escort blocking all of the people. Very poor design. I like the spirit class or RCI design of island buffets.

[JimAOk1945]

Having tried three different cruise lines so far, and different size ships, I think we prefer the smaller ships. I've noticed the quality of service in the MDR seems to be better on the small ships. Another plus is shorter lines. :D

 

Cruising is a wonderful way to travel regardless of the size or name of the ship. Happy cruising everyone!

[Dizzneefan]

Our very first cruise was on the Fantasy so as you can imagine that size holds special memories for us. We have been on larger ships since then but went back to Fantasy to renew our vows for our 25th anniversary, even having the same cabin.

 

We sail on the Dream next week so we wil see........