Here's why I'll never do a large ship again!

[SantaFeFan]

5 minutes ago, clo said:

Er, there are gay women, ya know.  And who cares?

 

Yeah, I know there are. But not in this photo. And I don't care either way. Just trying to explain what is going on for people who may be wondering. What this picture represents is not the norm, in spite of what some posters seem to be implying. 

Edited June 24, 2019 by SantaFeFan

[clo]

2 minutes ago, SantaFeFan said:

 

Yeah, I know there are. But not in this photo. And I don't care either way. Just trying to explain what is going on for people who may be wondering. What this picture represents is not the norm, in spite of what some posters seem to be implying. 

What I'm saying is that I'm guessing that not every single person on that ship is in that photo.  Seems pretty overwhelming.  I'm guessing they must have insanely large MDRs?

[CruiseGal999]

2 hours ago, perditax said:

This was the one that did it for me.

 

 

 

WHAT IS THAT? 

 

[josumello]

17 minutes ago, clo said:

Thanks for replying.  Please tell us about the enjoyable parts.  TIA.

 

The entertainment was excellent from ice show to Mama Mia to diving show to schooner bar and much more. 

The solarium was great including the very nice buffet for lunch and breakfast although we did have breakfast also in MDR and Johnny Rockets. Also the Park Cafe was good. 

Surprisingly the service and food in MDR were quite good. We did not do any specialty dinning. 

Another surprise was the  availability of deck chairs. 

Obviously with 6000 people on board you would expect some log jams. Really didn’t affect us at all except for the Windjammer which we just avoided. Embarkation and disembarkation was best we have ever done!!

all in all RCL seems to have figured out how to manage these mega ships. We were skeptical but glad we experienced it. That being said our next cruise is on 680 passenger Azamara ship. Lol 😂  

[clo]

Just now, josumello said:

 

The entertainment was excellent from ice show to Mama Mia to diving show to schooner bar and much more. 

The solarium was great including the very nice buffet for lunch and breakfast although we did have breakfast also in MDR and Johnny Rockets. Also the Park Cafe was good. 

Surprisingly the service and food in MDR were quite good. We did not do any specialty dinning. 

Another surprise was the  availability of deck chairs. 

Obviously with 6000 people on board you would expect some log jams. Really didn’t affect us at all except for the Windjammer which we just avoided. Embarkation and disembarkation was best we have ever done!!

all in all RCL seems to have figured out how to manage these mega ships. We were skeptical but glad we experienced it. That being said our next cruise is on 680 passenger Azamara ship. Lol 😂  

Thanks.   I really appreciate your comments.  And LOL indeed.

[perditax]

16 minutes ago, SantaFeFan said:

 

Yeah, I know there are. But not in this photo. And I don't care either way. Just trying to explain what is going on for people who may be wondering. What this picture represents is not the norm, in spite of what some posters seem to be implying. 

 

Didn’t see anyone implying it was the norm, although I have a certain amount of people on ignore. 🙂 I posted the Allure picture, and both pointed out that it was a theme cruise (the kind of theme is irrelevant) and that there was obviously some kind of event happening in that area of the ship.

[taglovestocruise]

Absolutely love the mega ships, especially on a transatlantic.  We have done a westbound TA on Allure, Oasis, and Symphony.  On a transatlantic they sail with 1500 fewer kids and the ship feels empty at times.  We are both in our late 60's and hate the small ships.  To each their own.  And that picture is on a Oasis Class taken in front of the stage area of the  Aqua theater, I think it was photo shopped, there is no light house on top of the carousel, and most of those people would be standing where there should be a pool. 

[SantaFeFan]

3 hours ago, perditax said:

 

Didn’t see anyone implying it was the norm, although I have a certain amount of people on ignore. 🙂 I posted the Allure picture, and both pointed out that it was a theme cruise (the kind of theme is irrelevant) and that there was obviously some kind of event happening in that area of the ship.

 

Was just responding to a few comments that scoffed at the idea of being on a mega ship, possibly using the photos as justification of them being over crowded. Considering how large these ships are, they aren't any more crowded than a ship 1/4 of the size with only 1/4 as many people on it. It's all relative. More space absorbs more people, resulting in a comparable level of "crowds" on different sized ships. 

 

I prefer ships with lots of variety. The smaller ships get boring after a while when it only takes a day or two to go everywhere and do everything on the ship. 

[Krazy Kruizers]

11 hours ago, clo said:

 

Totally agree with you.

 

I don't like mega ships with thousands of people.

[lisiamc]

Until recently (the advent of Edge-class ships, and the Edgification of everything)  we were fairly frequent Celebrity cruisers. Their Solstice-class ships seem large to us, but the only times we really noticed crowds were muster drill and disembarkation at tender ports.  The rest of the time, you could easily find somewhere uncrowded.  

[LA_CA_GAL]

11 hours ago, clo said:

On no!!!!!!!!!!!!  Do you know what and where?????????  What a nightmare.  And that ship looks too easy to get lost in/on.

Then the Solarium pool at the bow would probably be pretty empty, as well as a lot of the other pool areas.

[Joebucks]

The beauty of the internet. Let's take extreme examples of things, and let everyone form their own opinions.

 

Nearly every ship as a "quiet" area if you so choose.

[VertMuller]

Wow. The pictures looks unreal. Thanks for the heads-up... It's an important factor to remember before booking my next cruise.
One thing to take into consideration is that if the cruise ship is not full you enjoy the facilities of big ship and one big advantage - you don't feel the sea as in small / medium ships.

[Warm Breezes]

15 hours ago, clo said:

This is actually the reason why I would never sail on less than a balcony on a large ship again.  Learned that lesson on NCL Epic years ago.  I never have a need to sit on the public decks like this and mostly avoid them when we sail.  I much prefer the privacy of our balcony.  I do love the options the larger ships offer in terms of food and entertainment and it is very easy to avoid areas that get crowded like this, if you really want to, when you have your own personal out door space...the Aft balcony is quickly becoming a favorite of mine.

[clo]

6 minutes ago, Warm Breezes said:

I do love the options the larger ships offer in terms of food and entertainment

Good points.  We, however, really have no interest in the entertainment and our 'little' (1200 pax) Oceania Marina has if I'm counting correctly seven restaurants with no additional charges.  And our upcoming cruise is very port intensive (only one at sea day and eight to ten hours in each port).  It IS great that there's something in this genre for everyone.  Thanks for your reply.

[George C]

We cruise a lot have done 65 cruises on lots of different ships , just did oasis of the seas last year. In general it was a nice ship that was not that crowded in most public areas , also was easier to find seats by pool than on many smaller ships. My negative was too many children. 

[Itchy&Scratchy]

14 hours ago, perditax said:

 

I believe it’s RC allure, and to be fair it was a theme cruise and some major event was happening in the forward outdoor theater. But still, it’s a real photo to the best of my knowledge. 

that's the aqua theater on an oasis class ship (maybe, harmony or similar). We were just on the Allure in April, spring break for school, and it never looked anything like that, even during the actual aqua show.

This photo doesn't look real, to be honest, because the theater has rows and rows of alternating benches and "lawn chairs".

Here is a better illustration: 

[perditax]

1 hour ago, Itchy&Scratchy said:

that's the aqua theater on an oasis class ship (maybe, harmony or similar). We were just on the Allure in April, spring break for school, and it never looked anything like that, even during the actual aqua show.

This photo doesn't look real, to be honest, because the theater has rows and rows of alternating benches and "lawn chairs".

Here is a better illustration: 

 

 

It's a real picture. As I said a couple of times, including when I posted it, it's from a theme cruise and a major event was happening in the theater. I'm going to post a link to a youtube video at a time stamp that shows live footage from the crowd showing how packed it can get under certain circumstances. WARNING IT IS A THEME CRUISE DO NOT CLICK IF OFFENDED BY SKIN OR SHIRTLESS DUDES.

 

https://youtu.be/iO7G-ZVore4?t=431

 

Edited June 24, 2019 by perditax

[taglovestocruise]

47 minutes ago, perditax said:

 

 

It's a real picture. As I said a couple of times, including when I posted it, it's from a theme cruise and a major event was happening in the theater. I'm going to post a link to a youtube video at a time stamp that shows live footage from the crowd showing how packed it can get under certain circumstances. WARNING IT IS A THEME CRUISE DO NOT CLICK IF OFFENDED BY SKIN OR SHIRTLESS DUDES.

 

https://youtu.be/iO7G-ZVore4?t=431

 

It does look crowded, but that same video shows the zip line, flow-rider , and in the promenade as a ghost town. 

[taglovestocruise]

2 hours ago, George C said:

We cruise a lot have done 65 cruises on lots of different ships , just did oasis of the seas last year. In general it was a nice ship that was not that crowded in most public areas , also was easier to find seats by pool than on many smaller ships. My negative was too many children. 

Try one for a TA, they sail with under 5000.  Our last TA on Symphony had about 12 kids under 16.  The Pinnacles and Diamonds are over 1500 , that is my negative. 

[MBP&O2/O]

Our next one in October shows 388 passengers .... and it not yet full.

The previous one, last year, was 298, and the one before that was 3100.

It was a culture shock to say the least ... a very pleasant culture shock though 😀

Small is better for me.

 

[clo]

26 minutes ago, taglovestocruise said:

Try one for a TA, they sail with under 5000.  Our last TA on Symphony had about 12 kids under 16.  The Pinnacles and Diamonds are over 1500 , that is my negative. 

Oceania makes it very clear that, while they 'accept' children, there are absolutely no activities for them.  I love it 🙂

[Cruseforme]

10 minutes ago, clo said:

Oceania makes it very clear that, while they 'accept' children, there are absolutely no activities for them.  I love it 🙂

Actually, that’s not exactly true.   Oceania has an Alaska kids exploration program, and during the December Holidays there have been many children onboard, and we have seen a crew member assigned for a pseudo kids program.   Usually there are under 20 kids on board, but we were on the Riviera three years ago at Christmas, and there were about 50 kids onboard.   Most were very well behaved, some however, notsomuch.   

[clo]

17 minutes ago, Cruseforme said:

Actually, that’s not exactly true.   Oceania has an Alaska kids exploration program, and during the December Holidays there have been many children onboard, and we have seen a crew member assigned for a pseudo kids program.   Usually there are under 20 kids on board, but we were on the Riviera three years ago at Christmas, and there were about 50 kids onboard.   Most were very well behaved, some however, notsomuch.   

I must have dreamed that!  I do that sometimes 🙂  I have no problem dealing with unruly children 🙂

[Sherri914]

On 6/23/2019 at 10:37 PM, clo said:

What I'm saying is that I'm guessing that not every single person on that ship is in that photo.  Seems pretty overwhelming.  I'm guessing they must have insanely large MDRs?

Large and lovely MDR's.   We have really enjoyed the big ships.  We've cruised a much smaller vessel years ago (less than 800 pax), then moved to the Freedom class, and now we go between Freedom and Oasis classes.  There is plenty to do, plenty to see, and we rarely ever feel crowded.  To each his own I suppose.