So, what can we expect on a Princess inaugural sailing?

[Gypsea]

I have never sailed on an inaugural cruise so this is a very exciting trip for us. Plus it is our first cruise over a week long. I wondered what if any differences there may be between this and a regular sailing. I hope you Captain Clubbers can help.

 

Thanks,

Rita

[ssantow]

Inagural cruises are nothing special. The allure is being the first to sail on a ship. Byt considering that there may be several pre inagural cruises for travel agents and VIP's you are not really the first to sail.

 

I have never encountered it on a Princess inagural but some lines tend to push the completion date of a new ship and not everything is in full working order yet. I have heard tales of finish work still being done while on a cruise. You should also expect that the staff and crew are not yet familiar with a new ship and srevice may be a bit slow.

[Mbouck1]

We did the Diamond Princess inauguration cruise and there was nothing special. The only thing they did was have tug boats spraying colored water.

It was still worth all the excitement.

[spongerob]

We sailed on the Caribbean Princess' inaugural. It was nice to experience that "new ship smell" and say hello to Mickey Arison, who was on board prior to sailing. We also got a little glass plaque commemorating the first passenger cruise. The Executive Chef was on board and the food was pretty good. We had news helicopters follow us out of port and Golden Princess escorted us on our way. It was a very festive sailaway. The FLL condo folks really put on a show for the new ship.

 

The downside really turned us off. There were a lot of invited guests and Princess VIPs on this sailing. Paying passengers (aka us) honestly felt like we were a nuisance. If an Important Person was in the dining room, the maitre d' and head waiters fell all over them and demanded that the waiters provide special service for those people. If the waiters happened to be your waiters, you didn't see much of them that evening. It was not the waiters' fault, it was management's. Princess' marketing prior to the cruise made it sound like it would be something very special, but the reality failed to deliver.

 

I'm not trying to put you off - I hope you enjoy your inaugural cruise more than we did ours, and don't run into the same problems we did. I'm just suggesting that you keep your "special occasion" expectations to a minimum.

[losuds63]

And that was back in the early 90s and the crew had no clue what was going on and lots of kinks were getting fixed at the passengers expence --but that was just that cruise maybe others had better experience so iam agreeing with others that its not always good to be first in this case!!

[Gypsea]

As an agent I was invited for a free night on the 13th, the night before the inaugural but it's a long ride (5 hours)for a one night cruise so I booked the family instead . I don't see the sense in treating the agents or VIP's well but not the paying customers. They've got that backwards. The first sailing should be special in some meaningful way ...free soda all week and wine at dinner...something unusual.

Oh well, this will only be my second Princess so I hope it will be memorable. My Dawn Alaska trip last year was a bit dull, okay in many ways but lacking in FUN stuff all around. Sure we had naturalists (Yes, we were in Alaska I've heard it all before)but it was boring at night..OMG! I never saw so much of a cabin as I did that week. My sister and I were practically the only ones up after eleven.

 

The kids have been begging for another cruise and I thought they would love the excitement of being on this first sailing. One thing they do have right is the port of embarkation. We NEED more ships up here. It's difficult for families to fly to FL when there are three, four or more airfares to pay. it prohibits people from sailing that probably would otherwise.

 

Tugboats and colored water??? Why??

 

I guess I was right to reserve Princess Choice dining. It may cut down on the VIP presence.

 

It is good to know the ship should be up and running on time. As for the crew I am sure they will be awesome. I don't expect too much and am not a demanding guest. I try to be overly generous for all they do.

 

Thanks for your input. I hope Princess delivers this time around but I won't expect the sun and moon after these comments.

 

I will review when we return if you are interested.

[TXTraveler76]

Hi,

 

I was on the Dawn Princess inaugural in 1997. This was prior to the take over from Carnival. We each received a silver plate with the Dawn Princess engraved on it. We noticed a few items that were not finished, but they tried to take care of it while we were in port. The ship was heavily scuffed going through the Canal and they were busy painting her at our next stop. I was on the Grand Princess in 1998 when it was brought into New York harbor for the first time, which was wonderful. Two days later they chritened her and had a huge party. Gavin McLeod was on board and we also had the red, white and blue tug boats spraying. I have a great picture of the boats spraying right under the Twin Towers. Each time a new ship goes to a new port, they will have the local people come on board and gifts are given along with tours and a probable lunch.

 

Just go with the flow and enjoy yourself!

[Splinter]

Hate to dampen your enthusiasm, but the worst cruise we ever went on was the maiden voyage of the Grand Princess. The things that did not work....no hot water in the cabin, no electricity to the refrigerator, etc. My sister and bro-in-law woke up one night to the sprinklers going full force in their cabin. My roommate got very ill and I had to hunt down a wheelchair to take her to the sick bay as they were too busy to come to see her in the cabin. Chaos at the purser's desk with no one keeping track of trouble calls and 2-3 days to get anything remedied...if at all. We had booked the second voyage just for this reason, but ended up on the maiden when they cancelled that voyage.

 

We would prefer to let someone else take these "shake-down" cruises...we will wait until the crew and the ship have their act together.

[FlyingRev]

Hate to dampen your enthusiasm, but the worst cruise we ever went on was the maiden voyage of the Grand Princess. The things that did not work....no hot water in the cabin, no electricity to the refrigerator, etc. My sister and bro-in-law woke up one night to the sprinklers going full force in their cabin. My roommate got very ill and I had to hunt down a wheelchair to take her to the sick bay as they were too busy to come to see her in the cabin. Chaos at the purser's desk with no one keeping track of trouble calls and 2-3 days to get anything remedied...if at all. We had booked the second voyage just for this reason, but ended up on the maiden when they cancelled that voyage.

 

We would prefer to let someone else take these "shake-down" cruises...we will wait until the crew and the ship have their act together.

 

 

What did Princess do about this? Water in the cabin is not a minor problem! Did they comp your cruise, or other such compensation?

[jlp20]

As far as the water cannons, it’s just a custom for any new cruise ship leaving on it’s first scheduled trip. Fact is, it’s more for the people on shore since the tug or fire boat is in front of the ship as it leaves.

 

If you go back at any reviews of the first month of any ship, mechanical problems plague these cruises till all the bugs get worked out. Last couple of ships had electrical problems.

 

As a rule, the ship is staffed with experienced crew, but they have not worked together. The dance of the waiters, helpers and bus people will be awkward and slow for a couple of days.

[T&J]

As a rule I never book an inaugural cruise to avoid the headaches and things that haven't been fixed and stay clear of a ship for at least six months. Hence I would stay away from the Star for that same period of time until they find out what systems haven't been replaced or kinks sorted out after the fire. BTW, I was booked on the Star Sept 2, 2006 Baltics Cruise (which I love) and have since cancelled.

 

Also the pricing is usually hideously overpriced for inaugural sailings! Just look at the Royal Princess for next years pricing.

 

Tony

:cool: :eek: :cool:

[lisa225]

we are booked in a ph suite on the crown 8/25. i know there are no pictures of their cabins yet, but if anyone has pictures of a penthouse suite on the caribbean princess this might be helpful as it is a "sister ship".

also, we have never sailed on princess, but sailed the past two summers in rccl voyager and my 15 yr. old son loved it. can anyone tell me how they compare (food, cabins entertainment, etc.) and any thoughts on the teen activities, i am a little worried as the voyager was great for teens and worry princess might be a disappointment.

thanks,lisa

[Gypsea]

Short of sprinklers going off in my cabin I am not terribly worried. I was going to sail 8/16 but that didn't work since soccer tryouts begin that week at the h.s. Plus this was actually the same price with a deal for TA's so I jumped. As long as they feed me and the hot tubs are hot we'll be fine.