mid-sized ships

[melski94]

One problem is that there is no consistency with RC.  On Harmony in March, the belly flop competition was in the Sports pool so there was no easy way to watch and I really didn't want to deal with the crowds.

While I loved Harmony, I do feel that there is a sweet spot for mid-sized ships.  For me, there is a huge value for mid-sized ships when I compare what I paid per person per night on Harmony balcony  vs Liberty Jr suite (similar spring break weeks). For 2 people that difference isn't much but it really adds up when you have a larger family. 

The only thing I am happy to see added for these mid size ships are the slides as we are mostly pool people. To me the biggest advantage to Harmony was the evening entertainment as I just felt the talent level was so much better than Liberty. I really wish they would invest more in the entertainment on some of the mid sized and smaller ships.

[Lovetocruise2002]

1 hour ago, melski94 said:

One problem is that there is no consistency with RC.  On Harmony in March, the belly flop competition was in the Sports pool so there was no easy way to watch and I really didn't want to deal with the crowds.

While I loved Harmony, I do feel that there is a sweet spot for mid-sized ships.  For me, there is a huge value for mid-sized ships when I compare what I paid per person per night on Harmony balcony  vs Liberty Jr suite (similar spring break weeks). For 2 people that difference isn't much but it really adds up when you have a larger family. 

The only thing I am happy to see added for these mid size ships are the slides as we are mostly pool people. To me the biggest advantage to Harmony was the evening entertainment as I just felt the talent level was so much better than Libertiy. I really wish they would invest more in the entertainment on some of the mid sized and smaller ships.

Really? They moved it to the Sports pool?  That's a shame.  I wonder if it's because you were on that sailing where they had to reschedule a bunch of Aqua shows (due to wind) to the afternoon?

I agree, there is way more value in the Freedom class ships, especially after the revitalization.  The biggest negatives there for me would a lack of a Coastal Kitchen, and as you mentioned, the evening entertainment found on OA class ships.  I thought that even Anthem could not match up as well in the evening.

[twangster]

59 minutes ago, melski94 said:

The only thing I am happy to see added for these mid size ships are the slides as we are mostly pool people. To me the biggest advantage to Harmony was the evening entertainment as I just felt the talent level was so much better than Liberty. I really wish they would invest more in the entertainment on some of the mid sized and smaller ships.

One industry interpretation of mid-sized ship would have only Rhapsody, Grandeur and Empress included in this category.  I don't think they are putting slides on them.

Cruise Critic uses these ranges:

Small 1 - 949

Mid-Sized 950 - 1999

Large 2000 - 2999

Mega 3,000+

Fodor's uses these ranges:

Small 70 - 350

Mid-size 400 - 1,700

Large 1,800+

Voyager class is 3,100 to 3,990 guests double/maximum occupancy.  Carnival's largest ship which debuted last month has 3,960 guests at 133,500 GT making it slightly smaller than any Voyager class ship.  

USA Today and Cruise Critic refer to the two newest Carnival ships as Mega.  So by those standards Voyager class isn't mid-size.

 

[melski94]

I guess I look at mid-sized in terms of Royal's current fleet and maybe not industry standards. I guess I'm not even sure what mid-sized means anymore. 

 

7 hours ago, Lovetocruise2002 said:

Really? They moved it to the Sports pool?  That's a shame.  I wonder if it's because you were on that sailing where they had to reschedule a bunch of Aqua shows (due to wind) to the afternoon?

Yes, I was on the sailing when all of the aqua shows were done in port due to swells. I never thought about it but that could have been why the belly flop was done in the sports pool.  However, the belly flop was done well after the aqua show but maybe since they had another day of shows they couldn't use the space.

 

[twangster]

6 minutes ago, melski94 said:

I guess I look at mid-sized in terms of Royal's current fleet and maybe not industry standards. I guess I'm not even sure what mid-sized means anymore.

The variety of ships in the RCI fleet is something that I enjoy.  Royal offers a diverse range of ships where there is something for everyone.  From ships like Majesty and Empress through the various classes to the largest and truly mega cruise ships in the world.  Combined with the AMPED program even ships I've sailed seem like different ships. 

Vision class ships are somewhat the same as other cruise line ships from that era.  I feel like Radiance is really when RCI started to differentiate themselves from other cruise lines who continued to produce the same classic cruise ship design just a bit larger over previous. 

The spectrum of ships sets RCI apart and few other cruise lines offer a range of ships, rather sticking with the industry classic small, medium and large sizes of ships.  RCI has created their own definitions of small, medium, large and mega.  This spectrum of ships allows me to move between the ships and it's not just the same cruise experience, it's different each time and I like that.

Other lines are just now creating Voyager sized ships but trying to cram more and new features into them while also increasing guest capacity over Voyager.