Robert2470

Those that know me know that Grandeur will always be my favorite.  I don't need the Bells & Whistles, I'm just glad to be on a ship....any ship.  But in all honesty, I've never been able to truly chill on any other ship except Grandeur..... 
What I do find amusing is how folks refer to her as a "small" ship, yet, in 2016, when I took my wife on her first cruise..... to her, it was HUGE.... of course, she had nothing else to compare it to..... it's all about perspective and perception.

Totally agree. We are going on Grandeur in May and very much looking forward to the smaller ship experience. We have sailed out of Miami, Galveston, and soon Port Canaveral, but Galveston and possibly New Orleans will be our main ports.
 

and most times cheaper to book

I am so glad I found this thread.  I was actually coming to ask similar question only about Grandeur.  We booked a 9 night on her leaving Miami Nov 4th.  It was a really good deal on a JS.  We understand that it won't be the same JS as the larger ships but we still get the double points we were after and will move up a loyalty level  prior to our 10 night sailing on Oasis in January.  We reasoned that with these two cruises we can see if we like the smaller or larger ships better.  Both sailings give us a bunch of new to us ports and we are looking forward to them
Our previous Royal cruises have been on Liberty and Adventure so what I would call medium sized ships.  We did not notice much difference and enjoyed ourselves.  Prior to the above two sailings all of our cruising has been out of Galveston.  We are now full time RVers and will be in Florida for winter this year giving us a great opportunity to sail Eastern and Southern Caribbean instead of just the Western which we are kind of burnt out on.  I love Cozumel but 8 times is enough for now.

We sailed a back to back on Jewel a few years ago and absolutely loved it.  So easy to navigate the ship.  The glass elevators - views were incredible.  The crew was outstanding and we felt there was more than enough entertainment to keep us busy.  That being said, the itinerary included a port day most days so we really only had time to enjoy the ship in the evenings.  The main reason I would not choose a smaller ship would be if travelling with kids or teens who would be bored without flowrider, waterslides, ziplines etc.  The bigger ships are definitely more of a fit if travelling with kids imo.

The first RC cruise Sheryl and I took was on Brilliance out of Tampa. Since then, we have sailed on Serenade and are due to do so again towards the end of this year.
Everything about these ships is incredible and although we have a preference for the Voyager/Freedom vessels, there does seem to be a certain something about the smaller ships. As has been said, its unlikely they will be replaced when they reach end of life, thats just the unfortunate effect of economics. I say enjoy them while you can.

I adore Radiance class, and absolutely loved my experience on Empress. I went out of my way to book a second sailing on Empress right after my first one (before the pandemic cancelled those plans). I typically lean towards the smaller ships as opposed to Oasis class, but I also agree with @twangster's comment that I don't see it happening with Royal. 
Actually, I think I liked Odyssey a bit more over the Oasis class (though having the opportunity to sail her while capacity was so low might have contributed to that point of view) - but obviously I'm going to be perfectly happy on any cruise ship I'm on. My next two cruises are on Symphony and Allure.

Three of my next four cruises are on small ships: Serenade, Jewel, Rhapsody.

We prefer the newer larger ships, but having said that we have had fabulous experiences on smaller ones. I love this graphic as it really emphasizes the size differences. Some of these are no longer in the fleet but I think it is a nice graphic.  It does seem that the new ships on Celebrity, Edge and Apex, are smaller than many other lines new ships, at 129,500 GT. Size wise that’s  between Radiance class and Voyager class. The new Beyond is around 145,000 GT so it seems even  Celebrity is following the “larger” trend. 

My Wife and I took our first cruise on Enchantment of the Seas. It was an 8 night Western Caribbean and Coco Cay sailing and we were very pleased with the entire experience.
We talked to a lot of the crew members on the ship, and one of the things that frequently came up is how much some of them enjoyed being on the small ships more than the big ships when it came to passenger interaction. They felt like they got to know the passengers on the cruise a lot better, and a lot of the time it made for a better time at the organized events since they would see the same people over and over. 
I think it makes a lot of sense. I know that on some of the bigger ships I'd maybe see the same event organizer at 1 or 2 events, but on Enchantment we saw the same crew members most of the time and got to know each other by name. 
Also, like Jenna said in her article on the blog yesterday as well, if you are looking to relax with a book by the pool, the smaller ships are probably a great way to go. 

I agree 100% with Twangster's post. The smaller ships (Empress, Grandeur, Rhapsody, Radiance) are some of the best cruises I have taken. 

Love the Radiance! Prefer promenade on Voyager,though.

My favorite ship remains to be Empress.  Even though she is no longer in the fleet and at 48k GT (roughly half Radiance) she was tiny compared to Oasis class but she had the best service of any ship.  I've had mixed success with Chops across the fleet but it was consistently great on Empress.    Top of all that with a non-smoking casino.  Best Boleros in the fleet to this day.  Best crew and service experience.  But enough about Empress.
Radiance class remains a small ship favorite.  I'm boarding Jewel soon and have Serenade booked for May to Alaska (my 3rd on her) and I've done Radiance in Alaska before.  I've recently done a couple on Brilliance from Tampa so I know this class pretty well.  They aren't new ships so if your measure of a great ship is the decor and cabinetry in the cabins these are older ships and you feel that in places.  Some in this class have shower curtains for example.  
As far as food they use the standard fleet menus and the entrees are identical across the fleet so there is no food differences on smaller ships.  With a smaller guest and crew count you do tend to run into the same crew more often which typically yields a more friendly, better level of service compared to larger ships. 
The crew bond into a family more because they all get to know each other.  Crew on mega ships have told me they can go a whole contract and never meet all other crew.  That doesn't happen on small ships.  
Being a smaller ship mens less real estate or space to have everything biggers ships have.  There is no promenade space on Radiance class rather they have a vertical atrium called the Centrum.   The adult only solarium is enclosed with a retractable roof making these ships good in all seasons.  No ice skating rink, no zip line, no bumper cars, no indoor skydiving, etc.  Big ships have more space for the latest bells and whistles.  Small ships have all the core requirements for a classic cruise ship experience.  If your group saw a TV commercial showing wow type activities they may be let down when those TV commercial worthy activities are absent on smaller ships.
Small ships are very easy to get around. 
The Windjammer on Radiance has outdoor aft seating which is a feature I love.   
Not going to happen with Royal Caribbean International.  If you seek small ships that are new, no mass market cruise line is building those because that is not mass market cruising.  Start looking elsewhere now.   Sail Radiance class now while they remain in the fleet.  Once they are gone, there will be no small ships in the RCI fleet.   

It's really all about what you're looking for in terms of what the ship offers. We don't care about all the bells and whistles, so any cruise ship is just fine. Do we take advantage of some of the bells and whistles when they're available? Of course we do, but their existence doesn't determine they type of ship we book.
If you "need" the bells and whistles, skip the smaller ships. If you don't, there are advantages to the more intimate environment.

I love Radiance Class from my limited experience, and Empress also remains my favorite ship because of the reasons stated above. The Schooner Bar and Boleros on that ship is unmatched on any, and I loved the outdoor deck behind Boleros. The crew was great, and the fact that I could get from one end of the ship to the other in a minute or two if walking slowly was a huge plus. I really wanted to Sail on Empress again, but that won't happen.

Majesty is no faster or slower than anything else since rarely to cruise ships sail at top speed.  Plus she wasn't doing short distance cruises. Even as of 2020 she was sailing to Belize.

Speed of the ship helps to determine their itineraries.  We sailed on one of the last sailings of Majesty of the Seas.  We were told that ship only did short distance cruises from Florida to the Bahamas as it wasn't fast enough to go much further away.

I absolutely love Voyager Class vessels, I agree with a lot of what others have already stated some of the best cruise experiences that I've had have been on Voyager Class vessels.  Don't miss understand I do love my Oasis Class ships but there is something to be said about a smaller class of ship.  I haven't done a cruise on a Radiance Class ship and my husband told me he isn't interested in cruising on a Vision Class vessel but I do hope to one day either this year or next year get on a Radiance Class ship.
 
What I'm wonder is when Royal decides to retire the Vision Class (probably won't happen before 2033) will they replace that class of vessel with a class of similar size or will they continue in the trend of building 4,000+ passengers cruise ships and let smaller boutique cruise lines takeover more that space Vision Class vessels occupy?   Will we see cruise lines like Royal pivot back to building smaller brand vessels as their smaller older vessels inch closer and closer to retirement?

When Voyager first came out they said it would never leave the Caribbean as it was too big to go anywhere else in the world.  
Voyager class has since sailed around the world.  Australia, New Zealand, Alaska, Europe, Asia, New England/Canada, Bermuda, etc.  (and all over the Caribbean)
Royal amplified this class so I think we'll see them stick around a little longer than the smaller ships.  
Plus it's hard to call Voyager class small ships.  Until Mardi Gras was put into service for the whale tail brand, Voyager class was bigger than anything the whale tail brand had ever put to sea.  In a few years time 4,000 guests will be small ships for mass market purposes.
In ten years time I think we'll see many ports around the world have become friendly to bigger ships or we'll see them move like what they plan to do in Sydney to accommodate larger ships.  Not all ports will or can expand and some will be unavailable to the largest ships but there will be enough ports to offer nice itineraries that appeal to mass market cruisers.  
There will be a place for boutique cruise lines that will be able to go places with smaller ships.  Celebrity isn't jumping on the mega ship bandwagon so they'll be able to get into some areas Royal's big ships can't.  The point is though Royal isn't trying to be everything and go everywhere.  They are a multi-generational family cruise line that will offer itineraries with plenty of appeal to their target demographic.  Will some Royal cruisers have to sail other lines to get into somewhere more exotic?  They already do so that won't change.  Royal doesn't sail in South America (not including Rhapsody 2024 Panama).  Royal doesn't sail to Antarctica.  Royal doesn't sail to the Galapagos.  Plenty of places Royal doesn't sail and has no plans to right now - it's not their target to be there.  These are all areas that don't fit in the mass market destination space.

I third (or fourth) this sentiment. Our first cruise on RC was on Empress, and we had the pleasure of visiting Havana. That cruise has such fond memories and we were just as entertained as we have been on the bigger ships. We also were seated with two other couples at dinner and made good friends with them, which hasn't happened on successive cruises. I've loved Mariner, Independence, and Oasis, but I also loved Rhapsody when we sailed on her. I'd like to add that I'd choose any of them over Disney. Disney's nice enough, but I can't justify the extra cost. We also thought the kid's program is much, much better, with a more engaged staff, on RC than on Disney. 

This is an interesting thought…especially with Radiance and Voyager class hitting that end of life point at the same time, and obviously Vision class prior to that.  Would Royals fleet be completely comprised of Oasis, Icon, Quantum and then Freedom class being the smallest?  This does kind of limit the variety of itinerary a little though, would it be too limited for Royal?

And that's the great thing about having a diverse fleet size.  Something for everyone
 
One ship, Two ship, White ship, Light Blue ship,
Vision ship, Quantum ship, Old ship, New ship.
This one has a model car.
This one has a North Star.
Say! What a lot of ships there are.
 

We love the smaller ships ❤️ You get to know the crew and they get to know you in a way that rarely happens on large ships, the spaces feel cozy, there are decks with the feel of the early cruise ships that allows\ed you to feel as if you were truly on a ship on the sea (vs a small city where you rarely see the ocean from the ship), and it is easier get to know (and like) your fellow cruisers as you see them more often. Thus, of the 6 cruises we have booked 4 are on smaller ships.