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Which is the best cruise ship size, and why? Big cruise ship or small cruise ship? There is a perfect cruise ship size for your cruising vacation. Discover what it is and why
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0:00
is big now the right and perfect way to
0:03
go cruising based on what cruise lines
0:05
are doing introducing bigger and bigger
0:06
ships it seems they certainly think so
0:10
even premium and luxury lines that had
0:12
smaller ships like princess cruises
0:14
holland america line silversea and even
0:16
seabourn are shifting from smaller ships
0:19
and are going bigger having been on a
0:21
series of cruises close to each other on
0:24
a mix of big and smaller ships i've
0:26
decided there is a perfect size of ship
0:29
to go cruising on although it's not as
0:32
obvious or straightforward
0:34
making that decision as i thought it
0:36
would be
0:37
if you're new here welcome aboard i'm
0:39
gary bembridge and it's my goal to make
0:41
it easier and more fun to plan and enjoy
0:44
unforgettable cruise vacations i kept
0:47
changing what i thought the perfect size
0:50
was based on whether i was thinking
0:51
about traveling by myself with my
0:53
partner with a group of other people say
0:55
like our mothers or even on a
0:57
multi-generational cruise with my sister
1:00
her grown-up sons there in their late
1:02
20s and their young kids for each of
1:05
those who i want to be surrounded by on
1:07
board
1:08
is absolutely and totally different big
1:11
ships are perfect when i want us to be
1:13
with a younger crowd like if cruising
1:15
with my sister's 20-something year old
1:18
and their kids the average age of
1:20
cruising is absolutely coming down
1:23
and it seems to be driven by ship size
1:25
as much as it is by the individual lines
1:28
although of course they're really
1:29
interlinked because royal caribbean
1:30
norwegian msc and increasingly carnival
1:33
operates many of the biggest ships the
1:36
bigger the ship the younger i find
1:39
passengers on board are because these
1:41
appeal to families young couples
1:43
multi-generational travelers and groups
1:46
of young single friends as ships get
1:48
smaller i find i'm normally surrounded
1:51
by traditional cruise demographics and
1:53
so i find older couples and so basically
1:55
more people like me so why is this
1:58
happening and why are we seeing that key
2:00
difference well first of all big ships
2:02
offer a resort like experience good
2:04
value fares and a wide range of cabins
2:07
they cater for different needs that
2:08
suits families and cost-conscious
2:11
younger travelers the ships they offer
2:13
inside cabins ocean view cabins balcony
2:16
cabins suites they have family cabins
2:18
which multiple people can stay in lots
2:21
of interconnecting cabins for families
2:22
or friends traveling together lots of
2:24
permutations in terms of value each
2:27
grade is usually cheaper than the
2:29
equivalent on smaller cruise ships so
2:32
for example
2:33
if you compare balcony on a big cruise
2:35
ship to a balcony on a small ship it's
2:38
usually significantly cheaper in fact a
2:42
balcony on a small ship often costs the
2:44
same as a suite on a bigger ship
2:47
bigger ships have a wide range of
2:49
activities and entertainment jam-packed
2:52
into them they can keep kids teens any
2:55
young active traveler today busy and
2:57
occupied go-carts video arcades water
3:00
parks rock climbing
3:02
wave riders parties and so on
3:06
there are also large and really busy
3:08
kids and teen clubs and usually
3:10
babysitting services which allow parents
3:12
alone time big ships have a wide range
3:15
of dining options ranging from really
3:16
fine dining to steakhouses to asian food
3:20
to fast food burger joints again
3:23
catering for all tastes and all ages big
3:26
ships do tend to be associated as i
3:28
mentioned with lies like royal caribbean
3:30
norwegian cruise line embassy cruises
3:32
carnival but we are seeing bigger ships
3:36
appearing in premium and more
3:38
traditional lines like princess you know
3:40
for example sky princess i was on
3:41
recently
3:43
3666 passengers
3:45
big ships of course also appeal to those
3:48
worried about or traveling with people
3:49
worried about seasickness
3:51
because they can be much more stable
3:53
than on smaller ships you tend to feel
3:55
much less motion in the ocean on a big
3:58
ship it doesn't guarantee by the way
4:00
that you won't get seasick but bigger
4:02
ships are more stable and move around
4:05
less small ships have much less of all
4:07
of these things and they tend therefore
4:09
to have a more classic and traditional
4:11
cruise ship layout and naturally fewer
4:14
facilities due to their size many won't
4:16
even have kids clubs and i find
4:19
therefore you tend to have an older
4:20
crowd it's more couples maybe solo
4:23
travelers for me
4:25
these are often the perfect size for
4:27
many of my cruises which is why i like
4:29
lines like oceania azamara viking
4:31
seabourn windstar and so on
4:34
especially when i'm traveling solo
4:36
another real big consideration for
4:38
perfect size is if you or people in your
4:41
group are much less mobile or perhaps
4:43
not keen on having to walk long
4:44
distances to get to things big ships can
4:46
be a really big challenge small is much
4:49
more manageable
4:50
but if choice and range is important to
4:52
you and the people you're traveling with
4:54
then big absolutely is beautiful if you
4:57
want lots of cabin choices lots of
4:59
dining options lots of entertainment
5:01
activities you want to be surrounded by
5:03
a younger crowd more families
5:05
big is definitely going to be beautiful
5:08
however i did decide that it's actually
5:11
maybe too simplistic to focus too much
5:13
on age and facilities to decide a
5:16
perfect size because all ages of course
5:19
can enjoy big and small ships there's
5:22
much more to consider
5:23
like this so much hinges on what you
5:26
want in a vacation for example my
5:28
partner mark likes to lay about in the
5:30
day but wants to be entertained in the
5:32
evening he wants good food in a really
5:34
smart restaurant a big show with big
5:37
production values a busy casino with
5:39
lots of choices of gaming that's why for
5:42
example on a land-based vacation he
5:44
loves going to las vegas because it has
5:46
all of those things me
5:48
i like a quiet more laid-back vacation
5:51
busy days
5:52
out exploring with earlier nights and a
5:54
bit more chilling in the evenings big
5:56
ships are perfect if you love a vacation
5:59
to be in a busy bustling environment
6:01
with lots of people busy bars venues
6:04
pools
6:05
if you don't mind a noisy environment
6:07
with kids and you know loads of people
6:09
around you you like choice
6:11
you don't mind set dining times you
6:13
don't mind playing to books specially
6:15
dining theater go-karting flow riders
6:17
whatever activities and you're not
6:19
fussed with even lining up for things
6:21
perhaps a slower embarkation and
6:23
disembarkation because of the number of
6:25
peoples
6:26
you don't really bother about those
6:28
things because you're on vacation and
6:30
you much prefer the energy the buzz an
6:33
action-packed resort vacation the wide
6:35
choices and constant things to do is the
6:38
thing that's key for you the ship
6:40
is as important or even more important
6:43
than the place and the ports that you're
6:45
going to you want to be entertained
6:46
without having to think about or finding
6:49
things to do to keep you and your travel
6:52
party busy and occupied you want great
6:54
kids facilities you want to keep them
6:56
busy because that's really important to
6:59
your overall vacation experience you
7:01
want babysitters you want you time
7:04
big is going to be a perfect size if
7:06
that's the kind of vacation you want but
7:08
small is perfect if you like me
7:11
because you want something more cozy
7:12
more intimate lower energy a bit quieter
7:15
and slim to no chance depending on the
7:17
line of having kids and families on
7:20
board you know smaller ships and the
7:22
lines that run smaller ships are either
7:24
adults only so saga viking and so on or
7:27
they don't even have kids clubs or
7:29
activities so like azamara oceania for
7:31
example i'm personally happy with less
7:33
choice on ships because for me the
7:35
destinations are the key to a good
7:38
vacation the ship is important but not
7:40
the key a main dining room a buffet
7:42
maybe one or two speciality dining
7:44
restaurants a slimmer daily program
7:46
which is more enrichment focused no big
7:48
production shows that kind of thing
7:49
suits me
7:50
and another small ship feature that's
7:52
important to me is open seated dining i
7:54
can sit when i want
7:57
on whatever table size i want i don't
7:59
have any fixed dining times
8:00
and critical having no lines is a big
8:03
plus for me when i'm on lines like
8:05
oceania azamara silversy viking windstar
8:08
and so on there's no queueing up for
8:11
anything there's easy and fast embarking
8:14
and disembarking
8:15
now as i travel solo a lot i also find
8:18
small is easier to meet
8:20
and make friends now on a big ship i can
8:22
interact with lots and lots of people
8:24
but i find it's much easier to meet and
8:26
get to know people really well on small
8:28
versus big ships because you see the
8:31
same people more often the downside of
8:34
course is if you want to be anonymous
8:36
small is definitely not great for that
8:38
big seems perfect when i want that
8:40
resort experience and the on-ship
8:43
experience is absolutely key to making
8:45
the vacation a success
8:47
a really key consideration when you're
8:49
traveling with others especially for
8:51
multi-generational trips
8:53
because it would be really stressful
8:54
trying to ensure my nephews their wives
8:56
and and so on were happy and busy
8:59
when i'm on anything other than a big
9:01
ship for example however
9:04
this comes with a massive big compromise
9:08
that needs to be really carefully
9:10
considered before actually settling on
9:12
what is the perfect size big
9:15
and small ships on the surface anyway go
9:17
to the same places
9:19
but there's a really big catch while
9:21
both big and small go to the caribbean
9:23
the mediterranean alaska asia
9:26
australasia norwegian fjords baltics and
9:29
so on and so on it is a very different
9:32
experience
9:33
how and where i want to go plays a
9:35
really big role in deciding what is the
9:38
perfect size
9:40
big ships have to stick to deep water
9:42
ports they have to stick to ports that
9:44
can cope with the large numbers of
9:46
people that are going to be pouring off
9:48
the ships so if there's a couple of big
9:50
ships in ports there can be between 15
9:52
000 and 20 000 people in a port off
9:57
those big ships so that really severely
9:59
limits where they can go
10:01
they have to avoid kind of small out of
10:04
the way places which are going to
10:05
require tendering for example because
10:07
tendering
10:08
thousands of people is just too
10:10
time consuming and too complicated
10:13
celebrity though with celebrity edge
10:15
they're trying to with those classes of
10:17
ships solve that problem they have the
10:18
magic carpet it comes right down to the
10:20
water's edge and means they can use much
10:22
bigger tenders so speeding that process
10:24
up
10:25
so overall although on a big ship you're
10:28
going to go to those main regions
10:31
i can always see that the ports differs
10:34
enormously when you look at the
10:35
itineraries so there are four
10:37
key considerations before i choose a big
10:40
ship as ideal for a cruise first of all
10:43
if i'm happy to only go to the mass
10:46
tourist places which have deports and
10:48
can cater with those big numbers so in
10:50
the caribbean for example that means the
10:53
big islands like saint thomas barbados
10:55
martin and so on
10:58
secondly
10:59
if i'm happy with going to some of the
11:01
places that have perhaps been
11:02
specifically designed
11:04
and crafted and catered to deal with big
11:06
ships so costa maya for example is a
11:08
great example that's really been created
11:10
just for big ships and the cruising
11:12
industry many of the cruise lines of
11:14
course as you know have private islands
11:16
which are designed to take their big
11:18
ships and the numbers
11:20
the third consideration or third issue
11:22
is when i'm happy for my big ship to be
11:25
docked far away from the center of town
11:28
often in kind of container shipyards and
11:31
i'm going to transfer in which could be
11:32
an hour or longer so for example
11:35
in ho chi minh city i went there on a
11:37
bigger ship which was queen mary 2. we
11:39
were docked about an hour maybe a bit
11:41
longer than an hour from
11:44
the actual city whereas silver sea i
11:46
could see was right in the heart of ho
11:48
chi minh city people on this obviously
11:50
could step off and just walk into the
11:52
saigon area and explore we had to do the
11:54
whole transfer
11:55
however in saint petersburg i went on
11:57
silversea and we were slap bang right
12:00
next to the hermitage museum where all
12:02
the other bigger ships were right out
12:04
again about an hour or so further away
12:06
in a key working harbor i've just come
12:09
back from the greek islands on seabourn
12:11
ovation
12:13
now while we were there we were able to
12:14
go to small little out of the way
12:17
islands and places where the bigger
12:19
ships like celebrity apex and other
12:20
bigger ships they only went to the big
12:23
tourist places so they could only call
12:24
on say mykonos santorini they went to
12:27
rhodes or cyprus we were going to all
12:28
those kind of less visited islands many
12:31
travelers i talked to have a favorite
12:33
line and definitely a favorite ship and
12:35
they stick with that
12:36
but asking what is the perfect size trip
12:40
by trip may throw up a different answer
12:43
the revelation i had is that perfect
12:46
size is pretty complex and probably
12:49
will and should change by trip now i've
12:52
not thought about it in a structured way
12:54
like i've done here
12:56
but i realized that i was actually
12:58
without thinking about it making those
12:59
decisions
13:01
and i don't stick to one line or ship
13:03
size and i vary it now this discussion
13:06
also helped my partner mark who's been a
13:07
big ship fan and has also had a kind of
13:10
anything as long as it's cunard for any
13:12
cruises we do together
13:14
and even with those that we do with our
13:16
mums but he started to realize
13:18
that he needs to look at these issues
13:21
cruise by crews and consider why we're
13:23
going
13:24
who we're going with and what we want
13:25
from the vacation because that throws up
13:28
a different perfect size now to find out
13:31
more about choosing the right cruise
13:34
line once you've decided on the right
13:36
size i have these rather unusual tips on
13:39
how to do it in this video starting with
13:41
the role believe it or not of one night
13:43
stands and affairs in choosing the
13:45
cruise line in treat i'll see you over
13:47
there
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