I hope everyone is enjoying their spring break in warmth and beautiful places! This week was the official first day of spring and IT SNOWED. Still waiting on spring to show up….any day now.
While I wait for spring, I’m going to reminisce on a warmer time: my cruise vacations. I am exactly one year out from my last cruise and one year away from the next one. I’ve got some mixed feelings on that, it’s toooooo far away. I used to tell my mom that I didn’t want to know about trips too far in advance because the anticipation absolutely killed me. I also have started obsessively planning where we’re going to eat and stay in Miami…so there’s that. A year away and I have 4 meals a day scheduled.
On this week’s episode of the cruise series, I’m talking all about ships. A breakdown of every ship in the the Royal Caribbean fleet, simplified into one easy-to-understand blog post. Information on cruise ships is very scattered and vague, or just too much confusing information all over the place. Below, you will find the most clear, concise and relevant information I could possibly give you about each cruise ship.
This ship is bananas b-a-n-a-n-a-s! …..I swear I’m done with dad jokes. Let’s just get into it, ok? Ok.
There are so so many ships under the Royal Caribbean umbrella (24 to be exact) that it can be a daunting and difficult task to narrow it down. To someone that’s never cruised before, they will all look the same (they still kind of look the same to me). Like I mentioned in my last post on booking a cruise, you must prioritize before you look for your cruise. Journey or destination. When you’re on a cruise, you spend the majority of your time on board, so I always choose the ship over the port.
I have only been on two different classes of ships — the Oasis and the Freedom — so most of my intel will be related to those {they’re the best ones IMO}. I also have a little bit of knowledge based on what others on these ships have told me (long-time cruisers, staff, waiters, etc.)
Opinions expressed are solely my own and do not express the views or opinions of Royal Caribbean. I have no affiliation with Royal Caribbean.
The Basics
The ship classes will vary with what they offer, but every ship is going to have standard features.
Most of the ships are going to offer your basics:
- a “main street” — Centrum, Royal Promenade or Royal Esplanade
- staterooms
- The Windjammer Cafe — a casual buffet serving breakfast, lunch and dinner
- a main dining room {usually spanning two or three levels} — serves breakfast, lunch and dinner in a more formal setting
- a casino
- luxury shops — like Bulgari, Cartier, Kate Spade, Regalia and Michael Kors
- at least one pool with a movie projector screen
- a theater — showing Broadway and original shows nightly
- a spa and fitness center
- a rock wall, arcade and Adventure Ocean/Kid’s Avenue kids area
- a bar everywhere you look (seriously, everywhere)
- lounges and nightclubs
The Breakdown
I’m not going to go through some boring list of what each cruise ship has and doesn’t have, so I made you a pretty little graphic to help out. There are some pretty big differences among the structure of the ships, which I will go through below.
Click below to enlarge and zoom in
Activities + Amenities
Food + Drink
Oasis Class
The biggest. The best. The one with almost EVERYTHING {see above}. There is always something to do and eat on the Oasis ships. They are the largest cruise ships in the world! I have been on the Allure of the Seas and I will be going on the Symphony of the Seas next Spring.
Most notable:
The Ultimate Abyss Slide {only on Harmony and Symphony}
imagine climbing stairs into a scary Anglerfish mouth (think light up guy from Finding Nemo), stepping onto a glass, transparent platform 150 feet above the ocean and then willingly throwing yourself down a 216-foot slide with a 27 degree plunge and 450 degrees of spirals, all while lights flash and beats bump. Okay, it sounds really fun and this is what waits for me next year, eeeeeeep!
7 neighborhoods
Central Park – I didn’t think this was going to be a big deal, but Central Park is one of my favorite features on any ship. Central Park neighborhood is at the heart of the ship and open to the fresh ocean air, with 12,000 living plants, beautiful landscaping and plenty of benches to relax and take it all in. It’s the most relaxing place to be IMO. Every night, we would make a point to walk through the park just to feel the breeze and be one with nature. On a ship, there’s nothing like it.
In Central Park you can find several private dining options, bars, luxury stores and the Park Cafe. The Rising Tide mobile bar can also transport you down to the Royal Promenade, ascending and descending between decks 5 and 8 regularly. This is super cool. 10/10 would recommend.
Boardwalk – I didn’t experience this area very much until my last day, and I wish I would have. An absolute must is the Boardwalk Doghouse. We hit this up at the last minute they were open on the last day, and I should have been eating there waaaayy more.
The outdoor Boardwalk also has a Carousel, Sabor Modern Mexican, Johnny Rockets and leads to the Aqua Theater with panoramic ocean views and aerial water shows. These ships are the only ones with the Aqua shows, make sure you go to one! Another must. The zip line also soars right above the Boardwalk.
Royal Promenade – The main hub of the ship, where dance parties and parades happen and you can grab a snack at any time of the night. You will probably find yourself here a lot. It is right off of the main dining rooms and a central location of the ship.
Other neighborhoods: Pool and Sports Zone, Spa and Fitness Center, Entertainment Place and Youth Zone
Quantum Class
The Quantum Class ships are dancing to a different beat. Like way different. Like apple and starfish different. The very basics of a cruise ship get a new twist and high tech features and artwork are added to give a very different kind of cruising experience. This ship was made for techies and foodies.
First, the traditional cruise dining is reimagined and replaced with My Time Dining. With 4 (complimentary) main dining restaurants to choose from {The Grande, Chic, Silk and American Icon} as well as 4 private dining restaurants for an additional cost. No assigned seats, no assigned servers, no assigned dining time. It’s called Dynamic Dining. Each restaurant has the same menu every night and you get to pick where you want to eat each night. Reservations are recommended but not required. If you don’t like to live by anyone’s plan, this is for you.
This might be a fun experience, but I always loved building a relationship with my servers over the course of the cruise. It might be one of my favorite things about cruising.
Other notable features on the Quantum ships:
Two70 – floor-to-ceiling (270-degree) windows fill this space with beautiful ocean views by day, which seamlessly transforms to bright cityscapes or digital shows by night. Two70 is a hub of entertainment with hightech shows, aerial entertainment and an ice bar.
- Bionic Bar – where a Bionic Arm takes the place of a bartender, mixing drinks right in front of you with “laser precision”
- Rip Cord by iFly – a skydiving simulator at sea
- North Star – an all-glass observation capsule that lifts you 300 feet in the air — reaching over the sides of the ship — for stunning ocean views {totally free except sunrise and sunset rides}
- Indoor Pool – some itineraries set sail from New Jersey, which is not always warm. You can still get wet in comfort on this ship.
- Royal Esplanade – the Royal Promenade gets a serious upgrade to a multilevel (duty free) shopping experience
Freedom Class
I have now been on the Liberty of the Seas twice. Honestly, I enjoyed it more that Allure of the Seas. It’s the perfect size with everything you could need. A really good “starter” cruise. A middle range price with large ship features.
As you go down in size with ships, you will notice less crowding. On Allure, I noticed that everywhere we went there were masses of people. It became annoying with the elevators and constant bumping into people. With Freedom, there’s still some crowding, but it’s not as severe.
Most notable features:
- Outdoor Solarium – The adults-only pool is completely sun-exposed. This was my favorite pool to be at, away from all the chaos. Other ships have a glass cover, but I enjoy laying in the sun on this ship.
- Sabor Modern Mexican – I smashed on some choice guacamole. Check em out!
- Whirlpools that hang off the side of the ship
- New slides on the Liberty – so fun!
- Flowrider Surf Simulator
Voyager, Radiance and Vision Class
The size of the ships is the most notable difference among these ships. If you’d like more information on each, refer to the graphic above! {please! I worked really hard on it :)}
Sovereign and Empress Class
I’m not going to talk too much on these ships, mostly because I haven’t been on them. The Empress of the Seas is the smallest and obviously has less features than larger ships. Its draw does come from its size, though. With less space and nightlife options, you often will find yourself with the same people night after night, making it easy to build relationships with fellow cruisers. You’ll also want to choose these ship if you want a more quiet and relaxing cruise experience. It doesn’t feel crowded like the other ships can get.
Empress of the Seas is also the designated ship traveling to Cuba. Cuba is one of my dream destinations and the larger ships don’t travel there.
Most notable:
- Bottomless complimentary mimosa and Bloody Mary brunch EVERY. DAY. – I’d be in on that alone tbh
- No Royal Promenade – As the first Royal Caribbean ship, the Royal Promenade didn’t come about until later. I prefer the Promenade layout because it’s much more open and central. In this layout, everything is broken up and separate.
- The staterooms are smaller, and have almost no balconies.
- No formal nights – I personally like dressing up, but if that’s not your thing, this is your ship.
Choosing a Cruise Ship
I hope this helps anyone that is stuck on which cruise to choose! When in doubt, choose larger ships for sure. It does come with a price, but you just can’t go wrong. All Royal Caribbean ships excel in service and have the best, most sincere staff in the business. The service is ranked among the best in the world. Everyone is just so nice and willing to help. If you pick any ship with Royal Caribbean, I know you will have a good time.
Don’t forget to follow me on Facebook for blog updates and stop by next week for my next episode of cruise tips with me as your host!
xoxo Jess
Up next: A Guide to Dining…and eating and eating and eating
Outside sources: Cruise Critic, Royal Caribbean
