New cruise ships coming in 2012

Did you know cruise ships are still being built...even in this economy? Building a cruise ship takes about 18 months from the time the keel is first laid to their maiden voyage. As we are coming to the end of the year, I thought you might like to know about new cruise ships coming in 2012. This list does not represent the most comprehensive list of new builds as some new ships are from lines not familiar to most of my readers.

• The first cruise ship to make an appearance will be Disney Fantasy. This sister-ship to Disney Dream will sail on its maiden voyage on March 31, 2012. She will hold 4,000 passengers. She and her sister are 40% larger then Disney Cruise Line's first ships Disney Magic and Disney Wonder.
• Next will be Oceania Cruises' Riviera debuting on April 24, 2012. This ship, a sister to Marina, holds 1,258 passengers. This 5-star cruise experience offers six open dining restaurants with varied cuisines from French to Italian. She holds the Bon Appetit Culinary Center where you can take cooking lessons from experienced chefs. Over 95% of her staterooms have balconies.
• A sister to Magic and Dream, Carnival Breeze holds nearly 3,700 passengers. She will make her debut on June 3, 2012. Check out the experience I had with my daughter last September on Carnival Dream.
• The fifth and final ship in Celebrity Cruises' Solstice class sails for the first time on November 1, 2012. Celebrity Reflection carries 3,030 passengers. Laura and I sailed on Celebrity Solstice on a two day voyage in November 2008. Here is a Celebrity Solstice photo slideshow from my personal photos of this amazing ship.

Costa and MSC are also debuting two new ships in 2012. However as I am not familiar with those lines, I have not included information about their new builds. Most of the maiden voyages of these sailings are currently sold out. In my opinion, being able to say you were first to sail as a passenger on a ship is a truly wonderful brag. However, I always recommend that my clients wait at least three to six months before booking on a new ship. If it is the first in class for a cruise line, I recommend waiting six to nine months before sailing. There are always kinks that need to be worked out once a full compliment of passengers are onboard. Everything from how the passengers are moving around the ship to making sure there are enough eggs for breakfast for a particular sailing gets adjusted after the maiden voyage.

If your expectations have been set, absolutely consider a maiden voyage. If you would rather wait a few months, that is okay too. Either way, when you use our services we can help match you and your family to the right ship. Do any of these new builds tickle your wanderlust? Give us a call today and let's talk about it.

Chuck and Laura Flagg are fee-based travel consultants.

We own The Flagg Agency in Canton, and our number is  770-355- 9569

We are fee-based travel consultants. We help people make better travel decisions

so they may find an experience that matches both their wants AND their needs.