Maiden Voyage - First Sailing - Experiences?

[SMerritt]

We received a call that a suite became available to us for the Breakaway Maiden voyage. Departing NYC to Bermuda.

 

After a lot of thought, we opted for a later sailing due to too much fanfare at the port and on the ship the first time out, also possibly a very new crew that will be unfamiliar with the new ship?

 

I am still wondering if the first time out for a ship is fun and exciting or sheer chaos?

[Colorado Kat]

I think a maiden voyage would be a lot of fun. Not everything might work perfectly, but the enthusiasm level of the crew should be high.

 

Give it a shot.

[sail7seas]

The 'bragging rights' of having been on a Maiden Voyage are fun.

 

You have to weigh that vs. the possiblity of a crew which has not yet meshed into fluidly working with each other and the chance not everything is completely finished and operating properly. Sometimes ships come out of the boat yard either late or with some things that need completion or adjustment etc.

 

We have been to a Ship's Naming Ceremony and it is very exciting.

Wonderful memories. :)

[Krazy Kruizers]

We ended up on a couple of Maiden voyages even though we had not booked them.

Princess -- both times the ships were delayed and our cruise ended up being the first cruise.

On the first Princess maiden voyage -- yes there were a ton of new crew -- almost all of them were new and there were not enough older crew to show the new ones what to do. The crew working the luggage area thought it would be better to wait for all the luggage to be put on the ship and then deliver it to the cabins. What they didn't count on was that most everyone had 2 pieces of luggage since this was 12 night Alaskan cruise. It took hours and extra people to get the luggage to all the cabins -- we were lucky -- we got ours by 11 PM. When we went into the dining room, there was anything on the table and our waiter said he had no idea what to do -- no one had shown him. So I made a drawing of all the silverware and their placement and water and wine glasses and bread & butter plates. Then I showed him how to take orders and how to choose one person to start with -- all he had was a plain note pad. The next night when we went into the dining room, our table and a few others around us were all perfectly set and other waiters were now taking notes.

On another Princess cruise -- the crew were mostly experienced staff -- no problems there. But the fire alarams would suddenly go off and the fire doors would close. Several water pipes burst. Elevators suddenly stopped and then restarted on their own -- but they went in the opposite direction -- going down instead of up, etc.

It was interesting and fun in some ways.

[Keith1010]

The plus is to say you were on the Maiden Voyage but the downside is often there are issues to work through from technical issues to the crew getting used to the ship.

 

Keith

[sail7seas]

 

 

<snip>

When we went into the dining room, there was anything on the table and our waiter said he had no idea what to do -- no one had shown him. So I made a drawing of all the silverware and their placement and water and wine glasses and bread & butter plates. Then I showed him how to take orders and how to choose one person to start with -- all he had was a plain note pad. The next night when we went into the dining room, our table and a few others around us were all perfectly set and other waiters were now taking notes.

 

<snip>

 

 

That would not happen to anything like that extent on an HAL ship.

 

HAL has schools in Indonesia and Philipines where their bar and dining/cabin steward staff are from. They are well trained before they ever arrive at the ships.

 

[Krazy Kruizers]

That would not happen to anything like that extent on an HAL ship.

 

HAL has schools in Indonesia and Philipines where their bar and dining/cabin steward staff are from. They are well trained before they ever arrive at the ships.

 

 

We took those cruises back in the 80's and 90's.

As far as I know HAL did not have those training schools back then. Weren't they started around 2007?

We have had a couple of crew on HAL that weren;t very well trained.

[sail7seas]

We took those cruises back in the 80's and 90's.

 

As far as I know HAL did not have those training schools back then. Weren't they started around 2007?

 

We have had a couple of crew on HAL that weren;t very well trained.

 

 

The HAL schools go back further than 2007.

[Colorado Kat]

We ended up on a couple of Maiden voyages even though we had not booked them.

Princess -- both times the ships were delayed and our cruise ended up being the first cruise.

 

Oh - didn't think of that. So you could be booked, and all of a sudden, no ship available? Eek!

[TracieABD]

Ahhhh, but that new ship smell...:)

[Hlitner]

Out of our many cruises we have only done one maiden voyage (the Enchantment of the Seas) and our reaction was "Never Again." The ship was not totally ready and there was the inconvenience of having workers still onboard, watching crew unpacking boxes of furniture and other items, and a crew that had not yet started functioning at their peak. Over many years of cruising we have learned to avoid Maiden Voyages, the voyage before a major drydock, and at least one cruise after a major drydock.

 

Hank

[Beth C]

I had the pleasure of sailing both the Oasis (my 1st cruise) and Allure inaugural 7 night voyages... I honestly can't remember any problems or glitches with either of them... My 2014 cruise is already slated as Project Sunshine Inaugural sailing! We did get tons of freebie things on both sailings... I still use my Royal Caribbean tote bag daily as my work bag lol

 

 

Sent from my Speak & Spell using Tapatalk

[dancinman66]

I would not mind doing the maiden voyage for sunshine class also

any idea when it will be available

[Essiesmom]

Although that would be her 'maiden' sailing from NYC/US, it would not be her first sailing. She does a two day r/t Rotterdam, sails to Southampton, overnights, and does a 7 day TA. So most of the kinks should be worked out.

We did the inaugural sailing of the Star Princess from Singapore to LA, 26 days. There weren't any problems with the ship, because she had sailed deadhead (empty) from the Med where she was built, across the Indian Ocean to Singapore. I understand the crew rotated theough the cabins to make sure everything was working, and that the cabin staff got practice. EM

[cruiseryyc]

Did the maiden voyage of the Dawn Princess; hadn't planned on being on that voyage but the ship was delayed and so the trip we had booked ended up being the maiden one. Were invited down a couple of days early to experience the naming ceremony. That cruise was one of my all time favorites. I don't remember any problems with inexperienced staff or the ship not being quite ready. The fire alarm did go off one night due to an overheating a/c unit but that was the only issue. It was a fantastic cruise.