Maiden voyage Emerald Princess

[Muskoka]

:) Is it good or bad to go on a maiden voyage......April 11/////Greek Islands. Can you get a better deal on a maiden voyage? General suggestions about going on a maiden voyage appreciated.

[mek]

Well, several thing can happen if you book the first cruise. The ship may not be ready and your cruise is cancelled. Things may not go as smoothly as they should for a while and some kinks might have to be worked out - the Sancutary problem on the Crown comes to mind. Or everything can be wonderful, you receive a lovely gift and have a great time. Prices tend to be higher, but you never can tell - my son was on the 1st Crown sailing and he got a great price. I would always buy insurance just to cover the "just in cases".

[spongerob]

I've been on one inaugural cruise, so here's my take. The best part is the "new ship" smell. You will then be disappointed to find out that you won't be the first to sail, there will be VIP and/or TA overnight cruises.

 

Our ship, Caribbean Princess, went out the night before for her naming ceremony. It was quite a party. The crew was mostly hung over from too much partying, they said passengers kept at it until 5 AM. Our suite had obvious stains from usage - spilled makeup in the bathroom, sticky stuff on the bar.

 

Once into the sailing, there were so many VIP's, Princess reps, and invited guests on board that we really felt that, as paying passengers, we were intruding. It was the low point of my affair with Princess. There were several service issues during the cruise. Nice ship, though.

 

Fortunately, we got off that ship, and right back on Golden Princess the same day, and had a near-perfect cruise. If we had just come home from Caribbean Princess, I might have given up and you'd find my 8,000 posts someplace like Las Vegas Advisor instead.:)

 

My advice would be to wait until the ship has been in service for at least 3 months, to get the kinks out.

[jennew]

I agree...I would not want to be on a maiden voyage. Let them get the bugs out first.