Who has sailed right before a drydock?

[mspink98]

We're booked on Explorer on the second to the last voyage before drydock. The itinerary and price are both great, but I have this nagging little thought in the back of my head that she'll be rough around the edges in a big way that close to a drydock. We're not first timers and aren't super picky so can overlook some things, but we're thinking of taking some first timers (and reluctant cruisers) and understandably want them impressed.

 

Has anyone sailed on a ship right at the end of a run, and did you notice any declines in maintenance, service, etc?

[JenGang]

We were on Monarch last year not long before her retirement and the ship was still in beautiful condition. I have no concerns about being on the same Explorer sailing as you because they are constantly doing maintenance on the ships. I only wish the refurbish was happening before because I suspect they will add more specialty restaurants and we really enjoy those.

Edited March 2, 2014 by JenGang

[bigsky]

I can't say I remember which ship it was. I didn't notice anything until the morning we were getting off the ship. Certain areas were blocked off, and carpet was being rolled up. Night before, some mattresses were being removed from cabins. (I'm sure these were empty ones!)

I didn't realize why all this was going on at the time, but someone had told me why.

Nothing on the cruise itself alerted me it was going into dry dock. I wouldn't hesitate to book another cruise just before dd again.

 

Maybe others had a bad experience? ....not me.

[PudgiPoo]

Was on the NoS a month before dry dock. She was showing some wear, rust on the metal parts, but clean. The carpets showed wear and some spots. Knowing she was going to go in for a large overhaul we overlooked her little troubles. I had a cruise booked for when she came out of dry dock so was fun to note the wear spots and watch for the new look. A cruise is a cruise, enjoy. :D

[truffles2]

We were on Independence immediately prior to drydock and no problems.

[Ambiverol]

I did exactly that, last year on the Independence OTS, and it was fine. We were the final US sailing, it crossed the pond, then dry dock.

 

Some notes:

 

--Overall very nice, no real issues

--Normal cruise director off early, had a sub they pulled out of retirement, many did not like

--Decent amount of europeans, who were staying on for the transatlantic

--Doing some prep work. A company was on board laying wires for the new wifi system. They were not too intrusive, but noticeable here and there.

--Some other minor prep work

--As someone else mentioned, while leaving, I noticed carpets being ripped up (assuming unsold staterooms!), mattresses discarded, etc.

 

If one didn't know better, all of this could have passed as normal operations.

[cbyington05]

When is it drydocked and for how many days?

 

--Chris

[ksg]

We were on the Norwegian Dawn a couple of months before dry dock. Now granted, this is NCL, rather than RCCL, but she couldn't have gone into dry dock fast enough. There were buckets in the entrance to the theater catching leaks, our toilets kept backing up onto the floor (and we were told by guest services that we couldn't use the showers in the spa to get ready for dinner while waiting for them to clean the cabin), the plates/cups etc. in the Japanese restaurant didn't match, and the tea was served in coffee cups, rather than tea cups. We were told it was because the ship was going into dry dock, and rather than replace the dinnerware, they just used whatever they had until after dry dock. We got into Tortola pretty late - I think they were down one of their engines - which caused us to get to a certain snorkeling spot (the Indians) too late to be allowed there - (BVI limited visits), so we had to snorkel somewhere else that wasn't good at all.

 

There were also a number of other things that needed repair/upkeep. Even so, we had fun as the entertainment was (up until Oasis class) the best we'd experienced on a cruise, even if the food was also the worst we'd had on a cruise. I'll add that the price was very, very right.

[Riff Sniff]

We sailed on the Brilliance last spring two cruises before she went into dry dock and experienced no problems. We did notice more workers than usual in the halls, engineers with plans having conversations here and there, but nothing that affected our cruise.

 

 

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[chicy724]

We were on a different ship line back in 2011- Carnival, on the Triumph, the trip just before drydock. We had no idea this was the case until our steward told us. The ship looked fine; but it was also our first cruise so we didn't really have anything to compare to.

[Teacherloves2Cruise]

We sailed on Celebrity Summit right before. Not only was she beautiful and in great shape, we got to enjoy some features that aren't there any longer.

 

 

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[jonbgd]

Radiance right before her drydock in Canada

 

The food in the buffet was really bad especially the last night

It was like they were cleaning out the freezer:eek:

[youngcruiser15]

I was on navigator in december and I think the ship was still beautiful, but they were definitely getting rid of merchandise and trying to sell everything so they had limited merchandise. that was noticeable. As for service, sometimes you could tell that some of them were not as good due to getting off the ship when it went to dry dock, but I think that was more their contract ending than the ship itself going into dry dock.

[Paulette3028]

We were on Majesty right before she went into drydock for her refurb a few years ago. It did not inconvenience us in any way. In some areas, they were recarpeting (overnight), but it was 'magically done' is all I can tell you.

 

We were on the ship the following year, and in the exact same cabin....and knew that our cabin had been refurbed, since we had all new bathroom fixtures and tile and vanity.

[rum & monkey]

We were on the Navigator on it's last sailing before dry dock and there were a lot of things that needed repair that they were waiting for dry dock for, including the stage. The mechanisms for the stage were not working so they did not do all the shows with the Royal Caribbean dancers and singers. This was a New Years cruise so there was no good deal, had there been and also some warning it may have been more palatable on the short comings. The other thing is the crew goes to dry dock with the ship and also have a job working on the ship the whole time. More experienced crew members will leave the ship to another and as a result you have many crew members that either are on their first contract or have taken the opportunity to move up into a new position. Our waiter and assistant waitress were in a new positions (she was a cook before and he was an assistant waiter) our cabin attendant was new as well. Bar service was extremely slow as we found several new bartenders as well, one didn't even know how to make one of the frozen drinks in the book they keep at the bar. All in all it was not the same service we have come to know from RC in the past. They also started dismantling and storing things on the ship on the last night which did not make it enjoyable to stay out and enjoy your last night on vacation.

[trev71]

We're booked on Explorer on the second to the last voyage before drydock. The itinerary and price are both great, but I have this nagging little thought in the back of my head that she'll be rough around the edges in a big way that close to a drydock. We're not first timers and aren't super picky so can overlook some things, but we're thinking of taking some first timers (and reluctant cruisers) and understandably want them impressed.

 

Has anyone sailed on a ship right at the end of a run, and did you notice any declines in maintenance, service, etc?

 

 

Sailed on the Liberty in 2011 before her dry dock and it was ok. They closed some hot tubs and they had the floors by the elevators chiped out. and they had some carpet ripped up in some places. if you dont mind some of that then you should be ok, But other than that everything else was ok.

[mo&fran]

We're booked on Explorer on the second to the last voyage before drydock. The itinerary and price are both great, but I have this nagging little thought in the back of my head that she'll be rough around the edges in a big way that close to a drydock. We're not first timers and aren't super picky so can overlook some things, but we're thinking of taking some first timers (and reluctant cruisers) and understandably want them impressed.

 

Has anyone sailed on a ship right at the end of a run, and did you notice any declines in maintenance, service, etc?

Out of curiosity, when is this drydock scheduled. So far, nobody here on CC seems to know, most think it han't been sceduled yet.

[mspink98]

I'm assuming (and you know what happens when we assume), that it's mid March, since she drops off the schedule after the 3/7 voyage.

[FOXTROT]

Once years ago. As we are boarding there was a crane removing the Windjammer equipment & fixtures. Every meal had to be eaten in the main dining room. Late at night getting a snack you could talk to workers who came aboard & started doing some of the work. The cruise was different but still fun.

[BillB48]

In a direct answer to the OP's question, yes I have been on the last cruise before dry dock. Specifically it was on the Jewel in 2011, the ship let us off in FLL and sailed to Freeport that same day to go into the yard. There was absolutely nothing to indicate that there were not going to passengers boarding the ship when we disembarked. The food, entertainment, service, maintenance and overall condition of the ship were just as good as on any other cruise. No degradation noted in any department was detected because she was going into the yard. However in some cases depending on what is scheduled to be done in the yard, there is always possibility that some particular aspect of the voyage could be impacted.

 

Actually many maintenance upgrades can take place well in advance of taking the ship out of service. My last trip on the Vision about 18 months ago which was well in advance of her going into the yard for all the enhancements she received recently, there was quite a bit of refurbishing going on. It was a two week cruise and they were re-carpeting hallways and rooms during the voyage, they had a massive amount of carpet rolls stored near the bow. In addition they were also replacing cabin TVs. When we arrived in Cartagena tons of old carpet and TVs were off loaded.