Looking at a Pre-Maiden Voyage on the new Ascent…What are the pros & cons?

[Georgia_Peaches]

Currently have a hold on a 4 night Thanksgiving cruise on the Ascent. This is a pre-maiden voyage cruise in a P1 stateroom (porthole balcony) with included perks and a $350 obc. We’ve never sailed Edge class so it’s uncharted waters. What are the pros and cons of booking a “Guinea pig” cruise?

 

[Cruise Gopher]

Were you able to find a good price on this one? I’ve been looking at it since it was announced but they want so much for a 4 night cruise. 

[Georgia_Peaches]

3 minutes ago, Cruise Gopher said:

Were you able to find a good price on this one? I’ve been looking at it since it was announced but they want so much for a 4 night cruise. 

I don’t know if it’s a good price or not but we are celebrating a milestone anniversary so we were willing to splurge a little. Our fare is $1400 pp plus tax. It would have been less if we hadn’t opted for the perks. DH needs wifi access and I prefer to have a drinks package. The $350 obc is refundable. 

[jelayne]

The potential downside is some things may not be totally ready for prime time,  crew may still be learning how to work together and learning the ship.  Positives everything will be brand new.  
We scored an amazing price awhile back on a 7 night in a SV with AI for under $3k.  
Enjoy your milestone anniversary cruise, hope you post a review.

[Georgia_Peaches]

8 hours ago, jelayne said:

We scored an amazing price awhile back on a 7 night in a SV with AI for under $3k.  

Wow!  That’s awesome. Haven’t seen a deal like that for Ascent. Maybe I need to keep looking. 
 

I can handle a “training cruise” but DH asked if there’s a discount for the passengers while they train. It’s looking like no 😂. 

[cw2go]

9 hours ago, jelayne said:

The potential downside is some things may not be totally ready for prime time,  crew may still be learning how to work together and learning the ship.  Positives everything will be brand new.  
We scored an amazing price awhile back on a 7 night in a SV with AI for under $3k.  
Enjoy your milestone anniversary cruise, hope you post a review.

 

Agree with @jelayne  I sailed a 4nt 'Guinea Pig" cruise on Allure with RCCL years ago. We had a great time, the vibe is super fun but there were more slip-ups than a more seasoned sailing. Chalked it up to a learning curve. I also snagged a huge price drop so you may see one as well. 

 

Patty 

[cbfb]

Just go in knowing that a 4 night cruise, especially over a holiday, is a very different experience. 

[Jeremiah1212]

11 hours ago, Cruise Gopher said:

Were you able to find a good price on this one? I’ve been looking at it since it was announced but they want so much for a 4 night cruise. 

 

Prices will not vary much at all on these two cruises from what Celebrity is offering directly. There may be a small savings on concierge through some TA's but that's about the best you will find. 

[Dar & Bob]

Does anyone know what/where the Ascent will be going or doing November 29th to December 3rd?  Will it just be sitting getting tweaked in Port Everglades?  Cruisemapper shows it arriving but no departure until December 3rd.

[NutsAboutGolf]

34 minutes ago, Dar & Bob said:

Does anyone know what/where the Ascent will be going or doing November 29th to December 3rd?  Will it just be sitting getting tweaked in Port Everglades?  Cruisemapper shows it arriving but no departure until December 3rd.

 

Nassau only...Prior to that sailing, Nov 22, Cozumel only

[prmssk]

44 minutes ago, Dar & Bob said:

Does anyone know what/where the Ascent will be going or doing November 29th to December 3rd?  Will it just be sitting getting tweaked in Port Everglades?  Cruisemapper shows it arriving but no departure until December 3rd.

Press trips are often common around the launch of a new ship so that is my guess (but it is only a guess).  I highly doubt it will just be sitting empty those days.  

[Ex-Airbalancer]

Con- it is an E class ship 😁

[NutsAboutGolf]

19 minutes ago, prmssk said:

Press trips are often common around the launch of a new ship so that is my guess (but it is only a guess).  I highly doubt it will just be sitting empty those days.  

 

To my understanding and I could be way off, there's a non-revenue/public TA, would that be considered the press trip?

Edited May 28, 2023 by NutsAboutGolf

[NutsAboutGolf]

My WAG (Wild A$$ Guess)

 

1) Longer waits than normal at dining venues

2) Perhaps you'll see maintenance/engineer in public places performing Q.A./ tweaking systems and there could be some very short term system outages yet that could all be resolved on the TA (if there is one)

[De Colores]

On 3/30/2023 at 10:56 PM, Georgia_Peaches said:

I don’t know if it’s a good price or not but we are celebrating a milestone anniversary so we were willing to splurge a little. Our fare is $1400 pp plus tax. It would have been less if we hadn’t opted for the perks. DH needs wifi access and I prefer to have a drinks package. The $350 obc is refundable. 

We booked an E2 with perks, $150 OBC refundable balcony for about $2500 for two. He has rooms available. I too am wondering if a maiden voyage is a good idea. 

[kwokpot]

2 hours ago, De Colores said:

We booked an E2 with perks, $150 OBC refundable balcony for about $2500 for two. He has rooms available. I too am wondering if a maiden voyage is a good idea. 

I was on the second cruise of the Edge back in December 2018 and it was considered the maiden Eastern Caribbean cruise. We had a great time and considering it was the first E-Class ship in the fleet we didn't notice any service issues due to a new class of ship. It was fun getting some maiden voyage merch (luggage tags and very nice water bottle). What was interesting is that a feature of the Grand Plaza (The food/snack service area that was to the left of the Martini Bar)  had already been deemed a complete failure and was no longer being used and shut down only after one prior revenue cruise!  I think while on paper it was an interesting idea to have an additional food service area by the Martini Bar in reality it was a redundant feature that competed directly with Cafe Al Bacio and probably was pretty obvious from the non-Rev fam tours and the first revenue cruise that it was a completely wasted and unused feature.