sailing prior to dry dock

[cruisinquestions]

I did a search that didnt yield the info and opinions I was looking for. I seem to have memory of reading of people's experiences on various ships' sailings before the ship went into dry dock.

 

I know one mans terrible cruise is anothers perfect experience - so these are just opinions - but - in your opinion- are sailing right before a ship dry docks not the best. Crew feeling lazy as their time on board ends? Not everything will be up to par for various reasons having to do with the ship going to dry dock soon?

 

I would have never thought this is an issue, except, as I said, I remember folks talking about it before on these boards. I would like to book the Pride for Thanksgiving next year, but understand the old girl is going to dry dock in 2014.

 

Just thought Id toss this out and see what answers and opinions it gets me. I will probably book- but wonder if anyone would advice otherwise. Id like to sail close to home, but NYC isnt that much further up the road.

 

Thanks everyone!

[tef43]

I'd rather be on a ship immediately before drydock than immediately after.

 

The first voyage post-drydock is typically a disaster as many things supposed to have been completed, aren't.

[rkacruiser]

My traveling companion and I were on Carnival Miracle in January of this year just before she went into drydock. There were no service issues; other than normal crew rotations, the crew remains on the ship during drydock and are involved in the internal cleaning of the ship. They ran low on wine that was on the wine list (we had bought a wine package), but the Maitre d' authorized substitutions for wine that we ordered that were not available. The substitutions were more than adequate, usually being a bit more expensive when ordered alone.

 

We did the Behind the Fun Tour which allowed us to see some of the drydock preparations below deck that were being made. Also, we saw the storerooms were quite low on many items in preparation for the drydock. Really was interesting and added another dimension to the Tour.

 

I'd not hesitate to book another cruise knowing that the next one following mine was a drydock for the ship.

[golfadj]

I would avoid just before and after.

 

Some crew will be leaving at drydock and sometimes they will start working on the last cruise.

 

and sometimes work is not done and work will be done on the first cruise after.

[cruisinquestions]

Thanks for the replies. I guess any sailing can have its problems ~ and as they say a bad day at sea ... and all that ;)

[zqvol]

I did a search that didnt yield the info and opinions I was looking for. I seem to have memory of reading of people's experiences on various ships' sailings before the ship went into dry dock.

 

I know one mans terrible cruise is anothers perfect experience - so these are just opinions - but - in your opinion- are sailing right before a ship dry docks not the best. Crew feeling lazy as their time on board ends? Not everything will be up to par for various reasons having to do with the ship going to dry dock soon?

 

Most of the crew stays on the ship during the entire drydock and works long hours refurbing the ship, so other than normal turnover the crew is all still there. I have been on board the week before the ship went into drydock and other than a few engineers running around I did not notice anything different than on any other cruise.

 

I would have never thought this is an issue, except, as I said, I remember folks talking about it before on these boards. I would like to book the Pride for Thanksgiving next year, but understand the old girl is going to dry dock in 2014.

 

Just thought Id toss this out and see what answers and opinions it gets me. I will probably book- but wonder if anyone would advice otherwise. Id like to sail close to home, but NYC isnt that much further up the road.

 

Thanks everyone!

 

Don't let a dry dock schedule slow you down.