you can have the larger ships

[girlsjustwannacruise]

Am I alone in feeling that the smaller to midsize ships (i.e. spirit class) are better as far as less congestion? and I really PREFER these smaller ships.

 

Every time Carnival makes another larger ship I feel like....

 

1. Im sad because im afraid the smaller/midsize ships are going to disappear

2. im secretly happy because somewhere in the back of my mind (the imaginative part) im hoping that everyone will swarm to the larger ships and the cost for cruising on the small/midsize ships will drop.

 

Am I a freak of nature?

[brepri_h]

I love the Dream Class and have never felt too crowded. I also like the Conquest class and feel like I'd probably never try a smaller one unless it had a killer itinerary that I really wanted to try.

[SadieN]

Nope. Conquest and Splendor are too big for me.

Love the Spirit and Fantasy class ships.

Unfortunately smaller ships are not the (economic) trend. Similar to houses---cheaper to build a two story than a single story of the same square footage. Not much more to build a larger ship. Don't see any of the cruise lines building these smaller ships anymore.

 

 

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[evandbob]

Am I alone in feeling that the smaller to midsize ships (i.e. spirit class) are better as far as less congestion? and I really PREFER these smaller ships.

 

Every time Carnival makes another larger ship I feel like....

 

1. Im sad because im afraid the smaller/midsize ships are going to disappear

2. im secretly happy because somewhere in the back of my mind (the imaginative part) im hoping that everyone will swarm to the larger ships and the cost for cruising on the small/midsize ships will drop.

 

Am I a freak of nature?

 

No you are not. Everyone is entitled to enjoy whatever size ship gets their motor cruising. I prefer the Conquest class, although Magic is now my fav. I haven't cruised the Fantasy class for the last 10 years and won't ever again.

But these are my preferences. YMMV.

[Sparky2]

Nope. Conquest and Splendor are too big for me.

Love the Spirit and Fantasy class ships.

Unfortunately smaller ships are not the (economic) trend. Similar to houses---cheaper to build a two story than a single story of the same square footage. Not much more to build a larger ship. Don't see any of the cruise lines building these smaller ships anymore.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

I've never been on Fantasy class ships but love, love, love Spirit class.

 

We've been mostly sailing Conquest class in recent years so we're used to the layout.

 

We have not sailed on Dream class yet.

[Mutumbojimbo]

While we had a great time on the Breeze, my wife and I both felt that the size of the ship made service more challenging for the crew. We did not think that the crew were not as good, but they had to go farther and take care of more people. We went back to the Fantasy Class for our next 2 Carnival cruises, and the Norwegian Sky is about the same size too.

 

Our next cruise is on the Triumph, and I hope it goes well, as I'd like to cruise on some of the larger ships to check our their amenities.

[cruiserNC]

Am I alone in feeling that the smaller to midsize ships (i.e. spirit class) are better as far as less congestion? and I really PREFER these smaller ships.

 

 

 

Every time Carnival makes another larger ship I feel like....

 

 

 

1. Im sad because im afraid the smaller/midsize ships are going to disappear

 

2. im secretly happy because somewhere in the back of my mind (the imaginative part) im hoping that everyone will swarm to the larger ships and the cost for cruising on the small/midsize ships will drop.

 

 

 

Am I a freak of nature?

 

 

 

I don't discriminate small medium or large. I love to cruise.

 

I would suspect that Carnival will never build Fantasy class size ships ever again. However I suspect it will be a long time before they age out and sold. So enjoy!

[Tapi]

Am I alone in feeling that the smaller to midsize ships (i.e. spirit class) are better as far as less congestion? and I really PREFER these smaller ships.

 

 

They are definitely better to connect with the ocean and on sailings where the itinerary is the main focus, not the ship.

 

About the congestion topic: it's not the larger size of Carnival's newbuilds what's making them feel more congested, it's this cruise line's obsession with stuffing more people in them. Even Fantasy class ships have some of the worst space to passenger ratios in the industry.

 

Spirit ships are an exception to the rule simply because they were not conceived for Carnival (they were designed for Holland America to carry less passengers and travel farther distances).

 

While the trend is to make ships larger, that isn't necessarily translating into more crowded feeling ships on other cruise lines. Better space to passenger ratio, innovative ship design, better passenger flow, and even more efficient cruise terminals, all contribute to making these ships feel less crowded than ships that are a fraction of their size. For Carnival it's been a bit harder to accomplish this because their newer ships continue being an evolution of the Destiny class conceived more than 20 years ago.

Edited May 5, 2016 by Tapi

[hapytobehr]

Whatever happened to "size matters"? J/K............

 

I happen to love the Conquest class ships (as you can see in my signature). I have been on the Breeze and although it was a beautiful ship, I felt it was too big.

 

I have also been on the Fantasy ships and liked them as well.

 

I will go on the Vista for the experience as it looks absolutely awesome!

 

However, a cruise is a cruise and frankly, I will go on any ship, anytime.......

[Trumpster]

While we have never felt crowded on the Breeze or Magic and love the overall design of those ships. I get why some would long for the Spirit class. We've loved our cruises on that class of ship. Those ships just seem to flow well.

 

NCL's mega ships feel more busy, they have way to small rooms and venues, a lot of wasted venues, and just are more claustrphobic feeling. Pool decks are awful in layout. The Escape was suppose to fix these issues but it appears still suffers from some of the same. The Escape isn't an appreciably larger foot print but it added quite a bit more passengers.

 

MSC Divina had some pretty good size rooms but their deck layout made some passages feel tighter than they should have been. Also it bugged me that unless you did the Yacht Club there was no forward view deck or lounge at all. and no deck that circled the ship completely.

[Galatz]

Although the ship is definitely a part of the trip, to me its more about what you are doing. If its a smaller or larger ship, I really don't care. I want stuff to entertain me on days at sea, and I want ports that I want to go to, and I want it at a good price. Sure crowding can be a bit annoying, but it isnt a deciding factor to me. I want value for my money.

[BlazinSunsets]

Only been on 2 conquest ships and 1spirit class. And I only ever feel like there's a crowd on sea days when i'm looking for a chair at 11/noonish. But it was the same on all the boats. While I knew the spirit class had less people, the adult area was still packed to the brim and the ideal lounge chairs were still all taken/towel reserved. So as far as both those class of ships go I never really felt that much of a difference in how crowded they were.

 

Maybe more cruises and I would begin to notice the difference but I doubt it.

[HectorAchilleus]

I like the Fantasy Class, but they are VERY dated.

 

The Conquest class ships are not too bad, but it always seems like you are waiting in a line - esp. on the Lido deck, in buffet lines, while tendering and getting off in ports.

 

The worst ship is the Sunshine - never again!

 

The Spirit are our favorite. We will even pay a little more if need be. It is so sad that Tampa no longer has one and some of them have disappeared. Here is an idea for Carnival, send the Sunshine to Australia or China and bring one of the Spirit class ships back here.

[dacsmom]

It all depends on what I am looking for on a cruise. I like the smaller ships for quick relaxing getaways, and I like the larger ships for week long cram everything in adventures. Just being on any ship makes me happy.

[GOLDENBONNY]

Am I alone in feeling that the smaller to midsize ships (i.e. spirit class) are better as far as less congestion? and I really PREFER these smaller ships.

 

Every time Carnival makes another larger ship I feel like....

 

1. Im sad because im afraid the smaller/midsize ships are going to disappear

2. im secretly happy because somewhere in the back of my mind (the imaginative part) im hoping that everyone will swarm to the larger ships and the cost for cruising on the small/midsize ships will drop.

 

Am I a freak of nature?

For us 80-90 ton ship is best size .We are not in love with mega ships .

[crusinpsychRN]

I prefer Spirit class. No running into the dreaded galley.

[fair-winds39]

Am I alone in feeling that the smaller to midsize ships (i.e. spirit class) are better as far as less congestion? and I really PREFER these smaller ships.

 

Every time Carnival makes another larger ship I feel like....

 

1. Im sad because im afraid the smaller/midsize ships are going to disappear

2. im secretly happy because somewhere in the back of my mind (the imaginative part) im hoping that everyone will swarm to the larger ships and the cost for cruising on the small/midsize ships will drop.

 

Am I a freak of nature?

Nope, we're not fans of the "mega" ships. You can't possibly have the same service on a larger, 4,000+ passenger ship, as you would on say, one of the Carnival Spirit-class ships (my favorite Carnival ships). Today, at least on many of the mainstream cruise lines, it's a matter of supply and demand. It's more of catering to the entire family. The more bodies you can fit on the ship, the better. To meet the demands of the cruisers today, the ships include attractions like Rock-climbing walls, Ice Skating, Bowling, Bumping cars, etc., so the more venues, and money-making fun things that people are willing to pay for, the more the ships will continue to be built larger and larger in size. We like to sail on ships that look like ships, not like amusement parks or shopping malls.

 

The new ships are here to stay I'm afraid, and we're having a hard time picking future cruises. We know eventually we'll probably have to try a new "mega" ship, but I just hope they throw a few smaller ships in every so often. I miss the days where we could sail into smaller ports. I miss looking over our balcony onto Front Street while in Bermuda.

 

We're still holding on to the "old days" of cruising on smaller ships, and sadly those days are quickly diminishing. Going forward, if Mega ships are all we have to choose from, I guess we'll make the best of it.

[JohnSpo]

I prefer the Conquest Class ships but I still like the Fantasy Class ships. Next year I plan on cruising on Fascination out of San Juan for the itinerary. :cool:

[Je Souhaite]

Am I alone in feeling that the smaller to midsize ships (i.e. spirit class) are better as far as less congestion? and I really PREFER these smaller ships.

 

Every time Carnival makes another larger ship I feel like....

 

1. Im sad because im afraid the smaller/midsize ships are going to disappear

2. im secretly happy because somewhere in the back of my mind (the imaginative part) im hoping that everyone will swarm to the larger ships and the cost for cruising on the small/midsize ships will drop.

 

Am I a freak of nature?

 

I agree. When I sailed the Destiny, the Triumph and the Victory, I just thought big was bad, and then settled back to the Spirit class ships over and over. And just avoided BIG on all lines, till I tried the Voyager.

 

BOY WAS I WRONG.

 

It's Carnival that doesn't do big well. Turns out big to them is to CRAM THEM ON. SO when I need to go bigger than the Spirit ships, I just do it on another line.

[maldenmusic]

Fantasy class is my favorite.

[Kanyon71]

So am I reading that those that hate these mega ships have not tried them? I wonder if as the size of the ships were growing from the original carnival ships if people thought the same things. I know people all like different things but to me have an open mind, try it yourself and go in with an open mind. Then after all that if you still don't like it then at least you can say hey I don't like but I gave it a fair try.

 

Personally I can't wait to get on some of the new larger ships. Right now we are discussing an 8 Day on Magic or 8 Day on Vista next year. I love to see all the different ships and the different things they offer. Sadly I was never on the original ships as I didn't start my cruising until about 1995 but I have been on 10 cruises since and found things to love about every one of them.

[jocko4279]

I agree. To me the Spirit class is ultimate cruise ship, just large enough to have some nice amenities but not too big, and with a good passenger to space ration. I was on the Splendor 3 years back, and it just felt like too much, and that's not even really that big by today's standards. That being said would I not take a larger ship? Nah, I'd still go on one, if price , location, timing all that sort of that lined up.

[KPfromCT]

We sailed on the Breeze twice, and LOVED it.

Before that, the Pride, and while the size of the ship was fine, the décor was hideous. Actually, thinking about the Spirit class ships, they are all ugly.:D

 

We sailed on the Sensation WAY back in the early 90's, and she was newer at that time and seemed HUGE to us. I wouldn't do Fantasy class today, as they are just way too small and extremely dated.

 

This year, we are hopping over to Royal to try out Oasis.

 

The big girls are not for everyone, but we LOVE them!:D

 

Happy sailing everyone!

[trvlgirlmq]

I have only sailed Dream and Fantasy class ships. Much prefer the bigger ships with lots more to do! The single slide into the pool was not a hit with my kids. Give us Water Works any day. Also love Blue Iguana and Guys for more lunch choices. For our family we will only choose Dream and now Vista class ships in the future.

[JLee1973]

I can't speak for the larger ships as it won't be until next year when I do the Conquest, but I much prefer the Spirit Class over the Fantasy Class.