Last Sapphire Cruise before drydock

[schoolmom]

I see the Sapphire is going into drydock on 1/7/12. Has anyone taken the last cruise before a drydock and where there any issues?

[Waynetor]

There were a number of post about the Grand before it went in last spring. Work being done during the last few days can be disrubtive and include some areas being closed. This will vay from dry dock experience to dry dock experience depending on the work to be done. Generally the timetable is very tight and each job is done by contractors so in the last few days the crew may be getting the areas as ready as they can so the contractors start on the first day. Sometimes the contractors will be on the ship the last few days to get an early start. If you can find out the main work to be done it may give you an idea on what areas could be afffected on your cruise. For example if they were going to do a major rework of the casino you could exceppt it to be closed early.

Likewise the first cruise after a drydock is subject to some problems. The major work would be doe but finishing touches could be still going on.

[Pia1913]

I see the Sapphire is going into drydock on 1/7/12. Has anyone taken the last cruise before a drydock and where there any issues?

 

We were on the Coral for 25 days; last before drydock. Had I not known it was going to happen, I never would have surmised. Nothing out of the ordinary; no work begun prior. Now then, the Golden a few years ago, had major issues prior. I guess there's no guarantee.

 

As for the Grand mentioned above, we on the first cruise post drydock. Many many problems, to put it mildly. That ship needed a lot more work and really wasn't cruise worthy when it finally departed. (I say finally, because it never left on the day it was supposed to leave).

[Aussie Gal]

We were on the Royal Princess this year in April/May prior to her being handed over to P&O UK. Never again we will we ever cruise on a ship before drydock or the first cruise after following a new build or a drydock.

 

We had the shops closed for 10 days whilst they did a stocktake and of course they never opened again. The paintings were taken off the wall, we started to run out of certain food items and worst of all, the wine list was just about depleted. It was supposed to be a special voyage but unfortunately it didn't pan out that way.

 

Jennie

[Mapu]

We were advised by the Captain on a recent TA that he would not recommend a sailing pre-dry dock or the first one after dry dock.

[schoolmom]

Thanks everyone for the input. I suspected it probably wouldn't be a good idea and the Golden has the same iteneary a few days later but at a higher rate. It probably is worth the extra $ to insure a pleasant holiday.

[freetocruise]

Thanks everyone for the input. I suspected it probably wouldn't be a good idea and the Golden has the same iteneary a few days later but at a higher rate. It probably is worth the extra $ to insure a pleasant holiday.

 

The last cruise for Sapphire before drydock is a 7 day Mexico Riviera leaving on 12/31. The Golden does only 14 day Hawaii cruises at that time of year. The 14 day Hawaii cruise on the Sapphire that departs on 12/17 and returns on 12/31 is not the last cruise before drydock.

[LAC2]

I'm hoping the nay-sayers will be wrong this time and that we might luck out. We've booked and paid for the 12/31/11 7-day Mexican Riviera cruise already. It's our anniversary on 1/3 and wanted to do something special. Oh well. We'll be together and not at work. It's going to be great.

[Pia1913]

I'm hoping the nay-sayers will be wrong this time and that we might luck out. We've booked and paid for the 12/31/11 7-day Mexican Riviera cruise already. It's our anniversary on 1/3 and wanted to do something special. Oh well. We'll be together and not at work. It's going to be great.

 

Just don't get stressed in advance. If you read my prior post, nothing at all happened on the Coral during the last cruise before drydock. And this was going to be a long one, because they added MUTS and the Sanctuary among other things. Happy Anniversary and enjoy your cruise.

[LAC2]

Just don't get stressed in advance. If you read my prior post, nothing at all happened on the Coral during the last cruise before drydock. And this was going to be a long one, because they added MUTS and the Sanctuary among other things. Happy Anniversary and enjoy your cruise.

Thank you. We will have a wonderful time, no matter what.

[wizard-of-roz]

We were onboard a ship that was going into drydock the following week. The shops were closed for a bit while they layed new carpet.....but, I was amazed at how quickly the new carpet was down and the shops re-opened.

The crew wants you to have a pleasant holiday but because of the amazing wear & tear that these ships get daily......there has to be an inconvenience factor every now and then. They try to keep it to a minimum.

We couldn't touch all the handrails outside on the Promenade Deck because they had freshly varnished everything. It only took one day for it all to dry and boy was it beautful afterwards.

This can happen on any given cruise at any time; where you will notice that some bathrooms/stores/decks, etc. are closed......the ships are being spruced-up all the time, even when they're not in dry-dock!

They'd start to look more like worn-out, old hotels otherwise!!!!