DOES SIZE MATTER TO YOU?

[geocruiser]

Ship size.

 

First, let me start off by saying any ship of any size can have PAX and crew with health problems.  But I think that I would rather sail on a smaller ship .  I my mind it is easier to get PAX off a smaller ship then a mega ship.    Of course, the numbers of people needing help on either size ship is also a factor.

So, in the future, would you be looking for a smaller or larger HAL ship to cruise on?

[Aquahound]

Nothing will change for me.  I like small ships and I like the most mega of mega ships.  This pandemic will make me more aware of common prevention, like touching railings, etc, but my ship preferences won't change a bit. 

[KirkNC]

We have always favored small ships.  Much better cruise experience for us.  I have also always worried what will happen on one of these mega ships when a disaster strikes.  The current virus has given a glimpse at some of the problems.

[ger_77]

We've sailed on HAL's smallest and largest ships, and although the Nieuw Statendam was a lovely ship, we prefer the smaller ones.  Of course nothing could compare to the intimate atmosphere on the Prinsendam, but ships like the Zuiderdam, Eurodam, Rotterdam, etc., are our in our future.

 

Smooth Sailing!  🙂🙂🙂

[SilvertoGold]

There is lot of sense in having fewer pax and crew.  Not just in respect to health problems , but fire and other emergencies.  Getting 4000- 5000 pax plus crew off a ship is a mind-boggling idea. On HAL ships we often marvel at the near-total lack of seriousness and understanding of the point of the Muster Drlll.  Smaller has always sounded better, and shorter itineraries may soon be predominant, too.

 

 

[Mary229]

I am starting to think 1500 is too many.   

[3rdGenCunarder]

1 hour ago, SilvertoGold said:

There is lot of sense in having fewer pax and crew.  Not just in respect to health problems , but fire and other emergencies.  Getting 4000- 5000 pax plus crew off a ship is a mind-boggling idea. On HAL ships we often marvel at the near-total lack of seriousness and understanding of the point of the Muster Drlll.  Smaller has always sounded better, and shorter itineraries may soon be predominant, too.

 

 

 

I was shocked at how chaotic drill was on Zuiderdam in February. They ask people to not have drinks or cell phones. I saw only a few drinks but plenty of people texting. It was hard to hear any announcements because of the chatter. And the person with the scanner didn't get everyone. People held up their cards and he stuck the scanner into the crowd. It was impossible to be sure if you were scanned. 

 

No megas for me. Your comment about getting 4000-5000 pax off a ship has always worried me. It's too many people. And the newer megas seem to have an awful lot of cabins for the size of the ship. People say, "yeah, it's a small cabin, but I got a great price." The more you crowd people together, the more diseases can spread--colds,  the "cruise cough, noro, and now corona. 

[rkacruiser]

Relating to health issues, the size of the ship and the number of guests and crew are irrelevant to me.  I survived 35 years of working with early adolescents and all of the germs they brought into my classroom.  

 

As to survival from an accident that required a lifeboat evacuation from a ship with 5000 guests and crew, that's a different question.  Particularly when that evacuation needs to be done in an orderly manner within 30 minutes, I think the regulation is.  Sailing on MSC Meraviglia in January, my Muster Station was in the huge Theater Showroom.  The room was packed.  It was just one of other Muster Stations.  The Muster Drill was as perfunctory as I have ever attended.  (People were quiet when the PA came on.  But, details, such as we get during a HAL drill, were lacking.)  I thought to myself, how in the world are they going to get all of these people out of this holding pen and into a lifeboat without chaos ensuing.  Particularly for a new cruiser.   

 

I know that drills are done to insure such an evacuation happens within the time frame it should.  I assume our USCG witness such and approve the results.  Wasn't it an official Office of the British government that approved the number of lifeboats on RMS Titanic?      

[AncientWanderer]

I think that it would inspire a lot of confidence to book if the cruise lines would state clearly that they will not fill the big ships to capacity.  Big ships with fewer passengers could be a healthy environment.

[iancal]

The design of the ship is just important to us.  We have been on some poorly designed smaller ships that seemed crowded and had lines for this and that. Things like elevators dispensing people right in front of the MDR, etc.  

 

We have been on some 2700  guest ships, like Solstice class, that never seemed as crowded.  Open plan, well designed common spaces with good access.

 

We have not been on the really big cruise ships.  Bottom line for us is that ship design and layout is as important as size on the ships that we have sailed on to date.

Edited April 7, 2020 by iancal

[JimnKaren]

I like it that I can walk from one end of the ship to the other without having to sit and catch my breath. The smaller HAL ships are good. We have cruised on the 3000+ passenger ships and find them lacking in personality.

 

Things seem to be rushed a bit on the larger ships and we like chatting with favorite crew members (one of the big reasons to continue to cruise HAL is the crew and their attitude). Now this is us. We know of folks who would only cruise those big things, mostly for all the diversions that can be offered (no matter the cruise line).

 

Jim

[DFD1]

I doubt Australia would have had the infection rate they have if the ships sailing those waters had been smaller.

We avoid the larger ships for lots of reasons, sickness on board and multiple infections being at the top of the list.

Edited April 8, 2020 by DFD1

[atexsix]

2 hours ago, ger_77 said:

We've sailed on HAL's smallest and largest ships, and although the Nieuw Statendam was a lovely ship, we prefer the smaller ones.  Of course nothing could compare to the intimate atmosphere on the Prinsendam, but ships like the Zuiderdam, Eurodam, Rotterdam, etc., are our in our future.

 

Smooth Sailing!  🙂🙂🙂

 

This X 100.

 

And we're planning on booking our next few trips on the smaller ships, before HAL removes them from the fleet.  Although we're fine with the Eurodam, our favorite ship.

 

Maybe current events will make them rethink the wisdom of moving to a fleet of all large to mega ships.

 

[shank63]

1 hour ago, Mary229 said:

I am starting to think 1500 is too many.   

Agree, We did a 7 day cruise on the Nieuw Amsterdam which was OK but a little large so that limits my choices to Rotterdam on HAL, or Oceania, or Viking.

[3rdGenCunarder]

1 hour ago, rkacruiser said:

Relating to health issues, the size of the ship and the number of guests and crew are irrelevant to me.  I survived 35 years of working with early adolescents and all of the germs they brought into my classroom.  

 

As to survival from an accident that required a lifeboat evacuation from a ship with 5000 guests and crew, that's a different question.  Particularly when that evacuation needs to be done in an orderly manner within 30 minutes, I think the regulation is.  Sailing on MSC Meraviglia in January, my Muster Station was in the huge Theater Showroom.  The room was packed.  It was just one of other Muster Stations.  The Muster Drill was as perfunctory as I have ever attended.  (People were quiet when the PA came on.  But, details, such as we get during a HAL drill, were lacking.)  I thought to myself, how in the world are they going to get all of these people out of this holding pen and into a lifeboat without chaos ensuing.  Particularly for a new cruiser.   

 

I know that drills are done to insure such an evacuation happens within the time frame it should.  I assume our USCG witness such and approve the results.  Wasn't it an official Office of the British government that approved the number of lifeboats on RMS Titanic?      

 

Actually, Titanic had the legally required number of boats. I believe conventional wisdom at the time was that they would carry passengers to a rescue ship, not be survival craft. 

[rkacruiser]

5 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

Actually, Titanic had the legally required number of boats. I believe conventional wisdom at the time was that they would carry passengers to a rescue ship, not be survival craft. 

 

She sailed with the required number of lifeboats, yes.  To me, maybe it's a 21st Century definition, the term "lifeboat" means that I have an opportunity to survive when I board the lifeboat.  

 

When Prinsendam I had to evacuate her guests and crew, there were no rescue ships or aircraft visible.  They were in "lifeboats" which, thank the good Lord, proved to be their survival craft until they were rescued. 

 

Surely may be wrong in what I am thinking.  But, I think most cruise guests are of the belief when they attend Muster during a critical emergency and finally have to enter their designated lifeboat that this lifeboat should be expected to be their "survival boat" from the tragedy that they have just experienced.    

[cruisemom42]

I prefer small ships but not due to any fear of contagion spreading (easily will happen on large and small ships) or fear of evacuation. 

 

I simply like the small ship experience better. Smaller than any current HAL ships. But I also like good itineraries, which is why HAL is one of the lines I enjoy.

 

[3rdGenCunarder]

31 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

 

She sailed with the required number of lifeboats, yes.  To me, maybe it's a 21st Century definition, the term "lifeboat" means that I have an opportunity to survive when I board the lifeboat.  

 

When Prinsendam I had to evacuate her guests and crew, there were no rescue ships or aircraft visible.  They were in "lifeboats" which, thank the good Lord, proved to be their survival craft until they were rescued. 

 

Surely may be wrong in what I am thinking.  But, I think most cruise guests are of the belief when they attend Muster during a critical emergency and finally have to enter their designated lifeboat that this lifeboat should be expected to be their "survival boat" from the tragedy that they have just experienced.    

 

Yes, of course that's the expectation.

 

But 100 years ago, there were many more vessels in the shipping lanes, so the idea that the boats were to shuttle passengers to another vessel wasn't as careless as it sounds now.

 

When the captain did his Q&A on Zuiderdam, he was asked about lifeboats. The captain assured us that there's room for all passengers plus required crew in the lifeboats. And there are the rafts in the cans for crew. Then he turned to the CD and said, "You go on a raft." And everyone laughed at that.

 

[iancal]

Decor also matters to us.  We do not like the dark wood and brass decor.  Much prefer a light, open decor with lots of glass.

[Krazy Kruizers]

There was a time when we loved the smaller ships.  But as time passed, and it took us a while, we tried the Vista class ships and loved them.  We also tried the Signature class ships and loved them.  Anything larger than them -- we are not interested in them -- too many passengers.

[VMax1700]

We have only sailed Pinnacle class, Signature and Vista class plus Rotterdam.  We much prefer the entertainment on the larger ships, but looking to the future, would probably only consider Pinnacle class because  the Muster Drill is held inside and we are not outside in the sun, perspiring on top of the next person and feeling their breath down my neck.😷

[ski ww]

We prefer the smaller ships, mainly because of the crowds.

[kazu]

My favourite ship was the smallest in the fleet at the time (Prinsendam) and generally speaking we have preferred the smaller ones (S & R & Vista class) on HAL and other lines.  Simply a preference and nothing to do with covid 19

[Heartgrove]

My criteria after our sailing on the Nieuw Statendam in October 2019 is the number of ports requiring tendering. We really enjoyed sailing for 20 days aboard her. But it seems the increase in number of passengers over the Signature-class is a tipping point. Very long waits to disembark and embark. One port we waited in line for over an hour to get back on board.

[fox02554]

our last cruise was on a 6000 ppl ship, I was in tears most of the 11 days aboard , I am a VERY active , Right Below Knee ( yes I did the rock wall , and humiliated my self on the wave thingy )  , the ship was not truly handicap , wheel chair accessible ? I guess , but for me the lumps , bumps ,thresholds , slick wet floors , was treacherous . and security for 6000 people boarding and disembarking is VERY impersonal , I went through a full search and pat down at every port , 3 times in one day with the same security staff . I said I would NEVER cruise !!!!!!! but we love cruising so I'm hoping HAL is our answer ❤️  we're on the zuilderdam april 2021 , she will be our first small ship ( I know she's one of HAL biggest ) don't get me wrong I get the security issue, but I'm hoping that with a smaller ship to maybe get a " welcome back Mrs.Fox 😄 how was lunch " instead of " step to the side & wait for female personal 🥵, remove your coverup 😡, remove your flip flops ETC ......