Let the have F3 and Oasis, I prefer classy!!

[Sundagger]

I don't know if at this point in my life ... and what little cruising I get to do ... if I would go on one of these mega-ships, but there is certainly a place for them. For example, if I was retired and just felt like taking a last minute cruise where I was just gonna let the ship be my destination for the week, I could see trying out one of these larger ships with all the glitzy amenities.

 

But today ... no way. I don't get to cruise as often as I would like, and when I do, I want to take a relaxing voyage or an elegant ship. That always sends me right to HAL.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

 

Right!! I'm retired, came to cruising late in life, only go on one or two cruises a year. I know what I like to do on a cruise and it doesn't include anything remotely glitzy or noisy. If I were younger I might like to try out some of the mega-ships, but I'm not going to waste a cruise or two or so when I know that HAL delivers what I want.

 

I'm waiting for the day that one of the mega liners adds a McDonald's onboard. Now can you just imagine that ... the graceful lines of an elegant ship, those golden arches glinting in the sun? :)

 

Hey, don't laugh ... I hear HAL is adding Starbucks on their ships, so why not the Golden Arches on someone else's? :)

--Rita

 

Well, unless they changed lately, the Explorations Cafe serves Torrefazione coffee, which is owned by Starbucks. It's excellent coffee.

 

RCL has Johnny Rockets and some cruise lines have a Ben and Jerry concession.

 

About the only thing I'd like to see on HAL is more of a "sidewalk cafe" setting for coffee (although I'm extremely happy with the Explorations).

[kryos]

RCL has Johnny Rockets and some cruise lines have a Ben and Jerry concession.

Well then just imagine it! The rock climbing wall looming high above the ship, graced by the golden arches alongside. :)

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[caviargal]

I have been on RCI's Freedom class ships and did not like them. They were crowdeded, long waits for elevators, tons of kids running around, noise level way up almost everywhere. The atmosphere is that of a Hyatt convention hotel, IMO.

 

These are very casual, high activity ships geared toward families and those who have a preference for non stop action. Food is much what one would expect when preparing meals for 4000 people and the dining room tables are very close together in the main dining room. We stuck to the ala carte restaurants to avoid the din in the dining room and to have an adult dinner with good food and service.

 

That being said, RCI builds beautiful ships that are very popular and I expect Genesis and her sister will sail packed with those preferring a megaship experience.

 

As Rita said, it is great to have choices and mine are the 1000 passengers and less whenever possible. We will try Eurodam one of these days as we like the multiple dining options and the new spa level staterooms.

[Fishndawg]

It is an awesome looking ship and unbelievable that it could even float. No appeal to me. Too many people and not what a ship should be like IMO. I choose not to sail with that many other folks. My main concern is that I wouldn't want to be visiting the same port when she arrives and ALL those people get off!

[SailAways]

Right!! I'm retired, came to cruising late in life, only go on one or two cruises a year. I know what I like to do on a cruise and it doesn't include anything remotely glitzy or noisy. If I were younger I might like to try out some of the mega-ships, but I'm not going to waste a cruise or two or so when I know that HAL delivers what I want.

 

About the only thing I'd like to see on HAL is more of a "sidewalk cafe" setting for coffee (although I'm extremely happy with the Explorations).

 

Wow, I do believe you have convinced two more retirees to try HAL. We did exactly the same thing as far as finding how wonderful cruising is. Our first cruise was for our Fiftieth Anniversary.

 

Being mega coffee drinkers, the Sidewalk Cafe Coffee setting sounds wonderful.

 

We had a wonderful time on an NCL ship, but HAL now sounds like the next choice for us. We had no complaint with NCL, but we sure are not impressed with the way the newer ships are being described. Way too much "stuff". No need for it at all for us.

 

Thanks for stating this so well.

[seattlejohn]

Housing Project of the Seas.

[Taxguy77]

Well then just imagine it! The rock climbing wall looming high above the ship, graced by the golden arches alongside. :)

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

We sailed (yes SAILED) on the Royal Clipper. There you can climb the rigging and see just ocean:) no big M:eek:

[ducklovemama]

I was on the main page looking over the plans the RCCL and NCL have for their upcoming mega ships.

I really don't know what to say about the new and exciting venues for these ships. I know that the cruiseline industry want to attach the young hip crowd so they will have loyal customers years to come, but an ice bar at sea?

Such ships just makes me glad that I love the classic style of Holland America ships. I just pray that Holland America stick to tradition and just stay a classic.

Happy sailing!!

 

 

 

To Each his or hers own. I find the new rccl ship to be very exciting !!!. To me it gives me the feeling of a floating city not just a floating resort.But on the flip side it holds too many people over 5000. Also I am sure that it will be a pricey cruise.

[alonzo14]

My wife and I have sailed on NCL three times and have two upcoming cruises on NCL. We like the fact that NCL offers a variety of options when it comes to dining and entertainment. With that said, we just took our first Holland cruise on the Zaandam (14 day Alaska). We love Holland. We choose AYWD, just like NCL, and never had a long wait or a problem. We love the service, never felt crowded, etc. We were on a ship that didn't have 4K people and we didn't have to pay to get into a bar.

 

Can you imagine the day when Holland starts charging for people to enter the Crows Nest!?????? Although we will continue to sail on NCL (I guess the Dawn and Pearl will be a small ship soon), you can't beat Holland for service and as far as I am concerned, NCL is WAY off when it comes to these F3 ships.

 

When is enough, enough? When did bigger become better? What happened to the intimate feeling of actually being on a vacation? When did revenue become the biggest reason you sail a ship? As far as I am concerned, Holland does it right and as soon as NCL comes out with these Pay As You Go ships (PAYGS) I am done with them.

 

Hopefully HAL will not follow suit. I know, some people want a floating resort when they cruise... I want a place where I feel at home and when I go to a bar, someone will remember who I am.

 

 

We have sailed four lines including NCL and RCCL. We have never sailed on a very large ship like the 100,000 plus ships. I agree with you about NCL. We really enjoyed ourselves. We too like to have options. But the F3 ships will not be my cup of tea. I am not a hip young Miami beach person. I live in Texas!!!!!!! I think an ice bar at sea is a waste as you can't stay long there anyway. So I will not be sailing those ships.

 

However I do enjoy different experiences. I do not like over the extreme. Royal Carribean builds beautiful ships and this one will be no exception there. Some of there innovations sound exciting to me. They cater to mainstream families. I don't know if I'd like the large ships carrying 3,000 to 6,000 people though. I might try one one day.

 

The cruise indusrty wants to attract different people who might not go on a tradtional more laid back experience. I'm sort of a middle of the road type person. That said I do like a relaxing sort of cruise with some activity.

 

I just started sailing HAL this past year and liked it. And I personally like the updated decor of the cabins on the new Eurodam. I don't like the Cabana concept on a cruise ship although I am happy they are adding more dining options. I do not mind paying some to dine in a different venue two nights of the cruise.

 

One thing I wish HAL had that it didn't have when we sailed was a string quartet playing during dinner on formal nights. I didn't hear anything on our cruise. I didn't even hear a piano playing. Maybe this was just an isolated incident though. They did have a small string quartet that played in Explorations. I do wish the entertainment was better and there was a bit more of it. I did enjoy the production shows. The first one we saw was especially good. I also miss having the comedians on some evenings in addition to the ones in the Theater. I think HAL is an elegant cruieline and is the best value for the dollar in my opinion. I also think there private island is hands down better than anyone else's.

[Sundagger]

Wow, I do believe you have convinced two more retirees to try HAL. We did exactly the same thing as far as finding how wonderful cruising is. Our first cruise was for our Fiftieth Anniversary.

 

Being mega coffee drinkers, the Sidewalk Cafe Coffee setting sounds wonderful.

 

We had a wonderful time on an NCL ship, but HAL now sounds like the next choice for us. We had no complaint with NCL, but we sure are not impressed with the way the newer ships are being described. Way too much "stuff". No need for it at all for us.

 

Thanks for stating this so well.

 

My first cruise was on Carnival. I liked it well enough that I wanted to continue cruising, but wanted a different atmosphere. After a lot of research, I decided to try HAL and have never looked back. Just what I want in a cruiseline and ... has the best single supplement policy of the major cruiselines.

 

You'll be happy with the coffee (in general) on HAL. The Explorations Cafe has excellent coffee and is much less expensive than Starbucks, et al. The free espresso at dinner is good, but not quite up to the coffee shop quality. I've had good luck with room service coffee, but I imagine that would be variable. The Lido has the usual problem of 24 hr services - it's usually good when they are making a lot of fresh coffee, but can get "old" when the volume goes down. I know NCL has in-room coffee makers, but those have never appealed to me. I think I'd have to bring my own coffee and that seems to be a bit too much of a burden.

 

Hope you do cruise on HAL - I expect you'll have a great time.

[babyher]

To Each his or hers own. I find the new rccl ship to be very exciting !!!. To me it gives me the feeling of a floating city not just a floating resort.But on the flip side it holds too many people over 5000. Also I am sure that it will be a pricey cruise.

 

 

 

I feel the same way. The pics look really great and I would love to see it for myself . On the other hand , a ship with over 5000 is just too big for me.

Guess you can't have your cake and eat it too *LOL*

 

I was wondering what the prices would be myself :(

[kryos]

To Each his or hers own. I find the new rccl ship to be very exciting !!!. To me it gives me the feeling of a floating city not just a floating resort.But on the flip side it holds too many people over 5000. Also I am sure that it will be a pricey cruise.

As I said before, I can definitely see it's appeal to some people, and maybe at some point in my life I will want to try it too. But not now. Not at a time in my life when I'm lucky to get away once a year for a cruise and really can't afford to have a bust of a time.

 

I can definitely see the appeal of these mega ships, and despite what some people are saying about the ship being crowded with 5000 people, I don't think it will be. Remember, these ships have many, many venues for passengers to keep themselves fed and entertained. Since the 5000 passengers will be dispersed over that variety of venues, I would imagine that in most cases the Oasis of the Sea will actually appear to be a lot less crowded than say the Eurodam.

 

But still, the experience offered by these huge ships is entirely different, though that doesn't mean it can't be fun ... especially if we are looking for something different for our vacation one year.

 

So, I'm keeping an open mind about these huge ships, though I don't plan to sail on one anytime soon.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[kryos]

II was wondering what the prices would be myself :(

I would imagine you'll find some of the greatest bargains onboard these huge ships. Just the sheer economies of scale should bring cabin costs way down. Also, the fact that these mega-ships will surely have lots of extra charge diversions onboard that will bring in tons of additional revenue beyond the cost of basic shipboard accommodations, makes me believe that you won't be able to touch another cruise line's ships for the prices you'll see on Oasis of the Sea. And, that's probably exactly Royal Caribbean's strategy for keeping her full week after week.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

[SailAways]

I would imagine you'll find some of the greatest bargains onboard these huge ships. Just the sheer economies of scale should bring cabin costs way down. Also, the fact that these mega-ships will surely have lots of extra charge diversions onboard that will bring in tons of additional revenue beyond the cost of basic shipboard accommodations, makes me believe that you won't be able to touch another cruise line's ships for the prices you'll see on Oasis of the Sea. And, that's probably exactly Royal Caribbean's strategy for keeping her full week after week.Blue skies ...--rita

 

Time will tell.

 

I've seen very few costs actually go down in this lifetime.

 

Interesting theory, and great if it could be.

 

Can't you just see the boards full of grumbling "Extra Charge" threads already.

 

Folks already complain about every extra charge they can think of. More extras would only be fodder for more complaining.

 

5000 passengers on a cruise simply does not seem right to us.

 

It will come to pass, but we do not need to participate if we don't want to.

 

It does seem that most of the venues are aimed at the younger, hipper crowd - Or oldies (unlike us) who can still rock with the best of them.

[sassyredhat]

I'm sure these ships will appeal to many people, and actually, we have been invited by our TA to go with her to the TA preview of the F3.

 

However, there really isn't anything about them that appeals to us.

 

It's not that we're unadventurous or closed minded (we take CCL and RCCL), but at this stage of the game, we're 62 and 59, we know what we like and what we don't want.

 

HAL is a good fit for us. I do have medical issues, and HAL is easy for me.

 

Will we cruise other lines ?? Sure, just not those ships.

 

Pat

[bepsf]

There are LOTS of pix around

I am sure it will be a wonderful ship and I am looking forward to my upcoming cruise, but C'MON...BASEBALL MITT CHAIRS???

I can dislike those without sitting in one.

Mark

 

Agreed - And those Erector-Set chairs in the Pinnacle Wine bar look like they came straight from the set of the 1987 movie "Wall Street"

 

But that's not enough to convince me that I need/want a "Loft Suite", an elevator/bar or a zipline ride down the middle of the ship over a carousel and past the tattoo parlour aboard ship.

[bermuda triangle]

 

But that's not enough to convince me that I need/want a "Loft Suite", an elevator/bar or a zipline ride down the middle of the ship over a carousel and past the tattoo parlour aboard ship.

 

It seems with all these "activities" cruising is becoming more and more theme park attractions and less and less relaxing vacation. Not my kind of vacation for certain.

 

Laura

[babyher]

I would imagine you'll find some of the greatest bargains onboard these huge ships. Just the sheer economies of scale should bring cabin costs way down. Also, the fact that these mega-ships will surely have lots of extra charge diversions onboard that will bring in tons of additional revenue beyond the cost of basic shipboard accommodations, makes me believe that you won't be able to touch another cruise line's ships for the prices you'll see on Oasis of the Sea. And, that's probably exactly Royal Caribbean's strategy for keeping her full week after week.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

 

 

Like I said its a double edged sword with me , on one hand a ship of 5000 plus holds no appeal for me , but the little kid in me would love to see it for myself. *LOL*

 

Now I am about as likely to climb a rock wall or zip line through a shopping mall as I am likely to fly the space shuttle *LOL*, but the pics have piqued my interest.

 

If I could get a good deal, I would not rule out going on that ship.

[SailAways]

It seems with all these "activities" cruising is becoming more and more theme park attractions and less and less relaxing vacation. Not my kind of vacation for certain.Laura

 

So well put, Luara.

 

It simply seems that the original concept of cruising is completely disappearing with all of the new "innovative?" ideas.

 

Come on, if anyone wants Disneyland, or Las Vegas, they are still there plus a dozen or more of the same type of entertainment in every big city.

 

But, when all is said and done, those who still prefer a more traditional cruise, will probably be able to fine one "old ship" somewhere that still will accomodate!:eek:

[Charles4515]

I would imagine you'll find some of the greatest bargains onboard these huge ships. Just the sheer economies of scale should bring cabin costs way down. Also, the fact that these mega-ships will surely have lots of extra charge diversions onboard that will bring in tons of additional revenue beyond the cost of basic shipboard accommodations, makes me believe that you won't be able to touch another cruise line's ships for the prices you'll see on Oasis of the Sea. And, that's probably exactly Royal Caribbean's strategy for keeping her full week after week.

 

Blue skies ...

 

--rita

 

On the contrary I think the fare for Oasis of the Seas will be higher than the charges for cruises on the other cruise lines. Royal Caribbean has been able to charge higher prices on their previous large ships and I think they will charge more for Oasis and will fill the ship. Royal Caribbean knows how to build large ships very well. Their mega ship ships are awesome. I was skeptical before I tried a Voyager class ship but after trying one I found the they were great. Oasis will be even more awesome. And contrary to the title of this thread the Royal Caribbean mega ships are classy. And luxurious too.

[watchdiva]

Me too! I wouldn't cruise RCCL or NCL even if it was free - my vacation time alone is worth too much for me to cruise on those ships. I'll stick with HAL and hope they don't become trashy like those lines during my lifetime!

 

Sue/WDW1972

Westerdam 1/11/09

 

What, IYO (in your opinion) makes NCL trashy? I've sailed both HAL and NCL and they both offer a great product - different but each great in their own way. We've had SA's on HAL and AD, AB and A3 suites on NCL (plus oceanview, balcony, etc - we sail primarily NCL) and loved each cruise for what it offered.

 

HAL has Neptune Lounge, NCL has butler/concierge service (which is why we keep returning to NCL) - we have NO plans to sail the F3 ships (way too big for us) but certainly enjoy having options (bowling was a blast!), numerous dining venues from which to choose (Freestyle) and the option to dress formally or not. We loved HAL for the huge SA cabin size and balcony - service was good (except for the dining room), food was good also (as was the food on NCL).

 

I don't trash HAL on the NCL boards and am always disappointed to see posts such as yours on the HAL boards - just because NCL (or any other cruise line) offers a product that you opt NOT to purchase, that's no reason to call it (and by inference those who choose to cruise NCL) trashy.

[james j feller]

I agree WATCH,

 

We been on RCCL quite a few times and in no way is it a trashy cruise line, i think in a lot of ways it is as good as HAL.