Constellation Drydock

[nowaves1]

Thinking of booking at trip for 2011 on Constellation. Did I read somewhere that Constellation is scheduled for refurbished in 2010?

[PatC]

Yes and we'll sail her in March of 2011. Can't wait to see her updates. We love Connie.

[jeffbook]

Connie goes into drydock after the conclusion of the April transatlantic cruise.

[dkjretired]

Originally Posted by nowaves1

Thinking of booking at trip for 2011 on Constellation. Did I read somewhere that Constellation is scheduled for refurbished in 2010?

Here's a link to the press release...

http://www.celebritycruises.com/abou...equence_code=A

[rolfecms]

It will be exciting to see how the Solstice-class make-over of the m-class ships turns out. Most everyone loves the s-class once they've experienced them, so it will be a masterstroke for =X= to extend that appeal to its existing fleet.

[Rileyelf]

Does anyone know how long the refurbishment is liable to take.
We are booked for the Norwegian cruise starting on the 21st June and would hate to think there is a possibility of it being cancelled.

[JRarey]

Originally Posted by Rileyelf

...would hate to think there is a possibility of it being cancelled.

The Atlantic crossing ends on April 24 in Hamberg, Germany. The next scheduled cruise leaves Amsterdam on May 9. This leaves 15 days to complete the upgrade. Since there are no significant structural modifications to the ship 15 days is really plenty of time to make the changes. The timeline and amount of work done in a drydock like this is truely amazing. I am certain your cruise is safe and you will have the added pleasure of what will look and feel a whole lot like a brand new ship!

Enjoy!

[Orator]

Originally Posted by Rileyelf

Does anyone know how long the refurbishment is liable to take.
We are booked for the Norwegian cruise starting on the 21st June and would hate to think there is a possibility of it being cancelled.

It is my understanding that it will be in dry dock for two weeks. It will take an additional 10 days to convert the Conservatory into a Tuscan Grille. The work will be completed while sailing.

[neilrr]

We took a cruise on the HAL Veendam about six weeks after her drydock and thank goodness almost all work was completed, but HAL did not initially allow enough time for the work (HAL alotted 2 weeks and needed about 4 weeks to complete) and the passengers had a terrible time on the first few cruises out.

I strongly suggest that you do not go on a cruise right after any ship comes out of drydock. They need to get the bugs out and many of the crewmembers will be new as well. All of the crew will be attempting to adapt to all of the new changes. I would give it at least 6- 8 weeks before getting on the ship.

My philosophy is to be on the leading edge; not the bleeding edge...
Good luck and happy cruising...

[c-legs]

Originally Posted by neilrr

We took a cruise on the HAL Veendam about six weeks after her drydock and thank goodness almost all work was completed, but HAL did not initially allow enough time for the work (HAL alotted 2 weeks and needed about 4 weeks to complete) and the passengers had a terrible time on the first few cruises out.

I strongly suggest that you do not go on a cruise right after any ship comes out of drydock. They need to get the bugs out and many of the crewmembers will be new as well. All of the crew will be attempting to adapt to all of the new changes. I would give it at least 6- 8 weeks before getting on the ship.

My philosophy is to be on the leading edge; not the bleeding edge...
Good luck and happy cruising...

Hi, Neil
Excellent comments and suggestion. This industry is infamously notorious for trying to cram way too much into a typical yard/drydock session , and inevitably runs short on completion/ re-sailing date. It happens ALL THE TIME.
A ship goes in for , say, 15 days yard time, with a wishlist // work order that can't possibly be all done/checked/tested/ready to sail by day #16....
I've always compared a post-drydock cruise as an adventure on a marine floating construction zone...there's ALWAYS hardhats and '' restriction yellow ribbon'' in a number of areas, for at least the first couple of sailings post-drydock.In some cases, up to 5 sailings before they''finally''get it all done.
The VEENDAM case is extreme: you surely noticed it when you sailed her mid-june; they still defenitely had issues that late, after the April yard work...although in all fairness, the unrealistic expectations in that case were out of the ordinary.This was not HAL's most shining moment....
MERCURY's SanFransisco yard time in Spring'07 was followed by at least 4 sailings with work still going on in the 'aft-veranda staterooms' area...and some of those staterooms could not even be revenue producing the 1st two sailings...
Whichever line we're talking about, it's all the same....Minimize the non-revenue ( yard ) time to the utmost...try to finish things ''on the run'' after she's back sailing....BUT NEVER COMPROMISE SAFETY ....(to their credit).
Connie's schedule of ''refinements & upgrades'' appears quite heavy for 15 days.....but why am I not surprised? You're wise to suggest 5 sailings post-drydock as being '' OK '' .
Cheers
C

[DirkHK]

As the Constellation is not that old yet I m pretty positive that the makeover will be completed on time.
Also, it's done in a German shipyard which is quite famous for drydock sessions... Germans usually know how to meet deadlines...

The former Galaxy was also refitted in Germany, though more time was given to allow the makeover which was quite extensive.

Wiki says: "Following withdrawal from Celebrity Cruises' service, the ship sailed to the Lloyd shipyard in Bremerhaven, Germany where she received a € 50 million refit to upgrade her facilities and refit her cabins to make her better suited for the needs of the German market. Additional cabins were also fitted on existing outside cabins."

Originally Posted by c-legs

Hi, Neil
Excellent comments and suggestion. This industry is infamously notorious for trying to cram way too much into a typical yard/drydock session , and inevitably runs short on completion/ re-sailing date. It happens ALL THE TIME.
A ship goes in for , say, 15 days yard time, with a wishlist // work order that can't possibly be all done/checked/tested/ready to sail by day #16....
I've always compared a post-drydock cruise as an adventure on a marine floating construction zone...there's ALWAYS hardhats and '' restriction yellow ribbon'' in a number of areas, for at least the first couple of sailings post-drydock.In some cases, up to 5 sailings before they''finally''get it all done.
The VEENDAM case is extreme: you surely noticed it when you sailed her mid-june; they still defenitely had issues that late, after the April yard work...although in all fairness, the unrealistic expectations in that case were out of the ordinary.This was not HAL's most shining moment....
MERCURY's SanFransisco yard time in Spring'07 was followed by at least 4 sailings with work still going on in the 'aft-veranda staterooms' area...and some of those staterooms could not even be revenue producing the 1st two sailings...
Whichever line we're talking about, it's all the same....Minimize the non-revenue ( yard ) time to the utmost...try to finish things ''on the run'' after she's back sailing....BUT NEVER COMPROMISE SAFETY ....(to their credit).
Connie's schedule of ''refinements & upgrades'' appears quite heavy for 15 days.....but why am I not surprised? You're wise to suggest 5 sailings post-drydock as being '' OK '' .
Cheers
C

[clmom]

Originally Posted by Rileyelf

Does anyone know how long the refurbishment is liable to take.
We are booked for the Norwegian cruise starting on the 21st June and would hate to think there is a possibility of it being cancelled.

We're booked on the June 9th Baltic sailing...hope all the kinks are worked out by then!

[biguntx]

We booked 9/18/10.

Loved Solstice so can't wait to see the updates to what I understand is a great ship.

[pmymmw]

We're on the 9th May Norway cruise so let's hope they get everything finished on time!