Big Ships vs. Small ships:

Do you need a big ship or a small ship! Picking the ship is more like what you want your vacation to be. If you are going on a family vacation with kids and want them occupied all day or if you are part of a younger group traveling together looking for an adventurous holiday, then go for the bigger, action-packed ships. Alternatively if you are looking for simple, quiet and quaint vacation, pick the smaller ships.

Sailing on the bigger ships gives you a lot more things to keep you occupied. You can’t say they are crowded when you consider everything is on a much bigger scale as well so it balances itself. For example, the world’s largest Oasis class of ships is large floating resorts, but it doesn't feel as massive as you'd expect it to be due to her design. The neighborhood concept has worked really well in these most innovative and efficient ships.

The larger ships also disembark from 2 locations rather than just one to avoid bottlenecks. The larger ships have a more sophisticated stabilization system and you hardly even notice that they are moving even in moderately rough seas. It is sort of like being in your very own small town on these larger ships. They are floating excitement from stem to stern.

Smaller ships have a lot of the ambience of what cruising used to be like. The food and service are on elegant scale. The staff to passenger ratio on these cruise ships is 2 staff members for every 3 guests. The smaller ships can get into ports the larger ones can’t and sometimes pulling into a beautiful port is excitement in itself. It is more like riding around in a very upscale resort.

The main stream smaller ship has the same quality food as the larger ones in each one’s fleet. So a small Celebrity ship would have the same quality food as the largest Celebrity ship. If you choose an older ship they have all been renovated several times over and don’t have that old ship look. They will have some of the older ship characteristics, but they are still very well appointed.

Every year newer and bigger ships hit the high seas as the cruise lines compete to be the biggest and best in the industry. Their fleets usually consist of a few older and smaller ships, with the newer ones being the most recent additions. Currently the largest ship afloat is Royal Caribbean International’s Allure of the Seas.

Whether big or small, both are good value for money and cruising is always fun!

Cruising for Sports Enthusiasts!

Are you a sports enthusiast? If so, you have plenty to do onboard a Cruise ship.

The Modern Cruise ships offer plenty of sports activities including rock climbing, miniature golf courses, basketball courts, scuba diving, surfing and many more. The sports activities mostly occupy the upper decks of the Cruise ships with a great view of the ocean. Most of the sporting activities are generally included in the price you pay for the cruise.

Whilst the professional players enjoy varieties of adventurous sports during the cruise, there are also certified trainers and instructors onboard to train and assist the new players. The certified trainers provide lessons on different activities like Surfing, Ice skating, Swimming, Scuba diving etc. So if you haven’t tried any of these sporting activities before, it’s an opportunity for you to learn & try these activities on board!

The pool on a cruise ship used to be the hot spot earlier, but now the cruise guests are looking for more adventure & excitement. There are many young cruises these days wanting to see or do something on a cruise that they have never done before. The Cruise lines, large & small, have brought lots of popular sports to sea.

 Golf simulators, Rock climbing, Volleyball, Basketball are some of the extreme sports experiences available on board.

There are also ping pong, shuffle board, billiards, bowling, mini golf   etc. available for those not big on adventure.

 For those not wanting to do any extreme sports there are also simple board games like Chess, Scrabble, Monopoly, etc. available in addition to the library and card room.

The world’s largest & most innovative Oasis class ships have more space and so host more adventurous activities like the unique Zip lines going over the Boardwalk areas of the ship.

It’ fun! It’s thrilling! No matter your age, gender, or interests there really is something for everyone on a cruise!

Exhilarating Cruise Entertainment!

The cruise lines today are making waves in the cruise world with great quality and quantity of entertainment and shows including everything from top-tier Broadway musicals to big ticket Las Vegas shows. Guests can experience the world’s best entertainment at sea and in most cases it’s included in the overall price of cruise. The trend nowadays is to include fully-equipped theatres on cruise ships offering groundbreaking entertainments that feature high-flying acrobats, talented musical performers, dancers, comedians and the best internationally-renowned entertainers.  Cruise ships have live shows onboard for the entire family that guests would simply not see anywhere else. Each evening, most of the cruise ships offer production shows in their theatre or show rooms. These are generally structured so that both early and late diners can enjoy them. Shows are held either just before or after each dining time. Cruise entertainment is more exciting than ever before with the new innovative ships offering some biggest award-winning productions & electrifying live shows like the Chicago Musicals, Hairspray, Saturday Night Fever & more! Some bigger cruise lines also offer Ice skating shows, Aqua fountain shows synchronized to music and lights, Interactive plays and comedy shows that appeals to cruisers of all age. In addition there are Sing-along piano bars, disco dancing hot spots, live jazz music clubs etc. that delivers the perfect night club experience where the guests can dance the night away to pulsating music in a trendy atmosphere. Apart from the evening shows the cruise ships also offer daytime entertainment that ranges from poolside games, to lessons on napkin folding or scarf tying, to wine tasting, to guest lectures and the popular Bingo! On warm weather cruises, by noon the poolside area is normally filled with the sounds of a steel drum & band. Many cruise ships feature small cinemas that show latest movies. There are also varieties of courses onboard during the day time ranging from Yoga, Golf to Salsa dancing that ensures life at sea is never boring!

Kids & Teens on Cruise ships!

Cruises offer excellent family vacations. The cruises have Kids program for different age groups including teens. Most of the major cruise lines have dedicated area for Kids and teens clubs where interesting & educational age specific children’s programs & activities are offered by qualified and well trained counselors.

Infants:  Cruising is a great vacation option for those with infants and toddlers since parents get to see many destinations while only having to unpack all the baby gear once. The minimum age for infants to cruise is 6 months. Some cruise ships have nurseries for small babies. Private in cabin baby sitting facilities are also offered by few cruise lines.

  

Children: Many cruise operators provide extensive children’s activities & programs including crayola art camps, theatre activities, science adventure & many more. The recent introduction of DreamWorks characters to the world’s largest & most innovative ship makes it more interesting for children to cruise. The environment on board is contained, safe & secure providing the children a great freedom to enjoy the organised program and activities laid for them. 

Teens: Cruise lines recognise that today’s teenage cruisers are tomorrow’s paying customers - with every new launch the facilities and activities for teens are getting bigger & better.  The teens have exclusive supervised lounges with internet stations, discos with dance floors and soda bars, structured activities like photography classes, Karaoke, toga parties, surfing lessons etc. Many ships also have outdoor deck spaces exclusively for teens.

The new innovative ships have a new generation of onboard activities for children & Teens: Water Park, Rock climbing walls, Ice skating rinks, Mini golf, Flowrider, Zip line, Basket ball & other sports courts. The children & teens have plenty of activities & fun on board a cruise ship that they can never get bored.