Thread: Big Ship Luxury vs Small Ship Intimacy

BIG BIG ship if my cup of tea....

Because I hate (& afraid) BORING.....
I can walk around the ship even I have nothing to do

AM I STRANGE???

LuLu,

Believe this or not, The Cunard Adventurer, later the MS Sunward II, still sails the Greek Isles. I first boarded her to see family off from Hampton Roads in the early '70's. We sailed her from Miami 11 years later and I had an insanity attack knowing where everything was until an old engineer at lunch told me of her former name.:think:

The memories are still crystal clear. The food was the best we ever had.

Happy cruising!!!

Originally Posted by Bob & Joyce

LuLu,

Believe this or not, The Canard Adventurer, later the MS Sunward II, still sails the Greek Isles. I first boarded her to see family off from Hampton Roads in the early '70's. We sailed her from Miami 11 years later and I had a insanity attack knowing where everything was until an old engineer at lunch told me of her former name.:think:

The momories are still chrystal clear. The food was the best we ever had.

Happy cruising memories

In those "olden days" I would spend a lot of time studying deck plans so that I knew my way around the old ships. I would also try to find out any previous names. Sometimes I would discover that I was sailing on a twin of a ship that I had been on before. I had toured the Stardancer and when I sailed on her as the Viking Serenade she had been change so much that it felt like a different ship.

I agree that overall the food seemed better in the old days.

Sunward II Fan Club -- Bob& Joyce and Blizzard!

Have to agree: The food did always seem to taste better in "the old days".

Originally Posted by LuLu

Sunward II Fan Club -- Bob& Joyce and Blizzard!

Have to agree: The food did always seem to taste better in "the old days".

It's pretty darned good with Radisson these days!

It is funny how things change...when I first cruised on Crystal, I thought the Harmony was HUGE, at 900 passengers, compared with the ships I sailed on as a youth... but a little research shows how wrong I was....the Italian Line ships Raffaello and Michellangelo were both 1750 passenger ships, much the same capacity as the Sun class Princess ships are today. I was also dumbfounded to find out that ships that I think of as tiny, such as the Christoforo Columbo (29,000 GRT), actually carried over 1000 passengers. But I think the difference was that those ships had classes, so, at most, no matter your level, you only really interacted with 500 or 600 people, making the ship seem very intimate.

And, while classes are gone, for good or for bad, this is the secret to making large ships like Celebrity's M class seem not so overwhelming. By having the two seatings for dinner, half the ship is on enough of a different schedule, that it doesn't feel as crowded as one might expect. And, on disembarkation day, I'm always seeing someone, and saying "I swear that person was not on our cruise- I would have noticed THAT hairdoo," or whatever, because they were probably at a different seating.

This is the primary reason I would hesitate to book a freestyle ship. My fear is that I would be running into all 3000 people at once, but never able to reconnect with those I liked because of the crowds and the fact that, given a choice, the bulk of cruisers seem to want to eat between 7:00 and 8:00 in the evening.

O.k., enough yammering. Suffice it to say, I think the dining is probably as important a factor as the size of the ship/#of passengers.

But different folks feel differently, and many don't want assigned seating. Yea! More space for me on those ships!

Andrew

And then there are the Windjammers. Lots of intimacy. No luxury. But plenty of food; informal conversations with the crew including the Captain; a real sense of being on the sea; laid back relaxation.

Windjammers aren't for everyone, but there's nothing like it when Amazing Grace is piped through the sound system, the sails are raised and the first puffs of wind hit them and off you go.

I've loved my one cruise on the Norwegian Majesty and have three more cruises booked. But oh how I wish DH could handle a sailing ship just one more time.

We always preferebig ships becose they have wider choice of ammenities ( we just like to have big choice ).

But also, they are able to provide intimacy if desired

Originally Posted by Skeewe

We always preferebig ships becose they have wider choice of ammenities ( we just like to have big choice ).

But also, they are able to provide intimacy if desired

What are your favorite ammenities you like on the big ships?

Originally Posted by Texashorselady

What are your favorite ammenities you like on the big ships?

Well, since I like sports I always try to go on ships with baketball court. Last time on Radiance I tried rock climbing and I love it.

And now my wife mentioned that she want to go on ship with ice skating rink (thats one of RCI's I am not sure which one, I'll find out). Only problem is that she know to ice skate but I'dont :icon_smil