The Large vs the Small - input

[6 of us]

Hey!

On our last cruise, which was on the Sensation, considered a smaller ship, we met a couple who were on their 30something cruise. They said that the huge ships that have come out the past couple of years are over crowded & under staffed comparably to the smaller ships. They said that due to the ship being such a big size & accommodating hundreds more families, that even though there are more public spaces, the human traffic was bad, elevators were awful & the staff isn't able to be as attentive to the needs of so many more guests. They said they cruised all the big boats but came back to the small due to the better staff to guest ratios & traffic flow & such. What do all of you think? I am saving to go on a bigger boat & even though I will still give it a try, I want to know what I am in for. :D I realize opinions differ, but facts are still the same, they are either too crowded with bad traffic flow, or they aren't.

[DpTxQt31]

I have only been on 2 ships...Ecstasy and the Conquest. The Ecstasy was smaller then the Conquest; however, I didn't see any difference in foot traffic, etc. I think it really depends on the time of year you go. Obviously in Summer and holidays it will be different then when you go when school has resumed and non peak times.

[MikeM]

You could step up to the Spirit Class which is a favorite of ours and many of the medium size ship cruisers. We will stay on the 110,000 ton or less for many of the reasons you stated. Adding one or two more staff at the tour desk or guest service desk does not compensate for adding 1000 to 2000 more passengers. And the lines get longer and longer.

[masspector]

There is a well known online TA site that actually shows a chart with ships from all of the cruise lines and one of the stats is space ratio. Here is their definition:

 

Space ratio: The enclosed space (cubic feet) per passenger on the ship.

Example:30000/1000=30 cubic feet

 

Where 30000 is Ship Size expressed in Gross Tonnage and 1000 is the passenger capacity on ship.

Note: Space ratio does not necessarily correlate with stateroom size. Ships can have small staterooms but very large public areas, yielding a higher space ratio number.

The higher the ratio, the more passengers will have a sense of the ship's roominess.

[Islandbear]

I will always opt for a smaller ship with more ports of call. But, more and more you see bigger ships with more days at sea and private islands.:(

[firefly333]

I think believing some stranger on a cruise on something that is OPINION seems odd to me. So you bought this nonsense? Oasis and Allure are the biggest ships out there and the service is top notch. More space per pax, they got embarkation and debarkation down to a smooth science etc.

 

Dont believe all the nonsense you hear on cruise ships.

[balcony bound]

I think Fire is right - try a larger ship for yourself, and see what you think.

 

We've done the Sensation as well as the Dream (and the other sizes inbetween). We like them all for different reasons.

 

We love the Sensation, but the itinerary is too short! We also love the Dream and never felt crowded.

 

I think a lot of it depends on what YOU enjoy doing - and since we have never, and probably will never, desire to hang out at the Lido pool, for example (one of the more crowded areas) - we just really don't "feel" the crowds. I don't need a lounger by the pool, and we spend plenty of time on our balcony.

 

The most crowded we've ever been is on New Years Eve... and hey, that's part of the night and sure didn't bother us, it only lended to the festivities.