Will Royal be only building large ships for now on?

[Mum2Mercury]

5 hours ago, Biker19 said:

Smaller than Icon, sure, smaller than Voyager, unlikely.

Voyager, Explorer, Independence, Liberty -- that size is my favorite.  Not too small, not mega.  

5 hours ago, alfaeric said:

In an age where fuel prices are a massive unknown, yes, I see massive ships as the only ones Royal will build.  Big ships are way more efficient per passenger than smaller ones- a decade ago, we talked to the chief engineer of the Allure, and he pointed out that it used just barely less fuel than the Freedom on the exact same itinerary.  With 50% more passengers ... 

I was trying to formulate that thought:  How does the cost of operating a big ship (per person) compare to the cost of operating a smaller ship (per person)?  I don't have the facts to have an opinion.  

4 hours ago, cruiselvr04 said:

We don’t like the huge ships as much simply because the ports are the same ...

And that was my other thought.  Not all ports can manage a mega-ship.  On the other hand, some ports could /would choose to build larger docks, if it meant a mega-crowd coming in to spend money.  

[dunedinmaiden]

5 hours ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

We have cruised lots of the ships in Royals fleet, from the smallest to the current largest ship. I only see them building larger and larger ships that hold thousands and thousands of guests. These new - always bigger and better - ships have all the excitement of a land based amusement park at the same time as being on a cruise. It’s a win win for younger families with children, that they hope will continue cruising all their lives too.
I understand that they’re a business, I’m a shareholder too. 

 

BUT for those of us that like a smaller more intimate cruises without all the Hoopla, we’re limited to the older smaller ships in the fleet. It’s becoming more apparent to me that we eventually need to branch out to other cruise lines to get the type of cruise we like, and not on an old ship.  Maybe I’m just noticing now because we’re older and don’t need the excitement, although I’ve never needed it, I cruise because I LOVE the ocean.

 

Anyone think Royal will ever build a smaller ship again?  I know I know, we could just jump to Celebrity……but we’ve always cruised royal.

We feel the same way.  Been there done that on the mega ships.  Being we're a retired couple, we now enjoy the upscale, couple environment of Celebrity.  We're Diamond Plus and receive recipricol benefits on Celebrity.  We just cruised the Apex in December and were extremely happy with the ship, service, food, drink and adult atmosphere!

Edited March 16, 2023 by dunedinmaiden
added verbiage

[ONECRUISER]

5 hours ago, lovesthebeach2 said:

Radiance ships are our favorites, but they’re getting older…I just hope Royal doesn’t decide to retire them anytime soon.  We’ve done cruises to Europe, Hawaii, British Isles, and Greece on them and love those ships because of all the glass.

Agree, Radiance Class only Ship's been on last 20yrs. Was built to have some best of Vision and Voyager Classes

[cruiselvr04]

1 hour ago, dunedinmaiden said:

We feel the same way.  Been there done that on the mega ships.  Being we're a retired couple, we now enjoy the upscale, couple environment of Celebrity.  We're Diamond Plus and receive recipricol benefits on Celebrity.  We just cruised the Apex in December and were extremely happy with the ship, service, food, drink and adult atmosphere!

We are headed the same direction although we will have to go less often as Celebrity is more, plus we have to fly to embarkation every time.  Viking is a great product but usually $500 pp per day vs some cruises on Royal we can still get for less than $150 pp per day.  Celebrity is somewhere in between. 
 

[CanadaRob]

Also agree with an intermediate class, quick google search does not yield any real results. With Utopia in the pipeline, the opportunity to downscale is a project planning cycle away.  How long is that? 3 years? 5 years? If there is a pivot, it is not anytime soon 

[twangster]

Fifteen years ago the mention of large ships in Alaska would have resulted in laughter.  Now large ships have been sailing in Alaska for five years.  

 

Like in Alaska the ports that can will adapt to accept larger ships.  Five to eight years from now some ports will adapt while other ports will close themselves to cruising entirely.  

 

The British Virgin islands has some small(er) capable ports that Royal infrequently calls upon vs. other cruise lines including Celebrity.  Few ever complain about Royal not going to the BVI.  Just like in Alaska there are enough ports that are large ship capable to make interesting itineraries.  There remain some ports in Alaska, just like the BVI, that remain small ship only.  Despite that, large ship cruising in Alaska (and the Caribbean) is hugely successful.   Other regions will yield similar outcomes over the next 5, 10 and 15 years.  

 

There is no need to make small ships to remain a hugely successful cruise line.  There is no mandate or requirement to sail into every cruise port everywhere.

[mycalpal]

Started on smaller ships.  Now working my way up.  Was on Empress, Majesty, Rhapsody and was just on Radiance.  Booked on Explorer next month and Anthem this fall.  Loved Radiance, perfect size, great solarium, beautiful views everywhere and has a proper outside promenade to walk around the ship.  Looking to book on Jewel, Radiance’s sister ship.  The only thing I didn’t’t like about Radiance was the Windjammer seemed a little too small for the ship, especially at full capacity.  As it turns out, Radiance has a smaller Windjammer than her sister ships including Jewel.  Radiance had an Izumi added to the rear of the Windjammer and has a Samba grill on deck 12 where Izumi is located on Jewel, Brilliance, and Serenade.  Not a big fan of all the pay extra specialty restaurants.  Remember when Johnny Rockets was the only specialty restaurant!  Anyway, going to book Jewel for her 15 night spring 24 transatlantic!  Trying Explorer and Anthem, too, but don’t plan to book be on the Oasis class, at least for now.  Love the classic cruise ships!