Is sailing an inaugural cruise THAT amazing?

[Amunet]

Okay, first: Is there a difference between inaugural and maiden voyage? I always thought maiden voyage was when they first send the ship from the place they built it to the port that it will start the passenger cruising and inaugural meant the first sailing that is available to purchase for sailing?

Anywho, my question has to do with the first booking cruise, where you get all the fun free stuff and have that special merchandise, JUST for that first cruise.
Is that cruise really that amazing to be on? Like, truly and utterly amazing?

We're planning early for our honeymoon and we are either doing Disney in Asia (with more travel within whichever country) or an inaugural cruise, we cannot afford both within that 3 year time span. I've been to both China and Japan but never the parks there. China has the most meaning to us as a couple but I think Japan will be more romantic. No matter what, if we decide Asia, we will go to Hong Kong for the Frozen suite

For those that have been on any of the first sailings, is it that amazing? Would you do it again? I know pricing is way different now, but how much more was the first sailing compared to sailings afterwards? I'm imagining these new ships will be at least $5k (for 2), just to get on.

I'd really love to read your guys' experiences and opinions, it would truly help us figure out how to plan out the next few years so we can save up

Thank you

 

[CM Dad]

Can't answer your question, since we haven't been on one in the past, but my wife and I are hoping to do at least one of the new ships

 

[jdb in AZ]

When DCL visits a "new" place, it's considered an inaugural. DH and I cruised to Hawaii the first time DCL went there, so that was considered an inaugural, even though the Wonder was several years old at the time.

I consider a maiden voyage to be similar to a store's grand opening. Stores have usually been open for a few days (getting the kinks worked out) before their grand opening celebration. When a new ship leaves the ship yard in Germany (or wherever) it's usually filled with management and dignitaries, plus crew doing last-minute touch-ups. The first time a ship is available for the public to book would be its maiden voyage. Sometimes those voyages are delayed a week or two because the ship isn't quite ready to welcome guests.

Passengers who have cruised with the Mouse at least ten times (platinum) would have the first chance to book, before the general public, and many, many people would want to book that first cruise, so a lot of new wanna-be cruisers are going to be hard-pressed to get onboard.

The next inaugural cruise, wherever, and whenever that might be, will include commemorative souvenirs, like a special-edition lithograph, embroidered napkins, pins for trading, t-shirts, any number of little things. It varies from cruise to cruise. I've heard of passengers needing an extra suitcase to haul home the loot. Hawaii wasn't quite that elaborate, but at one of the ports the ship was welcomed by a helicopter showering the ship with thousands of miniature orchids.

As for the cost of an an inaugural or maiden voyage, it will depend on the itinerary and length of the cruise. If the dates are when kids are out of school, the price tag will be even higher.

Inaugural or not, any DCL cruise is magic.

 

[Karin1984]

How do you know DCL is planning to do Asia? As far as I know, it's just rumor and speculation at this point. If they do, the first cruise to a "new" place would be the inaugural. DH and I cruised to Hawaii the first time DCL went there, so that was considered an inaugural, even though the Wonder was several years old at the time.

I don't think this is about DCL in Asia, but the 3 Disney parks in Asia, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo.

 

[jdb in AZ]

I don't think this is about DCL in Asia, but the 3 Disney parks in Asia, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Tokyo.

That makes sense. Time to edit.

 

[Dug720]

If I am not mistaken. I think for at least a couple of the ships you had to enter your name in a lottery so there was no way to guarantee you would even be on it.

I would go with Asia (even though I personally have no interest in the area) because you would KNOW. It would stink to put all your eggs in the “inaugural cruise” basket and then not win the chance to buy that cruise.

 

[Amunet]

Can't answer your question, since we haven't been on one in the past, but my wife and I are hoping to do at least one of the new ships

Yes, us too Which year are you hoping for?

When DCL visits a "new" place, it's considered an inaugural. DH and I cruised to Hawaii the first time DCL went there, so that was considered an inaugural, even though the Wonder was several years old at the time.

I consider a maiden voyage to be similar to a store's grand opening. Stores have usually been open for a few days (getting the kinks worked out) before their grand opening celebration. When a new ship leaves the ship yard in Germany (or wherever) it's usually filled with management and dignitaries, plus crew doing last-minute touch-ups. The first time a ship is available for the public to book would be its maiden voyage. Sometimes those voyages are delayed a week or two because the ship isn't quite ready to welcome guests.

Passengers who have cruised with the Mouse at least ten times (platinum) would have the first chance to book, before the general public, and many, many people would want to book that first cruise, so a lot of new wanna-be cruisers are going to be hard-pressed to get onboard.

The next inaugural cruise, wherever, and whenever that might be, will include commemorative souvenirs, like a special-edition lithograph, embroidered napkins, pins for trading, t-shirts, any number of little things. It varies from cruise to cruise. I've heard of passengers needing an extra suitcase to haul home the loot. Hawaii wasn't quite that elaborate, but at one of the ports the ship was welcomed by a helicopter showering the ship with thousands of miniature orchids.

As for the cost of an an inaugural or maiden voyage, it will depend on the itinerary and length of the cruise. If the dates are when kids are out of school, the price tag will be even higher.

Inaugural or not, any DCL cruise is magic.

Hmm interesting between maiden voyage and inaugural. Thanks!

Yes, I will be Gold by the time the new ships start coming out, I'm hoping I might have a chance but I bet many will become gold and platinum by that time.
Makes sense with the price tag and school holidays.

I'm sorry, is my wording confusing? I can change the wording about the Asia plans if it's confusing.

If I am not mistaken. I think for at least a couple of the ships you had to enter your name in a lottery so there was no way to guarantee you would even be on it.

I would go with Asia (even though I personally have no interest in the area) because you would KNOW. It would stink to put all your eggs in the “inaugural cruise” basket and then not win the chance to buy that cruise.

Oh, for Dream & Fantasy? Do you know the time frame for the drawing and sailing? How does one even sign up for the lotto?

I understand what you are saying and that is a very good point with the eggs in the basket.

 

[Dug720]

Oh, for Dream & Fantasy? Do you know the time frame for the drawing and sailing? How does one even sign up for the lotto?

I understand what you are saying and that is a very good point with the eggs in the basket.

I believe so. I was not cruising DCL at that time, but I have heard that they did lotteries for the inaugurals. In terms of timeframe... That I do not know. They would have to at least have a delivery date before they even could know what dates to look at for the inaugural (odds are there will have been a “preview cruise” or two before so they have time built in in case of delays). However you sign up I would guess it will be all over things like this and the DCL blog - once they even know.

 

[Lisa F]

in my recollection, maiden voyages always have a ton of glitches still being worked out with a new crew on a new ship with maybe a new itinerary ? - it seems reviews of these always have a lot going wrong. If you want the merch I guess it is a good opportunity but for me, I have to work my butt off to save for a trip so I'd rather go on something where everything goes smoothly rather than be the first.

 

[Amunet]

in my recollection, maiden voyages always have a ton of glitches still being worked out with a new crew on a new ship with maybe a new itinerary ? - it seems reviews of these always have a lot going wrong. If you want the merch I guess it is a good opportunity but for me, I have to work my butt off to save for a trip so I'd rather go on something where everything goes smoothly rather than be the first.

Mmm that is a very good point. We love DCL cause of the Disney aspect and cause of the quality. While I imagine they will strive for quality, it may be a bit bumpy with everyone learning things.

I think the prospect of being in such a joyous environment with really cool swag (some free) is more enticing to me than bragging rights for first. I have in my head that they will try doubly hard to help make everyone feel special because of the event/occasion.

 

[clten]

For the Dream and Fantasy, it was not a lottery to be on the Maiden Voyage (the first sailing for paying passengers). There was merchandise specific to that sailing and then they had "Inaugural Cruises" merchandise as they considered the first year the inaugural cruises. To put it in perspective, we were on the Dream Maiden Voyage as well as the second cruise. The Maiden Voyage cost us twice as much as the second cruise. For the pleasure of paying that much money, it was by far our least favorite DCL cruise.

There were too many people onboard just to buy up all the Maiden Voyage things to resell (and worse yet, just take things - I know many people who didn't get the Champagne glasses they had out for sailaway because people were taking them by the boxload). We knew there would be kinks to work out and have no complaints about the slow service because it was a learning cruise; I did have issues that Guest Services had no clue what was going on. You could ask them a question and it was like noone even bothered to give them a tour around the ship they were so clueless. The other thing that wasn't great is the number of VIPs on board. There was no way of getting a Palo or Remy reservation for that first cruise as they all went to VIP guests (maybe someone got lucky, it wasn't important enough for us to keep checking but there was no availability when platinum could reserve). Granted they fixed a lot of the problems they had on the Dream Maiden Voyage by time the Fantasy Maiden Voyage happened. But after my "Maiden Voyage" experience, I'm not planning on being onboard for any of the "Maiden Voyages" of the new ships -- the second cruise is good enough for me.

 

[Karin1984]

I think it really differs per person, you have people who MUST have the new IPhone as soon as it is released or MUST attend opening days of new lands/rides at Disney. There are people who just enjoy being the first.

There are great things about being the first, to be an 'expert' for a short time as there are so little people who have experienced and even less who discuss the product/service etc. online in communities. And it can be both a better and lesser experience for what the users/guests will get. Sometimes they realize: 'what we had planned is too popular/costs too much, we have to scale down'. Or there are some start up issues which will effect those who use it first, but this will be solved for the guests in the future.

I don't have it with phones, gadgets or cruises, but I used to have it with musical theatre. For years I was at every first preview of all the new shows in my area, and I had it with the Harry Potter & The Hobbit movies, I was there at every first viewing of all of them.

 

[Mickey&JoshNut]

Just an FYI, I would not book a maiden voyage or inaugural sailing *hoping* to get free stuff from DCL to justify the higher price. We have been on many inaugural sailings and sadly, DCL is no longer doing anything to commemorate the Inaugural sailing. We did the Inaugural sailing to Bermuda last year and while there was "Bermuda" merchandise to purchase onboard, there was no lithograph or special gifts like there had been in the past for inaugural sailings. I know a lot of cruisers commented about this to DCL and the response was that DCL has stopped doing anything to commemorate an inaugural sailing. I was also on the maiden voyage of the Dream and Fantasy. I will say that the Fantasy MV was much better organized than the Dream's MV - lots of people buying up all the merchandise as soon as the shops opened since there were no limits - some items were on eBay just after the shops opened with pictures taken in the stores! and the previous mention of the champagne glasses "disappearing" by the boxful - on the Fantasy MV, the Champagne glasses were in your stateroom upon arrival. We opted to leave ours in our stateroom so we could take them home.

 

[kiford]

I would personally never book a maiden voyage - too many kinks still to be worked out, sometimes there are things still being worked ON, training not yet up to par, unfamiliarity with the operations. Plus you take the chance that the ship won't actually be ready on time and end up getting cancelled. We did do the inaugural cruise to Greece and Turkey. I didn't know when we booked it that it was an inaugural cruise and we had no problems getting the booking (we were Gold at the time). We got a framed shadow box with Goofy at the Acropolis, a print, and a set of Greek-themed Disney stone coasters. I can't remember if we got anything else; I remember these because I had no idea we were going to be getting anything and I had to really cram them into the suitcase. I hadn't saved any room for them since they were delivered over a period of days and by then I'd already purchased a lot of stuff that filled the space I'd left open for purchases.

 

[DahliaRW]

I sailed the inaugural Norway cruise. All of the ports were new to DCL (I believe), not just one. Was it a big deal. Somewhat. We did receive a nice art piece in our stateroom (print). A couple of the ports had local bands playing on the pier for the ship (so that was the city organizing, not DCL). I also know that some officials came on to tour the boat while in port. There were also articles in local Norwegian newspapers about DCL coming to port with all the "rich Americans". I think it was a bigger deal to Norway than to DCL. I sailed because it fit my schedule and what I was looking for, not because it was the inaugural.

I've never done a maiden voyage, but I worry about kinks like the OP mentioned. Now if it's maiden AND inaugural that might be spectacular. Though I suspect the new ships will most likely do their first sail from the US and it'll be short because of those prospective kinks. Though I may be wrong.

 

[DWillowBay]

Sailing an inaugural cruise did not work out well on the Titanic......just sayin'! But for Disney, I'll bet it's amazing!

 

[laceltris3]

I won a free cruise from RC for the Inagural of the Harmony of the Seas. It was only 2 nights, but it was amazing. It was a lot of travel agents, and was adults only, but everything was free: gratuities, alcohol, all activities, everything. It wasn't crowded and we got to do everything we wanted like zip-lining and the slide, etc. It was soooo nice.

 

[DisneyWishes14]

I, personally, would choose the Asia trip over the maiden or inaugural sailing. We were on the Magic's Norway inaugural sailing (and then the Iceland/Scotland inaugural right after that). They were AMAZING because of the itineraries and I have a nice "inaugural" bag that I purchased and some lithos, but I would have thoroughly enjoyed the cruise without the merch. I was also on the Fantasy TA preview cruise (which sailed prior to the first general public cruise) and, again, got a nice bag. There were a couple of amazing things that happened on that cruise that could not be replicated on a general public cruise (like Karl Holz sitting at the table next to me at Remy and both the Dream and Fantasy docked at CC together for photo ops - which also meant seeing both ships' fireworks that evening!), but, like I said, that wouldn't happen on the first general public cruise. I, personally, have always enjoyed cruises based on the ship and, more importantly for me, the itinerary. If it were me, I would choose Asia and then sail one of the new ships when an itinerary is announced that you would enjoy. Once the ship is built, they aren't taking it away, so you will have plenty of time to enjoy it.

 

[ofcabbagesandkings]

Do you have kids, OP? Because traveling to Asia with them in the future might not be as appealing as a kid-free honeymoon now. We did our honeymoon in Bali and Hong Kong and it was amazing, but we haven’t been back to Asia yet even though I would love to go to Tokyo and Kyoto because I don’t look forward to flying 20+ hours with small kids. A big trip in relatively small hotel rooms is perfect for a honeymooning couple, so maybe that might be worth considering if you plan to start a family. You can always cruise DCL later.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Can't answer your question, since we haven't been on one in the past, but my wife and I are hoping to do at least one of the new ships

We do too!