There’s nothing fairly like the fun of being on the maiden voyage of a brand new cruise ship. The crew is happy. Passengers are excited. It’s nearly at all times a festive affair, typically with numerous further pizazz like fireworks over the ship and deck-top events with free-flowing Champagne. Plus, you may spot a celeb or two — or, a minimum of, the highest executives of the road.
Among hardcore cruise followers, it can also deliver the last word in bragging rights, even years later.
Still, reserving a maiden voyage (or any of the primary few sailings of a brand-new ship) isn’t with out dangers. Cruise ships are simply inns that occur to drift, and, like inns, they’re not at all times prepared for prime time after they first go into operation.
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Sometimes, they’re not prepared in any respect, as early bookers of the primary ship from Explora Journeys discovered the exhausting manner in July 2023. The startup luxurious line canceled the maiden voyage of the 922-passenger Explora 1 after a last-minute development hiccup. The shipyard constructing the vessel wanted to make a last-minute repair earlier than the ship could be able to sail.
So, earlier than you join an early crusing on the following sizzling new vessel, right here are some things to think about.
The crusing could be canceled
The excellent news is that shipyard delays of the kind that pushed again the debut of Explora 1 (initially scheduled to debut July 17, now delayed till a minimum of Aug. 1) are comparatively uncommon. The newest new ship from MSC Cruises, MSC Euribia, emerged from the Chantiers de l’Atlantique shipyard in St. Nazaire, France, proper on time in June. New vessels from Silversea Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line scheduled to debut in August additionally seem on observe for on-time arrivals.
Still, delays do occur, and so they’ve been taking place a bit extra in the previous couple of years, principally attributable to provide chain points associated to the COVID-19 pandemic that left many shipyards not on time of their shipbuilding. Perhaps essentially the most putting instance was the 33-month delay within the launch of The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection’s first vessel, Evrima. It was initially scheduled to debut in February 2020 however was delayed eight instances, with its first crusing not happening till October 2022.
The Evrima delay was the results of extra than simply pandemic-related provide chain points. Bigger troubles on the shipyard the place the vessel initially was below development additionally performed a task.
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Hurtigruten’s Roald Amundsen, a groundbreaking new expedition-style vessel, was additionally massively delayed lately. This ship, designed to function on battery energy for brief durations whereas in delicate elements of the Arctic and Antarctica, lastly launched in 2019.
It’s typically these first-of-a-kind “prototype” ships that hit snags throughout development — one thing to remember should you’re considering of reserving a vessel that’s being touted as notably groundbreaking. It additionally appears to occur extra typically with the ships of latest entrants into cruising, comparable to Explora Journeys and The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection.
Not that it by no means occurs to the foremost gamers of the cruise trade. In 2016, Holland America postponed the debut of a brand new ship, Koningsdam, by six weeks to make last-minute modifications to its design.
If it’s canceled, it may be powerful to reschedule
If you’re unlucky sufficient to be on an early crusing of a vessel that’s canceled attributable to shipyard delays, you’ll often be supplied a full refund plus some form of “we’re so sorry” bonus. In the case of the just lately delayed Explora 1, passengers on the canceled maiden voyage had been supplied not only a full refund but additionally a credit score for a whole future cruise.
Related: A freshmen information to choosing a cruise line
That sounds beneficiant, for certain. But it isn’t at all times straightforward utilizing future cruise credit. Finding house on a later crusing that works along with your schedule, assuming you need a related itinerary and an analogous kind of cabin, is commonly a problem. This is especially true with a startup line like Explora Journeys, which solely has one comparatively small vessel in operation for now (and thus not loads of stock).
Not every little thing will work proper
It’s not unusual for some strains to take supply of a ship on a Thursday and put it into common income service on a Friday. Other strains will construct in a couple of days for a nonrevenue “shakedown cruise” with employees and invited guests — a sort of test sailing designed to work out the kinks before paying customers arrive. Either way, you can’t always expect everything to be running smoothly on the first few voyages of a vessel.
Often, restaurants will seem disorganized on early sailings since the kitchen staff and servers are just becoming familiar with their new spaces. Or, the performances in the showrooms will seem a bit off. The cast of big showroom productions will rehearse as a group for weeks on land before joining a new ship, but they can’t get into a groove until they’ve had a few weeks on board. (When Royal Caribbean’s Wonder of the Seas debuted in 2022, it didn’t even offer full performances of two of its headliner shows, the AquaTheater’s “inTENse” and the mainstage “The Effectors II.”)
Additionally, every ship emerges from the shipyard with a punch list of hundreds or even thousands of little things that need to be fixed. As a longtime cruise writer, I’ve sailed on dozens of maiden voyages over the years, and I’ve encountered everything from cabin phones and TVs that don’t work to sinks that have their hot and cold water piping reversed.
You may also find that technology-based features, such as shipboard internet, are still being fine-tuned. Ditto for shipboard provisioning. I have been on early sailings of two new ships in recent years where the onboard sushi bar ran out of edamame, of all things, by the midpoint of the voyage. It’s not the end of the world, but it’s typical of the sort of little errors that happen on new ships.
Related: 6 cruise mistakes that will ruin your vacation in an instant
The good news is passenger ships generally no longer need a “breaking in” interval to work out stability points as they did years in the past. Ship historians will regale you with tales of not-so-stable, turn-of-the-Twentieth-century vessels comparable to Germany’s 1913-built SS Imperator, which had a lot heavy marble on board that it rolled mercilessly in tough seas. The marble was finally stripped away to make for a smoother experience.
Computer-assisted design and enhancements in stabilization expertise imply that immediately’s ships often don’t undergo from such snafus. (Don’t fear, there could have been loads of sea trials to your ship earlier than any passengers ever get on board.)
Still, new ships typically sail with a minimum of a couple of staff from the shipyard on board for the primary few days or perhaps weeks to knock out the punch lists. On the optimistic facet, most objects are rapidly resolved.
Some venues might not be open
Sometimes, the punch list items are biggies — like entire areas of the ship that aren’t quite done.
When I sailed on Scenic Luxury Cruises’ new Scenic Eclipse in 2019 — more than two weeks after the first paying passengers boarded — the main outdoor lounge area still was under construction. The ship’s casual buffet, the Yacht Club, had just opened the day before I arrived, and the main pool wasn’t open. All of this was after the ship’s debut had already been delayed by a year due to construction issues. Even after a year of delays, the vessel still wasn’t 100% ready when it finally began sailing.
By contrast, a new Princess Cruises ship, Sky Princess, which debuted just a few weeks after Scenic Eclipse, looked about as finished as I’ve ever seen a new ship when I saw it in advance of its maiden voyage. That said, even Sky Princess had one area (a top-of-the-ship escape room called Phantom Bridge) that wasn’t ready. Construction for that area continued for a couple of additional months.
Some of the crew is still learning
The biggest cruise lines typically have a core team of managers and staff that open every new vessel, bringing expertise to the process that makes for a relatively smooth startup. At brands as diverse as Norwegian Cruise Line and Viking, I often see the same bartenders, restaurant servers and room stewards at the unveiling of each new ship. They jump from one new vessel to the next.
Still, even the most experienced crew will have a learning curve with a new vessel, particularly if it’s a first-of-a-kind prototype where restaurants, bars, lounges and related back-of-the-house areas aren’t in the same place as they were on the last new ship. Service sometimes can be spotty while they get up to speed.
In my experience, service deficiencies are often most noticeable on new ships operated by smaller and startup lines that don’t have a large fleet of existing ships from which they can pull seasoned staff.
On the positive side, cruise lines sometimes purposely undersell early voyages of a new vessel to make it easier for the crew while they find their footing. This can mean you’ll find more space around the pool deck and have an easier time getting a seat at the shows on a just-out-of-the-yard ship.
Just a few suggestions should you do ebook a brand new ship
Despite all of the above, I can’t blame you should you’re nonetheless set on reserving one of many early sailings of a brand new vessel. I admit, I like being on the maiden voyage of a brand new ship, even when every little thing isn’t fairly shipshape. My life listing of sailings consists of the inaugural voyages of such iconic vessels as Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 and Royal Caribbean’s Oasis of the Seas. When I look again at these journeys, I don’t take into consideration the little issues that went incorrect within the eating room. I take into consideration the distinctive expertise as a substitute.
Sailing on a maiden voyage, and even an early crusing of a brand new ship, is an opportunity to be on the entrance strains as cruising historical past is being made.
That stated, earlier than signing up for an early voyage on a brand new ship, there are some things you are able to do to reduce the possibility of heartache:
For starters, don’t tie the cruise into a much bigger journey that features numerous different journey preparations with inns, airways, excursions, automobile providers and personal guides. That manner, if the cruise is canceled on the final minute, you received’t end up scrambling to unwind many different parts of your journey.
Related: Sneak peek: Inside Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas, the biggest cruise ship ever
You additionally ought to attempt to ebook your flights to the ship in a manner that may be reversed on brief discover. As a United Premier 1K flyer for a few years, I commonly ebook tickets to maiden voyages utilizing miles that may be canceled on the final minute with no penalty in case points come up.
If you don’t have entry to that form of perk, you may contemplate reserving your flights to the ship instantly by means of the cruise line. That manner, if the cruise is canceled, getting the air canceled and reimbursed is their downside, not yours. That stated, I usually dislike reserving flights by means of a cruise line. Cruise line air departments are infamous for arising with less-than-ideal routings and sometimes use bulk tickets that could be powerful to improve. Plus, they don’t at all times accrue factors for elite standing comparable to United premier qualifying factors or American elite qualifying {dollars}.
Additionally, should you ebook an early crusing of a brand new ship, you must have a minimum of an inkling of a plan B. As famous above, cancellations of early voyages are comparatively uncommon as of late, so don’t overthink this. But, a minimum of go into your planning understanding that there’s a small likelihood it’s possible you’ll be on the lookout for a last-minute various vacation spot for these trip days your boss has already accepted.
Finally, try to be cautious to set expectations for an early voyage of a ship at a practical degree. As famous above, not each venue on a brand new vessel could also be operating effectively or operating in any respect. If your coronary heart is ready on seeing a selected headline present or making an attempt a extremely touted attraction, you could be disenchanted if it is not fairly prepared for passengers.
Planning a cruise? Start with these tales:
Source: thepointsguy.com”