Cruising before a refit.

[wowzz]

I've posted a specific question about Sky Princess and a refit on the Princess board.

However,  have any of you sea dogs cruised immediately before a refit ? Did it impact on your cruise - eg contractors doing preliminary work prior to the end of the cruise ?

Any thoughts would be welcome. 

[david63]

I have done a couple of cruises immediately prior to a refit, not by design, and yes there will be contractors onboard doing some preliminary work but they have never impacted on the actual cruise. What does sometimes happen is that some facilities, such as the spa, may be closed for the last day or two of the cruise and you may notice things like pictures and soft furnishings "disappearing".

 

Also the ship tends to dock a bit earlier than normal and by some miracle all the baggage is off the ship in half the normal time!

 

The interesting part is that when you are disembarking there will be hundreds of contractors boarding the ship - when we were on Aurora before her last refit we were told that there would be 1200 contractors boarding.

[Jazzytelly]

44 minutes ago, david63 said:

 

The interesting part is that when you are disembarking there will be hundreds of contractors boarding the ship - when we were on Aurora before her last refit we were told that there would be 1200 contractors boarding.

Where do they do the refit then, do they do it whilst at sea because presumably they don’t do it at the terminal the ship docked at?

[wowzz]

5 minutes ago, Jazzytelly said:

Where do they do the refit then, do they do it whilst at sea because presumably they don’t do it at the terminal the ship docked at?

The ship will go a a specific dry dock.  Sky Princess for example,  is going to Brest.

[terrierjohn]

2 hours ago, wowzz said:

I've posted a specific question about Sky Princess and a refit on the Princess board.

However,  have any of you sea dogs cruised immediately before a refit ? Did it impact on your cruise - eg contractors doing preliminary work prior to the end of the cruise ?

Any thoughts would be welcome. 

We were on Ventura prior to a refit a few years ago. Some contractors did join us while we were in the Caribbean, but their work, wherever it was, went unnoticed. The first we saw of any work was contractors ripping up the rubber flooring on the balcony as we departed the ship.

Edited July 13, 2022 by terrierjohn

[wowzz]

9 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

We were on Ventura prior to a refit a few years ago. Some contractors did join us while we were in the Caribbean, but their work, wherever it was, went unnoticed. The first we saw of any work was contractors ripping up the rubber flooring on the balcony as we departed the ship.

Thanks. Perhaps I am just being a bit more paranoid than usual !

[terrierjohn]

3 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Thanks. Perhaps I am just being a bit more paranoid than usual !

Of more concern would be a change of on board shop franchise, we were on on Ventura when that happened and the shops started packing up with 3 days to go, and were shut completely on the last day.

[david63]

35 minutes ago, Jazzytelly said:

Where do they do the refit then, do they do it whilst at sea because presumably they don’t do it at the terminal the ship docked at?

The contractors start on the refit whilst the ship is on its way to the dock where the main refit is taking place.

[david63]

1 minute ago, terrierjohn said:

the shops started packing up with 3 days to go, and were shut completely on the last day.

Would that actually make any difference - bet they did not have a closing down sale

[terrierjohn]

Just now, david63 said:

Would that actually make any difference - bet they did not have a closing down sale

It definitely made the atrium seem very bare from how it normally looks when the shops are open.

[wowzz]

3 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

Of more concern would be a change of on board shop franchise, we were on on Ventura when that happened and the shops started packing up with 3 days to go, and were shut completely on the last day.

If that was the only issue, I would be fine. Normally,  if we have any obc left,  my wife will kindly dispose of it for me in the shops. Depending on our finances, I'll have to give her advance warning.

[davecttr]

I suppose when we say refit want we really mean is redecoration and refurbishment of the public venues and cabins. the rest of the refit is the mechanical and watery bits like getting her bottom sand blasted 😱

[gsmt47471015]

Blimey, that could be a painful experience😆

[molecrochip]

So the general rule is that any contractors travelling should not impact the cruise before. You may however see disruption on disembarkation morning.

 

Some examples:

• Once the last theatre performance has finished, they start to derig the theatre but as its a muster station, the seating area cannot be touched until docked.
• When Britannia's atrium floor was re-dsigned, by 7am in the morning there was a designated pathway in each direction and the rest was empty of all usual table, chairs and piano.
• Shops have to offload by mid-morning hence the packing up in advance - but only if work is being done to the shops/change of supplier.
• Mini-bars are usually emptied one day before disembarkation.
• A main restaurant is usually turned into a contractor buffet restaurant.
• Deck chairs and sunbeds usually stowed overnight before arrival.
• Bars may run short of certain items as alcohol stores aren't loaded in the few days leading to dry dock. Additional stores are taken on board ahead of the first cruise back but some items can take a day or two to get to every bar.
• You may see shipping containers loaded onto the open decks - some will take rubbish, some will have fittings/equipment & materials.

 

The onboard contractors are generally checking that the shoreside plans for work, relate to the actual ship. The also ensure that all the plans are in place for the work, H&S etc, liaise with ship crew.

 

Contractors check in like guest and get their cabin pass but usually there is also a pass station set-up as often contractors have to change cabin if significant cabin works being undertaken. One job for crew is pass-running where contractors are escorted into cabins in use by contractors so work can be taken out.

 

Another job for crew is fire watch. Even in dry dock, certain activities pose a higher risk onboard ship. Therefore crew will be designated to stand by said work with fire extinguishers, just in case.

 

Ship docks often around midnight before the final disembarkation before dry dock. They wont be able to complete customs etc until 5am or 6am but it gives them a couple of hours over a usual 7am arrival.

 

The plan is usually for all guests to be off by 10am. Staff will be more pushy at getting people off.

 

Work is then planned hour by hour from that point through to about midday when the ship returns from dry dock. Certain work can't be carried out on the transit to/from the dry dock (such as welding) but demolition and removal of old cabin bedding etc can.

 

 

[wowzz]

2 hours ago, molecrochip said:

So the general rule is that any contractors travelling should not impact the cruise before. You may however see disruption on disembarkation morning.

 

Some examples:

• Once the last theatre performance has finished, they start to derig the theatre but as its a muster station, the seating area cannot be touched until docked.
• When Britannia's atrium floor was re-dsigned, by 7am in the morning there was a designated pathway in each direction and the rest was empty of all usual table, chairs and piano.
• Shops have to offload by mid-morning hence the packing up in advance - but only if work is being done to the shops/change of supplier.
• Mini-bars are usually emptied one day before disembarkation.
• A main restaurant is usually turned into a contractor buffet restaurant.
• Deck chairs and sunbeds usually stowed overnight before arrival.
• Bars may run short of certain items as alcohol stores aren't loaded in the few days leading to dry dock. Additional stores are taken on board ahead of the first cruise back but some items can take a day or two to get to every bar.
• You may see shipping containers loaded onto the open decks - some will take rubbish, some will have fittings/equipment & materials.

 

The onboard contractors are generally checking that the shoreside plans for work, relate to the actual ship. The also ensure that all the plans are in place for the work, H&S etc, liaise with ship crew.

 

Contractors check in like guest and get their cabin pass but usually there is also a pass station set-up as often contractors have to change cabin if significant cabin works being undertaken. One job for crew is pass-running where contractors are escorted into cabins in use by contractors so work can be taken out.

 

Another job for crew is fire watch. Even in dry dock, certain activities pose a higher risk onboard ship. Therefore crew will be designated to stand by said work with fire extinguishers, just in case.

 

Ship docks often around midnight before the final disembarkation before dry dock. They wont be able to complete customs etc until 5am or 6am but it gives them a couple of hours over a usual 7am arrival.

 

The plan is usually for all guests to be off by 10am. Staff will be more pushy at getting people off.

 

Work is then planned hour by hour from that point through to about midday when the ship returns from dry dock. Certain work can't be carried out on the transit to/from the dry dock (such as welding) but demolition and removal of old cabin bedding etc can.

 

 

Thank you for an informative reply.

You have laid to rest any fears that I might have had. In fact, I think I would prefer the last cruise before a refit compared to the first one after !

We were on Sky Princess in October 21 - the ship was immaculate then, so I cannot imagine that the quality of the decor will have deteriorated significantly in the subsequent 18 months to our next cruise.

So for  the drift to a Princess cruise,  but you get a much better quality  of posters here than on the Princess board. 

[david63]

12 hours ago, molecrochip said:

Mini-bars are usually emptied one day before disembarkation.

I thought most mini bars were emptied on the day of embarkation!!

[terrierjohn]

27 minutes ago, david63 said:

I thought most mini bars were emptied on the day of embarkation!!

Our mini bar was empty throughout our cruise, apart from our own items which needed to be kept chilled, and the fridge really did work and kept everything well chilled.

[david63]

15 minutes ago, terrierjohn said:

Our mini bar was empty throughout our cruise

I believe that comes under the heading "Covid protocols"!!

[Fionboard]

Mini bars have been empty since resumption. I prefer it as I never used the contents and like to put plenty of tap water in to chill - plus the occasional bottle of wine!

[Son of Anarchy]

We've done a couple of cruises immediately prior to refit.  Noticed that there were some contractors on board, but nothing going on that impacted on passengers.

 

On disembarkation day contractors were boarding while we still having breakfast (no impact on pax though).  We could see them measuring stuff up while we were in the buffet.  As we disembarked it was interesting seeing all the casino fruit machines outside of their usual home waiting to be offloaded?  Also noticed that one of the MDRs had already been set up a buffet dining area.

 

During the cruise, the cruise director (Christine Noble) and some of the engineering crew did a very interesting talk about what happens during the refit.

[wowzz]

Thanks again for all the comments.

Our favourite TA is ringing me tonight, so I will pull the trigger on the Princess cruise. Princess are even offering obc at the moment, which is unusual for them.

[molecrochip]

23 hours ago, wowzz said:

Thank you for an informative reply.

You have laid to rest any fears that I might have had. In fact, I think I would prefer the last cruise before a refit compared to the first one after !

We were on Sky Princess in October 21 - the ship was immaculate then, so I cannot imagine that the quality of the decor will have deteriorated significantly in the subsequent 18 months to our next cruise.

So for  the drift to a Princess cruise,  but you get a much better quality  of posters here than on the Princess board. 

Done both. Always go for the one immediately before rather than the one immediately after.

 

Sky Princess is due her 'warranty' refit. This is the first dry dock post delivery whereby anything that has gone wrong is sorted and the shipyard foot the bill. There is not normally any major internal work done, although on her sister ships Royal and Regal they upgraded the midship stairs to passenger use. Not a problem on Sky Princess as she's already built that way.

[wowzz]

56 minutes ago, molecrochip said:

Done both. Always go for the one immediately before rather than the one immediately after.

 

Sky Princess is due her 'warranty' refit. This is the first dry dock post delivery whereby anything that has gone wrong is sorted and the shipyard foot the bill. There is not normally any major internal work done, although on her sister ships Royal and Regal they upgraded the midship stairs to passenger use. Not a problem on Sky Princess as she's already built that way.

Thanks for that.

Must admit, we did find the mid ship stairs on Regal a bit "skinny", but better than no stairs at all!

I'm assuming the Sky generator issue will  be  resolved prior to next year ?

[molecrochip]

18 minutes ago, wowzz said:

Thanks for that.

Must admit, we did find the mid ship stairs on Regal a bit "skinny", but better than no stairs at all!

I'm assuming the Sky generator issue will  be  resolved prior to next year ?

It wasn't a generator issue , it was an issue with the exhaust gas scrubber system. Due to be resolved by the end of July.

[wowzz]

1 minute ago, molecrochip said:

It wasn't a generator issue , it was an issue with the exhaust gas scrubber system. Due to be resolved by the end of July.

Sorry - I couldn't remember the exact issue.

Thanks for the correction.