Sailing right after a dry dock

[califgary]

Ive asked this question in other threads but it doesnt seem to get answered so...

 

The Sapphire Princess is going into dry dock Jan 7 - 28, 2012.

 

Im wanting to do a 14 day Hawaii sailing which goes one week after she goes back into service (first sailing after drydock is a 7 day Mexico).

 

Is there any reason to not schedule a trip so soon after a dry dock or is it a good thing with everything all new and shiny? If I shouldnt consider something so soon after a dry dock please give me your thoughts!

 

thanks

[Toto2Kansas]

The only problem we have found with dry dock schedules is that after a dry dock, if the work hasn't been completely finished, it can be ongoing throughout the next cruise or two until they totally complete it.

 

A pre-drydock cruise often means that some work is started while the ship is still full of passengers on the sailing before dry dock.

 

Now, if all the work is completely finished in the time they have alloted when the ship is in dry dock, then there isn't a problem, but it is a chance that you take. Good Luck!

[califgary]

Thanks ToTo! We've been on a pre-dry-dock cruise and they did actually start work on our cruise which was kind of annoying. If I decide to switch from HAL hawaii to the Sapphire Im hoping most if not all the big stuff will be done by then.

[luxurysailer]

We once sailed on a ship's first cruise out of drydock. Overall, the cruise was enjoyable because of the itinerary; but the onboard experience was a a definite letdown when compared to previous cruises with the same cruise line. There was unfinished work, and the ship's crew didn't appear to be complete (especially the cruise director's department) nor adequately trained.

 

We plan to avoid the first few cruises following a drydocking.

[PatriciaF]

We were on the Golden when she came out of dry dock in 2004 (?). No problems encountered at all---but--others on board said that they had been concerned about reading that many times a totally new crew comes aboard and repairs aren't complete.

 

The price was too good to turn down when I booked it--but it may have reflected concerns about issues encountered after a ship leaves dry dock.

 

Probably just the luck of the draw!

[bellebaby]

We once sailed on a ship's first cruise out of drydock. Overall, the cruise was enjoyable because of the itinerary; but the onboard experience was a a definite letdown when compared to previous cruises with the same cruise line. There was unfinished work, and the ship's crew didn't appear to be complete (especially the cruise director's department) nor adequately trained.

 

We plan to avoid the first few cruises following a drydocking.

 

I totally agree. We experienced the same issues and will avoid the first few cruises post dry-dock.

 

B

[NJC4158]

I completly agree with above posters.....

 

I was on a cruise in March right after a drydock and it was horrible. The staff from doing cleaning/painting/fire watching for a month was not ready to go back to doing their old jobs again. Slower service, miscommunication, etc. Not to mention our embarkation process was delayed because they were not finished putting all the tables/chairs back into place.

 

Avoid a cruise post drydock....go a few weeks later! Plus during a drydock they usually do minimal work to the cabins. It is mostly meant to add some new things or do matience to the acutal underbelly of the ship.

[caribill]

It really depends what was to be accomplished during the drydock time.

 

If it was like on the (I think) Caribbean Princess, it involved moving the casino to a different floor, constructing window suites, moving a specialty reastaurant, installing the International Cafe, etc. Postings on Cruise Critic said the last cruise before the drydock was not a good experience because areas of the ship were closed to passengers midway through the cruise. And the first cruise after drydock was to many passengers a nightmare as construction continued for most of the week, resulting in a combination of areas of the ship off limits and construction noise.

 

On the other hand, some drydocks are mainly to scrape barnacles off the hull and coat it with paint that helps ease travel through water. Inside work might only be replacing rugs in public areas and refurbishing furniture. In this case, there may be no problem either side of the drydock.

 

We were on the Emerald Princess last December on its first voyage after drydock and there was no lingering drydock work at all.

[DanJ]

It would be nice if they gave advanced release (I mean more than the week before when they post the photo link to watch what`s being done as it happens) of the type of work being done to the ship. When the CB had it`s major refit recently, the window suites and Crown Grill weren`t finished for several weeks after the drydock. With last year`s Golden drydock, I can`t recall if everything was done after, but the Hawaii cruise before sounded like a royal pain, with many public areas already closed and under demolition (including the casino - that would have ruined me with 5 sea days and no casino LOL). For me, there`s no way I would consider the first 2 Sapphire cruises after it`s drydock.

[califgary]

thanks for all the input folks! Having been on a pre-dry-dock cruise which was somewhat frustrating since they started tearing things up on our cruise...Im convinced by you all that a post-dry-dock cruise experience would probably be just as disappointing...so...we discovered a HAL 14 day hawaii sailing the exact same dates in Feb 2012 so we booked that one instead! The Oosterdam is even in the same hawaii ports on the exact same days as the Sapphire..better to be safe than sorry especially when you are talking the price of suites on these 14 day trips!

thanks again to all who provided input - best not to be on a pre or post drydock ship for best results!