Maiden and Inaugeral Cruises

Categories "The maiden voyage." 

For most people those words conjure an air of excitement at the thought of being the first one to travel on a ship.  I was just on the inaugural cruise for Royal Caribbean's Ovation of the Seas and I thought it would be a good time to talk about them and dispell the myths, misconceptions and feelings people have about them.  I have to be honest right up front that when I booked this cruise, I had no idea that it was the inaugural cruise.  It was not on my bucket list or something I had always wanted to do, but it was nice surprise.  

First, let's discuss the difference between a maiden voyage and an inaugeral cruise.  The maiden voyage is the first sailing of paid passengers.  The inaugeral sailing is the first sailing in the region.  There is also the inaurgeral season, that is the entire first year of sailings.  Either way, unless you are an invited guest, you probably aren't the first one to sail on this cruise ship.  Sorry for breaking the news to you, but it is what it is.  

Other than the Goldilocks question of "who has been sleeping in my bed" though, what are the advantages and disadvantages of cruiseing on either a maiden or inaugerual cruise?  

The advantages are easy...

• Bragging rights - you get to say you were one of the first passengers on this ship
• Gifts - you will typically get little maiden voyage gifts such as mugs, pictures, candy, etc

 Um, ya, that's about it.  

Now, let's talk about the disadvantages,.  This list is a little longer;

• The kinks have not been worked out.  I can not say that loud enough.  They aren't going to be huge, but if you do this, be prepared for everything to not be as smooth as it will be down the road.
• The crew is new to this ship but not new to cruising.  They have already been doing this for years and have been out for months on other ships so don't expect there to be any enthusiasm on thier part.  It's just another ship to them. 
• The entertainment isn't finalized and there may be very little of it, especially in cases like ours where it's going to a completely different continent where the entertainment has to be all changed when they get there.  
• That daily planner that you get each morning... don't expect it to be complete.  Most things you wont' know about until after they have happened.  Sorry.  You won't be able to do a lot of things purely because you don't know when they are hapening until after they have happened. 
• Reservations? Comfirmation? Those mean nothing.  They will wipe them out without a second thought.  
• Anything technology driven will have it's own set of struggles.

Most importantly, and this is a big one, even if you have been booked on the inaugeral cruise since before the ship was even built, they could add a cruise before yours if they finish ahead of schedule.  (this happened on ours)  If this a big deal for you, hold off on booking your flights and be flexible.  It will probably change.  

Bottom line that I am trying to get across here is that unless it is one of the items on your bugget list that you have always wanted to do, then hold off. The bragging rights aren't worth the lost vacation time.  Let them work out the bugs and kinks and sail on them in a year.