Cruise on new ship

[Antoni]

I am considering a cruise in November on the Eurodam or the Westerdam. Are there usually problems with cruising a new ship? I would hate to anticipate a cruise and have it not happen because of some ship problem. Is it generally safe to book a new ship or is it better to go with an older one. I like the idea of cruising on a new ship.

[jhannah]

Well, the ship will already have four months of cruising by the time you board. Quite a number of us will be on the first cruise with paying passengers in July. I personally don't forsee any problems.

[jtl513]

I am considering a cruise in November on the Eurodam or the Westerdam. Are there usually problems with cruising a new ship? I would hate to anticipate a cruise and have it not happen because of some ship problem. Is it generally safe to book a new ship or is it better to go with an older one. I like the idea of cruising on a new ship.Welcome to Cruise Critic and the HAL forum! :)

We were on the Noordam when it was about 5 months old, and we have a short cruise booked on the Eurodam just to look it over. The only problem we had on the Noordam was that we were "smoked out" of our cabin just before 5:00a of our second day because an air conditioning blower motor bearing overheated. I suppose something like that could happen on any age ship, however.

I too like new ships, and the Noordam is still my favorite HAL ship!

[Mike2131]

I'll add my voice to those advocating a new ship. We are booked on both the Eurodam and the new Celebrity Solstice.

New systems, new design, and (hopefully) they will combine the the best of the past with the best that new technology allows.

[nancycoop1]

We cruised on the Oosterdam on her first transatlantic voyage. I would never again cruise on a ship that hadn't been sailing for awhile. The ship was wonderful, but the staff just hadn't gotten their act together yet.

[leoandhugh]

I agree with the previous poster; while the ship itself may be fine and trouble free, it takes a while for the crew to get routines set and settle in on a new ship, particularly one of new design. A recent example of this is Cunard's new Queen Victoria which had to be staffed bringing people from P&O and Carnival mainly for wait staff and cabin stewards. There have been several articles that praised the ship and its facilities but were critical of the service. That will, however, improve although I would not want to be on board for the current world cruise which will be a training session. Also, cruise lines have learned to take advantage of the heightened interest when a ship is new and charge a premium price over what the same cruise will be 12/24months later.

[DFD1]

We would not book a cruise on a ship until she had two or three months of service. Too many problems.

Cunard is pulling their hair out right now with the new Queen Victoria. Lots of problems with plumbing, staff, A/C, cold food...you name it.

We cruised on Oosterdam on her second or third cruise after she came across from Europe some years ago. She was still rough around the edges even after some time in service.

Even with this however, many want to be on the first sailing and there is often a long wait list. Understandable, but not for us.

[jtl513]

... it takes a while for the crew to get routines set and settle in on a new ship, particularly one of new design.But the Eurodam will be 95% Vista, so transitions should be pretty easy.

[KLLund]

We were on the third sailing of the Oosterdam .. was it perfect .. No .. was it wonderful YES .. a generator broke down while crossing the Baltic and they had to stop and anchor to fix it .. no hot food for ...horrors .. almost an hour .. and all we heard people saying was "Don't fix it too fast .. we would love another day on this cruise !! "

I would sail a new ship in a heartbeat