Thoughts on the larger vs smaller ship experience?

[artlee]

We have only sailed on Riviera. We like'd it very much and have a TA coming in March on again, Riviera. As we plan future cruises going forward I am curious if any of you have any thoughts on how the experience changes based on the ship size? Did you find any advantages with the smaller ships or did you find you missed the additional dining options or other things? I know the smaller ships are also older. Is that a factor to consider? Any thoughts are appreciated.

Thanks

[MarkWiltonM]

We like both sizes. In non-suite staterooms on the smaller ships the bathrooms are exceptionally small (especially the showers), but we found adjusting to this was quite easy. The rest of the stateroom is also smaller but they have everything you need and have been nicely updated. 

 

You have more specialty restaurants on the larger ships and a bit more space for wandering.

 

We choose whichever has the itinerary we want.  

[LHT28]

On the R ships  you seem to meet the same people on the cruise more often

Sometimes on the larger ships you may not see the same people  again on the same sailing

 We like both  as said above  we go for the itinerary

 

both size ships it will depend on your ship mate  whether you can get extra reservations or not

E ships have only 2 Specialty restaurants  ..no La Reserve or Privee  for extra dining options

some do not like the smaller cabins  A to G  along the smaller W/C that goes with that option

We do not mind

YMMV

 

[MEFIowa]

Did 10 days on Riviera 12/2021 and 10 days on Sirena 11/2022. Loved them both. BUT...prefer the larger O-class all things considered.

 

The A4 Concierge Vernada cabin on Riviera was significantly larger than Sirena's B2 Veranda cabin and my wife loved the bathtub. I was able to use the smaller shower in Sirena quite well even though I'm 6'2". Just learned how to open the two glass doors that swing in & out separately.

 

There are 4 versus 2 specialty restaurants and 3 versus 2 boutique areas comparing O to R. Baristas is above the pool deck on the Os while it is on deck 5 by the GDR on the Rs. The very nice library on the R is where Baristas is on the Os, overlooking the pool deck.

 

The ship layouts are so similar that you know pretty much where everything will be once you've been on either ship.

 

The POOL is more for walking on the Rs. Just 5'6" deep and small. So if you use the pool a lot, the Os are the better choice. I didn't do the outside spa therapy pool on Sirena so don't know, but Riviera has a larger one than on Marina.

 

As for the passengers and cruising experience with others that likely depends upon passenger and count. We had 719 on Riviera and about 610 on Sirena. So I got to meet and know a ton of wonderful people on both cruises.

[ak1004]

We were on Riviera and Regatta. Riviera is newer and nicer. It has higher space/passengers ratio so feels more spacious. More dining options. The buffet area feels a bit tight on the Regatta. There is also no real theater on the Regatta. And the bathrooms are really small on the Regatta in the entry level cabins, I would go with a suite, while on the Riviera balcony cabins (or even OV) are very nice size.

 

That said I would sail on both given the right itinerary. Both have excellent food and service.

[shank63]

We have been on Riviera and Marina, and most recently on Sirena.  The 4 specialty restaurants on the O ships and larger showers in A and B staterooms is the advantage of the larger ships.  The R ships have 2 specialty restaurants, so there are fewer dining venues, but the smaller R ships are able to access more destinations without tenders.  The differences between the O and R ships are not deal breakers for us, maybe could be described as trade offs.  We select the cruise primarily on the Oceania itinerary.

[susiesan]

Depending on the port, sometimes the R ships being smaller can have them docking closer in to a city center leaving more time on shore to explore. But if O is starting a new policy of shortening time docked as has been stated by NCLH then this advantage for the small R ships may go away.

[ak1004]

20 minutes ago, susiesan said:

Depending on the port, sometimes the R ships being smaller can have them docking closer in to a city center leaving more time on shore to explore. But if O is starting a new policy of shortening time docked as has been stated by NCLH then this advantage for the small R ships may go away.

 

What is the new policy? Doesn't Oceania always say that they have long stays in ports?

[susiesan]

See the press release:

 

https://www.nclhltd.com/sustainability/our-strategy

 

https://d1io3yog0oux5.cloudfront.net/nclhltd/files/pages/nclhltd/db/1149/description/factsheets/NCLH_2021_ESG_Report_Fact_Sheets_ReducingEnvironmentalImpact.pdf

 

One of the ways to reduce the carbon footprint is to go slower.The current Marina sailing is experiencing changes to the times of arrival and departure, dumped on people mid cruise. Riviera is doing it too, see this thread

 

Edited January 7, 2023 by susiesan

[MEFIowa]

36 minutes ago, susiesan said:

Depending on the port, sometimes the R ships being smaller can have them docking closer in to a city center leaving more time on shore to explore....

 

15 minutes ago, ak1004 said:

... Doesn't Oceania always say that they have long stays in ports?

First off, be CONCERNED about missing entire ports due to sick or ill passengers. Riviera had to stop off Key West in 12/21 and then Sirena had to stop off at Puerto Plata, DR in 11/22 to have someone taken off the ship. On Sirena the Captain just decided to sail past St. Kitts and we skipped it entirely. I was ticked. Had an excursion to Brimstone, the UNESCO World Heritage sight.

 

Second, some places will be tendered no matter what size ship. And sometimes even the smaller R-class will have high sea issues with docks. And both can with tendering.

 

NEVER assume you'll get to every port, regardless of the ship you're on!

[ak1004]

12 minutes ago, MEFIowa said:

 

First off, be CONCERNED about missing entire ports due to sick or ill passengers. Riviera had to stop off Key West in 12/21 and then Sirena had to stop off at Puerto Plata, DR in 11/22 to have someone taken off the ship. On Sirena the Captain just decided to sail past St. Kitts and we skipped it entirely. I was ticked. Had an excursion to Brimstone, the UNESCO World Heritage sight.

 

Second, some places will be tendered no matter what size ship. And sometimes even the smaller R-class will have high sea issues with docks. And both can with tendering.

 

NEVER assume you'll get to every port, regardless of the ship you're on!

 

Absolutely. But this is true for any ship and any cruise line. We rarely had the final itinerary exactly the same as the original. 

[Redtravel]

Like R ships. Love the larger O ships, Marina and Riviera.  Aside from price, pick the larger O ships.

[Andee]

We prefer the larger cabins on the O ships, but prefer the public spaces (shops, location of Baristas, layout of library, on the R ships. 

[AMHuntFerry]

7 hours ago, artlee said:

 Did you find any advantages with the smaller ships or did you find you missed the additional dining options or other things?

Dining preference varies massively. That said, we are in the "love Red Ginger" camp, and don't really care for Polo or Toscana (to us rank about equal to the GDR due to the menus...heavy meat and carbs are not our thing), so the R-ships (except Serena) have more limited dining. We are perfectly happy to eat in the GDR or Terrace/Waves every day (short trips) though so this is not a deal breaker.

Major advantage is the agility of the smaller ships to get in the nooks and crannies...not as good as a kayak, but better than the larger ships.

The smoking room in Horizons has a door on the R-ships.

If mobility is an issue, the distance between things is smaller.

 

7 hours ago, artlee said:

 I know the smaller ships are also older. Is that a factor to consider?

No. All of the smaller ships have had recent overhauls so are all in good shape.

[artlee]

thanks for the feedback. I think my main worry is the more limited food options with the small ships. We typically do longer cruises, especially TA, and wondered if that would be a problem.

[LHT28]

2 hours ago, artlee said:

thanks for the feedback. I think my main worry is the more limited food options with the small ships. We typically do longer cruises, especially TA, and wondered if that would be a problem.

if on a longer cruise  the menu can be repeated  on either size ship

we did not notice too much  as we try things we missed the first time around

[AMHuntFerry]

The menus have had a 14 day rotation in the past. There are menu photos on this site and on the Preisman's blog (easier than searching CC) if you want to get an idea of the variety offered. My opinion is that you'll have plenty of variety on a TA (which the O-regulars (not me!) classify as a short cruise) since in addition to the rotating GDR menu, the Terrace also has special menus that focus on a country/region or type of food. My husband was a vegetarian for medical reasons, but now he can eat some unprocessed poultry and meat (still no fish/seafood...sigh), and he has no complaints about variety in the GDR/Terrace 🙂

[edgee]

On 1/7/2023 at 12:02 PM, MEFIowa said:

NEVER assume you'll get to every port, regardless of the ship you're on!

In terms of likelihood of missing ports, corporate culture/practice matters. Oceania/Regent culture is to be very conservative in decisions whether or not to make ports when weather is at all iffy. Not saying it is good or bad...just seems to be very true from our experience. We have been on more than 50 cruises...twelve of which have been on Oceania or Regent. In those twelve cruises we have failed to make every port on ten of them. Yes, that's right. Only two of them have stuck to original itinerary. In our nearly 40 other cruises in more than 20 years, we have failed to make all of our ports on only four cruises...and those have all tended to be on bigger ships, ie. Cunard, Crystal, Celebrity, HAL and Princess.

[osandomir]

1 hour ago, edgee said:

In terms of likelihood of missing ports, corporate culture/practice matters. Oceania/Regent culture is to be very conservative in decisions whether or not to make ports when weather is at all iffy. Not saying it is good or bad...just seems to be very true from our experience. We have been on more than 50 cruises...twelve of which have been on Oceania or Regent. In those twelve cruises we have failed to make every port on ten of them. Yes, that's right. Only two of them have stuck to original itinerary. In our nearly 40 other cruises in more than 20 years, we have failed to make all of our ports on only four cruises...and those have all tended to be on bigger ships, ie. Cunard, Crystal, Celebrity, HAL and Princess.

The same was mentioned on this board before. We also heard about port cancellations from the fellow cruises on board many times. I agree it’s a big disappointment.
But for the record, we probably just been very lucky, in the same 12 cruises we have sailed on Oceania we haven’t missed one single port at all. And we have sailed to all continents. Just one time we were very close to miss our port call on the Easter Island. It was very disappointed to everyone, but after the long delay until the early afternoon the captain made a decision to allow the tendering. It was very dramatic process to say the least, but we made it ashore and have a great memories about that visit to the Easter Island. To be fair, I’ve heard about other cruise lines that failed to make it to this port on many occasions.