How the US Navy used its wartime cruiser surplus

Did the United States also avoid building new cruisers because it had so many Second World War ships, and did their size help?

Yes; larger wartime hulls were useful missile-conversion platforms, although later cruiser designs did not necessarily fulfill the entire traditional role.

The United States faced a related abundance of wartime cruisers. Their larger hulls helped because many could be converted for missile service, postponing the need for replacements. The later Ticonderoga solution did not necessarily preserve every traditional cruiser function.