Inaugural cruises

Has anyone ever done an inaugural cruise on Princess? Your thoughts/impressions. Was it worth it? Thanks.

My inaugural cruise was many years ago, Star Princess Pacific Rim cruise, Singapore to LA, 26 days. There were no problems that we were aware of - they had polished the crew and checked that everything worked sailing deadhead from Italy to Singapore. EM

We did a 12 day on the Grand out of Istanbul to Barcelona in l998... okay, not outstanding... decided after that I would wait to book six months on a new ship. The Grand was delivered late, so not as well organized as it could be. I actually cruise on the Grand now and enjoy it more.

We did have some on fun on the first cruise, we crashed the press party before we left Istanbul...it was quiet nice - a lot better than the repeat passenger party later in the cruise, that kind of set the tone. The Grand was the largest ship a float at the time, people stood on roof tops in Istanbul to watch us leave, we were the largest structure in the city.

When we arrived in our first Turkish port we overshadowed every ship there for sure... almost obscene. Now days the Grand is dwarfed by the mega ships.

Has anyone ever done an inaugural cruise on Princess? Your thoughts/impressions. Was it worth it? Thanks.

Welcome to Cruise Critic. And do you have some inside information about the next inaugural cruise on Princess? Considering the new Royal-class ship due to be delivered in the second half of 2019 hasn't even been named yet, where its inaugural cruise will be sailing would be very interesting to know.

Welcome to Cruise Critic. And do you have some inside information about the next inaugural cruise on Princess? Considering the new Royal-class ship due to be delivered in the second half of 2019 hasn't even been named yet, where its inaugural cruise will be sailing would be very interesting to know.

We now all want to know!

majestic last spring——absolutely no extra perks-not even an extra pillow candy-disappointing to say the least—-crew seemed a little jumpy

In 2013 I sailed the new Royal's second cruise. It taught me to never again book a newbie less than 6 months old.

Although the cruise was great..itinerary of the Mediterranean..there were quite a few problems occurring daily on our 14 day cruise.

Not everyone experienced a problem, but I can tell you from the amount of passengers complaining at the passenger service desk..at 1 am..things were not smooth sailing for all.

For me it was an air condition problem..at some times..no air at all. (14 days ) Our travelling companions had flushing problems. Of course, these problems can occur at any time but the crew was having a difficult time working together. They were out of sync!! Correcting problems took longer than ever before. The first two days I can personally tell you no one knew who was in charge to fix the air conditioning.

The biggest surprise was the entertainment. The first 7 days of the cruise there was no production shows and the CD had little planed to liven up the nights. The second 7 days the production shows were like practice runs..all three of them. All never seen before, but all new and needed to be fine tuned.

The ship was sparkling new..but too many kinks to work out. This ship was plagued with electrical problems for a few months.

After swearing never to book a newbie again..I booked a cruise this coming March on a ship I have sailed many times before. I booked over 19 months in advance and got great rates and perks...however, since I booked it has now become the first ocean medallion sailing of the ship...ekk..what could go wrong?..maybe never having access to our room without the cabin steward!!!! Read that problem here on cc from someone on the madian ocean medallion voyage of the Regal.:o

In 2013 I sailed the new Royal's second cruise. It taught me to never again book a newbie less than 6 months old.

 

Although the cruise was great..itinerary of the Mediterranean..there were quite a few problems occurring daily on our 14 day cruise.

 

Not everyone experienced a problem, but I can tell you from the amount of passengers complaining at the passenger service desk..at 1 am..things were not smooth sailing for all.

 

For me it was an air condition problem..at some times..no air at all. (14 days ) Our travelling companions had flushing problems. Of course, these problems can occur at any time but the crew was having a difficult time working together. They were out of sync!! Correcting problems took longer than ever before. The first two days I can personally tell you no one knew who was in charge to fix the air conditioning.

 

The biggest surprise was the entertainment. The first 7 days of the cruise there was no production shows and the CD had little planed to liven up the nights. The second 7 days the production shows were like practice runs..all three of them. All never seen before, but all new and needed to be fine tuned.

 

The ship was sparkling new..but too many kinks to work out. This ship was plagued with electrical problems for a few months.

 

After swearing never to book a newbie again..I booked a cruise this coming March on a ship I have sailed many times before. I booked over 19 months in advance and got great rates and perks...however, since I booked it has now become the first ocean medallion sailing of the ship...ekk..what could go wrong?..maybe never having access to our room without the cabin steward!!!! Read that problem here on cc from someone on the madian ocean medallion voyage of the Regal.:o

Thanks for sharing. I hope everything turns out a lot better on your cruise in March.(yn)(yn)(yn)

Tony

In 2013 I sailed the new Royal's second cruise. It taught me to never again book a newbie less than 6 months old.

 

Although the cruise was great..itinerary of the Mediterranean..there were quite a few problems occurring daily on our 14 day cruise.

 

Not everyone experienced a problem, but I can tell you from the amount of passengers complaining at the passenger service desk..at 1 am..things were not smooth sailing for all.

 

For me it was an air condition problem..at some times..no air at all. (14 days ) Our travelling companions had flushing problems. Of course, these problems can occur at any time but the crew was having a difficult time working together. They were out of sync!! Correcting problems took longer than ever before. The first two days I can personally tell you no one knew who was in charge to fix the air conditioning.

 

The biggest surprise was the entertainment. The first 7 days of the cruise there was no production shows and the CD had little planed to liven up the nights. The second 7 days the production shows were like practice runs..all three of them. All never seen before, but all new and needed to be fine tuned.

 

The ship was sparkling new..but too many kinks to work out. This ship was plagued with electrical problems for a few months.

 

After swearing never to book a newbie again..I booked a cruise this coming March on a ship I have sailed many times before. I booked over 19 months in advance and got great rates and perks...however, since I booked it has now become the first ocean medallion sailing of the ship...ekk..what could go wrong?..maybe never having access to our room without the cabin steward!!!! Read that problem here on cc from someone on the madian ocean medallion voyage of the Regal.:o

Hopefully, the team responsible for setting up the ***** on the Regal may have learned a lesson from the setback and relays them fleetwide for awareness in setting up for your ship's.

Has anyone ever done an inaugural cruise on Princess? Your thoughts/impressions. Was it worth it? Thanks.

Well there are inaugural cruises and pre-inaugural cruises and then there are the official naming cruises.

In 2002 the Coral's first cruises kept getting cancelled which delayed the real first cruise from November to January 3rd, 2003. It was a 10 day Panama Canal cruise and by accident we were on it. Some things didn't work right away, but it was still a really nice cruise, with a hand selected great crew. I have met some of the same Cruise Director's staff on future cruises in promoted capacities. Every cabin was given the Princess cookbook which was new at that time. We had ours signed by the Captain. We also got a certificate. One thing I noticed was that not all cabins were brand new. Contractors had been using them during the fitting out phase during the Atlantic crossing. Ours happened to be unused. Normally I would not seek out first cruises. Let the kinks be worked out before I board.

Has anyone ever done an inaugural cruise on Princess? Your thoughts/impressions. Was it worth it? Thanks.

A few years ago, a ship (sorry, I don't remember which one) was delivered to Princess a couple

weeks early, so they added a couple preview cruises before the inaugural.

This could make one cranky if they had expected to be on the inaugural (other than in name).

For the emerald inaugural, passengers got a green (emerald) caithness bowl.

We weren't one the inaugural, but got a bowl.