Would you take a maiden/inaugural voyage?

[Jen516]

We are considering booking Holland America's new ship, the ms Nieuw Amsterdam, for it's inaugural voyage out of Venice next July.

 

We have never sailed HAL before, though we think it will be a nice line and nice ship.

 

We are, though, weary of all the things that can go wrong on a new ship.

 

Would you book this cruise if you were us? (A few additional points... there is one other trip we are considering on RCCL, older ship, similar ports. We are weary of all the possible kids on that ship and think HAL may be nicer. And we can not do this cruise later in the year -- we have date requirements)

 

Thanks for any input!

 

Jen

[RetireeWannabee]

I would do it in a heartbeat! Sure, things could go wrong, but maybe nothing will.

 

What it would come down to for me is what it sounds like for you - ports and timing. If this is the sailing that fits, Do It!

[cruiserking]

We are considering booking Holland America's new ship, the ms Nieuw Amsterdam, for it's inaugural voyage out of Venice next July.

 

We have never sailed HAL before, though we think it will be a nice line and nice ship.

 

We are, though, weary of all the things that can go wrong on a new ship.

 

Would you book this cruise if you were us? (A few additional points... there is one other trip we are considering on RCCL, older ship, similar ports. We are weary of all the possible kids on that ship and think HAL may be nicer. And we can not do this cruise later in the year -- we have date requirements)

 

Thanks for any input!

 

 

 

Jen

 

From everything that I have read over the years, I don't think it's a great idea to book a Maiden Voyage unless you are a devoted passenger to a specific cruise line.

 

All new ships experience chaos and turmoil in the first few months. There are often new crews learning different procedures. This coupled with passengers with high expectations can spell disappointment.

 

It is always very exciting to be aboard for a Maiden Voyage each port arrival the ship is greeted by a flotilla of vessels and there are often special events held.

 

We love Holland America Line. The ships are elegant, the crews are marvelous, hardworking and always smiling. If it's your first time aboard a HAL ship you won't really get a good impression of what this line is all about. But, if it's the only cruise that fits into your timetable, book it by all means and expect the usual hiccups of a brand new ship. I'm sure it will be a memorable voyage.

 

Jonathan

[okgirl]

I have to agree with cruiserking......Lots of chaos during the 1st few weeks.

 

I was on the Inauguaral Voyage of the Carnival Freedom in the Med in 2007. We had a great cruise, but rather than being this pristine, everyone excited to be there feeling it was somewhat of a let down.

 

The things that I have come to expect on Carnival just weren't there.

 

DR Staff - I've had excellent service from both the main and assistant server.....but on the Freedom, they were a new team, hadn't worked together before, were new to their position and just didn't click the way that I'm used to.

 

Ship - I was surprised to find new window stickers, protective covering on brass and just a bunch of little stuff like that. The pursers office had only very bad xerox copies of the deck plans. I thought we were suppose to get extra free stuff, not......

 

Staff - I thought everyone would be thrilled to be assigned on the newest ship in the fleet, but it's a lot of extra work for them with no tips. Most of the service staff from the bars to the DR and buffet had been on the ship for several weeks working long hours to get everything set up but just earning a very small salary with no tips.

 

Don't get me wrong, we had a great time and I was easily able to overlook any of these little glitches, but unless the price and itinerary were just something I couldn't pass up, I wouldn't go to any effort to ever sail a Maiden voyage again.

[cb at sea]

Unless the price was so great I couldn't pass it up, I'd wait. Let them work out the "kinks" (and there will be plenty!!!) first!

[AZjohn]

I don’t know there could be problems or there could not be. It all depends how things go ahead of time. I was on one inaugural (Oceanic Insignia) and I think the only little issue we noticed is our veranda didn’t have any furniture. One call and 10 minutes later issue resolved and life was good.

I think it’s a crap shot, and if the OP doesn’t want to take any unnecessary chances then I agree to wait a month or two. But if this was the time frame I wanted to sail and the itinerary that looked best, I would be booked on the cruise in a heartbeat. Something very nice about being on the inaugural of a cruise ship, at least something we will always remember (in a good way);).

John

[eh2zed]

There will be some glitches but on balance between these 2 ships I would go on the inaugural.

[Essiesmom]

Oceania Insignia was not a new ship, just new to that line. I was on the inaugural of Star Princess in 2002, Singapore to LA. We did not have any problems, but you could not call it the 'maiden voyage' because the ship was constructed in Italy, and dead-headed to Singapore. It was my understanding that on that voyage from Italy, the staff stayed in the passenger cabins, rotating around, making sure everything worked, and the crew got to practice their skills. EM

[paul929207]

I think if you can go into it knowing there will be some problems, but mentally prepared to ignore them and have a great time then go for it. If you are the type that will be bother by things not going perfect, find another cruise.

[Jen516]

Thanks everyone for the feedback. It's very helpful. I am a little weary though the ports, timing, and the ship in general suit us very well. This is really the only hold-up. I just don't want to spend our hard-earned money on this special trip to be wasted on lots of problems on board.

[Arwenmark]

I would not ever take an inaugural cruise. I took a cruise during the inagugrual SEASON of the first Disney ship and it was a complete mess. Certainly would not take the FIRST cruise on any ship.

[kitty9]

I did a maiden on Crystal Serenity. Two weeks before the cruise was to depart, all passengers booked on the maiden received a Fed Ex letter telling us that the ship had a couple of problems and had to go back to dry dock for repairs. Because of that, Crystal didn't feel the cruise would be up to Crystal standards. Crystal gave us a choice of canceling the cruise and getting a full refund or take the cruise and still receive a FULL REFUND. To say the least, everyone decided to still take the cruise. The only things we noticed was they didn't have all their barware and glasses and they didn't have the Do Not Disturb signs. Big Deal !!! We got a 2 week cruise on Crystal for free, and I might add, a lot of free drinks for the whole two weeks.

[Toto2Kansas]

One thing I would do is book cruise line air, or your own REFUNABLE air fare. There are times when new ships don't make the first sailing, and booking non-refundable air tickets would really be a gamble.

 

Personally, I would rather sail on a ship that was a few months old, that way they have taken care of any glitches they might run into.

 

Inagural cruises wouldn't interest me in the least.

[Aplmac]

Unless the price was so great I couldn't pass it up, I'd wait.

Let them work out the "kinks" (and there will be plenty!!!) first!

Doing an inaugural voyage strikes me as being a silly egotistical thing. :cool:

 

Given what one pays for a cruise for two, I'm not about to be the guinea-pig.

When they've got it all sorted out after six months and several sailings

only then are they ready for me and the wife.

 

 

.

[vindex]

I did an inaugural on the Costa Luminosa last may and the cruise was

fine. The ship had no noticable bugs and at each port call we had a

welcome or farewell ceremony (try a floating orchestra in Venice or

fireworks in Mykonos).

 

Personnaly I seek inaugurals, as the slight risk of malfunction is amply

balanced by the excitement of discovering new stuff. With the right

attitude inaugurals are plain fun. So what if the staff is not fully

current with the ship? Problems are usually quickly fixed and it's

interesting to watch (as most complex human organizations are).

 

Sure, one could spend an inaugural feeling entitled and grumpily

collecting details about mishaps. Or one could focus on trying

everything the new ship has to offer and enjoy himself in the process.

[pris993]

We did one by accident on the Grand Princess in 99. From Istanbul to Barcelona. We were suppose to be on the 3rd cruise, ship was delivered late.

 

When we got on they were still laying carpet in some cabins.

 

We felt service was hit and miss.

 

We enjoyed the cruise largely because of the ports.

 

We did crash a "press party" in the disco in Istanbul which was fun and the drinks and food were much better than the repeat passenger party the next day.

 

Would we do another, probably not. Where we glad we did this one, yes. Do at least one.

[bluenoser2]

We were on the inaugral voyage of the Emerald Princess in 2007, mostly because of the timing (my 45th birthday) and the itinerary (Mediterranean). We still refer to it as the PERFECT vacation. Of course, it was also OUR first cruise on anything but river cruises, and we found absolutely no fault anywhere - and my husband loved that "new ship" smell. Everything was ready and on time. Would I go out of my way to find an inaugral cruise? Probably not, but this one was, to us, perfect.

[cruiserbryce]

we sailed on Liberty of the Seas' Maiden Voyage. Has been our favorite trip yet. The ship was amazing, the crew was great. Everything seemed to have that little bit of extra energy to it. We got a gift every night in the cabin (which was great and unexpected). I would do it again

[John&LaLa]

We did the inaugural crossing of the Norwegian Gem. the ship had been cruising the Med for 4 or 5 weeks before heading to new York via Boston. most of the bugs were worked out in the med, but we had an owners suite and one of our TV's was not working. it took a couple of trips but they got it working. NCL had contractors on teh ship to handle repairs. the one thing that was a significant problem could not be fixed at sea. our side balsony had a sliding door and it whistled all night long. it got really bad the last two nights. the solution was to shove a wedge in teh handle. it was still noisy. i'm sure they fixed it when they got to Boston. the cabin was to fabulous to have an irritation such as that go on