Thread: Big Ship Luxury vs Small Ship Intimacy

We have traveled large cruise ships, RCCL Voyage Class (3100 passengers), and smaller cruise ships, Princess Sea Princess (1950 passengers) and we liked both.

Tell me which you prefer and why. We are starting to plan again and value your input.

Your comparision is really large to medium.
Our first cruise was on the (old) Island Princess with 600 pax.
We sailed on many ships with under 1000 pax.
Our first big steep up was in 1984 on the (old) Nieuw Amsterdam, 1200 pax. We thought it was huge.
Since then we have worked our way all the way up to the Voyager Class.

It is not just the number of passengers. The ship design is also a factor. Some of the bigger ship handle the crowds better than others. Our favorite is the Radiance Class. We also enjoy the Vision Class and we enjoyed the Mercury. We did not care for a couple NCL ships we were on but part of the is because we did not like Freestyle dining.

The days of mass market ships with under 1000 pax is gone. It was a different experience. We often felt like we had met almost 1/2 the people on the ship by the end of the week. With the much large ships, that feeling is gone. Now it is more a matter of finding ships where you do not feel like you are part of a herd.

"Big Ship Luxury vs Small Ship Intimacy" makes it sound like big ships are more luxurious than small ships. I have found it to be quite the contrary...the most luxurious ships I ever sailed on were also the smallest and most intimate. You don't necessarily give up luxury to sail on a small ship.

You do give up some ammenities...you won't find skating rinks or huge shopping malls on small ships. But in my opinion, the benefits from sailing a small ship make this more than OK.

The smallest ship we sailed on had so much open space it felt like we were on our own private yacht. Sometimes we wouldn't even more than a few other passengers as we walked around...it was really really spacious. And it was totally six star luxury...I would take the bet that I don't think any large ship could possibly be more luxurious. A nice bonus is there was almost no waiting for anything...ever. No lines...never! There were always empty seats by the pool, space in the hottub, and seats at the blackjack tables. No such thing as a chair hog. Getting into a specialty restaurant was never a problem. Room service was super fast. There was never any waiting for meals, getting on or off tenders (you just walked down to the lower deck and walked straight on the tender), etc etc. Embarking and disembarking took no time at all...unlike some of the bigger ships we've sailed on where it was a big color coded nightmare. I'll happily give up the rock wall or skating rink for that kind of small ship experience anytime.

I want a ship that does not take me all day to traverse. I want it to look like a ship on the outside. Voyager is ugly (IMHO) and doesn't really look like a ship. I want a lot of teak and finnished woods on the insie. I want it to roack and move so I know I am on a ship in the ocean. I want to be able to go to the buffet without 3,000 other people there. I want it to be small enough that some of the crew can even know our names. I want it to be samll enough so if there is a problem with the sailing, it will not overwhelm the cruisline in being able to handle it. If we tender, I would like to be able to get off the ship by noon. On the last day, I don't want there being so many passengers getting off that it overwhelms customs so we have to stand in line for hours.

So I guess your vote is for smaller ships Chuck? I agree, although we've never been on a "small" ship. The Sun Princess is the smallest so far, about the same as the Norwegian Sky, now Pride of Aloha. We've been on the Grand Princess and found it a bit too big, but still a good experience. Next booked on the Freedom. I guess that would be classed as "LARGE"ish.

We also booked the Freedom and I'm a bit apprehensive about all the people. But if it turns out to be not what we want, there's always next time.

I should have added the word affordable. We also sailed on the MS Sunward II in '83, previously Canard Adventurer, and she was much smaller. Back then the pool was a hot tub without the heat on the stern.

Originally Posted by Bob & Joyce

I should have added the word affordable. We also sailed on the MS Sunward II in '83, previously Canard Adventurer, and she was much smaller. Back then the pool was a hot tub without the heat on the stern.

I had noticed that in your sig. that is why I refered to mass-market small ships being a thing of the past. I sailed on the Starward and Southward back in the "old days". I kinda miss the less that 25,000 grts ships, but I will continue to cruise.

This is what I call a great small ship...

Radisson Paul Gauguin
(from their website)

Ship Information

• Most luxurious ship to sail in Tahiti on a year-round basis
• Only 320 guests
• Crew to guest ratio of 1 to 1.5
• Space to guest ratio of 60, one of the highest of any ship serving the North American market
• State-of-the-art retractable watersports marina
• Onboard dive program
• Onboard lecture program
• All outside suites and staterooms, 50% with private balconies
• Two elegant restaurants with open-seating dining
• Complimentary wine with dinner
• Complimentary soft drinks, mineral water and juices
• Complimentary in-stateroom bar set-up
• Shipboard gratuities included

SHIP STATISTICS Overall Length: 513 feet (156.5 meters)
Beam (width): 71 feet (21.6 meters)
Draft: 16.9 feet (5.15 meters)
Passengers: 320
Crew / International: 211
Passenger Decks: 7
Shipyard: Chantiers de l'Atlantique, Saint Nazaire, France
Gross Tonnage: 19,200
Cruising Speed: 18 knots
Propulsion: Diesel Electric
Ship's Registry: Bahamas
Flag: French

Blizzard and Bob&Joyce .... Maybe we should form an old Sunward II fan club! We took a "special" week New Years Cruise on Sunward II ages ago! Remember, those cabins were really small BUT we did have the best time!

--> THL .... Sunward II did not have the luxuries of the ship you described BUT we were very young and loved it anyway!

Still prefer ships with under 2,000 passengers ....