Small Ship vs Big Ship??

[West Coast Gal]

We are planning for a future world cruise . . my husband is concerned that the small ship will not be as stable as the larger ships with the stabilizers . . . who out there has been on the small ships and how does it fair in rougher waters?

[KarateMan]

I have done several world cruises with other lines and personally I would never do a world cruise on a ship other than what I consider to be a large ship.

 

Stabilisers make no difference between ship sizes. They are a silent hydraulically controlled tool that kind of act similar to a submarines bow-planes to counter a roll. In most cases a stabiliser will be in one single fixed position at the necessary angle combined with the forward motion to negate any roll. The stabilisers work just as well on small ships as they do on large ships.

 

The smallest ship I have ever been on in a storm was a 4,100 ton destroyer with no stabilisers. It was a ship where we had seatbelts on our bunks and had to strap ourselves in. It was a good ship to learn to combat sea-sickness. All I can say is that if you are on a small ship and encounter a storm just be prepared for one hell of a ride.

 

The cruise ships I did world cruises on were 69,000tons and 76,000tons. Both of them were extremely comfortable.

 

The Pacific Princess is around 30,000 tons. It may be comfortable. Hard to say as I have never been on it. Just remember 30,000 tons is still large. It may be smaller than the Titanic but still I think it would probably be the smallest acceptable ship I would do an ocean crossing on. I would probably prefer a ship like that for more sheltered waters, but I think it is still large enough to be comfortable.

[Pam in CA]

There are several things to consider if you're concerned about stability.

 

One is, as mentioned above, stabilizers. Stabilizers help with side-to-side ship movement and have little to do with fore-to-aft movement. The size of the stabilizers on the "small" ships are appropriate to the size of the ship. There'll be little or no difference.

 

Big ships are better in heavy seas with fore-to-aft movement because the power of the wave is dissipated along the length of the ship and the big ships are longer and heavier.

 

Two other things to consider is that the big ships with lots of decks are far more susceptible to wind as the upper decks are like sails. The other thing is that the smaller ships are narrower and cut through the waves better rather than the big ships which have a shallow draft for their size.

 

Everything depends on the combination of wind speed and direction, ship speed and direction, and wave height and direction. Infinitely variable. Whether which size ship all depends on the variables. Overall, a big ship will be better in more conditions.

 

I wouldn't hesitate to take a small ship on any cruise whether it's a week or a year. I never get seasick nor do I ever feel that I'm in danger on a small ship.

[shredie]

 

I wouldn't hesitate to take a small ship on any cruise whether it's a week or a year. I never get seasick nor do I ever feel that I'm in danger on a small ship.

 

My thoughts exactly. I guess I don't understand if OP's husband is worried about the effects of rough seas on the movement of the ship or the more generic definition of "stable," not sinking. (I am easily confused. :))

[GUT2407]

Was on Pacific Princess when we sailed through the tail of a cyclone [hurricane] with 20+ foot waves it was fine.

[Pam in CA]

My thoughts exactly. I guess I don't understand if OP's husband is worried about the effects of rough seas on the movement of the ship or the more generic definition of "stable," not sinking. (I am easily confused. :))

My first "cruise" was on a tanker to Europe in 1955. Minuscule by today's standards. No stabilizers. Ten days from Newport News to Rotterdam. Returned two and a half months later on the same freighter, only empty, returning to the US. We hit a Force 9 storm in the North Sea. Waves so high the propellers literally came out of the water as the bow went over a wave. It was like being on the Empire State Builing express elevator going up and down for about 24 hours. Idiot that I am, I loved it and even made my way to the aft railing to experience it. Yeah, I was an idiot. :)

 

Today's ships have far advanced stabilizing technology as well as vastly improved marine weather forecasting. The Captain will change course to avoid the worst weather if at all possible. Cruising today is far safer than it used to be.

Edited August 21, 2014 by Pam in CA

[sayaguru]

How small are you talking?

 

I recently cruised with Azamara (700pax) it still seemed pretty big to me.

[GUT2407]

How small are you talking?

 

I recently cruised with Azamara (700pax) it still seemed pretty big to me.

 

 

Azamara is the same ship as Pacific Princess.

[dorisis]

We are planning for a future world cruise . . my husband is concerned that the small ship will not be as stable as the larger ships with the stabilizers . . . who out there has been on the small ships and how does it fair in rougher waters?

 

We have been on the R class ships both in the North and South Atlantic and they were very stable. But we had smooth seas both times. In the South Pacific our cabin was forward and during rough seas it was bumby and noisy.

[West Coast Gal]

WOW! Great Great Stories, As much as I enjoy Cruise Critic, I have been enjoying this thread more than I can remember enjoying a thread in the last year!

DH can get a touch of motion sickness and I am thinking because of a couple of nights almost rolling out of bed on a couple of cruises is what is prompting his question. He can wear the wrist bands and be fine, but he doesn't sleep all that well :)!

[DonnasMom&Dad]

Getting away from the stability of the ship, what about the comfort of the cabins. We were just on the Pacific Princess, we had, what is supposed to be a handicap mini suite, it turned out to be smaller that a handicap balcony on the larger ships, one day I had a peek into a non handicap mini suite, and the only difference, to my line of sight, was there was a small alcove/hallway in front of the bathroom door, which was not in the handicap cabin, which was difficult to turn around in ( there was about 18" between the bed and the wall, where the plug-ins were for my CPAP use. :( :eek:

 

Cato :)

 

 

Completed Cruises !

 

Pre-cruise Days - The Big Red Boat, 1993 ??

1st cruise - Coral Princess, 19 November 2008, 10 day Panama Canal, FLL to ACA

2nd cruise - Coral Princess, 15 May 2009, 3 day Repositioning, Los Angeles to Vancouver.

3rd cruise - Sapphire Princess, 25 November 2009? 7 day Mexican Riviera.

4th cruise - Golden Princes, 12 June 2010, 7 day Alaska. (Golden Anniversary Cruise)

5th Cruise - Island Princess, 04 October 2010, Vancouver - Los Angeles, Repositioning

6th cruise - Sapphire Princess, 05 January 2011, 10 day Mexican Riviera. LA to LA.

7th cruise - Golden Princess, 11 May 2011, 3 day, LA to Vancouver, Repositioning

8th cruise - Sapphire Princess, 14 May 2011, 1 day, Vancouver to Seattle, Repositioning

9th cruise - Coral Princess 19 May 2011 2 day, San Francisco to Vancouver, Repositioning

10th & 11th cruises - Coral Princess 02 July to 16 July 2011, round trip Vancouver - Whittier Alaska, B2B

12th & 13th cruises - Sapphire Princess, x2, Cabins, 18 Sep. 2011, 1 day, Seattle to Vancouver, Repositioning

14th & 15th cruises - Golden Princess, x2, Cabins, 24 Sep. 2011, 1 day, Seattle to Vancouver, Repositioning.

16th cruise - Oasis of the Seas, 26 Nov. 2011, 7 day, Western Caribbean, Ft. Lauderdale, Ret.

17th & 18th cruises - Crown Princess B2B, 03 - 10 Dec & 10 - 17 Dec 2011, 14 Days, South & western Caribbean

19th cruise - Grand Princess, 31 Mar. - 07 April 2012, 7 Days, Eastern Caribbean, FLL - FLL

20th cruise - Island Princess, 06-16 June 2012, 10 day cruisetour Vancouver - Wittier

21th cruise - Emerald Princess, 16 day, 10 - 26 Sep. 2012, TA, Copenhagen - New York

22nd cruise - Carnival Ecstasy 10 - 14 January, 2013, 4 Day Bahamas, Port Canaveral Ret.

23rd cruise - Sapphire Princess 30 March - 06 April, 2013, 7 Day Coastal LA - LA

24th cruise - Coral Princess, 19 May - 22 May, 2013, 3 Day Repositioning Cruise, LA - Vancouver

25th cruise - Royal Princess 16 June - 05 July, 2013, 19 Day Inaugural cruise, Southampton - Venice.

26th cruise - Emerald Princess, 06 - 16 October, 2013, 10 Day Canada - New England, Quebexc city to New York

27th cruise - Royal Princess, 24 November - 01 December, 2013, 7 Day,Eastern Caribbean, Fort Lauderdale Ret.

28th cruise - Sapphire Princess, 20 - 24 Jan, 2014, 4 Days, California

29th cruise - Crown Princess, 03 - 10 May 2014, 7 Day, LA to Vanco

30th cruise - Pacific Princess, 05 - 12 Aug. 2014, 7 Days, Vancouver RT, Alaska :(

 

Edited August 21, 2014 by Donna's Dad

[Pam in CA]

The lower the deck and more midship, the less movement he'll feel. As long as you book a cabin on one of the two lowest decks (3 and 4), it should be fine in most seas.

[beg3yrs]

The lower the deck and more midship, the less movement he'll feel. As long as you book a cabin on one of the two lowest decks (3 and 4), it should be fine in most seas.

 

On the Ocean Princess we recently rounded the Cape of Good Hope in very rough seas. Our cabin was on deck 6 near the aft stairway. I'd call it half-way between mid-ships and full aft. We felt it was well-positioned as far as movement goes. Pam is correct that decks 3 and 4 would be even better but if you want a balcony, deck 6 is as low as you can go.

 

We've booked the same cabin on the same ship for a future cruise which rounds Cape Horn. I suppose that confirms we were happy with the location.

[Steviewonder1]

A few years ago on the Massdam, 1200PAX we had Suite 2 which is the second one behind the bridge. We went thru the tail of a New England Hurricane with 12-15 foot seas (it showed them on the wall monitor) and it was bumpy but not enough to get sea sick from. Of course the next morning several shops were closed due to falling displays and glass shelves. The size of the ship is not what I look at, it is where does it go that I really want to visit.

Edited August 21, 2014 by Steviewonder1

[shredie]

Idiot that I am, I loved it and even made my way to the aft railing to experience it. Yeah, I was an idiot. :)

 

 

Was Leonardo De Caprio there? :) Oh yeah, you said "aft." LOL. I'm the same way. I love the rolling sea. My daddy was a sailor, so I'm convinced it's inherited. :)

[tserface]

You got lots of good responses, but you may be interested in this article that Cruise Critic posted this week:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=1646&et_cid=1695427&et_rid=16744943&et_referrer=June%202008%20Boards%20Mailing

 

Tom

[Pam in CA]

Another story: a number of years ago I was on the Sapphire for a Sydney-to-LA cruise. We had a large, very active roll call that planned among other things, a Mother's Day brunch. (I still have the menu.) As I remember, 187 people signed up for the brunch. The seas were mild and we all had a great time. A couple of days later, I ran into a couple and realized that they hadn't been there. Turns out that the seas were "too rough" and they had stayed in their cabin. I honestly didn't even notice whether there was any ship movement but if there was, it wasn't much as no one was staggering around and there weren't bags draped over the hallway handrails.

 

My point is that people's perception of what's smooth sailing and what's rough can be very different.

[beg3yrs]

My point is that people's perception of what's smooth sailing and what's rough can be very different.

 

That's a great point. Sensitivity to motion is truly something that seems to be completely uncorrelated with a person's "toughness" or the sum of their experiences at sea, in the air or any other form of motion.

 

Of course there are some things to mitigate the symptoms (drugs, fresh air, view of the horizon, wrist bands and so on) but IMHO you are born with your level of sensitivity.

[GradUT]

I am very susceptible to seasickness and always take medication with me on cruises in case I need to use it.

 

We were on the Pacific Princess last year on a Black Sea cruise. It was the SMOOTHEST cruise I have ever been on. I would have thought I was on land the entire time. I felt no movement of the ship during the day and only a gentle motion when I was in bed, which was quite relaxing to me. (I slept like a log.) I did not have to pull out my seasickness medication once during the entire cruise.

 

I loved the Pacific Princess and would sail on her again in a minute. (BTW, we had a balcony mini-suite midship on Deck 8.)

[lovevacadays]

My first "cruise" was on a tanker to Europe in 1955. Minuscule by today's standards. No stabilizers. Ten days from Newport News to Rotterdam. Returned two and a half months later on the same freighter, only empty, returning to the US. We hit a Force 9 storm in the North Sea. Waves so high the propellers literally came out of the water as the bow went over a wave. It was like being on the Empire State Builing express elevator going up and down for about 24 hours. Idiot that I am, I loved it and even made my way to the aft railing to experience it. Yeah, I was an idiot. :)

 

Today's ships have far advanced stabilizing technology as well as vastly improved marine weather forecasting. The Captain will change course to avoid the worst weather if at all possible. Cruising today is far safer than it used to be.

 

 

Pam, sounds like a great adventure!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[West Coast Gal]

You got lots of good responses, but you may be interested in this article that Cruise Critic posted this week:

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=1646&et_cid=1695427&et_rid=16744943&et_referrer=June%202008%20Boards%20Mailing

 

Tom

Nice! that was great

[SusieS]

GradUT- which month were you on the Pacific ? Thanks!

[Off Shore]

One of my fondest memories of cruising is crossing the Tasman Sea's "Roaring 40's", and it lived up to its name. While most stayed in their cabins a few of us relished watching the waves in the bar and lounge high above the bow of the ship!

Danny Weitz

Nipomo California

[Pam in CA]

Pam, sounds like a great adventure!

It was fabulous. The cabins were huge and well-appointed, all meals were with the Captain and staff, and with no entertainment, I had full run of the ship and was allowed to go anywhere I wanted, including the engine room. I learned about navigation and the stars, and we were treated to Aurora Borealis several nights. I loved every minute.

[USN59-79]

We always assumed that smaller ships would ride less smoothly than the larger ones. We found that not to be the case. In 2012 we took the Ocean Princess from Rome to Singapore with no ocean motion problems. Last year we took the smallest HAL ship Prinsendam around the British Isles. We had stormy weather near Scotland and had to skip two ports. But the ship rode like a much larger ship. We enjoyed her so much we booked her again in the Fall for another month including a TA back to Florida and the ship always was comfortable and smooth sailing.