New Ship

[LaPaloma]

Curious to see if anyone has responded to President Conover's offer for priority bookings on the new ship--I'm tempted--we already have a firm booking for early 08, and an open booking thru the end of 08. Apparently we will info on the new ship late this year--that will be the first time to make a firm booking on the new ship. I really have no desire to sail the new ship till all the bugs have been worked out,, and the staff is in tune, but all of 09 will be considered "Maiden Year". I guess it might be worth while to get on the Priority List! Any thoughts? Don

[Iamboatman]

I have 3 bookings/deposits for the Maiden Voyage. I do not know how the bookings are going overall and I haven't check availability yet, but obviously there is some decent interest.

[SantaAna,CA]

I would love to book the maiden voyage. However, I don't think I'll have the funds to do it. I started another thread about the new ships, when I received Seabourn's letter, asking if any CCers were going to put down a deposit, and it didn't occur to me (someone brought it up) that of course the fares would be much higher for the maiden voyage.

 

Right at this point in time, after the end of this year, I may not be able to do another Seabourn cruise for awhile. But....God willing, maybe not too far in the future!

 

Jane :rolleyes:

[lord of the seas]

The Maiden voyage is normally the one to avoid as the crew have to find their feet and things often go wrong.The ship generally carries a lot of the cruise company directors and invited dignitaries that the staff look after,often to the detriment of fare paying passengers.Much better to book six months later when things are really at thier best.

We might also see some great deals on the three sisters.

Boatman, it's over to you.

[Martita B.]

I'm booked for the maiden voyage~~~and if invited will accept the "shake down" voyage! Will be a once-in-a-lifetime for me.....quoting my Mother, "later doesn't come for everybody!"

Martita B.

[CASHIPman]

The Maiden voyage is normally the one to avoid as the crew have to find their feet and things often go wrong.The ship generally carries a lot of the cruise company directors and invited dignitaries that the staff look after,often to the detriment of fare paying passengers.Much better to book six months later when things are really at thier best.

We might also see some great deals on the three sisters.

Boatman, it's over to you.

 

I would disagree with this. Although "crew have to find their feet and things often go wrong" there's an excitement to being a part of it. Passengers just have to recognize that, on a maiden voyage they won't have perfection.

 

We were on the first maiden voyage of Queen Mary 2 (she had, what...about 8 of 'em?) from So'ton to Ft Lauderdale and it was fantastic but there were those fellow passengers who expected complete smooth sailing and, as such didn't enjoy the maiden voyage experience.

 

If the itinerary were interesting I'd have no problem going on the maiden voyage of another ship.

[Martita B.]

If anyone would like to view a similar ship as to the new Seabourn

vessel, "google": Hapag Lloyd MS Europa

We saw this ship in Dec. and I was told it is a "likeness" to our new 2009 ship.

Martita B.

[MuseCruiser]

I would disagree with this. Although "crew have to find their feet and things often go wrong" there's an excitement to being a part of it. Passengers just have to recognize that, on a maiden voyage they won't have perfection.

 

We were on the first maiden voyage of Queen Mary 2 (she had, what...about 8 of 'em?) from So'ton to Ft Lauderdale and it was fantastic but there were those fellow passengers who expected complete smooth sailing and, as such didn't enjoy the maiden voyage experience.

 

If the itinerary were interesting I'd have no problem going on the maiden voyage of another ship.

 

I'm CASHIPman's partner, and would like to echo what he said. As to the "dignitaries" etc...one of the real delights of the maiden voyage on the QM2 was having the architect of the ship onboard, who gave a lecture about the design and building of the ship. We sent Mr. Payne, the architect, a note (even though we had never met him before) inviting him to join us in our cabin for champagne and caviar. To our delight, he accepted and we had a wonderful chat about the history of his work on this and other ships. Fascinating!

 

So having the company personnel and dignitaries onboard isn't always a bad thing!

[JDRMYS]

If anyone would like to view a similar ship as to the new Seabourn

vessel, "google": Hapag Lloyd MS Europa

We saw this ship in Dec. and I was told it is a "likeness" to our new 2009 ship.

Martita B.

 

Martita,

 

If you can wait, I can give you a report on the Europa. We're booked on a 19 day TA from Barcelona to Rio de Janeiro in November-December. From most reports she is supposed to be one of the best ships in the world. Of course, we have to take some German lessons before November. German is the only official language on the Europa!

 

From the pictures of the new Seaboun ships that I have seen, there do seem to be significant differences between them and the Europa. The new Seabourn twins look more like the Silver Shadow and Silver Whisper to me. As far as the accomodations go, the Europa's suites seem to be very similar to those on Silversea.

[Martita B.]

As we were docked along side of the Europa I looked "her" over thru' Nelson's binoculars~~~"she" is a most gorgeous ship!!! Very sleek and styish! I understood while visiting with a Seabourn VIP aboard the Pride that our new ships would look similar.

The aft outside dining area looked soooo comfortable~~~

Good Luck with your German lessons~~and your voyage!

Martita B.

[blackbird71]

This will be interesting. :) I just looked at the deck plans for the Europa and they are different from Silverseas and the current Seabourn ships. Both them have the passenger suites in the front of the ship with the aft being public rooms. The Europa follows the more standard ship layout of having full decks of public rooms and full decks of suites. Also there is only 2 large suites on it and 10 mini-suites.

 

This is just IMHO but hopefully Seabourn will do the desk area more like RSSC/Silverseas than Europa. Again IMHO there a lot of wasted space in the Europa desk area. Above the desk is just a large mirror, while on RSSC/Silverseas they have cabinets.

 

IE

 

Deck plans http://www.hl-cruises.com/redwork/do.php?layoutid=100&language=2&node=45069 click on a suite for 360 picture of the suite.

 

Two weeks from the time of this post I will be scanning the port from my Holiday Inn looking for the Legend. :)

[LaPaloma]

The Maiden voyage is normally the one to avoid as the crew have to find their feet and things often go wrong.The ship generally carries a lot of the cruise company directors and invited dignitaries that the staff look after,often to the detriment of fare paying passengers.Much better to book six months later when things are really at thier best.

We might also see some great deals on the three sisters.

Boatman, it's over to you.

I agree with you--we have been on many Seabourn cruises--all of them have been excellent--one was less excellent than the others. we had a V.P., and his family, from headquarters on board.Our favorite Capt. was not his usual upfront self. Dinner each night with the V.P. and family, the crew seemed a little distracted--one eye on the VIP. I can't imagine what it would be like with a ship full of "extra" special guests. I want to sail, like normal, when we are all just special guests. The fact that all of 2009 will be considered "Maiden" voyages, I think I may go for the open booking deal, and book something after the bugs have been worked out, and the VIP's have gone away! You are also right in thinking there will be some "hot deals" on the three sisters!! Don

[Iamboatman]

My Lord,

 

I didn't pick up on the handover. Sorry.:o

 

I am sure the Maiden Voyage will not be "normal" and there will be a number of kinks. It is the type of thing that either "floats your boat" or it doesn't.

 

Personally, I really don't have a clue what 2009 will bring. What I do know is that trying to cruise on Seabourn in the summer is near impossible unless you book well in advance. I am sure that with the new ships 2010 and 2011 will be much easier...not that we aren't looking quite a few years out!