Will the Crown Princess be ready?

[koolZip]

My fiancee and I will be on the Crown Princess when she sails out of New York on her first regularly scheduled voyage on June 14. By all accounts she's going to be a spectacular vessel and it will be exciting to explore her from stem to stern. My only concern is that because she is brand new, there are going to be some number of "kinks" to work out. So I guess my question is: How thoroughly will a new ship like the Crown be "shaken down" by the time she's ready to take on passengers? Should I expect handles to come off in my hand and doors to stick? Will the crew and staff be well trained? Should I expect all advertised services and amenities to be available?

 

If anyone else has sailed on a new ship, I'd love to hear about your experiences. Thanks

[Toto2Kansas]

The big question is IF she will be ready for her first sailing???????

 

I know we sailed on the Grand when she was fairly new, only a few months old and the crew were totally lost and were running around with their little maps in hand. BUT, since the Crown is not a completely new design, hopefully they will have some of the crew from the CB onboard that knows their way around.

 

I would not expect things to 'come off in your hand or doors to be stuck', but on a new ship, with it's first sailing, patience is the key word as they are usually still working out the kinks.

[koolZip]

Thanks, Toto2Kansas. You've said what I've kinda been suspecting.

As long as the problems don't rise above the "somewhat annoying" level, I'll be ok with the ship and crew, I think.

 

Robert

[IGOTTACRUISE]

Once on a Carnival first sailing we were on there were septic problems:eek:

 

Be prepared for almost anything and chances are the crew will be VERY confused so patience will be required.

[madelinerose]

Some Crown crew info:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=292997

[bdjam]

I think patience is the key on a maiden voyage. There will probably be minor issues because while the ship has been “shaken down,” nothing is the same as taking on an initial load of passengers for the first cruise. As long as you roll with any inconveniences, you should be fine – and you’ll have the ability to say you did the maiden voyage!

[Pam in CA]

Relax, go with the flow, and you'll have a great time. There will probably be some minor annoyances but don't let them bother you. We were on the Ocean Princess' 2nd voyage and the A/C in our room was full blast and couldn't be turned off. It took the engineers only minutes to fix the problem. Little things like that might happen. As long as you expect them and won't be bothered, you'll be fine.

[Mike A]

We were on the first revenue voyage of the Carnival Triumph in July 1999. When we booked the cruise it was supposed to be the 4th cruise. However due to problems at sea trials the 1st 3 cruises were cancelled and we became the maiden. As IGOTTACRUISE stated above the ship had a major septic problem. The smell throughout the ship was awful. Many complaints. The service on this cruise was the worst of any cruise we have been on. The room steward was always complaining he could not find his way arround the ship . He also kept saying that he could never find supplies like towels and the remote for the TV. We had 1st seating dinner and were always the 1st to enter the dining room and the last to leave every night. We would get our dinner when everyone else would be eating their dessert. On the 4th night someone waiting for 2nd sitting tried to pick a fight with our group because we were always the last to leave the dining room. At that point I needed the Matre'D to diffuse the situation.

[MiamiU72]

We are cruising on the same ship in August, so after you trip, can you post how it went?

 

ps...does anyone know why "Cool Cruiser" appears under my name??? I didn't put it there:)

[Mbouck1]

We were on the inaugural cruise on the Diamond Princess and did not hear of any problems at all. Our only problem was with our room we booked and Princess took care of us after the cruise.

We will be sailing on the second cruise on the Crown Princess only because we did not want to go to Jamacia again.

[Sheannb]

We were on the Diamond Inagural and there were absolutely no problems with anything, including the crew. The majority of the crew on a new ship are from other ships of Princess so they are very experienced and know their way around. I never even felt like it was the first cruise except for the idea that we were the first to use the bed, bathroom, balcony, china and the casino. And everything smells new too! Enjoy! Its a great experience to be "first"!

[koolZip]

I'm grateful for the feedback!

 

madelinerose, thanks for the link. Moving experienced crew and staff to a new ship makes a lot of sense. I'm sure the last thing Princess wants is bad word-of-mouth on a brand new ship!

 

Folks, thanks again for sharing your experiences. I will absolutely give a full report on the maiden voyage of the Crown and will answer any questions cruisers may have. I feel confident that it's going to be a most excellent time!

 

Robert

[Bassethound]

We are on the Crown's maiden, also. Fresh off the Tahitian (last week) the crew said not to worry about the service. The Crown is a similar layout to the Grand class (Sapphire, Carib) ships, not so much to learn. Also, they said Princess is having a crew contest and the winners will be on the Crown the first 3 months, partially to train the new crew members. So, they will be overstaffed some and with the best. Paul and Suzanne of the TP said that Princess does not want a repeat of their previous maiden voyage problems, so they are going overboard (pun intended) to make this one right.

 

Still.. a little uncertainty. I'm thinking twice about using United miles for the air.