Small-ship snobs, here's what you've got wrong about the pleasures of going big

The article argues that the appeal of “going big” at sea is often dismissed by “small-ship snobs.” It critiques the way large cruise ships are mocked for their size, for names and imagery, and for blocking views in ports, contrasting those perceptions with the scale’s historical role. The writer cites Royal Caribbean’s Legend of the Seas—365 meters long and 248,663 gross tons—carrying more than 7,600 passengers and nearly 10,000 people fully staffed, and notes expectations that the largest ships could exceed 8,000 passengers in the 2030s. To make the case, it compares modern megaships to ocean liners like SS Great Eastern (launched in 1858) and the 1931 French liner L’Atlantique, described as featuring a 137-meter shopping boulevard. The piece references Explore deputy editor Akash Arora sailing on vessels of all sizes.