Experience on a pre-drydock cruise?

Hello,

We are sailing on the Star Princess on Nov 29th, 3 nights from LA to Vancouver, right before it goes out of service for refurbishments.

Anyone have any experience on being the last ship before drydock? Anything they do differently? Hopefully we don't get all the leftovers. ;p

Also, I read a review from October that said they already changed the mattresses...anyone know for certain?

Thanks

We were on the last sailing of the Tahitian Princess before she went to dry dock to emerge as the Ocean Princess. We did not experience any problems. In fact, it was a wonderful cruise

https://www.princess.com/ships-and-experience/princess-luxury-bed/ (scroll to bottom for rollout schedule)

Officially the Princess Luxury Beds will not be complete on Star until this drydock. But it is pretty certain full suites and club class minis already have it.

There have been no reports from other ships that had Sabatini's and the Kids/Teen Clubs redone on their drydocks that those venues were unavailable on the cruise before. Nor of pallets of supplies being loaded or offloaded.

You would have to go back several years for reports of heavy pre-drydock activity, most of which involved the Casino being cleared out several days before disembarkation to prep for new machines and decor. There has been nothing like the issues with Grand Princess in 2011 when Skywalkers was removed and a host of new venues added. In fact the subsequent drydock on Grand in December of last year was issue free--other than of course the cruise preceding it having to turn back to Hawaii due to the hatch to the tender launch flying open in the middle of the Pacific.

We were advised by a Princess Captain that the cruises pre and post dry-docks should be avoided. We were on the Diamond Princess right after a major dry-dock and work on areas of the ship continued while for the 12 days we were on the ship. Nothing really major but minor annoyances on a daily basis. Luckily it was a port intensive itinerary.

Thanks all. We were on the Ruby in September to Alaska and had a great time. We booked this cruise last minute just because it was such a great deal. I'm not expecting it to be as nice as our time on the Ruby but as long as the food and ship are decent, that's fine by us.

Our first Princess cruise was a 14-day Hawaiian cruise on the Sapphire Princess. It wasn't the very last cruise before dry dock, but the refitting was scheduled two weeks after our cruise.

The only thing I noticed was a lot of equipment packed up and secured on the upper decks. Obviously, this was equipment that was to be installed during the refit. Passenger access to this area was not allowed.

A few months later I was having a conversation with a new friend who was a very experienced Princess cruiser. He mentioned how much he liked Skywalkers. I was unfamiliar with Skywalkers and asked about it. He explained it to me, and I commented that the Sapphire Princess did not have one.

Of course, that is not correct. The Skywalkers on Sapphire Princess was in that area with the stored equipment which was closed to passengers on our cruise.

It was no big deal for us. It was our first cruise on Princess. We had no preconceptions or expectations.

Chatting with some of the crew members we learned that they were going to be staying on board during the dry dock period, and they were expecting to be given various maintenance or upgrade jobs in the public areas.

Oh! Hopefully Skywalkers is not closed on the Star...we loved it on Ruby!

Our first Princess cruise was a 14-day Hawaiian cruise on the Sapphire Princess. It wasn't the very last cruise before dry dock, but the refitting was scheduled two weeks after our cruise.

 

The only thing I noticed was a lot of equipment packed up and secured on the upper decks. Obviously, this was equipment that was to be installed during the refit. Passenger access to this area was not allowed.

 

A few months later I was having a conversation with a new friend who was a very experienced Princess cruiser. He mentioned how much he liked Skywalkers. I was unfamiliar with Skywalkers and asked about it. He explained it to me, and I commented that the Sapphire Princess did not have one.

 

Of course, that is not correct. The Skywalkers on Sapphire Princess was in that area with the stored equipment which was closed to passengers on our cruise.

 

It was no big deal for us. It was our first cruise on Princess. We had no preconceptions or expectations.

 

Chatting with some of the crew members we learned that they were going to be staying on board during the dry dock period, and they were expecting to be given various maintenance or upgrade jobs in the public areas.

Hello,

 

We are sailing on the Star Princess on Nov 29th, 3 nights from LA to Vancouver, right before it goes out of service for refurbishments.

 

Anyone have any experience on being the last ship before drydock? Anything they do differently? Hopefully we don't get all the leftovers. ;p

 

Also, I read a review from October that said they already changed the mattresses...anyone know for certain?

 

Thanks

We once were on a voyage before drydock, We did not observe anything unusual to indicate that it is scheduled for drydock. Neither did most passengers were aware of its schedule. Not all drydocks are due to technical problems. Some are for routine inspection and minor refurbishments.

VERY BAD! THey closed public rooms during the cruise to start the work. Smell of the torches was so bad, we had to stay in the Skywalker.

:mad:

I'm also booked on this cruise and don't expect it to be anything but great! I seriously doubt they will be doing too much while we are on the way up to Vancouver (maybe on the last day?).

Apparently they will be working on the Star 24/7 once it gets to Victoria, but if you take a look at what is speculated to be happening with the Star, I doubt much of the work could start before it gets to the shipyard.

All that being said, if they close Skywalkers, I think they will have a mutiny on their hands... ;p

A little common sense would help here.

The reason Skywalker's on Sapphire was used to store building supplies was due to how it sits flush to the aft deck. A crane can drop a container practically at its door.

Not possible on Star as its Skywalker's is the "shopping cart handle" design. The time it would take loading and unloading supplies via the skywalk moving staircase would undo any usefulness in storing them there.

We were on the Island several years ago when it sailed to Italy prior to dry dock. The Vista Lounge was closed as they were removing the electrical system. The cruise was fine - one of the best in fact.