Has the order in which you've taken your cruises affected your experience?

[sherezada]

Our first cruise was Enchantment. Small ship but it made us fall in love with cruising. We then went to Adventure, which was bigger and we enjoyed more. And then came the Allure and we were ecstatic. There were no bigger ships after that, so we went the other way; we sailed the Freedom and it was enjoyable (not as enjoyable as the Allure for us, but not bad either). After that we sailed the Navigator and we really started feeling like we were missing something by then. It's like we hit a peak with the Oasis class. Sometimes I wish we would've sailed more of the smaller ships before Allure; maybe we would have appreciated them more.

 

Anyone else experienced something similar?

Edited June 5, 2015 by sherezada

[Clarea]

No, our experience is not similar. We've come to enjoy the smaller ships more.

[Ourusualbeach]

Like you we started out on the smaller ships when our kids were younger and it was perfect for them. We then moved to Freedom class and just now are planning Allure and Harmony. We may not go back to a smaller class unless it is just a short cruise or one that's Port intensive.

[cb at sea]

I think most of us started with the smaller ships...because at the time, they were the largest at sea!!!

 

For us, it's not so much the size of the ship, but the length of the cruise...we prefer 7-9 days....shorter is not enough time...longer is just too long!

[jd10367]

Our first cruise was on the newly-stretched Enchantment in 2005. She was the best ship to break into cruising on; she was now long but low and had plenty of stuff to do. We got used to a lot of walking, but not a lot of people.

 

We didn't think we'd like the behemoths. But then we tried Voyager class and loved it. We didn't think we'd like bigger. But then we tried Oasis class and loved it. We backtracked to Freedom class, loved it.

 

What spoils me about the bigger ships is that there's so much more to see and do. First of all, I love the shopping promenade, not only for the variety of stores but because they also have more food (coffee shop, pizza place). After seeing a promenade, when you go back to a regular ship and see one deck with four tiny shops, it's disappointing. Then you add in more shows to see, more places to eat... We just got off a Radiance class, which are fine when you're going for the ports and not the ship, but how can you compare those ships to Oasis class? Jazz club, comedy club, giant casino, double pools, double Flowriders, zip line, carousel, outdoor water shows, ice skating rink, Central Park, Park Cafe, Promenade Cafe, pizza place, Johnny Rockets, seafood or mexican, free donuts... Not to mention because there are more passengers there are more planned activities (my wife and I like trivia and there's more of them on the bigger ships).

[OfTheSeasCruiser]

I don't find that it affects our experience. We started with Explorer, then went to Jewel, back to Explorer, then to Vision, (then a 7 year gap where we did land vacations and tried 3 other cruise lines), then to Radiance, and lastly to Oasis. We're planning on doing Allure next year, but I'm hoping to squeeze in a short Jewel cruise at the end of 2016 or beginning of 2017.

 

I've enjoyed every single one of those cruises immensely. I love both the big ships and the small ships for different reasons!

Edited June 5, 2015 by OfTheSeasCruiser

[sherezada]

No, our experience is not similar. We've come to enjoy the smaller ships more.

 

I should have mentioned that we

1) got engaged on Enchantment

2)had our honeymoon on Adventure

3) our oldest's 1st cruise was on Allure

4) Our youngest's 1st cruise was on Freedom

5) had two rambunctious toddlers to entertain on the Navigator :)

 

Hence why we seem to enjoy bigger ships with more things to do for the kiddos. I can understand couples without kids might enjoy the smaller ships, I'm assuming because they are more relaxing.

 

In any event, my intent is not to bash any particular ship class or preference, but to see if anyone has felt that maybe if they had done the order differently they would have enjoyed some ships more than they did.

Edited June 5, 2015 by sherezada

[George C]

I started cruising in the 1970's so no real big ships and also no balconies, I prefer larger ships in general since there are more options of things to do and restaurants, but will cruise any size ship

[nimbex1970]

The order hasn't affected my love of cruising. I have snuck in brief three or 4 day cruises when I couldn't get time off. Those were smaller ships. When we sailed Carnival Conquest and the Destiny, we fell in love with those big ones, it felt like being in Vegas.

 

Then we sampled Royal, then the Allure, I dreaded 4500 pax, but fell in love with her.

 

So the order or size hasn't affected my love of cruising. My love of land vacations does. It's a constant conflict on how to spend my three weeks of vacation as I love both. However cruising introduces me to my next land vacation.;) For every cruise, we have a week or two on the islands... it's a terrible addiction

 

It's a vicious cycle:rolleyes:

Edited June 5, 2015 by nimbex1970

[Paulette3028]

Our first cruise was Enchantment. Small ship but it made us fall in love with cruising. We then went to Adventure, which was bigger and we enjoyed more. And then came the Allure and we were ecstatic. There were no bigger ships after that, so we went the other way; we sailed the Freedom and it was enjoyable (not as enjoyable as the Allure for us, but not bad either). After that we sailed the Navigator and we really started feeling like we were missing something by then. It's like we hit a peak with the Oasis class. Sometimes I wish we would've sailed more of the smaller ships before Allure; maybe we would have appreciated them more.

 

Anyone else experienced something similar?

 

Our first cruise was in 2004 on Navigator. At the time, she was the biggest lady in the fleet. We then went on Her Majesty a few months later. The Sovereign class sure gives you a different picture of sailing than we had on Navigator....but we still loved it.

 

Every ship that we have sailed on since has given us a different kind of vacation -- all great. We are cruising on Navigator again later this year to revisit an old friend almost, and because we hardly remember the cruise -- other than to say we enjoyed it.

 

We look beyond the size of the cabin and its particular amenities and view the cruise overall....what kind of fun did we have. Jewel (without a Royal Promenade) gave us a wonderful trip -- it was very port intensive, but we try to do excursions in the morning to get back to the ship and relax at a relatively empty pool for awhile...but the staff and crew on this ship were suburb. Same with Her Majesty, we find that the staff and crew make up for the WOW factor that the ship herself lacks.

 

We have cruised on Allure, and enjoyed it -- but it is almost too big; we have booked a cruise on Harmony, but the lure of the waterslide is what fascinates me. I love the flowrider, but a waterslide is even better. The price we got was outstanding...so we could not pass it up.

 

If I had to pick the class I like the most, I would say Freedom....when we sailed on Liberty, it was great and we were not disappointed in any way on our Indy sailing; the On Air studio for Karaoke is wonderful.....and if they only had a waterslide, they would absolutely be perfect (in my view, at least).

[TheGinBoy]

I'm the other way, I've sailed Vision Class, Voyager Class, and then Freedom class - I kind of want to go back and try Radiance Class now...

[finz2u]

What an interesting thread. Our first RCL was on Sovereign and then we went to the Radiance class, then to Voyager class, then Freedom class, then back to the Jewel (radiance class). Loved all of them, but especially the Jewel, so it may be that the radiance class is my current favorite.

 

In August, we will be going smaller of Splendor, but in 2016 we are going to try the larger ships.

 

Any size ship where I can sit and feel the wind is OK by me.

[njmomof2]

I think my first cruise was on Sovereign, then on a smaller Carnival ship. When I started cruising with my kids, we started out on Liberty...that was the mistake.

 

The kids loved the bigger ship and when we sailed Mariner that next year, all they did was complain about it not being as big and great as Liberty. We've done other ships, including Carnival, and at this point (over 17 and almost 13) they say if it's not a Freedom class or above, they don't want to go.

 

I had a different experience from most regarding Oasis. We have sailed Freedom a number of times, then sailed Oasis. Both of my boys and my mom all said that while it was great, they missed Freedom. Didn't find any of the "upgrades" from the Freedom class to be enough to affect our cruise experience. My boys are both flowriders, and the fact that there was a separate one for standup only didn't seem to make their experience any better. The zip line...one and done. The extra restaurants...didn't really utilize them. Kids too old for the carousel. Central Park...not their thing.

 

So, by the end of the week, all said they'd rather go back on Freedom if we could. So we cruised her again that August and are booked for this August as well, and are taking 3 of my older sons friends along as well.

 

I think it's all about what you want from your vacation. Mom and I, we could be happy on any ship as long as she's sailing and we have a shady spot to enjoy our books!

[Paulette3028]

I think my first cruise was on Sovereign, then on a smaller Carnival ship. When I started cruising with my kids, we started out on Liberty...that was the mistake.

 

The kids loved the bigger ship and when we sailed Mariner that next year, all they did was complain about it not being as big and great as Liberty. We've done other ships, including Carnival, and at this point (over 17 and almost 13) they say if it's not a Freedom class or above, they don't want to go.

 

I had a different experience from most regarding Oasis. We have sailed Freedom a number of times, then sailed Oasis. Both of my boys and my mom all said that while it was great, they missed Freedom. Didn't find any of the "upgrades" from the Freedom class to be enough to affect our cruise experience. My boys are both flowriders, and the fact that there was a separate one for standup only didn't seem to make their experience any better. The zip line...one and done. The extra restaurants...didn't really utilize them. Kids too old for the carousel. Central Park...not their thing.

 

So, by the end of the week, all said they'd rather go back on Freedom if we could. So we cruised her again that August and are booked for this August as well, and are taking 3 of my older sons friends along as well.

 

I think it's all about what you want from your vacation. Mom and I, we could be happy on any ship as long as she's sailing and we have a shady spot to enjoy our books!

 

When we sailed on Allure we had a CP balcony and I can understand how CP itself wouldn't be very interesting to teen agers. But the carousel....you are never too old for a good carousel ride in my book....(LOL- please don't be offended). I went on it every day that I could, so I could have a brief reminder of growing up in Coney Island.....all it needed was the 'ring pull' and it would have been closer to genuine.

 

I can however totally understand the enjoyment of the Freedom class ships.

[jticarruthers]

We worked our way up and back down.

 

Frankly we weren't overly impressed with Allure, enjoyed both Independence and Jewel more, looking forward to Freedom again later this year. Will probably give Oasis class another go at some point, nothing wrong with them but didn't see them as worth a premium over the other ships.

 

Not sure if a Q class ship will be in our future or not, certainly not interested in traveling to New Jersey or China to try one ... if they ever bring one to Florida, we may give it a try just to say we did.

[njmomof2]

But the carousel....you are never too old for a good carousel ride in my book....(LOL- please don't be offended). I went on it every day that I could, so I could have a brief reminder of growing up in Coney Island.....all it needed was the 'ring pull' and it would have been closer to genuine.

 

 

I would agree, if my kids had ever had much exposure to the boardwalk in Coney Island that I knew growing up, or even the Jersey Shore, where their father refused to take them since he'd done all that when he was a kid and didn't enjoy it.

 

They never really GOT that sort of stuff. The younger one rode it once or twice, but then moved on to other things.

 

Oh forgot about the rock wall. Younger ds loves climbing. But on Oasis, you auto belay. So there isn't a staff member at the bottom, belaying you, encouraging you up, giving you advice. They just kind of stand there. Which is 180 degrees from our experiences on Freedom. DS was definitely not happy, and as a result, after the first climb, never went back. He was pretty disappointed with it.

 

I love that there are so many ships with so many different activities and designs so that there is something for everyone.

 

And Paulette, do you remember the REAL Nathan's on the CI Boardwalk? OMG!!!!! Something about those ears of corn soaking in the sugar water, all soft and sweet, and the snap of the hotdog and the sun, sand and surf. Nothing like it EVER!

[sealeggs]

We started on Nordic Empress and moved to Radiance Class, Voyager class and up. We aren't sure if we could go any lower than Voyager class. We just like the added space from that class and up. Although I will add there is no right or wrong cruise. What's to complain about your on vacation and sailing!!!

[LilBlackDress]

We have enjoyed each ship we've been on for different reasons... There are times the smaller ships are more intimate. It just depends on what you are looking for.

 

We were never even considering Oasis Class, but due to a friend, we are going on Harmony in 2017... the largest ship we've been on to date is Indy.

[FloatMe]

The view from the chair on our balcony is not dependant on what ship we are on:)

[impatientlywaiting]

We've always stayed with the "smaller" ships - have no desire to go to the bigger ships. We cruise because we enjoy being on the water. We mostly enjoy the ports but I think our favorite days are the sea days so that's probably why we're doing more and more longer cruises - as you can see from my signature we just booked a b2b for 29 days with lots of sea days!

[Rewind]

I've worked my way up at the rate of one per year - I actually set that as my goal. I was about to run into a snag however; we scheduled our January cruise on Adventure and that would be going back down. Luckily we were able to book Allure this year and complete my goal (Quantum class didn't exist when I made my goal :)). I've done (classes) Sovereign, Vision, Radiance, Voyager, Freedom, and soon Oasis. Maybe I can sneak in a Quantum late next year.

 

I wanted to work my way up so I didn't get disappointed by starting big and then going small. While Monarch has a place in my heart as my first ship, I really don't want to go back to a Sovereign class. And Enchantment was nice being a stretched ship and the rooms were a tiny bit larger, it's still a bit small for me. Anything Radiance class or larger is where I would prefer to cruise but as everyone says, a day at sea is better than a day at work.

[Desert Cruizers]

Our first cruise was in 2002 on the Sea Princess and really thought she was the most beautiful ship afloat until 2 years later we sailed on the Brilliance. We have since sailed 1 Freedom Class, LOS, but haven't gone with the Oasis Class yet. We are looking ahead for 2017 to the Anthem and hopeing we can get our family Christmas Cruise organized. We do have 4 sailings on the Radiance of the Seas.

Edited June 5, 2015 by Desert Cruizers

[ententecordiale]

I feel just the same. Our first experience cruising was on the Adventure and we thought it was great. Our second one was on the Anthem and I now can't imagine trying something smaller/older. The problem is that it limits where we can go. I would absolutely love to do Croatia, the Balkans etc... but not available on the big ships. I go cruising with my teenagers, so although they enjoy visiting new places, what they really enjoy is all what is available on the big ships and in many ways, so do I.

 

I am certainly find it much harder to make a selection for our 3rd cruise booking.

[printingchick]

My experience went a different direction. I began on smaller ships and gradually grew to larger. When I graduated from Voyager to Freedom class, I found it too big. While nearly identical to Voyager, Freedom carries more passengers and I found the major events (parades, 70s party, etc.) to be uncomfortably crowded. I also found the wait for an elevator to be insane. We never took the elevators DOWN, but often took them UP because our cabin was on Deck 2. In 2010, I took a cruise on a Radiance Class ship. I expected to be disappointed. I thought I'd miss the ice rink and the Royal Promenade. But I loved the port-intensive itinerary and figured I wouldn't be on the ship that much anyway. I discovered I really PREFER the smaller ships. I always loved the ice show and the parades, but my MAIN FOCUS, my PURPOSE for cruising, is to be at sea. The larger ships tend to focus inward, toward the resort features of the ship. The smaller ships draw your focus outward, to the SEA. The experience is more intimate and friendly. The service is outstanding. Even at events where most passengers are in the same place at the same time, crowds are not ridiculous. Yeah...the main pool is tiny, but I rarely swim there. I may just get into the water to cool off and I'm more likely to do that in the adult pool.

 

Can't wait to go on another cruise on the Jewel in January. Not even considering cruising on a ship Freedom Class or larger. People think it's narrow minded for me to say I don't want to cruise on the mega ships. For me, the expense and under-whelming itineraries alone make them unattractive. Having to schedule so much of my trip in advance (shows, dynamic dining) is another down-side. I'm happy cruising on smaller ships.

Edited June 5, 2015 by printingchick

[Desert Cruizers]

Printinchick, my husband & I cruise more for the enjoyment at sea, friends we meet and Ports, you brought up a good point in that the larger ships focus more toward the extras then the smaller classes. I have never looked at the Radiance Class ships as small. Everyone cruises for the enjoyment of being on a ship and visiting new places, however we each have our own interests and activities that we like, so we chose the cruise lines and ships that can met our interests.