Bermuda yeahhh, mega ship.....hmmmmmm?

[kcdancerkc]

I just watched another Escape YouTube, and have read several lengthy reviews. I told hubby I was never interested in a mega ship, until I found a good price on going to Bermuda.

 

I am not a planner, more spontaneous, and in past cruises and all inclusives, I usually plan a handful of things to do, places to eat, etc.

 

How the heck do I balance making a spreadsheet versus exploring the ship and relaxing as usual? This is a first for us for

Mega ship

NYC

Bermuda

 

I am exhausted just thinking about this :eek:

 

thankfully we are going to be parked in Bermuda for 2.5 days, so I guess there will be extra ship time to explore.

 

 

Anyone chime in as to if you have become a hard core mega ship lover, or did you go back to a smaller ship where less can be more?

 

We book mostly by Itinerary except for this coming NYE,

 

Will not usually want the same ship over and over unless we move to a port city:cool:

 

I am sure that I will not go back to the NCL Sky, food terrible, nor The Carnival Sensation, too old of a ship,

 

I am just wondering how to squeeze it all in?

 

Going to try and race to Vibe passes, to soften the giant crowd feeling. We have a balcony, I know a few venues and bars I / we....do not want to attend as we love to eat, dance and nap in between lol

 

I am afraid spreadsheet hubby

will be prone to bring a ream of notes , and even if I "lose the list".... it will be on the damn cloud, just waiting for him to get lost in!

 

I haven't counted pax on past and future cruises,

(one isnt even listed yet as just booked mid sized ship)

 

Just very grateful to work to be able to travel , but I am betting the mid size is where I will be happiest.

 

How about you, and why?

 

Thanks :D

[mcmomny]

Hi

 

We did The Breakaway to Bermuda and our cruises are typically for the destination and not the ship. Have done two small and two mega ships and I think I like the mega better

 

I was more concerned about too much time on the ship and not enough off of the ship but we had a nice mix of time.

 

I would not rush to get Vibe tickets, NCL has a free adult only area which we use all the time and there have never been any problems with crowds

 

We did the behind the scene tour, well worth it to us. Explored daily and relaxed alot, had one day of rain so that is the day we just explored all of the nooks and crannies!

 

I too over plan and worry about missing something but we really enjoyed this cruise, the ship and destination!

[shof515]

mega ships seems to be future of cruising on mass market cruise lines. you might have to used to it

 

 

having said that, i have been on mega ships before and they all have their good and bad

[BostonGal35]

we prefer the smaller ships. that said, we prefer the bermuda run from NYC vs Boston as you are in port a bit longer and on weekdays enabling you to do more (st. george is pretty much closed/dead on sundays) and be in town for the Wednesday night Harbor Nights festival in Hamilton.

[Moby0215]

If you don’t plan on the smaller ships then there is no need to plan on the bigger ships. Just do your usual. Just because the ship is bigger doesn’t mean you need to adjust your mindset. Relax, have fun, and spontaneous. It will work itself out!

 

 

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[LrgPizza]

We prefer the mega ships because there are more choices of things to do. We like music in the evenings, and we could generally find 4 or 5 places with music (mostly live) each evening. Smaller ships might have 1 or 2, and if you don't like what's playing, you're out of luck. Larger ships have something for everyone.

[BostonGal35]

If you don’t plan on the smaller ships then there is no need to plan on the bigger ships. Just do your usual. Just because the ship is bigger doesn’t mean you need to adjust your mindset. Relax, have fun, and spontaneous. It will work itself out!

 

 

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i disagree with this. on the big ships, if you dont book shows ahead, you may not get in or be waiting in a very long standby line. depending on the time of year/itinerary, they can get crowded and ive read on these threads where people have not been able to see shows they want to eat at specialties tehy want. planning those things ahead will make for a much better experience overall, IMO.

[newmexicoNita]

mega versus mid sized ships: as we get older we prefer the smaller ships. They are more friendly we think, and still plenty of choices. We do make reservations for dining prior to sailing regardless of the size of ship. Otherwise we just plan everything by ear. Oh, I take that back, we also plan a few tours prior to sailing. To me, too much planning takes away from the fun of "free style"

Now, as for the Breakaway, we liked her better than the Epic but big, to us, is not always better. I will say she is a beautiful ship and there is plenty to do.

[donsuej]

Love the Escape. Just got off of her last Saturday. Have been on her 3 times. I don't mind planning my dinner/ shows. You can do it at 90 days out. Bermuda is fantastic. I much prefer the larger ships over the smaller ones. More choices!

[DKane]

We sailed the Breakaway in July and are going again in December. I had my doubts about this ship because of the size but they were unfounded. The cruise experience was great - no different that the medium-sized ships we are used to. The only time we felt crowded was during muster (but that's how it felt on every ship we've been on. The best part is you don't have to stand outside during the drill. You can sit down in one of the restaurants/lounges.

 

I don't really consider the Breakaway a mega ship though, a large ship perhaps. Royal Caribbean has the mega ships.

 

I feel the secret to avoid crowds and lines is to not hit the buffet at 9:00/9:30 when most folks are there. If we go at 8:00/8:30 it's fine.

 

The pool area on this ship is very, very crowded. We preferred H20 in the back of the ship. This upcoming trip we are considering buying Vibe passes but since we'll be sailing in December we'll lose out on two days.

[PelicanBill]

I find the Breakaway to be very tolerable - it does not feel crowded most of the time. Yes, you must book specialty dining and some shows ahead, but there was standby seating available for all shows my last 2 times on Breakaway.

 

The pool area, as mentioned, is the worst feature of this ship. Otherwise I find the many food and entertainment options to be very nice!

[AndyCapn]

I liked the Breakaway for Bermuda more than I did for our Florida/Bahamas cruise (both out of NYC), since the getting on and off the ship was the most annoying part ... not so much of a problem when we were docked for two and a half days. The only time we noticed it was a 4000 passenger ship is when it rained and you realize that every indoor activity takes places on decks 6, 7 or 8. It gets packed.

 

We did Vibe for both trips and it's easily our favourite feature on the megaship, never having to search for an available deck chair and (almost) always having a spot in the hot tub.

[Sotermarler]

I am also not a planner and I like the big ships better. I never booked a show, I just went to the venue 20 mins early and waited in the stand-by line and got in every time. Mind you, the better seats were already taken, but that didn't bother me.

Also, as others have said there are more options for music and things to do. On the Jade we were somewhat bored at night as the music was catered to an older crowd.

 

 

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[Two Wheels Only]

Today's "smaller" ships are larger than Titanic. People can have a great cruise no matter what size of the ship barring a Titanic/Concordia/Triumph type of situation.

 

If you don't want to plan, just arrive early and wait. I'd rather plan than wait but some are the opposite (as long as there is a bar nearby).

 

Crowds can be avoided even on Escape.

 

A cruise is what you make it. Freestyle and enjoy.(y)

[kcdancerkc]

I like these opinions and different thoughts! We dont go to shows except occasionally comedy, and I think he booked dining package.

 

Our most enjoyment ship wise is usually hot tubs , balcony and short early dinners

Followed by, nap and DJ dancing till late,

 

On the Caribbean Princess the disco was last call at 1ish. :eek::eek::eek:

 

 

HAL kept us going till wee hours :D

I think the young dj had bern so bored closing early and kept the beat going ......10 years ago in our 40s :D

[Moby0215]

i disagree with this. on the big ships, if you dont book shows ahead, you may not get in or be waiting in a very long standby line. depending on the time of year/itinerary, they can get crowded and ive read on these threads where people have not been able to see shows they want to eat at specialties tehy want. planning those things ahead will make for a much better experience overall, IMO.

 

 

 

This is true but making a dining or show reservation vs planning a spreadsheet of your entire trip are two different things.

 

 

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[thatjoeguy]

We started on some of the smaller ships (Jewel, Sun) before upgrading to the mega ships, and I don't think we're going back. We're fans of the Broadway type shows and the dueling pianos, and I think (as others have said) the bigger ships give a wider variety of stuff to do at any given time. We've had Vibe passes on a few of our mega ship experiences, but it hasn't ruined our trips when we haven't. (We didn't arrive in time to get them on our last Escape cruise, but the Escape was our favorite ship - go figure. We were usually able to find a bunch of seats together, as we didn't sit by the pool.) Having done both the Escape and Bermuda, we're excited to combine them this spring!