NEW SHIP QUESTIONS- Mardi Gras

[Cruisegirl6]

Hello,

 

I been on many cruises but always chose to stay away from maiden voyages because I feel there is the possibility of the cruise line cancelling due to needing more time to build the ship.  With this being said, have any of you been on one of the first few cruises of a Carnival ship and can answer our questions?  We are currently booked on the Mardi Gras for its first sailing  for October 16, 2020 out of Port Canaveral, we are a family of 4 generations with 7 rooms so far.  My son/daugter in law and two grandsons will be in the Kids Family Harbor, my daughter and her boyfriend in a Cove Balcony and the rest of us in hump/extended balcony cabins.

I realize she will have a handful of cruises before us, coming from Denmark to London, to NY, Canada, then down to Caribbean to finally getting to her homeport, so I assume, during this time before our cruise, everything will be worked and tweaked out.

 

1-  Does the cruise line give you any incentives when your on one of the first sailings, such as a tee shirt, a poster, anything, just curious as a souvenir of being on one of the first sailings?

2-  Is there anything special going on within the ship during the first sailings?  Such as welcome parties and such?

3-  I assume Carnival will choose their best employees to work on this ship, am I correct?

4-  Do you feel the food such as in the lido buffet be a more variety/selection and better quality?

5-  Do you feel they will have any other specialty dining that was not mentioned about yet or any surprises to come?

[mdsgu]

We booked the Mardi Gras for Thanksgiving week 2020 out of Port Canaveral.  I haven't read anything about Carnival doing anything like T-shirts or parties except on the maiden voyage, but, hey, you might get lucky.

 

I imagine they will offer some sort of reduced-price specialty dining package (a la NCL) that they are currently trying out on one or two ships.  We've always found Carnival's MDRs to be more than adequate, but we often book the steakhouse for the last night.  The Lido buffet will probably be whatever is standard Carnival fare at the time.

[Joebucks]

I've never been an "early adopter" of anything. I'll never understand the people who would wait in line day 1 for things like a new iPhone. I'm sure it will be a great experience. More often, people just want to be able to say "I was one of the first people on it," if that floats your boat, then go for it.

 

Personally, I would wait. My cruise experience will be just as good either way. A maiden voyage, you do run some risks. Sure those fears are generally overblown, but I would say there is a higher chance something may not work properly or teams may not be in the right rhythm yet.

 

 

[Cruisegirl6]

The reduced specialty dining package is a joke, your only saving like $5, why would anybody give their money to Carnival in advance to save $5, then I read your not guaranteed to get the time/date you want for your reservations and I also read your not able to cancel, if you do, you loose the money.  We are so happy that the Steakhouse is on the ship, we be eating there at least 5 nights on this 8 night voyage and the other evenings we will go to the Italian specialty and Izume too.  I would love to see another eating venue on this ship, it be nice.  My worries, is that with all these passengers there truly is really only one deck which is deck 7 and when on deck 7 in the main lounge everybody has to go through the casino....NCL Breakaway had this and it really caused alot of traffic jams.  My worries is the layout of the ship is not though out right regarding traffic flow, but I hope I am wrong.  As far as outdoor deck space the ship seems to be great with that.

[ishap]

You pose some interesting questions about maiden voyages.  They obviously are very exclusive as not many new ships come out and there is only one...so, as a person who is sailing on the maiden voyage of the Mardi Gras I would be interested in hearing experiences from people who have been on maiden voyages.

[BTHodgeman]

I'm not sure if they'll have this for the first sailings out of Port Canaveral, but on the Vista Mediterranean and TA itineraries, there was a book in each cabin talking about the ship. I know a lot of people kept that book as a souvenir, and I read after the cruise, that Carnival pretty much expects people to take the books.

 

For the TA, there were tons of itinerary-specific shirts, photo frames, etc. that you could buy in the Fun Shops, but nothing was given away for free.

 

The Vista also had, what I would consider, the best staff and CD assigned to the ship. Most of the entertainment staff that started on the Vista as now Cruise Directors on other ships.

 

[tallnthensome]

I would not sail any maiden voyage on any ship. I've read nothing but complaints about maiden voyages.

construction isn't finished, things aren't open, staff is new and untrained, staff can't answer questions,  food choices sometimes limited, staff not used to working with each other yet. I sail a lot of new ships but always wait 90 days to do so. Your experience may vary but I'm not risking a cancelled cruise or an unfinished unorganized one.

[Cruisegirl6]

That is why I didn't book the maiden voyage, I figured give it a few weeks and it cost me alot less money boarding her on her first cruise out of Port Canaveral and the problems should be worked out by then.

[bakersdozen12]

We sailed on one of the first few sailing on the Horizon out of Barcelona. 

 

1. I know that the very first sailing got a very nice Horizon key chain. For the sailings after that, we got a commemorative inaugural season hard cover book on the Horizon (first sailing got it too). I believe they were given out on all European sailings. Or until they ran out. Not sure which. 

 

2. I don’t recall any special activities, though John Heald was on the first few sailings, including ours. I was able to get him to attend our M&G. 

 

3. I do think that, at least when it comes to the department leaders, they pick the best employees. 

 

4. Buffet food was very good, but I feel the same about every Carnival Cruise we’ve been on. I noticed no difference in quality. 

 

5. All specialty dining will be announced prior to sailing. So there won’t be any surprises. Though they haven’t announced them yet because it’s too soon. 

Edited February 15, 2019 by bakersdozen12

[xDisconnections]

We had the opportunity to purchase “inaugural season” merchandise from the shops onboard the Carnival Magic. We did the transatlantic just a few months after the ship launched.

[mfs2k]

I'd be very scared to book a maiden voyage.  Cruise lines are notorious for delays in launching new ships.  I wouldn't want a trip I've been planning for a year to be cancelled.

 

There are even delays after ship refurbishments.  For example: Royal Caribbean Blog reports  Royal Caribbean confirmed it has canceled the Sunday, February 24 sailing of Navigator of the Seas, which would have been the first sailing back for the ship. Royal Caribbean said the reason for the cancellation was due to, "poor weather conditions have affected the progress of the ship’s outer decks." The new plan is for Navigator of the Seas to return to service on the previously scheduled 9-night Southern Caribbean cruise departing from Miami, FL on Friday, March 1.

 

Also, have you ever gone to a new restaurant in the first few weeks it's been open?  Even after extensive training, everyone is still working out the kinks.  For the kind of money being spent on a cruise, I'd prefer some reassurance that the kinks are resolved. 

[Cruisegirl6]

I will be on the October 16th sailing, that will be her 36 day sailing with passengers, five weeks to figure things out right.

[crewsweeper]

I was on the first Caribbean cruise for the Breeze.  The ship had sailed out of the Med and out of NYC to Bermuda before.

 

While a group of us felt it was a special Caribbean inaugural cruise, Carnival didn't do anything special.  We made our own Tees and set up our own events.   Fond memories, but in the end it was just a cruise like any other cruise.

 

Don't over stress or over think this.  Go relax, enjoy!!

[Cruisegirl6]

Thank you, just was curious.

[lindan1020]

Went on the Horizon on its maiden voyage out of Miami, nothing special done except for all the dignitaries that were on the ship. Some talk about problems with the ship because it's a maiden voyage but remember the ship has already done several cruises in Europe and New York also the cruise from New York to Florida. We had no problems on the Horizon. We are booked on the maiden voyage in the Mardi Gras.

[wo5m]

What others have said about glitches on inaugural voyage is true. Also keep in mind there is a increased chance of the first schedule cruise(or two) of being outright canceled due to production delays. It happens from time to time.

 

The record actually goes to the QE2 in 1969 when it had to spend an additional 4 month in construction when problems come up during its shakedown.  More Recently, in 2016 Holland America's Koningsdam was delayed 6 weeks and just last year the MSC Seaview had to cancel it inaugural voyage. There are more, those are just the ones I know about. 

 

Keep in mind the Carnival Mardi Gras is a new ship class from a builder that carnival cruise lines has never used before. While there are three other nearly identical ships(AIDAnova, Costa Smeralda, and P&O's Iona) that  launch before the Carnival Mardi Gras that should allow them to work out the "kinks" . There are things that have never been done before that will be unique to the Carnival Mardi Gras. Any one of those could potentially hold it up.   

 

If you do go on the first cruise make sure you have GOOD travel insurance that would cover things that are not refundable such as flights and hotels beyond the coverage you buy from carnival that would probably be canceled and refunded with the cruise.. 

[17andacruiseaddict]

On 2/15/2019 at 9:24 AM, Joebucks said:

I've never been an "early adopter" of anything. I'll never understand the people who would wait in line day 1 for things like a new iPhone. I'm sure it will be a great experience. More often, people just want to be able to say "I was one of the first people on it," if that floats your boat, then go for it.

 

Personally, I would wait. My cruise experience will be just as good either way. A maiden voyage, you do run some risks. Sure those fears are generally overblown, but I would say there is a higher chance something may not work properly or teams may not be in the right rhythm yet.

 

 

 

 

I'm with you Joe. I'm not a fan of being the first one in line especially for maiden voyages. I like all of the kinks to be worked out first. 

I do love new ships! I prefer to sail them when they've been out at least a year. Plus, this gives me time to hear about everybody's experiences, learn about new things offered or how things are done on this ship vs all others, and view new pictures not offered on the website.

Sometimes a little patience can help build the excitement.

[lele100]

On 2/15/2019 at 10:26 AM, Cruisegirl6 said:

The reduced specialty dining package is a joke, your only saving like $5, why would anybody give their money to Carnival in advance to save $5, then I read your not guaranteed to get the time/date you want for your reservations and I also read your not able to cancel, if you do, you loose the money.  We are so happy that the Steakhouse is on the ship, we be eating there at least 5 nights on this 8 night voyage and the other evenings we will go to the Italian specialty and Izume too.  I would love to see another eating venue on this ship, it be nice.  My worries, is that with all these passengers there truly is really only one deck which is deck 7 and when on deck 7 in the main lounge everybody has to go through the casino....NCL Breakaway had this and it really caused alot of traffic jams.  My worries is the layout of the ship is not though out right regarding traffic flow, but I hope I am wrong.  As far as outdoor deck space the ship seems to be great with that.

What is Izume?  Is this new on Mardi Gras?