Are the larger ships more crowded?

[bryanem]

Hello, I have sailed on the smallest Empress , and the larger Independence. I am considering the mega large Oasis.

Has anyone sailed on both large and small ships to be able to judge if the larger ships are more crowded? 

Or, is the Oasis’s square footage proportionately larger to handle the much larger number of passengers ? 

My experience was Independence didn't feel more crowded vs. Empress.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated !  

[BNBR]

Oasis class is probably the least crowded ship you will sail on.  Go for it. 

[The Fun Researcher]

 I beg to differ. The ship that felt the most crowded of all that we’ve sailed on was the Oasis.   We have primarily sailed voyager and freedom class and one celebrity solstice class.

 

 I haven’t run the numbers of the public space versus number of passengers but it just felt like there were people around all day, everywhere, all hours of the night. Perhaps it was just our cruise but yeah it was one thing that I noted. Hard to find nearly as many quiet spots to yourself.   It did not ruin our cruise but crowds and a few other negatives have steered us away from the oasis class.  We  would sail oasis class again but only if there were no other good alternatives

 

OP  there is really only one way to find out for yourself. Many absolutely love the oasis class. We still had a fun cruise on that ship. We just prefer other ships

 

Dan

Edited September 19, 2019 by The Fun Researcher

[Illbcruzn4life]

I have sailed on Oasis class 3 times with a 4th coming up and have to agree with BNBR.

 

I often wonder with a ship that holds 6000 pax where everybody is.

 

 

[DHADEN]

9 minutes ago, bryanem said:

Hello, I have sailed on the smallest Empress , and the larger Independence. I am considering the mega large Oasis.

Has anyone sailed on both large and small ships to be able to judge if the larger ships are more crowded? 

Or, is the Oasis’s square footage proportionately larger to handle the much larger number of passengers ? 

My experience was Independence didn't feel more crowded vs. Empress.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated !  

 

8 minutes ago, BNBR said:

Oasis class is probably the least crowded ship you will sail on.  Go for it. 

THIS IS TOTALLY WRONG!!!

We had a Great Cruise on the Oasis - the ship was AMAZING and the entertainment was much much greater than on the smaller ships...............

BUT............

That ship was CROWDED EVERYWHERE!.  At lunch, the staff were standing at the doors of the Windjammer (where the LINE was out the door and all the way down the stairs) telling everyone to go elsewhere because "It Is Too Crowded".  We went down to the Central Park Cafe, and the line was 20+ deep.  Everywhere to eat for lunch was at least 15 to 20 minutes of standing in line.

All the shows/venues - even if you have a reservation, if you don't get there at least a 1/2 hour early, you won't be able to get two seats together.

We loved the band playing in Dazzles every night.  If it was in the compass that they would start at 8:00 - you better get there at least by 7:15 or you won't be able to get a table.

THE SHIP IS CROWDED - lot's more than any other class of ship.

[cruisegirl1976]

I have sailed on the Empress and also the Oasis and never felt crowded on the Oasis and there weren't really any lines..

[BNBR]

2 minutes ago, DHADEN said:

 

THIS IS TOTALLY WRONG!!!

We had a Great Cruise on the Oasis - the ship was AMAZING and the entertainment was much much greater than on the smaller ships...............

BUT............

That ship was CROWDED EVERYWHERE!.  At lunch, the staff were standing at the doors of the Windjammer (where the LINE was out the door and all the way down the stairs) telling everyone to go elsewhere because "It Is Too Crowded".  We went down to the Central Park Cafe, and the line was 20+ deep.  Everywhere to eat for lunch was at least 15 to 20 minutes of standing in line.

All the shows/venues - even if you have a reservation, if you don't get there at least a 1/2 hour early, you won't be able to get two seats together.

We loved the band playing in Dazzles every night.  If it was in the compass that they would start at 8:00 - you better get there at least by 7:15 or you won't be able to get a table.

THE SHIP IS CROWDED - lot's more than any other class of ship.

 

How do you really feel?  You are entitled to your opinion, I guess. 

 

I have sailed all 4 Oasis class and they are not crowded. They spread the crowds out nicely. And this will be the opinion of a majority of posters here...  I haven't experienced anything like you describe other than Windjammer during rush hour. Which is easy to avoid by going to numerous other venues.  And buffets are busy on every ship... At least Oasis does a good job managing a crowded buffet. 

 

You are an outlier. 

[kruzerci]

Honestly Oasis class has always seemed the least crowded to us. There are three exceptions to that- the Windjammer (avoid at all costs on Oasis class), public spaces on boarding day, and after muster. 

 

We have been on several Oasis cruises that left us wondering where everybody was...

[cruisegirl1976]

8 minutes ago, DHADEN said:

 

THIS IS TOTALLY WRONG!!!

We had a Great Cruise on the Oasis - the ship was AMAZING and the entertainment was much much greater than on the smaller ships...............

BUT............

That ship was CROWDED EVERYWHERE!.  At lunch, the staff were standing at the doors of the Windjammer (where the LINE was out the door and all the way down the stairs) telling everyone to go elsewhere because "It Is Too Crowded".  We went down to the Central Park Cafe, and the line was 20+ deep.  Everywhere to eat for lunch was at least 15 to 20 minutes of standing in line.

All the shows/venues - even if you have a reservation, if you don't get there at least a 1/2 hour early, you won't be able to get two seats together.

We loved the band playing in Dazzles every night.  If it was in the compass that they would start at 8:00 - you better get there at least by 7:15 or you won't be able to get a table.

THE SHIP IS CROWDED - lot's more than any other class of ship.

Once again,.. you are entitled to your opinion,.. but I loved sailing on the Oasis.. and never had an issue getting food at any place. never had to wait in line.. and never felt the ship was crowded at all.  I feel the smaller ships seem to be more crowded but that would never stop me from sailing on them either. It's all what you make out of your vacation.. 

[akcruz]

If you are trying to get an elevator right after a show, go to the buffet at high noon, want to be one of the first off at a port you will find yourself in the midst of the crowds.  However if you can zig when everyone else is zagging you will wonder where everyone else is.  Yes there are a lot of people onboard and certain events will draw crowds so you can't always avoid them, but for the most part you can for the majority of the time.  One of the things we liked were the boards showing you how full certain eating venues were, useful unless you had your heart set on one spot and that one was full.  With so many things to do there are a lot of places to get away from the masses.

 

As someone else said the only way you can know is to experience it yourself and make your own decision which is what I would recommend.

Edited September 19, 2019 by akcruz

[BNBR]

15 minutes ago, The Fun Researcher said:

 I beg to differ. The ship that felt the most crowded of all that we’ve sailed on was the Oasis.   We have primarily sailed voyager and freedom class and one celebrity solstice class.

 

 I haven’t run the numbers of the public space versus number of passengers but it just felt like there were people around all day, everywhere, all hours of the night. Perhaps it was just our cruise but yeah it was one thing that I noted. Hard to find nearly as many quiet spots to yourself.   It did not ruin our cruise but crowds and a few other negatives have steered us away from the oasis class.  We  would sail oasis class again but only if there were no other good alternatives

 

OP  there is really only one way to find out for yourself. Many absolutely love the oasis class. We still had a fun cruise on that ship. We just prefer other ships

 

Dan

 

All ships get a little crowded. Even Reflection (solstice class) had moments where it was obnoxiously crowded.  Notably upper decks on sea days. Couldn't find chairs anywhere. It was a disaster. 4 deep at the pool bar, too.  Oasis is so much bigger that we just don't run in to that type of crowding. 

[SuiteLady]

Sailed on Harmony and will be sailing on Oasis next May....I was reluctant to go on a Mega ship, however I was pleasantly surprised!  I felt the crowd more on the Anthem, than I ever did on Harmony!!  I actually missed the larger ship feel while on the Anthem, even though I enjoyed the Anthem .....if given a choice, I would opt for an Oasis class.  In my eyes, as long as I am on a cruise ship, it is a fantastic day!!

[Drock20J]

As mentioned before, the only time I feel crowded on an Oasis class is after the Muster Drill. I much prefer the larger ships, though the smallest ship I have been on is Enchantment of the Seas.

[dodgestang]

I've sailed on Anthem.....not quite an Oasis...but still pretty big....the only time it ever felt crowd was right after a show and you all had to walk from the theater to somewhere else at the same time.  Other than that.....sea days by the outdoor pool looked messy....but we always swam in the inside pool to keep from getting a sun burn and it was almost empty.

[CruisingJoe09]

Oasis Class are not at all crowded, done several sailings on Harmony and also done a trip each on the other 3.

 

Anthem was the worst for crowds, hands down.

Edited September 19, 2019 by CruisingJoe09

[kruzerci]

3 minutes ago, CruisingJoe09 said:

Oasis Class are not at all crowded, done several sailings on Harmony and also done a trip each on the other 3.

 

Anthem was the worst for crowds, hands down.

 

Oasis isn't my favorite class because of the lack of sea views, but I love the fact that it seems like after a couple days, everybody has found "their" neighborhood. There are the groups that stay inside all day in lounges, the groups who read in central park, the sun lounging crowd up top (us), the solarium crowd, etc. It really ends up splitting up the crowds nicely IMO. 

[MandyMooToo]

46 minutes ago, kruzerci said:

Honestly Oasis class has always seemed the least crowded to us. There are three exceptions to that- the Windjammer (avoid at all costs on Oasis class), public spaces on boarding day, and after muster. 

 

We have been on several Oasis cruises that left us wondering where everybody was...

 

This is almost exactly what I was going to say so I just quoted it!  We have sailed on both small and large and though we love both, Oasis class is probably our favorite due to the entertainment offered and the spaces.  There is always somewhere you can disappear to and read, nap or just people watch.

[ryano]

I havent sailed on an Oasis class ship.  Ive tried twice and it just doesnt seem to be meant for me. The most crowded Ive ever felt on any cruise ship is a Dream class ship on Carnival.  More specifically a very full Carnival Magic.   I can only imagine Mardi Gras will be worse 

[taglovestocruise]

Two years ago we did the 15 night Independence TA, last year we did the 14 night Symphony TA.  Hands down no comparison Symphony was far less crowded.  Have done 5 Oasis Class sailings and I have to agree with CRUZERCI, sometimes you wonder where is  everybody.  Be flexible and change your breakfast or lunch times by a hour and the lines disappear. happy cruising

[mjldvlks]

The only 2 Royal ships on which I have felt uncomfortably crowded are Explorer   and Symphony [TA]. Before those two cruises I had always been impressed with Royal's ships design and ability to handle crowds. I will add that a lot of the crowd issues on Symphony might have been staff screw ups.

Edited September 19, 2019 by mjldvlks

[Artemus]

I’ve sailed oasis Allure anthem and Harmony and a few smaller ships. The worst crowded experiences I’ve ever had were the three times in The Windjammer on Harmony. Once for lunch the first day and twice for breakfast. It was chaos and mayhem trying to find a table. The only reason we ate breakfast in The Windjammer was because the time was all screwed up in ports and our smart devices were on local time and The Windjammer was on ship time and we got up too late to make the dining room‼️

[Oceansaway17]

1 hour ago, BNBR said:

Oasis class is probably the least crowded ship you will sail on.  Go for it. 

 

 

I agree after first day it was delightful and food venues spread out. 4 pools and can even walkup to see shows without reservations.

 

I have done Anthem and Ovation and both felt crowded as those ships are narrow

 

[2ManyCruises]

It’s all relative. A small ship filled to capacity can feel just as crowded as a mega one filled to capacity. 

 

We’ve sailed older small ships on NCL, Carnival and Royal. After a show or muster or in the buffet during peak hours it was pretty tight. 

 

We we enjoy the Mega’s now with all the 🛎 and whistles.  They don’t seem crowded  at all except for what’s mentioned above.

Edited September 19, 2019 by 2ManyCruises

[grandgeezer]

We have sailed on Oasis class ships nine times and to say it's never crowded is insane.

What about after the life boat drills?

What about the Windjammer between the hours of say 12:30 until 2pm?

What about right after a parade?

Ever try to get an elevator right after the shows?

These are just a few instances that popped into my head, and it's been over a year since we've been on one. There's probably more.

After saying that, the Oasis class ships are the only ones we'll use on RCL. The pluses outweigh the minuses.

[ONECRUISER]

Been while since seen the list of Public Square Feet per passenger. Older ships in 70-80's had 20-25sq ft, Vison/Radiance in 30's, Voyager class was in 40's. Was a big selling point 20yrs ago. Still doesnt take account Full ship around Holidays, Pool Deck that is always crowded on Sea Day, added cabins or even set up and flow of traffic. I sail 95% time on longer 10+ nites and Repo's where there is no kids or 3/4 passenger let alone many second. Even then Pool Deck on Sea Day gets Full and Shows fill up 30min before start because we are an older Crowd. Shoot even my Repo's during Life Boat Drill everyone is there and counted before the Alarm's sounded... All that said my Kids go on Oasis Class all the time, said never feels as crowded or about same as other Class's

Edited September 19, 2019 by ONECRUISER