Will the ships just keep getting bigger and bigger?

[Vitality08]

Reading the thread on someone's recent Majesty trip got me to thinking.

 

Do you think cruiselines will build small ships to replace some of the aging ships in the fleet or will the trent to just get bigger and bigger?

 

I'd imagine a small ship is better for the short Bahama runs but if they are all getting old and removed from the fleet what will replace them?

 

Do you forsee in 20 years when the Allure/Oasis are the oldest in the fleet that they will make the short Bahama runs?

[temple1]

From what has been reported the new Sunshine class is going to be smaller than the Oasis Class but larger than the Freedom. So ... Yes and No.

[Cruising89143]

I don't think we will see anything larger than the Oasis twins for a while but yes one day a cruise will build something larger.

[starlake]

I really wish they would build more like those of the Radiance class. I think these ships are the perfect size.:)

[cb at sea]

There's only SO BIG they can go, without making it "un-seaworthy" or too costly...and where in the world would it dock???

 

I love the Voyager class....that's just the right size, IMO....smaller is ok, but you do feel the seas more on a shorter ship if there is the least amount of "chop" in the water. It has to be 10ft seas on Voyager class (in general) for it to be really rockin'!

[DHADEN]

I think RCI has learned their lesson the hard way with Oasis and (what's the other one?). It is an obvious constant battle to fill those monstrousities; and they can't go anyplace with them because they are too big to dock. Very limited.:eek:

 

I know they still want BIG ships - via the Sunshine Class at 150k tons (actually larger than Voyager Class but smaller than Freedom Class) because they are looking at room for what ELSE they can charge for.:rolleyes:

 

I personnally agree with "starlake" about the Radiance Class and the Millinium Class ships. They seem to be the perfect mix of Largeness in space and Lessness in number of pax. ;)

[Cruising89143]

I think RCI has learned their lesson the hard way with Oasis and (what's the other one?). It is an obvious constant battle to fill those monstrousities; and they can't go anyplace with them because they are too big to dock. Very limited.:eek:

 

I know they still want BIG ships - via the Sunshine Class at 150k tons (actually larger than Voyager Class but smaller than Freedom Class) because they are looking at room for what ELSE they can charge for.:rolleyes:

 

I personnally agree with "starlake" about the Radiance Class and the Millinium Class ships. They seem to be the perfect mix of Largeness in space and Lessness in number of pax. ;)

 

Please explain to us what lesson RCI has learned about the Oasis twins? They have the highest % of on board spending of any ships in the fleet and still command higher per diems than the other hips in the fleet. How many cruises have you taken on either ship? By the way, there won't be any ships the size of Radiance built for which I'm thankful. ;)

[littlesteelo]

The general trend is that ships will continue to get bigger. I think for the time being they will keep slowly edging back towards Oasis size. Royal will never build any smaller than the Freedom Class though, at least not for the foreseeable future, because a larger ship is more profitable.

 

What I am more interested in is when ships like Voyager come to the end of their life with Royal. Whereas the Sovereign and Vision classes can work fine under another operator, a ship like Voyager is so distinctly Royal Caribbean, I can't imagine it sailing for the likes of Pullmantur.

 

That said, that is probably around 10 years away, and the cruise industry may be very different by then.

[jsmeeker]

While Oasis and Allure may be a bit limited to where they can go, that doesn't seem to be a huge detriment. Plenty of people out there want to cruise Eastern and Western Caribbean. Many will do over and over again because the ship itself has become the destination.

 

That said, I dunno how many more ships you'll see that size. I wonder if some other cruise line will try to out do it. Maybe Carnival?

[B-52]

This is a quote regarding the Sunshine Class Ship.......

 

"Ships like Project Sunshine will carry substantially more passengers per square foot so that the ship can have optimal fuel*efficiency and get a greater return on investment per passenger.

 

To put this in perspective, the Project Sunshine ship will be a 158,000-ton ship that will hold 4,100 passengers. *If we compare that to a different Royal Caribbean cruise ship of similar size, such as Freedom of the Seas, Freedom is 160,000 gross tons but only carries 3,634 passengers."

 

So, smaller more efficient ships, but with more passengers.......I'm not sure I like that trend, but we will have to see.

[Time2SetSail]

I attended the Captain's Corner last week aboard Oasis and he said there's no reason they can't build bigger and that it WILL become a trend with other cruise lines. He said the bigger they get, the more details they will have to pay attention to in making her seaworthy but given the fact that she's already very stable (they rarely use stabilizers on Oasis), it's possible to go much bigger; of course, ports of call are going to be a factor but they will address them as they have already. Personally, after Oasis, the bigger the ship the bigger the passenger load and I couldn't take so many people (or maybe it was the ill-mannered children and rude adults?)

[Cruising89143]

This is a quote regarding the Sunshine Class Ship.......

 

"Ships like Project Sunshine will carry substantially more passengers per square foot so that the ship can have optimal fuel*efficiency and get a greater return on investment per passenger.

 

To put this in perspective, the Project Sunshine ship will be a 158,000-ton ship that will hold 4,100 passengers. *If we compare that to a different Royal Caribbean cruise ship of similar size, such as Freedom of the Seas, Freedom is 160,000 gross tons but only carries 3,634 passengers."

 

So, smaller more efficient ships, but with more passengers.......I'm not sure I like that trend, but we will have to see.

 

Freedom is 154,407 tons. RCI has it listed incorrectly on their website. Sunshine will be slightly larger.

[Booking It]

The bigger, the better! I loved the Allure so much that I am itching to book her again! If they built bigger, I would be all over it! I was just on the Brilliance, and I definitely missed the size of the Allure. I don't care about the Caribbean ports. For me, the ship is the destination.

 

Now if we are talking the Med. or Asia, the ship wouldn't matter as much. But if I'm looking for a semi-inexpensive vacation next summer, the Allure will be it (after sailing on the Brilliance in Norway, any vacation can be labeled as inexpensive compared to that one!).

[Darkwolfe]

There was some futuristic idea of building a vessel that was essentially a true city at sea. It wouldn't be able to dock, but it's "life boats" would be nearly the size of the old Empress. Those would go to shore to dock while the "city" stayed out in international waters.

 

I have to wonder how much real use that would be though. Can you imagine the energy that thing would need to move?

[littlesteelo]

Freedom is 154,407 tons. RCI has it listed incorrectly on their website. Sunshine will be slightly larger.

 

Yes. For some reason they decided when Freedom came out to advertise it as 160,000gt to make it seem more impressive, and now that is coming back to bite them as people think Sunshine is smaller in terms of gross tonnage.

[gatour]

Have you actually looked at the exterior of a Sovereign class ship? The Royal Crown lounge is very pronounced. When we took our Med cruise I had no problem picking out the former Sovereign of the Seas at the Barcelona docks.

 

Also if you look at the Sovereign class deck plans the placement of the cabins in the forward areas is unique as there is a "stack" of them.

 

So ships will continue to be transferred as there owners deem appropriate.

 

The general trend is that ships will continue to get bigger. I think for the time being they will keep slowly edging back towards Oasis size. Royal will never build any smaller than the Freedom Class though, at least not for the foreseeable future, because a larger ship is more profitable.

 

What I am more interested in is when ships like Voyager come to the end of their life with Royal. Whereas the Sovereign and Vision classes can work fine under another operator, a ship like Voyager is so distinctly Royal Caribbean, I can't imagine it sailing for the likes of Pullmantur.

 

That said, that is probably around 10 years away, and the cruise industry may be very different by then.

[Eng23]

I think RCI has learned their lesson the hard way with Oasis and (what's the other one?). It is an obvious constant battle to fill those monstrousities; and they can't go anyplace with them because they are too big to dock. Very limited.:eek:

 

I know they still want BIG ships - via the Sunshine Class at 150k tons (actually larger than Voyager Class but smaller than Freedom Class) because they are looking at room for what ELSE they can charge for.:rolleyes:

 

I personnally agree with "starlake" about the Radiance Class and the Millinium Class ships. They seem to be the perfect mix of Largeness in space and Lessness in number of pax. ;)

Oasis and Allure sail full every week. So it seems they have no problem filling them. Everywhere Oasis/Allure go they are always docked at a pier, they just do not go anywhere that requires tendering.

Freedom Class is larger than Voyager Class ships. The Project Sunshine ships will be between the Freedom Class and Oasis Class in size.

[OneStrangeGuy]

There was some futuristic idea of building a vessel that was essentially a true city at sea. It wouldn't be able to dock, but it's "life boats" would be nearly the size of the old Empress. Those would go to shore to dock while the "city" stayed out in international waters.

 

I have to wonder how much real use that would be though. Can you imagine the energy that thing would need to move?

That ship was supposed to be a 'Retirement village', or home for very 'Affluent people'. As such, it wasn't so much a passenger ship, but a home for it's residents. There were no cabins as such. The spaces were sold much like condominiums.

It was supposed to move very slowly, which would save on fuel and the required horsepower to move it.

As I remember, transport to shore could also be accomplished by helicopter.

It sounded like a good idea, but I'm not sure how practical such a ship would be.

[Cruising89143]

There was some futuristic idea of building a vessel that was essentially a true city at sea. It wouldn't be able to dock, but it's "life boats" would be nearly the size of the old Empress. Those would go to shore to dock while the "city" stayed out in international waters.

 

I have to wonder how much real use that would be though. Can you imagine the energy that thing would need to move?

 

Actually there is a company still trying to make it work.

 

http://americanflagship.com/

[Cruising89143]

That ship was supposed to be a 'Retirement village', or home for very 'Affluent people'. As such, it wasn't so much a passenger ship, but a home for it's residents. There were no cabins as such. The spaces were sold much like condominiums.

It was supposed to move very slowly, which would save on fuel and the required horsepower to move it.

As I remember, transport to shore could also be accomplished by helicopter.

It sounded like a good idea, but I'm not sure how practical such a ship would be.

 

That ship was built and is in service.

http://aboardtheworld.com/