Who still does the older Royal ships, and....

[island lady]

15 hours ago, Ashland said:

I've always loved the Radiance class but just returned from sailing Serenade in a GS and was very disappointed in this category. The lack of lighting in the bathroom and certainly the location of the TV was horrible...such a bad design !!!

 

I usually do JS cabins on Radiance series.  Agree about not being a fan of the GS on that series, and with no Coastal Kitchen...eh. 

 

But I will absolutely do the rare D1 balcony....as long as I can snag 9256.  😉  Which I prefer over JS 1100 due to that cabin being directly under noisy outdoor WJ.  

[livingonthebeach]

For me, it was hard to sail Empress after having sailed Harmony but I did enjoy it.  Empress was the only ship I've been on that didn't have a Diamond Lounge.  They did have a Diamond event the first night but nothing else.  I'll be on Grandeur in Nov - now the oldest and smallest of the fleet. 

[Katems75]

On 9/21/2022 at 10:04 PM, Gardener5b said:

We enjoy the smaller ships because they tend to visit more interesting ports.   And the service has always been outstanding.   The Radiance class ships have the most amazing views to the sea.   Lots of good reasons to enjoy the smaller ships if you don't need all of the newer entertainment options.

Curious why the ship would change the views of the sea?  I'm new to cruising so perhaps I'm just. not understanding something.

[Ashland]

7 hours ago, murph1031 said:

Just started sailing RCL. Only sailed, Mariner, Freedom, and upcoming next month in the Explorer

Enjoy the Explorer. We did a B2B on her this past March for her southern caribbean itinerary out of San Juan.

[Ashland]

5 minutes ago, Katems75 said:

Curious why the ship would change the views of the sea?  I'm new to cruising so perhaps I'm just. not understanding something.

More glass and open views of the sea is the big difference on this class of ship.

[Ashland]

7 hours ago, island lady said:

 

I usually do JS cabins on Radiance series.  Agree about not being a fan of the GS on that series, and with no Coastal Kitchen...eh. 

 

But I will absolutely do the rare D1 balcony....as long as I can snag 9256.  😉  Which I prefer over JS 1100 due to that cabin being directly under noisy outdoor WJ.  

We've also sailed in #9256 and the #1100 luckily we had no noise issues from the WJ.

 

Yes ... Not a fan of the GS on this class at all but since we had extended family sailing with us I booked into #1054 (the old CL) the #1052 next door to them was important. Otherwise I avoid the old style GS's. 

[DrivesLikeMario]

We absolutely LOVE the Radiance Class ships in full suites.  They'll always be our very first choice for Royal cruises.

[imola]

On 9/26/2022 at 7:01 PM, Ashland said:

Yes...I was disappointed in the GS on Serenade...and board her again this coming Sunday for her Panama Canal. We'll be in an OS for this itinerary...I took a quick look at the cabin while I was onboard and it's similar to my OS on Jewel recently however, the lighting from what I saw on Serenade is just as bad as the GS was. Lack of good lighting in the bathroom is just a pet peeve of mine.

 

Enjoy the Radiance.

Thank you. I just blame my wrinkles on bad lighting so can't get my makeup right. Lol. Enjoy your Canal trip as well. Stay safe. 

[Joseph2017China]

I'm going on "Song of America" next year, now known as Celestyal Olympia.  If anyone thinks the Vision class is small........than check this out.  Plus it will be my second time on this ship.  Been on every class of ship, and every class has a purpose. 

 

My large suite on this ship, is barely the size of a JS on others.

Edited September 30, 2022 by Joseph2017China

[xxHadleyxx]

I like the comfort/familiarity of being on a cruise and even on the same brand but aso the variety of different activities and feelings that comes with sailing on several different ship classes.  Smaller ships often feel more intimate and have really fun and more personal crew led acvtivites..plus, as most have said often go to much more interesting places and/or are more resonably priced.

 

Big and new ships are fun too...but it is a very different experience.  I am not after the same thing trip after trip.

[Another_Critic]

1 hour ago, Joseph2017China said:

I'm going on "Song of America" next year, now known as Celestyal Olympia.  If anyone thinks the Vision class is small........than check this out.  Plus it will be my second time on this ship.  Been on every class of ship, and every class has a purpose. 

 

My large suite on this ship, is barely the size of a JS on others.

My first cruise was on SoA.  Next cruise was on Nordic Prince, which was smaller than SoA.

[crusnbee]

Is 1100 on radiance class that bad? We have it for next April on Serenade. Thought we might only get noise when we were already up and moving.

TIA

CJ

[island lady]

1 hour ago, crusnbee said:

Is 1100 on radiance class that bad? We have it for next April on Serenade. Thought we might only get noise when we were already up and moving.

TIA

CJ

 

Cleaning at 3-5 am just above you...scrape...clunk...scrape go the chairs.  Party types hanging over the rail right above you with "outside" voices (directly above is outside section WJ).   

 

 

[Ashland]

3 hours ago, crusnbee said:

Is 1100 on radiance class that bad? We have it for next April on Serenade. Thought we might only get noise when we were already up and moving.

TIA

CJ

Personally...we loved the #1100 it usually books up fast. We've been in it more than once and actually had no noise issues...That wraparound large balcony is a plus !!!

[pcur]

I'll book any RCCL ship if I like the itinerary.

[VTSKIandCRUISEGUY]

If you look at the list of ships in my Signature, we'll go on anything from small to huge; old to new. They all have their pluses and minuses.

Read reviews, and go with what you like. There's no right or wrong. But if you're lucky, you're like us, because it's great when you like them all.

[Oceansaway17]

On 9/30/2022 at 10:52 AM, Joseph2017China said:

I'm going on "Song of America" next year, now known as Celestyal Olympia.  If anyone thinks the Vision class is small........than check this out.  Plus it will be my second time on this ship.  Been on every class of ship, and every class has a purpose. 

 

My large suite on this ship, is barely the size of a JS on others.

wow I hope you have a nice time on an older ship.  I once did the Sovereign

[Cruising89143]

One of our best cruises was on the Splendour out of Venice. Hated to see her leave the fleet. Great size ship. The only negative was the stateroom. We booked a GS and the noise from chairs and tables above on the pool deck/WJ was annoying but we dealt with it. Would happily do another smaller older ship. 

[wolfcathorse]

Vision or Radiance class, prefer the covered Solarium

[Airbear232]

On 9/21/2022 at 10:46 AM, klfhngr said:

WHY?! I consider Vision class old.

Vision is old but some great itineraries.  We sailed her in the Arabian Gulf in ‘17, great itinerary. 

[island lady]

 

 

55 minutes ago, Airbear232 said:

Vision is old but some great itineraries.  We sailed her in the Arabian Gulf in ‘17, great itinerary. 

 

Favorite aft wrap JS cabin on Vision for B2B2B out of PR last year...killer balcony.  🙂  

 

 

[shipgeeks]

On 9/22/2022 at 4:36 PM, time4u2go said:

Voyager is 23 years old.  Is that considered to be "older"?

I would call that "Classic", not old.

[Maria63]

On 9/30/2022 at 8:24 PM, crusnbee said:

Is 1100 on radiance class that bad? We have it for next April on Serenade. Thought we might only get noise when we were already up and moving.

TIA

CJ

 

We recently had 1100 on Jewel's Norwegian fjords. Balcony was absolutely fantastic for this itinerary (as was the size/class of ship, you don't feel that you are part of an invading tourist-army overwhelming small communities when the ship is not one of the newest mega-mammoths). The only noise we got was some early morning light scraping & thumping, but it was no major problem. Though I can well imagine that there might be some real issues on a more party-oriented itinerary with a younger crowd.

[DukeASUGirl]

We were SUPPOSED to be checking in for our cruise in about 30 minutes from now - thanks, Hurricane Ian! 

 

Due to an airline fiasco, we canceled our cruise and are taking Future Cruise Credit from Royal. Have 365 days to rebook, but due to my and the kids' school schedules, we're limited on when we can go. Our Spring Breaks don't line up with each other (mine is the week before theirs), and Fall Break is later next year. So we're looking at the day they get out of school in May, and we don't want to fly across the country to Florida this time around - sick of airlines' BS.

 

So we're just going to drive to LA so we can control the travel. And there aren't any Oasis class ships in LA. So that's that.