Small Ship vs. Large Ship

[LovesToTravel523]

We went on our first cruise vacation this past January - Mariner of the Seas - Eastern Caribbean. We loved everything about the trip! We are hooked, and can't wait to cruise again!

 

As I look at options for our next cruise, I wonder if we will be disappointed with a smaller ship after being on the Mariner?

 

I am looking at the Legend of the Seas out of Tampa for a Western Caribbean trip. I know the Mariner goes to Western Caribbean also, but the Legend itinerary sounds more interesting.

 

Opinions?

[rollie]

When checking out the smaller ships from RCCL, also check the age. Some of their ships are pretty old and may not have all the bells and whistles. Radiance class are newer ships.

 

Rollie

[Retired not Expired]

I prefer the small ship. I feel more like a cruiser than a head of cattle.

 

After 20 years in the military, I don't do good in lines either. Not as many and smaller lines on the smaller ships.

 

I also don't need the bells and whistles. Clean ship with good service and a good itinerary.

[chorder]

That is kind of funny, DW and I have sailed the Grandeur and the Radiance loved them both. Now we are booked on the Voyager in April and we are wondering if we will be disappointed with the larger ship. I'm sure you would love the Radiance (though the Grandeur is showing her age a little) you will also love this ship, if you choose to sail her, Grandeur was our 1st cruise in 99.

[lv2bcruzin]

My view on the size of the ships is this. Size DOES Matter! My wife says the same thing. :p LOL :D We like the larger ships, not necessarily because of them just being bigger, but because the larger ones are the newer ones, more amenities more activities. That doesn't mean we don't enjoy the smaller ships, we had a blast on the Grandeur. We are going on the Serenade in November and at 90,000 tons that's where I draw the line, 90 is large, under that is small.

 

Funny, the Grandeur was the first ship I ever went on and I thought it was massive. In 20 years 200,000 tons may be small. :p

[capnlars]

We've been on Mariner, Monarch, and Vision. The Monarch is just over half the tonnage of the Mariner, and the Vision is only slightly more than the Monarch.

 

We've totally enjoyed all of them. Each ship has a unique "personality" - we didn't really find ourselves comparing and contrasting a lot. Did not feel like we were missing out on anything being on Monarch or Vision after Mariner.

 

We've booked Empress for March '07, which is half the size of Monarch. We booked this because of the unique ports (St Kitts, St Lucia, Aruba, etc) - and are really looking forward to it. We think it'll be more laid back than our other trips.

[cb at sea]

I think if you love cruising, you can't go wrong on any ship! Each seems to be an individual in it's own right. I really enjoy the Voyager class ships, but I'm not into the "activities" as such (don't play basketball or climb rock walls or iceskate") so those amenities are sort of wasted on me! Give me a nice cabin, good food and good company and I'm ready to go!

[RevSmith]

When checking out the smaller ships from RCCL, also check the age. Some of their ships are pretty old and may not have all the bells and whistles. Radiance class are newer ships.

 

Rollie

I think the Radiance ships are wonderful, I have been on the Voyager ships and actually prefer the Radiance class...there is something elegent about this class of ship...many who sail this class, say the same.

[grangermom]

Our first RCI cruise was on the Navigator. I can't say enough about this ship. This past December, I sailed on the Sovereign. I don't mind that it is smaller. However, I think you feel more crowded. The Navigator was so huge, with so many different bars/lounges/activites, that we never really felt how crowded it was. The Sovereign felt much more crowded, especially when waiting for elevators, and when out by the pool. Just my two cents :)

[LovesToTravel523]

Thanks for your thoughts. I was looking at the Legend of the Seas, which I believe is a Vision class, and a bit older. I may re-think, and look at the Radiance class ships. We sailed out of Port Canaveral on the Mariner. It was esy to get to, and we got bargain flights to Orlando. Is Miami as easy to manage?

[SLH]

I got off the Legend last week and loved it.The service,food and entertainment was great and had plenty of activities to keep us busy.Embarkation in Tampa was easy. I'm thinking about a Radiance class ship for next year but worry if they are too big.

[dougp26364]

The first ship we ever sailed was Legend and we were hooked.

 

Having said that, I really prefer the larger Radiance or Voyager class ships but, I'll go with the itenerary that best fits our needs. As an example, this Sept. we're returning to Alaska for a third time. There are two radiance class ships and one vision class ship that sails this route. We choose the Vision of the Sea's (vision class) over the two radiance class ships because it sails a slightly different route (which has since been changed since we booked :( ) and sails out of Seattle rather than Vancouver.

 

We've been there, done that with Vancouver and my wife really wanted to spend time in Seattle. We had sailed Hubbard Glacier twice and wanted to see Tracy Arm, which has since been dropped from the itenerary. We had been to Ketchikan twice and Sitka once so Icy Straight Point sounded interesting.

 

In other words, the itenerary won out over the ship. IMO, that's the way it should be. At least initially until you've seen the ports you're most interested in seeing.

[LovesToTravel523]

The importance of the itinerary was my first on my mind. Thanks for confirming my intuition. We are such new cruise/Caribbean travelers, that I want to try different things.

 

Even though the Mariner had some fabulous bells and whistles, as I think back, we didn't use many of the "extra features" - no roller-blading, no ice-skating (but the Ice Show was fantastic!), no rock-wall climbing, no special dining - we didn't even use room service! A good cruise line, like RCI, with good service and all the standard features should be fine.

[DeepWaterMariner]

LovesToTravel, you've made the same logical choice that we make. Amenities that we don't use are not attractions so we are fine without them. Many of our early cruises were on ships that were less than a third the size of the Vision class ships and only one seventh the size of a Voyager class ships. We loved them all but there are three obvious improvements from those days...a real show room instead of a show lounge with poor sight lines, bigger cabins, and a solarium which provides a pool when the weather is bad outside. If I gambled I'd also say a casino. Despite the growth in size movie theaters have disappeared. We still prefer smaller ships, but with those amenities that I listed. For us the HAL Statendam class is almost perfect and they are nearly half the size of a Vision class ship.

[DonnaK]

Our first RCI cruise was on the Navigator. I can't say enough about this ship. This past December, I sailed on the Sovereign. I don't mind that it is smaller. However, I think you feel more crowded. The Navigator was so huge, with so many different bars/lounges/activites, that we never really felt how crowded it was. The Sovereign felt much more crowded, especially when waiting for elevators, and when out by the pool. Just my two cents :)

 

I agree that the Voyager class ships seem much less crowded because there is so much more space for the people to spread out! We had >800 kids aboard AOL and never would have known it! Lots of space in the dining area - on smaller ships, the tables are arranged closer together. The passageways are wider. Etc.

[bjd3563]

Loves- I sailed on the Explorer (Voyager class) 3 years ago and had such a great time I struggled, like you, with the decision to go on anything else. But after looking at itineries we decided to try the Jewel which is only 2 years old and is a Radiance class ship. I'll let you know - we board tomorrow.

[LovesToTravel523]

Have a great time bjd! I can't wait to hear about your trip!