Cruises = advice please!

OK, we've been on Saga ships which are relatively small with plenty of sunbathing space but here are a couple of questions for anyone who's been on a larger ship like the Independence of the Seas:

First - with a few thousand on board, are there sufficient sunbeds if you want to just soak up the sun? We've seen a plan of the IOTS vessel and it looks like there's limited access to these beds. Can anyone give me some info please.

Second - considering a river cruise through Europe, but is it formal dress every evening? Taking a plane to get to the ships means limited luggage of course and we don't fancy having to take a fortnight's worth of "posh"clothes along.

Thanks for any help.

Re: Cruises = advice please!

The large Royal Caribbean ships are a huge size jump from tug boat Saga ships. Are you sure you want that many passengers?

Consider first going to the traditional cruise ships of the P&O Fleet imo. Aurora, Arcadia, Oriana. These have about 1500 pax. I've also been on Ventura and Azura which have 3000 pax. My preference is Aurora every time but I also love Azura, lovely ship. Ventura, whilst being the same ship as Azura has generally been a nightmare with poor policing of passenger behaviours, esp kids who run amok unchallenged.

Never had problems with sunbeds on these ships. I think many people don't tend to sunbathe as much as in the past anyway.

Are you sure it's formal? Or is this a terminology thing?
Formal generally means black tie, proper tuxedo, bow tie and glam dresses for ladies. Most cruises only have 3-5 such nights on the entire trip. Some cruise lines have a middle dress code called say "informal" which is still jacket and tie but not tuxedo etc. The lower dress code is "Smart Casual" usually which is open shirt and no jacket.

Personally I couldn't contemplate a cruise with formal black tie every night. That's just silly imo.

On the other hand if "formal" on this cruise just means basic jacket and tie then imo no problem. I love dressing smart for dinner, it makes the sense of occasion worthwhile.

Re: Cruises = advice please!

Like Realist I have done several cruises , 2 med,one baltic, one caribbean river Nile etc etc.

I did find on the last Royal Caribbean ship the standard had dropped, less variety of food and ship started to show its age. So we went with P&O last time and now booked for the Norwegian Fjords for next year with P&O again.

I would suggest getting a cabin with a balcony higher up on the ship for better views.

Now to answer your question. Plenty of sunbeds no problem there at all on all the ships we have been with.
As for formal nights depending on cruise length could be 2 or 3 but my wife and arn't interested in them so don't go.

With Royal Caribbean everything is in dollars, With P&O it is in Stirling, so onboard spend is easier to work out