Originally Posted by
Seat 2A
All that notwithstanding, it didn't take long to establish that I am definitely not a cruise ship person. The ships are too big and there are way too many people around for my tastes. .
I totally understand the preference to avoid big ships. The Star Princess is still the biggest passenger ship I've ever set foot on (also been onboard CV(A)N-65 decades ago and the CMA CGM Libra is as big as one of those Behemoths of the Seas) and it's way bigger than I like. There was a U.K. show with a British comedian boarding one of the ships and the scene of him boarding it was like walking into a food court of a huge mall.
I see various ships doing the Seattle-Alaska run from my house all summer and aren't even tempted to set foot on most of the ones that sail by. Even the "small ships" touted by most on the cruise forum are way too big.
The right size, for me, was a ship designed for 260 pax only carrying 199 between Papeete and Honolulu, and even better yet, the same ship sailing with under 70 pax from Honolulu to Japan. I think you'll like that better.