Older, smaller worries

[margeecruiser]

We have been cruising in the newer, bigger ships for the last few years and we love it. We are looking forward to 2015 (I know, I'm a long-range planner!) and are looking at the fiords or Panama Canal. I'm afraid we will be disappointed in a small/older ship. We like good food and great wine (love Vintages) and do not do the rock wall or flow rider. We are really looking for new itineraries, we are tired of the Caribbean and Mediterranean. We also like longer cruises and have done several TA's. any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

Margee

[Cruising89143]

In June we crusied on the Splendour out of Venice. One of RCI's smallest and oldest ships. I had a great time. Yes it was different than the Oasis and Allure but I went with expectations in check on the fact that it was a smaller ship.

 

The Splendour was in great shape and for the itinerary that we booked it worked out great. I would not hestitate to cruise on this ship again. Also to add that Chops on the Splendour was by far the best experience that we have had on any ship. Great service but the food was much better.

[Clarea]

Royal has had a Radiance class ship (Brilliance this year and next) doing a TA from England to Boston in late August. The itinerary includes an overnight stop in Iceland.

[cb at sea]

If you aren't using the "bells and whistles" of the larger ships, you certainly won't miss them on the smaller ships! And, in the scheme of things, the older ships aren't really "tiny"! They are still spacious! The reduced number of passengers give you about the same amount of space!

[Selswick]

Last year we had a choice of Norwegian Fjords on Jewel or Independence. Having sailed on Independence and Jewel before We chose Jewel. The reason being that it was an outward looking ship. This is an itinerary that it scenery heavy. This year we did a Baltic cruise with a choice of Adventure or Brilliance. We went with Brilliance for the same reasons. No problems at all with a "smaller " ship.

 

No Vintages though.

 

Selswick

[TEXASMUNK]

The Panama Canal......A truly memorable cruise!

[KeywestK]

The Panama Canal......A truly memorable cruise!

 

I couldn't agree more. One of my all time favorite cruise memories is standing on the helipad of the Brilliance at 6 a.m. going through the PC.

[TBone2K]

Pretty much all of the ships in the fleet have received updates as well. So they all offer lots of amenities from the big ships.

[margeecruiser]

Thanks, Everyone, for your replies. I have been on Celebrity Simmit and Royal's Rapsody so I know how nice they are, but this was 10+ years ago. I just didn't want to be disappointed or something.

 

I will be doing the TA on Navigator this November and then another week on her in February so I can see the before and after of the up-grades being put in while she is in dry dock.

 

I really like aft balconies, so I need to book ASAP.

 

Margee

[Desert Cruizers]

I love the Radiance Class ships and really do not find them small, true them may not have the Bells & Whistles of your larger ships but feel they really offer a cruising experience with their views of the ocean and experience.

[FLACRUISER99]

We have been cruising in the newer, bigger ships for the last few years and we love it. We are looking forward to 2015 (I know, I'm a long-range planner!) and are looking at the fiords or Panama Canal. I'm afraid we will be disappointed in a small/older ship. We like good food and great wine (love Vintages) and do not do the rock wall or flow rider. We are really looking for new itineraries, we are tired of the Caribbean and Mediterranean. We also like longer cruises and have done several TA's. any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

Margee

Come and join us on Rhapsody's B2B2B repo from Sydney to Hawaii to Vancouver to Seattle in the Spring.

[mjldvlks]

There are many itineraries outside of the Caribbean and the Med. I have yet to do a Caribbean cruise. Like you, we also enjoyed our TA and our Canada/New England cruise is one of my all time favorites. We have also taken some West coast cruises, some short ones on Monarch when it was in LA and a couple to the Pacific Northwest. We are not beach people so those kind of cruises suit us just fine.

 

As to the older/smaller thing, if you are not using the flow rider and similar things, you may not notice much difference. I have found the feel of all RCI ships to be very similar. The smaller ships won't have the Roayl Promenade, but they do have similar shops and most of the things you can find in the RP you can find in some form on the smaller ships. We have enjoyed all of the ships we have cruised so far from Splendour [currently the smallest] to Monarch [the oldest before it left the fleet] to Independence [which was the biggest and newest when we sailed her]. If you like the RCI ships you have been on, I think you will feel at home on the smaller ships.

[A2Mich]

My how times have changed.....my first cruise was in 1983 on the Carnivale. All whopping 23,000 GRT of her. The Song of America was just built and was "huge" at 37,000 or so GRT. I also remember almost sailing on the Southward or Starward, but the Carnivale won the battle (I was only 12 at the time, so it was what the parents wanted), though the real "Prize" would have been a cruise on the Norway! These older ships (except for the Norway) would probably look like shore tenders next to the Monstrosities of the Seas that are sailing today!

[Desert Cruizers]

The first ship I was on, was in 1957 on the Queen of Bermuda, she was 580 feet long & 22,500 tons. I was sailing with our parents and older sister from Bermuda back to NY and thought this was a huge ship.:) My sister and I shared a tiny cabin with twin beds and 1 dresser, much smaller then modern day inside cabins today. We had to walk down our hallway to a community bathroom. In reading up on her a moment ago, I learned she had a Sister Ship, the Monarch of Bermuda.

[ssb]

Come join us on legend 2014 Panama Canal.

We can talk about it further this November on navigator.

[margeecruiser]

I looked at westbound in March 2015. Are all the aft balconies gone:confused::rolleyes:

[scifimodelfan]

Been on the larger ships and going back on Splendor in November from Venice. Love the smaller ones. More intamate and I feel they are more atentive.

[hawlcruiser]

The Panama Canal is one of our favorite cruises. Have done over 40, most all destinations, and the couple that stand out most are the PC and the Baltic cruise out of South Hampton. Hardly anything is a "bad" cruise. Some just more outstanding than others.

[ssb]

I looked at westbound in March 2015. Are all the aft balconies gone:confused::rolleyes:

 

I don't know on legend on 2015.

We are on November 2014 westbound.

Probably not though that far out!

Our favourite corner afts were gone.

 

Galveston cruiser and I do have a corner aft 7688 with you on b2b 11/3 and 11/10 navigator !

[MommaBear55]

I love the Radiance Class ships and really do not find them small, true them may not have the Bells & Whistles of your larger ships but feel they really offer a cruising experience with their views of the ocean and experience.

 

Like! I love the feel of the Radiance class ships, especially since the upgrades. The shows in the Centrum are amazing and DH and I love all the different music venues. Your also more likely to get a window view in the MDR than on a bigger ship.

[margeecruiser]

One of these days I'm going to snag one of the corner afts! I thought 2 yrs out would be enough lead time. See you SSB on the Navigator. Are you coming to the wine crawl? If you are in the hallway, you'll see me and my glass!

 

Margee

[the_journeyman]

I've cruised on several sizes of RCCL's ships, smallest to largest:

 

Nordic Empress

Sovereign & Majesty of the Seas

Adventure of the Seas

Allure of the Seas

 

Allure was so the most recent. I would still go back to a Voyager or Freedom class without a second thought. I would also sail on the Empress again as well, it was small but beautiful and more classic feeling. I did not care for the Sovereign class ships, but it was ship vibe not size, that I didn't like.

 

JM

[Desert Cruizers]

MommaBear we will be sailing on the ROS for the first time since 2008 and her retrofit for our 2014 Australia trip. so looking forward to sailing on her again. We did enjoy the LOS and we had a fabulous TA, ports everything were excellant, however our one minor complaint, because we couldn't walk all the way thru from Deck 4 without running into Studio B, we had to always go thru the RP then back down. It worked out great for the performances, off Deck 8, down to the RP and straight across and down the stairs.:)

[SICruiseGirlNYC]

In June we crusied on the Splendour out of Venice. One of RCI's smallest and oldest ships. I had a great time. Yes it was different than the Oasis and Allure but I went with expectations in check on the fact that it was a smaller ship.

 

The Splendour was in great shape and for the itinerary that we booked it worked out great. I would not hestitate to cruise on this ship again. Also to add that Chops on the Splendour was by far the best experience that we have had on any ship. Great service but the food was much better.

 

 

Glad to hear you enjoyed the Splendour. I sail in 2 weeks on the Splendour and was a little concerned because we have only done the larger ships.

[ireneadler]

Not many people go to Antarctica, but those who do absolutely love it. I know it's far for everyone, which is part of the charm. :D They also say the scenery is very different from Alaska (PENGUINS!!), and also much colder.

 

Celebrity takes you there, not sure about RCI. It's my cruise for Jan. 2015.