Small ships vs Big Ships

[wripro]

Even Silversea's sushi far outshines Seabourn's.

[Roxburgh]

There are pros and cons to both classes of ships and preferences will depend on what each individual is looking for. There is no right or wrong answer.

 

Personally, I prefer the bigger ships. I like the verandah, the choice of restaurants and bars, having two pools, having a gym where I can run without my head hitting the ceiling and the large amount of public space.

 

I don't eat sushi (I prefer my food to be cooked) and I can live without a flambe.

 

But that is just me.

[JaneBP]

>"The Sushi issue seems to be a bit of a worry,I have not seen this before.

Sashimi is offered on a number of other lines,Crystal being the best available.To be fair Seabourn has never really offered what I would call good or traditional sushi.

You really need a proper sushi chef aboard like Crystal has."

 

I agree. So many praise the sushi and sashimi to high heaven, but I think it sucks and won't eat it. But that does not mean I think it is tainted or poorly prepared. I am sure it's quite safe. Looks pretty at the Galley Market Lunch, however.

[Hobar]

I've been on Odyssey a couple of times and recently went on one of the triplets (Legend) on a back-to-back of 25 days, and there is no contest - the bigger ships are for me!

 

Prior to going on the Legend, I've read a lot of comparisons on this board, and most of the advantages pointed out by the triplet fans are food, service, and intimacy. Well, the food on my 2 Legend segments was good but no better than the Odyssey. Regarding service, the Legend crew was lovely and provided excellent service, but so was the crew on the Odyssey. As for calling passengers by name, it took the Legend crew quite a few days (by the second segment, really) before a few of them started calling me by name consistently, and this gesture, while nice, does not feed my ego anyway. In fact, sometimes this backfires - on more than one occasion, I'd be having a meal but would be interrupted by 4 crew members coming up to greet me and chit chat, one after another, within 4 minutes. Sometimes too much service is too much of a good thing. They should know when to appear and when to disappear.

 

As to intimacy, the Legend is in fact more intimate, by definition due to its smaller size, and I met a lot of interesting passengers, but then I also met a lot of interesting passengers on the Odyssey. I didn't find it easier to meet fellow passengers on the smaller boat.

 

Now, the disadvantages on the Legend are plenty. First, the bathroom is older, its decor more plain, without a separate shower from the bathtub. There is one fewer eating outlet. There is no sun terrace, which is my favorite place to go to late at night for star-gazing. Entertainment options, while not a strong point on Seabourn, are even more limited than on the bigger boats, as there were no Seabourn Singers (as well as no dance couple) on the Legend, so the cruise directors and assistants have to work harder to provide entertainment, with lower production value, night after night. There is a general lack of public space to explore and retreat to, and one tends to run into the same fellow passengers all the time, which is nice except for those times when you just want to go somewhere without stopping to chit chat.

 

One other disadvantage that another passenger pointed out to me was the frequency of cancelled excursions. He had 2 excursions cancelled at the last minute because of lack of sufficient subscribers. Apparently this happens more frequently on the smaller boats because there are obviously fewer passengers on board.

 

SFVoyage, I concur. I love the more modern feel of the larger ships and the service on them is just fine.

[CoSec]

Great to read the different views - thanks. Have booked the Quest cruise from Piraeus to Monte Carlo leaving 18 June. Sure it will be fine.