"Ike" wrote in message
news:fb773h$746$1@registered.motzarella.org...
> More comments regarding "tiny ships".
>
> Thinking about my personal seafaring history, I realize that the Oceania
> Regatta, at 30,000 tons and 600', will be the second largest ship on which
> I've ever crossed either ocean. My list includes ships from under 2,500
> tons up to an attack carrier. ...
>
> Since all of these vessels cross from Europe to the U.S. every November,
> usually with a high percentage of passengers making the trip more than
> once, it's reasonable to assume that such judgment is generally in favor
> of comfort.
> My wife and I plan to be aboard Regatta from Barcelona to Miami in
> November.
>
I was looking for some specifics to respond to the comment about Oceania
"tiny" ships, but your post yesterday said it better than I would have.
Today I would like to add a bit.
All three Oceania ships are 30,277 tons, 594 feet in length, 83.5 feet in
breadth and draw 19.5 feet maximum. If two football fields in length is
tiny...
We also found a significant advantage (IMHO) to the smaller ships. We could
pull right up to the pier at Castries, St. Lucia, less than 100 yards from
the busses and taxis. The QM2 had to anchor out several miles and ferry
their passengers in by tender.
As to ride- most of our sea days on our Lisbon to Barbados cruise in
November '04 were smooth as glass- no perceptible movement at all. One day
we hit some 8 - 10' swells. We experienced some slight pitching, but very
little rolling. All in all, we have never slept better in our lives. I
guess you could say we were rocked gently to sleep.
Insignia make the run around the tip of South America where seas are
notoriously rough. I guess they aren't too tiny for that pounding. And,
Oceania ships are aesthetically very beautiful- very well proportioned and
balanced. Obviously it's a matter of taste, but I consider the monster
ships to ugly, bulbous things. I don't know how one would find out, but
I'll bet their stability characteristics are better (if not much better)
than the skysc.rs on water.
Oh well, to each his own.
Paul Johnson
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