Would you cruise on a maiden voyage or right after drydock

[flagger]

Having watched the TCL programme again about the Sovereign of the Seas drydock made me want to ask this question. The pressure to finish on time with reports here that there was still items needing to be cleaned up versus the need to generate revenue made for an interesting dichotomy. We all know the drama is edited for maximum effect, but I thought it would be interesting for real world experiences and thoughts.

[Ericknow32]

I wanted to book the maiden voyage on the Freedom of the Seas but my TA said don't you dare. I trust her. She said that ships are hardly ever finished on time. Well I guess thats a chance some are willing to take I however will not.

[Shari2]

I was on the maiden voyage of the "Zenith" and it was one of my best cruises, but after watching the same show about the "SOS" I don't think I would book any more maiden or "after drydock" cruises. Too big of a chance for things to be unfinished or to go wrong.

[slomotion]

Yes & did!

 

We were on RCCL's Radiance's second leg (Ensenada to Seattle) or her maiden voyage and loved every minute of it. Had a only few minor inconveniences.

 

Great crew and staff.

 

I would do it again in a heartbeat!

[teedee]

I probably would have before I saw the show on Sovereign, but I think I'd wait a few weeks after maiden voyage or drydock now.

 

Terri

[denb]

I prefer to go after things have 'shaken out' and calmed down....... and 'all' the workers have left the ship. ;) We're looking forward to Enchantment, 3 months after her stretch.

 

I TiVo'd the Sovereign story and got through episodes 1-3 last night. We were on her when she wasn't so out-of-date, and are thinking of 'visiting' her again. Maybe next year.

[CaptData]

The record on recent ones shows that work still goes on. Look at the QM2. They offered the first cruise free plus a discount later beacuse it was not finished. When Princess was converting to the big screen there was stuff lying around until they finshed. It is not just after drydock but the cruise before as well.

 

 

I usually wait 3-6 months. I went on Navigator of the Seas in Aug of 03, six months after she started service. I want to try Pride of America but won't for about two years. Going on Freedom of the Seas Late Mar of 2007.

[dmk]

After years of cruising, the most outstanding cruise was the Maiden Voyage of the Infinity. It was very exciting to be the first to do everything from your bed to the potty.....And the gifts we'd find in our cabin to commemorate were outstanding. One night we came back to our cabin to find a piece of Waterford Crystal. Also the crew and staff were very excited to be on the first voyage of that ship, so we found the service excellent.

 

I have never been on a cruise just out of drydock. But I would think that the problems before drydock were solved and things would be ship shape. I would be more hesitant to go on a cruise the last before drydock. If you watched the TV program on drydock, you'll know what I mean.

[Druke I]

Sail on a ship after a routine drydock? Yes.

 

Sail on a ship after a major refit/refurbish? No.

 

One size does not fit all.

[Vistadeck]

We went on the Mercury's inagural sailing, and it was flawless.. only thing that came up was they were a bit slow in Calica to get the tenders out to get us, land side problem though, not the cruise line. The ship ran like clockwork and you'd never know it was an inagural except for the nice inagural gift left in the cabin.

 

Also have been on the Dawn Princess' 3rd sailing, and one of the early Radiance sailings, they were great. Not be on a ship after a major refit or drydock yet but if the price is right, I'm happy to put up with some shaking down.

 

Vista

[Lancashire_lass]

We have been on Jewel of the Seas and Brilliance of the Seas maiden voyages and we loved it being the first to use everything. You would never have known it was the maiden as everything ran like clockwork so it's a big yes from me. :D

[Sky Sweet]

One of the reasons why we booked our Baltic Cruise for next summer on the Constellation instead of the Century is our reluctance to sail on the Century that soon after its major drydock renovations....On the other hand, we sailed the Infinity to Alaska during the summer of 2001, its inaugaral season, and that was one of our favorite cruises.

[nu2sea]

I think it depends on how much the cruise line would be willing to pay....

[Goldryder]

I shall be sailing on Norwegian Jewel before she enters service fully on a shakedown cruise in August. I am actually looking forward to it alot as its not very often a chance like this comes up. I know we will be 'guinea-pigs' and testing everything aboard her, but the way I see it, if I was going on the first real trip on here, I would rather have fellow cruisers try everything out first that have dockworkers do it...nothing against the workers, just they probably would not see potential problems and faults in the same way as cruise passengers would.

 

I disembark from Jewel hours before she enters service properly on her maiden transatlantic cruise. I don't foresee any real problems with her, but at least the crew will know about things that might have been overlooked in the 'snagging check' done by the owners.

[Coolcruise02]

I voted NO after watching the recent show, but I guess they tried to do too much, not just an ordinary drydock. :)

[hermang]

We were on Voyage 3 of the Serenade - Did not see one spec of unfinished business. I am sure there may have been but we didn't see it. I suspect the fact that the price was a bargain may have been because RCCL expected "issues" but heck if the price is right - a couple of quirks at sea is better than a good day at the office

[House_Atreides]

I love trying new things! I've never had this experience...I might hate it, I might love it...and there's only one way to find out!:D

 

Heck I remember my first cruise. I was scared stupid that I forgot something, or I'd be seasick.....all kinds of stuff. But I had to try; I didn't get sick or forget anything! And I'm a cruise addict now! :rolleyes:

[Glendakayself]

We were on the Galaxy after an emergency dry dock several years ago. She had hit something in the canal going out of Amsterdam to the Baltic and had to cancel a 2-week cruise. While repairing the problem, they were able to replace some worn carpet, clean, paint, etc. It was the best cruise ever.

However, we took a cruise with Premier, their first out of Houston. The ship was old but supposedly revamped for this cruise. It was so bad from matresses which left bruises to air conditioning that did not work to difficulty with the shore-excursion venders getting us back to the ship on time that they gave everyone on board a coupon for a free cruise. We had planned on using ours the next summer, but the company went out of business before that season was complete. They also sunk a tug the next cruise out and had to cancel the cruise.

[Brucemcdou]

I voted no, after seeing the TLC special (OK, I've already watched it twice - I guess I'm a certifiable cruise nut!) but I have to admit that we're currently booked on a cruise immediately after a drydock. We're on the Millenium's Westbound transatlantic in November 2005. Originally it was scheduled to be followed by a two-week drydock after it arrived in Ft. Lauderdale. Later they switched the schedule so they'll do the drydock first, then we'll board for our transatlantic cruise. Having watched the TLC show on drydocks, I guess I'm glad for the schedule change. Even though a few things might be incomplete afterwards, the vast majority of the work will be done and things will be fresh, rather than being tired out and ready to be fixed. Also, I'm guessing the crew and staff would be more upbeat and energized right after a drydock than right before.

 

Of course, Celebrity ships generally look fresh and clean, and the crew and staff are always professional, so I'm not too concerned!

[mafig]

We were on the maiden voyage of the Coral Princess. Not that we planned it that way. The maiden voyage was supposed to be in mid November 2002; however, cruise after cruise was cancelled (some at the very last minute). The cruise before ours was supposed to be December 24 to January 3 and this was cancelled two days before Dec. 24 (leaving alot of people very angry).

 

 

Coral's webcam was turned on December 23 and on December 24 she left France. She hit bad weather on the way over so we had nothing but a blank screen for a few days. She made it to Ft. Lauderdale January 2, had her coast guard inspection and we were on her January 3. Was it a perfect cruise? No, there were a few problems (they couldn't find the TV remote controls until day 5 of our cruise, we were locked out of the buffet the first day and no one knew where the key to the doors was).

 

However . . . . . . the crew was the best, they were all so happy to finally get this ship delivered, and ...... it ranks as our best cruise ever.:)

[Blazerboy]

IF I knew that there was a potential for some problems AND had a way to change my vacation plans at the last minute, I'd be game. I think the key here would be to anticipate some of the potential shortcomings and roll with them.

[CRUZBUDS]

We were fortunate enough to have been invited on a pre-view one day cruise of the Monarch of the Seas after it's major refurb a couple of years ago. I haven't had a chance to watch the TLC show yet (TIVO), but I think the Monarch's wasn't quite as extensive.

 

This was the Thursday before the inaugaral three day cruise. My wife and I thought about purchasing that cruise and staying on for the whole weekend. The prices were very high so we decided againest it.

 

We were enjoying cocktails from the Viking Crown lounge when we noticed a full size 40 yard dumpster on the upper deck. Then we noticed a full size shipping container. The shipping container was full of new furniture.

 

The welcome aboard buffet was in the dinning room - we found out why. The entire buffet restaurant was far from completion. We took a tour of area wearing the maditory hard hats. I can't list here all of the things that were not done or were in the process. As we sailed out of the channel we watched a crew of deck hands laying carpet on the deck below us.

 

We were glad we didn't pay full price for an 80% ship. (We had a blast anyway) -- We heard it was another month or so before she was really finished.

 

After that we were sure we'd never book a first cruise out of the yards - new or refurb

[VibeGuy]

The TLC series was freaky; I remember being on the pre-inaugural of the Monarch, getting a cool crystal tchotke, having open bars, and thinking "WOW, I can't believe they can make an atrium this big". Things change. ;0)

 

I was on the third Radiance sailing, and I could not believe how well-run the ship was - especially since they had not transferred very many crew - they were mostly new hires. Really an exceptional trip.

 

I would hesitate *slightly* to book the first voyage after a stretch, but even for the most major mechanical or cosmetic drydocks, I wouldn't think twice.

 

Eric

[Ericknow32]

We were fortunate enough to have been invited on a pre-view one day cruise of the Monarch of the Seas after it's major refurb a couple of years ago. I haven't had a chance to watch the TLC show yet (TIVO), but I think the Monarch's wasn't quite as extensive.

 

This was the Thursday before the inaugaral three day cruise. My wife and I thought about purchasing that cruise and staying on for the whole weekend. The prices were very high so we decided againest it.

 

We were enjoying cocktails from the Viking Crown lounge when we noticed a full size 40 yard dumpster on the upper deck. Then we noticed a full size shipping container. The shipping container was full of new furniture.

 

The welcome aboard buffet was in the dinning room - we found out why. The entire buffet restaurant was far from completion. We took a tour of area wearing the maditory hard hats. I can't list here all of the things that were not done or were in the process. As we sailed out of the channel we watched a crew of deck hands laying carpet on the deck below us.

 

We were glad we didn't pay full price for an 80% ship. (We had a blast anyway) -- We heard it was another month or so before she was really finished.

 

After that we were sure we'd never book a first cruise out of the yards - new or refurb

I would say that the refurb was about the same on both ships. The only thing that the Monarch of the Seas didn't get was a Johnny Rockets. The Monarch of the Seas went through her refurb while traveling through the Panama canal so I can understand what happened. I was on her either three cruises after refurb or three weeks after refurb I am not sure which but all that was being done at that time was finishing work.

[RickT]

Not sure about a Maiden voyage but I'd definitely do one right after dry dock (and yes, I saw the show on the Sovereign). Guess that as long as I'm on a cruise it's better than being at home.