Last sailing before a dry dock?

[sailincajunns]

Hi, All,

Would love to hear from folks who have taken a cruise on a ship the last week before she goes out of service for a dry dock. Wondering if there are any differnces in the level of service, since they are not going to keep her 'fully prepped' for the normal, immediate turn-around in port. We are considering doing Conquest again on Oct 8, but that would be her last sailing pre-drydock, and I am a bit concerned with what to expect. Hoping someone here can perhaps share some factual experience. Thanks :D

[zqvol]

Hi, All,

Would love to hear from folks who have taken a cruise on a ship the last week before she goes out of service for a dry dock. Wondering if there are any differnces in the level of service, since they are not going to keep her 'fully prepped' for the normal, immediate turn-around in port. We are considering doing Conquest again on Oct 8, but that would be her last sailing pre-drydock, and I am a bit concerned with what to expect. Hoping someone here can perhaps share some factual experience. Thanks :D

 

 

Other than some contractors on board you will not notice anything different. most of the crew remains on board for the dry dock, they don't get the time off and they help with all the changes that are made. The ship is fully preped at all times. The only difference is that no fresh stores will be loaded when your cruise ends. Most of the ship remains up and running while it is in dry dock.

[RWolver672]

I can only speak for my neice who was on one. She said "Never again!" They started ripping out the carpets half-way through the cruise. Areas were closed off because of it and piles and piles of old carpet were stacked up all over.

[Texarribean Chick]

I was on the Fantasy a couple of years ago the last week before her dry dock and I saw absolutely NO difference in the level of service from any other cruise I had taken. I was kind of disappointed because I knew what new things were coming to her; but bottom line was that the cruise fare was too good to pass up!

 

Have Fun!

[firefly333]

Ive read some complaints as they started working on the ship the last cruise or so to get ahead of schedule and they didnt like all the work going on.

 

Im doing Jewel 5 days before her dry dock .. and would of course prefer after she is all spruced up .. but she will be going abroad after that.

[bahama daydreamer]

I was on the Liberty last year before dry dock and I can say I didn't see any difference in service or anything else. We had a great time and loved it so much we're going again. The only thing was the day we returned to Miami they began tearing things down as we were getting off the ship. Didn't bother us any. We enjoyed watching them while we waited to leave.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

We have don it 3 times no problem ....

[cdamion]

I have heard complaints from people who say that they start closing off areas of the ship because work begins during the last cruise.

 

I would also skip the first cruise after a drydock as well.

[WiCruiseDreamer]

 

I would also skip the first cruise after a drydock as well.

 

Why would you skip the week after?

 

 

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[JinxyB]

We were on the last sailing on Ruby Princess before her dry dock last Dec, and I admit I was a little hesitant to book the cruise based on the dry dock info. If I had not known she was going into dry dock before, I would have never known on the cruise-no construction, cleaning, ripping up carpets, etc. I think the only thing I saw unusual was some plywood stacked in a corner on one of the open decks the last sea day.

[vaguy22]

Not a good idea to sail on the first trip after dry dock or major yard period. possibility of various "bugs" or problems to work out (Machinery problems etc. after the first cruise things should settle out. This comes from experience. Worked in engine room of large ships for 25 years.

[cruisinreunion]

We were on one of the last two weeks before dry dock and would never do it again....shops were empty, crew were just not "there" because of all the extra work they had to do to prepare, food was not being replenished so many things ran out...no fun

[tandemcruzr]

We were on the Paradise this past January before she went into dry dock. Saw nothing different from any of our previous 10 cruises.

[cdamion]

Why would you skip the week after?

 

 

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There frequently seem to be bugs to be worked out as well as new systems and procedures the crew isn't fully used to yet.

 

In the case of drydocks where major work is being done, they very often don't have things up and running yet and are still working during the cruise. You can see this in many reviews across various cruise lines. The most recent example is the Spirit. Before that it was the Princess ship that had its 'spoiler' removed along with some other significant upgrades.

 

If I am on a cruise, I don't want to be working during construction, or not be able to use some public areas because they didn't get everything finished on time.

[rkacruiser]

I was on Carnival Miracle in January on the cruise just before her drydock. The level of service and entertainment was not affected. I did notice on the night before returning to Port Everglades, there seemed to be fewer individual entertainers providing music in a couple of the lounges. (Maybe they needed to get their equipment packed up and ready to disembark.) No issues with food in the Lido or Dining Room; lots of selections with food being well prepared and fresh. They did run out of some of the wines that were part of the wine package I bought, but the Maitre d' provided a different list from which we could order.

 

Doing the Behind The Fun tour on the Miracle was interesting because we got to see some of the pre-dry dock preparations going on below decks and listen to some of the Department Heads talk about the challenges and issues they have to work through in doing a dry dock.