Will I be Disappointed going Smaller and Older?

[klfhngr]

The smallest we'd go is Voyager class ships, and preferably those that have been Amp'd up!

 

FYI: We've done Vision, it was nice but would not do again. 

Edited September 16, 2022 by klfhngr

[smokeybandit]

If you need Broadway shows, bumper cars and Disney-like restaurants, then you maybe disappointed in smaller ships.

 

Otherwise, you'll be fine.

[OCSC Mike]

This is another personal preference question of course.

 

I don't actually need many of the features on Voyager class on up but I still don't care to sail anything smaller unless it's for the destination (i.e. Radiance in Alaska was fine, we were there for Alaska). I find ships without a promenade somewhat claustrophobic for lack of a better term. Maybe it's b/c my first ever cruise was on Voyager for my honeymoon when it was new-ish and I've only done smaller ships for a total of 11 nights.

 

Different strokes...

[NeepierRoad]

17 hours ago, Jingerwoppy said:

My wife never complains....😁

Just reading this post specifically to see if anyone else had a silly sense of humor! 😜

[Seville2Cabo]

6 hours ago, ssb said:

For us it’s the itinerary and who you are with and not where you are at (ship) 

Exactly.  Us too.  

[taglovestocruise]

19 hours ago, Mikewa said:

Just finished my 4th cruise, the first being in 2002 (in order, RCCL, Disney, NCL, RCCL).  Each successive cruise, we were on a newer and larger ship, the last being Ovation of the Seas.  Loved Ovation - clean, large, relatively new. 

 

Considering a cruise next year and trying to figure out which one.  Many seem wonderful, and I'm sure the ships are magnificent, but I'm worried going from a new, large ship, to something smaller and older (again, talking relative here,).  Just wondering, will I be disappointed going from Ovation (and RCCL) to something else?

 

Thanks!

 

We have had over 50 nights on Oasis Class, 7 night Ovation and 10 night Quantum coming up in a few weeks. I am not looking forward to dropping down in size to Quantum class.  Just the single level dining room is enough to disappoint. Wife wants Alaska followed by a transpacific trip to Hawaii,   Happy wife happy life.  Thank goodness she is a two voucher person and leaves me with 8.

[ggo85]

It really depends on your preferences -- what's important to you about cruising.  

 

We prefer smaller ships.  However, to be fair, we enjoy sitting at the pool, reading in our cabin, walking on the deck, eating a nice dinner and maybe taking in a show or solo entertainer in the evening.  For us, cruising is about relaxation.  We also don't have kids and try to find ships and itineraries where kids are scarce.  We don't like going to ports where 10 other mega-ships are there the same day.  

 

The quote of the above post is correct.  Some people want LOTS of variety in entertainment, food, and activities.  The big ships have that in abundance.  However, they also have LOTS of passengers vying for all of those things.  For some, that's not an issue. For others, it is.

 

I encourage you to read reviews of the ships / itineraries you're considering.  Not just whether they are "good" or "bad" but why people liked or disliked the ship.  Compare that to your likes and dislikes.  For example, if a review says the ship isn't "family friendly," that could be a good or bad thing, depending on whether you have a family with you and whether you want to be around other families.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[loman]

We cruise for the ship rather than itinerary , and Oasis class it is . 

Disliked the Radiance class as it didnt have a promenade .

Liked all the outward views , but didnt like the centrum .

We have been on 4 classes of RC ships and prefer the big ones.

[George C]

10 hours ago, reeb4 said:

We are sailing on Navigator in several weeks and it will be the largest ship we have sailed. I am intrigued. But we love smaller ships. We sailed Alaska a few years ago on Radiance and she was a beautiful ship. Not too big, not as small as Song of Norway or Song of America, our first two RCCL sailings - classic ships!

Navigator is my favorite rccl ship , not to big , not to small with great entertainment, cruised her 3 times. You will love the ice show. 

[brillohead]

10 hours ago, taglovestocruise said:

I am not looking forward to dropping down in size to Quantum class.  Just the single level dining room is enough to disappoint.

A friend who is D+ on Royal just experienced Quantum class for the first and last time last month.

The closed-in MDR was a huge reason that he didn't care for it.  He's used to that multi-level "grand ballroom" style MDR, and was extremely underwhelmed with the Quantum class MDR. 

[zebra36]

On 9/15/2022 at 9:06 PM, OCSC Mike said:

You need to narrow it down a bit. What ship(s) are you considering There’s older/smaller & then there’s MUCH older/smaller.

Totally agree, not enough info to make a reasonable response despite 2 pages of replies.

[broadwaybaby123]

You won't know until you try.  I love the older ships as well as the newer ships because the older ships have something that the newer ships don't: the charm of the older days of cruising.

[OCSC Mike]

10 minutes ago, broadwaybaby123 said:

You won't know until you try.  I love the older ships as well as the newer ships because the older ships have something that the newer ships don't: the charm of the older days of cruising.

 

This is a pretty valid point; but if you cruise infrequently, I can understand the poster trying to make a more educated guess in advance.

 

We killed two birds with one stone while sitting on 76 points. Jumped on the cheapest 4-nighter out of PC (which is an hour drive for us) we could find to hit Diamond and try a smaller ship before our next 7-night Oasis class cruise. Wound up on Enchantment. We had fun of course, don't think I could ever have a truly bad time on any ship, but I quickly learned I don't care for any ship below Voyager class.

[retired dude]

we prefer the radiance class ships of rccl..They remind us of of days on the song of norway, the southward and the small classy ships from back in the day...If i want 6000 people elbow to elbow like the oasis, i'd go the circus or disneyworld....Cruising for us is relaxing with a little bit of entertainment, some nice food and adult beverages, a balcony to watch the ocean go by and each other...life is good.

[bilyclub]

Having spent 3 weeks on the Empress right before the "pause" I can say smaller ships are doable. A lot of that depends on the crew, the activities, and the ports. There was a very good CD staff on Empress which kept things hopping during down times. 

[RobInMN]

2 hours ago, retired dude said:

If i want 6000 people elbow to elbow like the oasis, i'd go the circus or disneyworld

Have you been on an Oasis class?

Sure, there's 6000 people (plus 2200 crew), but there's also just that much more space for people to be. I have found the Oasis class to be no more "crowded" than our recent cruise on Jewel. I've felt our Oasis class cruises have been comparable crowd wise to basically every other cruise we've taken (except during COVID). If there is something super popular, it will be crowded regardless of the size of the ship. 

According to the stat sheet on Symphony, there's 1.6m square feet of "air conditioned" space. This obviously does not include any deck space, of which there is a lot on an Oasis class. Divide that out by 8800 people (passengers plus crew) and that is about 183 square feet per person. That's about the size of a standard cabin (per person). Now, I don't have any total square footage facts for any other ship, but I can't image that this is any less, and is likely more.

 

[taglovestocruise]

4 hours ago, retired dude said:

we prefer the radiance class ships of rccl..They remind us of of days on the song of norway, the southward and the small classy ships from back in the day...If i want 6000 people elbow to elbow like the oasis, i'd go the circus or disneyworld....Cruising for us is relaxing with a little bit of entertainment, some nice food and adult beverages, a balcony to watch the ocean go by and each other...life is good.

The least crowded ships we have ever sailed on were Oasis Class off season. 

[OCSC Mike]

4 hours ago, retired dude said:

If i want 6000 people elbow to elbow like the oasis, i'd go the circus or disneyworld

 

Sailed Oasis class many times, all in the summer at near full capacity, never felt overly crowded (main pool area always looks crowded on every ship but we don't use them). That's the beauty of Oasis class. The different areas are so spread out that it doesn't feel crowded.

[PolicromaSol]

Don't worry so much about the ship size. The different ship classes have completely different styles that appeal to different folks. Some of those smaller ships are a little more classic in their design (as in, having a "grand staircase" area and whatnot.) I'd look for video tours of the ship and the kind of amenities provided to get a good idea of what the "style" of the ship is like.

 

The different classes seem to have different styles to appeal to different clienteles and are less about size and more about what you may be cruising for. Examples: The Oasis class is heavily tailored to lounging, chilling, and people watching in warm climates, whereas the Quantum class seems to be aimed at arctic climates and more athletic customers looking for something active to do. Usually the itineraries will match the ship.

 

My first cruise was on one of the smaller Disney boats. And for us, it seemed just about right. 

[Deeliteful]

Well at 4ft 11” and 71 I can’t say it bothers me! 

[island lady]

We love to mix it up.  

 

Each ship has it's charm...older, newer, bigger...smaller.  Nice to experience it all.  But if I had to choose only one class of ship...it would be Radiance class.  Not too big..not too small.  like the ships of old with a touch more elegance.   

 

Luckily I am happy to bounce around from ship to ship.  

 

Dear departed Pinnacle friend of ours once told me when I asked which ship she loves the best...."The one I am currently on".  Smart lady...and I intend to keep her legacy going ...as to follow the same.  

 

 

[Mikewa]

Wow, really appreciate all your opinions - it seems everyone has their favorite - I guess I'm trying to figure out what my favorite is.

[Moonarino]

My lady and I have sailed on "small" ships (Carnival Destiny, Legend), huge ships (RC Oasis, Allure, Indy OTS) and many between.

 

Smaller ships might offer more destination choices, as opposed to a mega-ship that can only port at certain islands.

 

Tampa only offers smaller/older ships, but I loved the one time we sailed out of there, beautiful departure. Just to mention.

 

One thing I check for early (before booking any ship) is dining options. We love a variety of choices. Smaller ships won't have as many choices. Oasis class has about 25 different food venues (including doughnut shop etc), whereas many smaller ships might only have a third that many.

 

As for shows, the best we've ever seen were on Carnival Triumph ("smaller") and RC Allure (huge). A toss-up.

 

I won't sail on a ship that's more than 20 years old. I've seen too much rust on ships that were 5 years younger than that. When I can see it, I have to wonder about all the places I can't see.

[Cometman]

We have cruised 14 time on Windstar. It's our favorite line. 150 passengers, it feels like a private yacht.

 

We have also done  few on RCL and Carnival and one (Alaska) on Oceania.

 

Windstar by far is our favorite- but you have to pay for that luxury too.

 

Edited September 17, 2022 by Cometman

[wreckem2013]

This is my issue right now. I’m Diamond and have mostly been on Voyager class ships, then on Freedom once and Radiance twice.

 

I have Odyssey booked for Thanksgiving. Allure Christmas and Harmony for Spring Break, so a solid run of big ships.

 

That said I am contemplating back to back on Rhapsody for a total of 14 in summer 2023 because of the Ports. 

My lasts cruises in Europe were for the ports and was a 12 night Baltic and a 14 night Mediterranean. This would be Israel/Egypt and Greece/Turkey.

 

The other alternative for next summer would be back to back on Symphony from Barcelona or back to back on Odyssey out of Rome.

Decisions, decisions.