Maiden Cruise

[Josy1953]

I am looking forward to the Britannia maiden cruise next March and when talking to a friend today she asked what sort of things did P&O do to celebrate a maiden cruise. As I have never done a maiden cruise before it is something that I hadn't considered ( I just wanted to be on a brand new ship), so I am asking if those of you who have done maiden cruises before can tell me if P&O are likely to do anything to celebrate the new ship whilst we are aboard

[richleeds]

I know the skipper will be Paul Brown who is quite informal as far as Captains go and up for a laugh, so I would imagine more of a party feel than a formal feel if he has any bearing on the maiden voyage.

 

I am sure it will be fantastic if you go with the mind set that it wont be perfect. We did Caribbean Princess on its 3rd week of operation and there were still many teething problems getting ironed out, from what I read week 1 was much worse.

Edited June 24, 2014 by richleeds

[Josy1953]

I know the skipper will be Paul Brown who is quite informal as far as Captains go and up for a laugh, so I would imagine more of a party feel than a formal feel if he has any bearing on the maiden voyage.

 

I am sure it will be fantastic if you go with the mind set that it wont be perfect. We did Caribbean Princess on its 3rd week of operation and there were still many teething problems getting ironed out, from what I read week 1 was much worse.

This is what I thought, having been on the 2nd voyage on the Ventura and seen that there was still some small snags to be ironed out. I just wondered if perhaps more of the celebrity chefs etc would be on board, will there be a special sail away from Southampton ? We have sailed several with Paul Brown as captain and know that he is up for a fun time. I am hoping that the cruise director will be Neil Oliver because he is definitely the best cruise director that we have had and made the Azura really buzz on our cruise last year.

[silver service]

Just to say a lot of cruisers, would never go on a maiden . Because of the learning curve.

[richleeds]

Just to say a lot of cruisers, would never go on a maiden . Because of the learning curve.

 

I dont think we would either as the initial "pazazz" would be soon outweighed by the teething problems - but then again us Brits do love a good moan, even on holiday so maybe its all part of the package.

 

The maiden has sold out so its a popular choice.

[pete14]

This is what I thought, having been on the 2nd voyage on the Ventura and seen that there was still some small snags to be ironed out. I just wondered if perhaps more of the celebrity chefs etc would be on board, will there be a special sail away from Southampton ? We have sailed several with Paul Brown as captain and know that he is up for a fun time. I am hoping that the cruise director will be Neil Oliver because he is definitely the best cruise director that we have had and made the Azura really buzz on our cruise last year.

 

According to the 2015-16 brochure, James Martin and Eric Lanlard will be celebrity chefs for part of the maiden voyage. Presumably James Martin is setting up and starting off his onboard cookery school. Never been on a maiden voyage before but looking forward to this one. They may even restore the Southampton embarkation band for our departure!:)

[shallwe]

I am hoping that the cruise director will be Neil Oliver because he is definitely the best cruise director that we have had and made the Azura really buzz on our cruise last year.

 

Don't forget, by the time Britannia sails, the Cruise Directors will be re-named on all ships 'Entertainments Manager'.

 

Good luck with the maiden voyage whoever is on it, I reckon it should be pretty good fun, if not a little fun chaotic.

 

Just make sure all the teething problems are ironed out before I sail on the ship in December 2015 :D

Edited June 25, 2014 by shallwe

[richleeds]

Also before your official maiden voyage there are usually a couple of hush hush 2 or 3 night mini voyages for invited guests, we have done one previously. I would imagine this is the case with Britannia so any glaringly big issues can be rectified before paying passengers board.

[h3rjp]

We did the "pre-inaugural" of the regal princess last month, the sister of Britannia. To our surprise almost everything worked.

 

There were still quite a few ship builders and their families aboard and every now and then there were men up ladders looking into ceiling spaces, but you wouldn't know that it was anything other than a normal cruise.

 

It took them a few days to work out the pool heating and the theatre wasn't in use until the last (4th night) but I would have no issue with doing a similar thing again.

 

 

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[Adammara]

We went on Arcadia's maiden cruise, and yes there were teething problems. We were celebrating our Ruby wedding and went mad and booked a mini suite, unfortunately we had big problems with the air conditioning, and the cabin smelt like a sewage works. They did there best, but we did not spend much time in the cabin! They were very good, and upgraded us to a suite on our next cruise. Never fancied doing another maiden cruise though!

[majortom10]

Done every Maiden cruise since Aurora in 2000 which we strangely enough did the 3rd maiden cruise not the dreaded first one where it broke down. We have never had any problems the only niggling faults I think were on Ventura and I think P&O made mistakes with not enough staff because that was the first big ship they had. Looking forward to Britannia Maiden cruise.

Edited June 25, 2014 by majortom10

[Turbofun]

We've never done a Maiden, I suspect it'd be a bit of fun.

That said, if I was a Cruise Line executive responsible for a Maiden I'd approach it along the lines of, "All, crew and passengers in it together, let's work with each other to get any problems resolved".

That'd, hopefully, mean positive PR for the Cruise Line.

[Hasthagotnowtmoist]

us Brits do love a good moan, even on holiday.

 

 

I couldn't help but chuckle...

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[richleeds]

I couldn't help but chuckle...

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

 

Read the full article in The Telegraph and I'm sure your sides will soon be splitting...

 

"I feel better for that little outburst– and I’m not alone. A good moan is one of the defining characteristics of the British, according to new research released by the global research company OnePoll.

 

We're also obsessed with class, queueing and we're terrible dancers. But mostly, we're moaners."