Has anyone ever been on a Maiden Voyage (any cruise line)?

[petlover]

We've been on full Radisson/Regent WC's where they really rolled out the red carpet for us but have never been on a Maiden Inaugural cruise. Would love to hear from anyone who has ? Since the Explorer is not doing a "shakedown" cruise, I'm curious if the bugs were worked out, that type of thing. Do they do special things on that 1st cruise?

[hondorner]

We were on both Marina and Riviera maiden voyages. Marina's was "interesting" because it was not quite complete when delivered -- there were 130 shipyard workers aboard the maiden voyage from Barcelona to Miami, finishing several of the top suites, outer decking and more. Marina also ran into very rough water in the harbor at Malaga and was unable to dock; seamstresses with costumes for the singers and dancers were left at the dock in Malaga and were flown to Casablanca to join the ship. She also encountered very rough seas between Casablanca and Tenerife, resulting in deck furniture blowing off and cabinets, including wine cabinets, falling, with a lot of breakage.

 

Guests had fun looking for little things that were not complete or not in order, but I guess you'd have to have a sense of adventure to enjoy that.

 

Marina had been scheduled for a shakedown (Oceania calls it "Friends and Family) between Genoa and Barcelona, but because the shipyard was late, that was canceled, and only crew and a few executives sailed on the hasty, overnight run to Barcelona. Part of the delay was because the shipyard had a hard time accepting the quality Mr. Del Rio insisted go into the ship.

 

Marina was christened in Miami at the conclusion of the maiden voyage (it's OK -- ships are christened at float-out, and "named" at the formal ceremony), and a 3 day Friends and Family cruise took place over 3 days to the Bahamas and back, then she sailed her inaugural canal cruise to AASan Francisco. We were aboard then entire first 34 days.

 

Riviera was a much different story. The shipyard did go on strike, and the ship was delayed several weeks, causing the first two cruises to be canceled. But, a lesson had been learned through Marina, and sufficient time was allowed for a true 9 day christening cruise before the maiden voyage. It took place from Monte Carlo to Venice (similar to Explorer's maiden). The actual christening took place in Barcelona. The maiden voyage began in Venice and went to Athens. We were aboard from Monte Carlo to Athens.

 

Riviera is essentially the same as Marina, except that a few things were improved -- the ceilings in Polo and Toscana are higher, for example. The important thing is that none of the adventure that took place on Marina happened on Riviera. The crew was familiar with the layout, the shipyard had everything right and the first cruises were as relaxed and correct as if the ship had been sailing for a year.

 

Based on the previous experience, and the fact that the same shipyard is building Explorer and is now accustomed to the perfection that Prestige expects, I believe there will be no "drama" associated with Explorer's first cruises.

[petlover]

Oh this made me LOL. What an experience you had. Thanks for sharing :D

What an experience, what memories you must have.

[Mr Rumor]

Great post, Don.

 

To answer your question, petlover, I was on a maiden voyage once--that of the Royal Viking Sea in December, 1973 ("Christmas in Africa"), but I was too young and, frankly, too unknowledgable about cruising at that time to grasp the specialness of the event. Plus I was there to do a job (produce the daily newspaper for the passengers) so I was pretty busy getting the hang of things that first week or two! I do recall a ship full of happy passengers and no significant issues. One thing about that cruise I'll never forget: Christmas day in Dakar, specifically our excursion to the slave-trading center on the Island of Goree. I was haunted for years by images of the Goree slave quarters and the story of the Atlantic slave trade.

 

Rich

[ChatKat in Ca.]

We were on the inaugural sailing of the Mariner in 2001. I would not want to book the very first cruise - we were on her 3rd cruise. They were still figuring out logistics. They ran out of many things on the ship and rented vans to go shopping at Costco in Juneau. It was pretty funny. We did not notice. Everything was perfection and we have loved that cruise. Just for fun: The faire for 12 days was $2100 per person. We got a cabin credit of $1100. and we had several spectacular excursions that were all covered by that cabin credit including float plane and helicopter tours.

[wripro]

I was on the maiden voyage of the Seabourn Odyssey. Though there were a few minor hiccups nothing that affected the cruise. The sendoff they gave us in Venice was worth the whole cruise. But I have also heard horror stories like the maiden voyage of the QM2 so it's a risk and only you know if it's one worth taking.

[petlover]

We were on the inaugural sailing of the Mariner in 2001. I would not want to book the very first cruise - we were on her 3rd cruise. They were still figuring out logistics. They ran out of many things on the ship and rented vans to go shopping at Costco in Juneau. It was pretty funny. We did not notice. Everything was perfection and we have loved that cruise. Just for fun: The faire for 12 days was $2100 per person. We got a cabin credit of $1100. and we had several spectacular excursions that were all covered by that cabin credit including float plane and helicopter tours.

 

WOW...such a deal. Boy have things changed now but happy you were able to do this in those "good old days".

[Pam]

We were on the Alaskan cruise with Kathy, of course we didn't "know" each other at the time so if we encountered each other it was truly like "ships passing in the night". We weren't savvy enough to get any kind of OBC, and I have no memory of what we paid. But we did have one of the Seven Seas Aft suites, and it was absolute heaven on earth for that scenery!

 

Edited to add: there was another Kathy and her husband from CC onboard, and we did meet them. Her posting ID was KathyZ, and I haven't seen her post in a long time.

 

And it was still in the days that caviar with all the trimmings was there, just for the asking.

Edited January 17, 2015 by Pam

[ChatKat in Ca.]

Yes - that spoiled us from cruising any other line. We tried a Celebrity Cruise the next year and swore off anything but Radisson.

 

We are going to try Crystal next. We do like Oceania a lot. My mother was on an Inaugural sailing on Royal Carribean's Viking Serenade and loved that - I think in the 1970's - she told of a few issues of things not ready but having dinner with the Captain was the highlight for her. I think that cruising has changed substantially since that time.

[Dakota0307]

What should I expect for OBC for a ten day trip to Tahiti? My travel agent tells me they do not give OBC like years ago. We are receiving $100.00. Thought that amount was a bit chinsy. Getting ready to book a transatlantic cruise from Africa to Rio de Janiero. Wondering if it is time to look for new TA.

[wripro]

If you choose a TA based solely on how much OBC he/she gives you then start looking. But a good TA provides service which is worth much more to me than an extra couple of hundred bucks in OBC.

[hvsteve1]

How did these last two posts get in here?

 

Anyway, I was not on a maiden voyage but on one not too long after on the late, lamented Mississippi Queen. I was chatting with one of the staff (easy to do as they were all Americans) and she told me of the maiden voyage where they found a problem with the vacuum system that operates the toilets. It seems that if too many people tried flushing at about the same time, every toilet on the boat flushed, causing the boat to experience a loud roar. It was fixed by the next trip.

Edited January 19, 2015 by hvsteve1

[TedC]

ONLY on my sailboat "Veritas" on Lake Ontario - all went well!

 

OUR first Regent sailing we were upgraded to D - same size as booked suite - BIG DEAL!!!!!

[rallydave]

If you choose a TA based solely on how much OBC he/she gives you then start looking. But a good TA provides service which is worth much more to me than an extra couple of hundred bucks in OBC.

 

Should not be looking only for OBC. Agree a couple of hundred bucks is miniscule in the big scheme of things but, with the large costs of Regent cruises the TA is making thousands of dollars and some of that should be shared back with the OP as well as excellent service. And, OBC is not very useful on Regent, especially on a trans Atlantic. Rebates are significantly better and then you have the choice of where to spend the money or simply call it a discount.

 

What should I expect for OBC for a ten day trip to Tahiti? My travel agent tells me they do not give OBC like years ago. We are receiving $100.00. Thought that amount was a bit chinsy. Getting ready to book a transatlantic cruise from Africa to Rio de Janiero. Wondering if it is time to look for new TA.

 

Yes, that is a lot chintzy. You can get rebates of 10% of the commissionable amount of the cruise and depending on what the cost is, could mean thousands of dollars rebated. You really don't want or need OBC on Regent since it is almost completely inclusive and you might just end up using it for overpriced things from the boutique.

 

Getting a rebate allows you to decide where to spend the money. You simply do some searching to find excellent TA's with excellent service and possibly thousands of dollars in rebates. Most TA's who are excellent and provide the rebates are not local. Had a TA we really liked but, she would only provide a bottle of wine or two. Did our homework and found an excellent TA with excellent service and haven't looked back. Thousands of dollars rebated and we get to decide where and if to spend that money and any issues are handled in a professional manner.

[TedC]

ONLY on my sailboat "Veritas" on Lake Ontario - all went well!

 

OUR first Regent sailing we were upgraded to D - same size as booked suite - BIG DEAL!!!!!

 

I should've added the food could've been better and the crew was rather snarly!

[eliana]

We have a rule never to go ona a cruise son after a ship has been launched or following a dry dock refurbishment, as a result of a disastrous cruise following a refurbishment. Work not finished, crew not knowing the ship and problems emerging not discovered during test sailings. DON'T.

[cruiseej]

Yes, I marvel at the intensity of interest in being on the maiden cruise. I do understand there's something to be said for having been part of a special moment, but considering the high cost and the near-certainty that there will be teething issues with a new ship and staff, I'm surprised there's such high interest in such a cruise. Hopefully things will be in relatively good shape and the crew will be fairly capable, but it surely won't be the best cruise experience that one will presumably get several weeks or months after the debut. I know I wouldn't chose to do the maiden voyage, but clearly it's a priority for many.

[petlover]

Thanks for all the opinions. We are booked on the Maiden, many on this are passengers who have lots of nights on Radisson/Regent so have become accustomed to how things on a luxury liner should be. This is our first MV but we are easy to please (some may not be so and probably shouldn't have even booked). Even on our least favorite cruise, it was still fun and very memorable. We're prepared to expect the unexpected and always have the attitude to roll with the "what is".

 

We have a later B2B booked on the Explorer so it will be fun to compare after a few voyages "under their belt".

Edited January 26, 2015 by petlover

[lisemare]

I think if the Oceania Mariner MV is anything to go by than we are in for a wonderful cruise . Review here http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=78523

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[spindrift]

We were on the Maiden Voyage of Oceania's Marina. Fabulous trip.

 

We were booked on the Riveria maiden but because of the delay, we had to cancel.

 

We were booked on the Regent Voyager for July 2016, but we cancelled that due to other issues. We were on the Voyager doing Cape Town to Singapore and when we got home, we found that we did, in fact, have our room assignment for the maiden, but it expired before we could take care of everything. I'm sure that will be a fabulous trip. Sounds like a beautiful ship.

[hydro3]

Hasn't anyone seen those maiden voyages of the Star Fleet Enterprise. Those never turned out well so I am waiting at least for the second or the third sailing. That way any kinks from Romulon or Klingon invaders will be worked out.

 

Plus I think Captain Kirk should really retire and the rumor is that the maiden voyage will be his last.

Edited January 30, 2015 by hydro3

[BARBYQ]

We were fortunate to be on the , complimentary , shakedowns of the Mariner and and Voyager. Both voyages were quite memorable for various reasons.

[gnomie1]

We were fortunate to be on the , complimentary , shakedowns of the Mariner and and Voyager. Both voyages were quite memorable for various reasons.

 

If you do not mind me asking, how did you get invited to the shakedown cruise and if you do not mind sharing, would love to hear of your experience.

 

gnomie. :)

[BARBYQ]

The invitations were based on the number of nights one had. For the Mariner you needed , at least , 50 and for the Voyager you needed 100. You were responsible for your own air.