To Sail, or Not To Sail a Maiden Voyage, That Is the Question

[Flip flops in winter]

I would love to and my kids are totally down for spending one very special Christmas on a new ship. Sadly I cannot justify $21k for a tired itinerary though.

 

[KevinFL]

I would love to and my kids are totally down for spending one very special Christmas on a new ship. Sadly I cannot justify $21k for a tired itinerary though.

Completely agree on the tired itinerary!! Same old 7-night eastern and western year after year after year out of Pt Canaveral. With the 1 occasional trip to Bermuda or PR usually when the kids are in school. Seems like they could really vary their port offerings especially in the Caribbean and Mexico and make repeat cruising worthwhile.

 

[kathi]

We are Pearl and had planned to book the maiden. Now that it is the double price whammy of maiden and Christmas, concierge is just WAY out of our price range (and we want to eat in Enchante, so concierge is a must). We also really don't care for the Triton class design for adult spaces, the small and uncomfortable movie theaters and how the dining rooms are so tight (and always a show), so paying extra for things we don't like is not in our budget. The Fantasy is our favorite and we like the classic ships also. We will stick with those and are also branching out and trying Celebrity in March. As much as it pains me, DCL's recent decisions suggest finding an alternative cruise line may be prudent, in case the trend continues.

 

[MomOTwins]

I would love to and my kids are totally down for spending one very special Christmas on a new ship. Sadly I cannot justify $21k for a tired itinerary though.

That’s a really good point. The Wish maiden was expensive, but it offered a unique 5 day itinerary on a ship that otherwise only sailed 3 or 4 nights. Nothing to distinguish the Treasure maiden except bragging rights and some swag.

I posted this in another thread, but in addition to the extreme price (made all the more extreme by the Christmas week airfare we’d have to purchase to get there), Christmas week is a no go. We always spend it with family and have taken over hosting Christmas for the full extended family after my mother-in-law passed away. Plus I wouldn’t want to inconvenience Santa by asking him to make a detour to our cruise ship with all those heavy presents

 

[RedHead0186]

We are Pearl and had planned to book the maiden. Now that it is the double price whammy of maiden and Christmas, concierge is just WAY out of our price range (and we want to eat in Enchante, so concierge is a must).

Curious on your logic here-are you saying you need to be concierge in order to snag a dining reservation in Enchante because they're so popular?

 

[tidefan]

DW is Pearl, and we did the MV of the Wish, but we will be sitting this one out.

Instead have next Spring Break on Carnival Mardi Gras and then a Thanksgiving Cruise on the new Sun Princess.

 

[MomOTwins]

Curious on your logic here-are you saying you need to be concierge in order to snag a dining reservation in Enchante because they're so popular?

So for the Wish maiden voyage and early sailings, adult dining often sold out at concierge. But I think it may be easier to get on the Treasure because (1) sailings are longer (7 nights versus 3 or 4 on the Wish) so more opportunities for adult dining; (2) it is no longer a brand new venue—will be an exact clone of the Wish; and (3) concierge is more expensive overall on the Treasure because more days=pricier sailing, so might not be as many concierge guests making reservations. On the other hand I do think the maiden in particular it may be harder to book adult dining because of VIPs onboard.

 

[AquaDame]

DW is Pearl, and we did the MV of the Wish, but we will be sitting this one out.

Instead have next Spring Break on Carnival Mardi Gras and then a Thanksgiving Cruise on the new Sun Princess.

That sounds just awful....

 

[RedHead0186]

So for the Wish maiden voyage and early sailings, adult dining often sold out at concierge. But I think it may be easier to get on the Treasure because (1) sailings are longer (7 nights versus 3 or 4 on the Wish) so more opportunities for adult dining; (2) it is no longer a brand new venue—will be an exact clone of the Wish; and (3) concierge is more expensive overall on the Treasure because more days=pricier sailing, so might not be as many concierge guests making reservations. On the other hand I do think the maiden in particular it may be harder to book adult dining because of VIPs onboard.

Ahh, okay. I wasn't thinking about it from the perspective of a maiden voyage (I thought PP was just saying in general). That makes a lot of sense that adult dining would sell out much more quickly on a maiden voyage, and it also makes sense why that might not be the case for the Treasure!

 

[tidefan]

That sounds just awful....

I know that a lot of people roll their eyes about Carnival, but their 3 new ships (Mardi Gras, Celebration, and Jubilee) are legit. We loved Mardi Gras way better than Oasis.

As to Princess, well, we really like Princess. Nothing extra fancy, but they do a pretty solid job all around. Sun Princess will be their newest ship and the first of a new class for them. Looking forward to it!

 

[AquaDame]

I know that a lot of people roll their eyes about Carnival, but their 3 new ships (Mardi Gras, Celebration, and Jubilee) are legit. We loved Mardi Gras way better than Oasis.

As to Princess, well, we really like Princess. Nothing extra fancy, but they do a pretty solid job all around. Sun Princess will be their newest ship and the first of a new class for them. Looking forward to it!

Oh I was definitely not trying to roll my eyes at all, thus the wink. Spring break and Thanksgiving trips sound wonderful.

 

[DCLMP]

I know that a lot of people roll their eyes about Carnival, but their 3 new ships (Mardi Gras, Celebration, and Jubilee) are legit. We loved Mardi Gras way better than Oasis.

As to Princess, well, we really like Princess. Nothing extra fancy, but they do a pretty solid job all around. Sun Princess will be their newest ship and the first of a new class for them. Looking forward to it!

Does Carnival have meet-ups for the 18-20 group? I was just wondering if you noticed anything on the activities app.

 

[goofy4prez]

I'll pass on maiden voyages. I'd rather save a few bucks and cruise a month or two later when it costs a bit less and also wait until all the kinks are worked out. I really don't want to be a premium paying guinea pig.

 

[Ember]

We are booked for the maiden voyage and I'm very excited! It seems like frequent cruisers are quite down on this ship and the first sailing, but it'll be a fun and unique experience, I think. We'll tack on 5 or 6 days at Disney World, which is also exciting as we've never been there at Christmas.

It will be our third Disney cruise (the first one just being a covid cruise on the Magic out to sea and back, and the second one an Alaskan cruise in July on the Wonder) so I don't have a lot to compare it to. I am aware we are paying a premium to cruise at Christmas and on the maiden voyage, but the dates work well for us, and I think it'll be a novel way to spend the holiday!

 

[auntlynne]

We are booked for the maiden voyage and I'm very excited! It seems like frequent cruisers are quite down on this ship and the first sailing, but it'll be a fun and unique experience, I think. We'll tack on 5 or 6 days at Disney World, which is also exciting as we've never been there at Christmas.

It will be our third Disney cruise (the first one just being a covid cruise on the Magic out to sea and back, and the second one an Alaskan cruise in July on the Wonder) so I don't have a lot to compare it to. I am aware we are paying a premium to cruise at Christmas and on the maiden voyage, but the dates work well for us, and I think it'll be a novel way to spend the holiday!

I did the Fantasy MV. It was actually okay. I have no memory of it having any issues.

Over the last decade, the reports are that ships are coming out and are not finished (mechanically, structurally fine). Is it understaffing or supply-chain issues? Or have they just unrealistically set the first sailings?

If you go in knowing your crew is working in a new environment (maybe a few weeks onboard for the crossing, but not doing customer-facing activities) and the ship might not look like it will in a few months, you should be fine.

Nice cruise history. Quite the leap from Magic and Wonder to the newest ship! Ship-wise, probably quite a change (especially the new atrium theme), but I would expect you will feel a similar Disney Cruise vibe.

Have a Merry Christmas and a Great Cruise. … may you Treasure the memories.

 

[JM_97]

Certainly everyone is different but I kind of treat it like a brand new restaurant. I don't mind waiting until a lot of the growing pains are ironed out.

 

[Joel0917]

I was on Fantasy MV as well. Had no issues. We loved it. We were concierge and I thought that was expensive. The treasure MV is like 150perxent more.
I do recall when the dream MV happened lots of issues. So those were worked out for fantasy. I hope same for treasure.
We are on the second sailing right after christmas.