Quite naturally, when you start putting things like bumper cars and water slides that extend over th

In 1992, my family took a summer vacation aboard the Majesty of the Seas. Royal Caribbean's sparkling new Sovereign-class new york walking tours ship was the largest on the water at the time, and set in motion a long love affair with cruising.
A lot has changed since that first cruise all those years ago. For starters, the other two Sovereign-class ships have been decommissioned, and the Majesty of the Seas - now the smallest ship in Royal Caribbean's fleet - is barely hanging on by a thread. I recently watched the Majesty pull into port in Nassau, and I must say, she was a very sad sight - a relic from the early days of the "cruise boom" of the last 20+ years where cruiselines have built one gargantuan floating city after another that's new york walking tours bigger than the last.
When it comes to onboard activities, there's no question...bigger is definitely better. Ice skating at sea? No problem. new york walking tours Zip lining or rock climbing? Go for it. Boogie boarding, miniature golf, and yoga on the helipad? Yep, that too. And all of it can be done before lunch on the Oasis of the Seas.
By comparison, the smaller - read: older - ships typically have your run of the mill options when it comes to entertainment. If you're in to bingo, art auctions, or the belly flop contest, then have no fear. Same thing goes if you enjoy baking by the pool for days on end. But if you're like me and get bored easily and have an aversion to sun, you may be twiddling your thumbs by about day three.
For yours truly, the biggest drawback to the ultra-mega-monster ships like the Oasis or Allure of the Seas is that much is lost when it comes to service. One of the most vivid memories from that first cruise aboard the Majesty was our dinner server, Afla, bringing new york walking tours me vanilla ice cream with chocolate new york walking tours sauce every night without new york walking tours asking - he caught on after day two that I'm pretty simple when it comes to dessert. Nothing even remotely close to that ever happened on two sailings aboard the Oasis of the Seas...
Though new york walking tours it is by no means a "small" ship, the service aboard the Rhapsody was light years ahead of the Oasis. I can think of nearly a dozen crew members that either knew me by name, knew exactly new york walking tours how I liked my Old Fashioned, or went out of their way in some form to make our experience memorable. Perhaps the crew aboard the Rhapsody is just more motivated than those on the Oasis, but it would seem the more likely explanation is that when it comes to service, there's definitely addition by subtraction.
new york walking tours Quite naturally, when you start putting things like bumper cars and water slides that extend over the ocean on cruise ships, the cost is going to go up. Are all of those swanky amenities worth the extra cost?
I walked off the Oasis of the Seas feeling as though it was worth every penny. But I've also felt that about every cruise I've ever taken. Value is certainly in the eye of the beholder, but I think more than anything it depends on the type of cruise. Heading to Europe, Alaska, or on a "booze cruise?" Then you can probably save the money and go without the ice skating rink. On the other hand, a week in the Western Caribbean is almost always better served by the biggest new york walking tours most tricked out cruise ship on the water.
There's so much to see and do aboard a ship like the Oasis that I almost felt guilty every time I just kicked back on the balcony with a beverage and book. I mean, we even had a spreadsheet - yes, a spreadsheet - of all the activities and reservations that we wanted to do each day. And then when the cruise was all over, we felt as though we'd barely scratched the surface - so much so that we booked another new york walking tours trip on the last day.
It wasn't until I spent nearly a week in the same chair in the Rhapsody's Viking Crown Lounge, reading two books and just watching the world go by, that I realized just how much I had missed that part of cruising.
So is bigger better? Well, like all of the points new york walking tours in this debate, it simply depends. new york walking tours Choosing the right cruise ship is like trying new york walking tours to rank the best golf courses in the world - it's purely subjective to the individual. Either way, whether you're aboard one of the Majesty's final sailings new york walking tours or the maiden new york walking tours voyage of the Quantum of the Seas this November, you have to try really hard to have a lousy time on a cruise.