Travel Weekly reports:

Freedom of the Seas 3,643 berths

Voyager of the Seas 3,114

Caribbean Princess 3,100

Costa Concordia 2,974

Carnival Triumph 2,758

Costa Fortuna 2,720

Diamond Princess 2,670

Carnival Destiny 2,642

Queen Mary 2 2,620

Is bigger better? It would be to me - more things to do more folks to meet - more amenities.

They all hold more people than live in my son's village! And they all look like floating blocks of flats. For me if I ever go on a cruise I'll go for smaller is better I think.

I'm especially attracted to the barge-type ships that ply Dutch canals - i wonder if EasyCruise ship is still operating - an interesting low-cost basically berths only approach where folks were on their own at each stop and could bike, etc. between docks

This is actually the reason I believe in Berth Control!

To me, those are the new tenth circle of hell. I could not imagine a worse place to spend time, but that's me, and I'm glad that others don't like to visit where I do. To each, his or her own.

maitaitom

post of the week!

Is bigger better? It would be to me - more things to do more folks to meet - more amenities.
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Don't forget more stairs, more waiting for elevators. Longer walks down long, long hallways and decks.

Just how many people do you anticipate meeting? and I would question "more amenities." Most ships have food, food, food, a spa, shopping, pool(s), etc anyway. What more do you need?

Our favorite ships hold around 700 passengers, and we won't cruise on anything larger than 1000 passengers. Too many people, too many lines.

It depends n what you want. With bigger ships there are more amenities - but more people rying to use them. And the staff number is smaller per passenger so yuo don;t get the same type of service as on samller ships.

You also need to match your profile with the ship and the sailing - some are all single partiers, some many mature couples, some have lots of families.

There are many other things to consider besides size.

I have recently returned from my second cruise, and have decided that it is such a wonderful way to travel that I'd like to do it every year. This question of yours has been on our mind recently, as we compare the experience from the large ship we cruised in three years ago to the smaller one we went on this time. They were both Princess ships, and the service was comparable.

Here is the down side to a smaller ship:

1. fewer amenities. For example there was only one smallish pool that was closed by 8:30 at night. The jacuzzis (only 2) closed earlier. There was only one small laundry room, and you had to keep going back to try to get an available machine (on the larger ship there were two larger laundry rooms that almost always seemed to have an available machine).
2. Fewer dining rooms. In fact, the smaller ship only had one "formal" dining room, the buffet, and two specialty restaurants (that opened on alternate nights). The larger ship had three dining rooms, the buffet and two speciality restaurants that were open EVERY night.
3. Fewer lounges and a tiny casino.
4. Fewer activities and classes.

On the plus side, the ship did seem more intimate. The distances between things was shorter.

One aside, when we went to the Stockholm three years ago, we took a tender in to the dock at the port, then the train into the city. When we got there we saw small ships tied up right to the dock in the city. How we wished we were on a small ship then!

EasyCruise has been operating their big ships in the Greek Isles this summer, but I think they still have the barges for Holland/Belgium.

You might take a look at Gap Adventures for a barge or small yacht cruise. They have a great deal on a 5 cabin(twins) 50' yacht cruise between the smaller Greek Isles - 8 days for $680. I'm sure they have small boat cruises for other countries.

PQ if you want a sailing holiday on a traditional Dutch barge give me a shout - my son owns and skippers one

The biggest problem with these floating monoliths is the time taken to embark/disembark. I read somewhere that it takes 2 or 3 hours. Can that be right? I was dreaming of a Sea Princess cruise but when I read this my bubble burst and I was back on the assembly line making left handed hammers

shout - hetismij - tell me more - does you son take tourists - lots of Fodorites may well be interested in this. More details. Veil Danke (sp)

CRUISE LINES BY LOWER BERTS, 2006 (CLIA MEMEBER LINES)
Carnival Cruise Lines 47,908

Royal Carribean Int'l 46,203

Princess Cruises 32,044

Norwegian Cruise Line (inc NCL American) 24,038

Costa Cruises 20,265

Holland America Line 18,847

Celebrity Cruises 14,864

MSC Cruises 10,998

P&O Cruises 9,054

Star Cruises 4,191

Source: Cruise Lines International Ass

NEXT: MOST POPULAR CRUISING REGIONS

TOP 10 CRUISE REGIONS BY BED-DAYS, 2006 (CLIA MEMBERS)

Caribbean 32 million
Mediterranean 10.5
Europe 6.8
Alaska 6.4
Bahamas 6.1
Mexico West 5.2
Hawaii 2.9
Transcanal 2.8
Transatlantic 1.5
South America 1.4
Antartica .000001

Source Cruise Lines Int'l Ass