Horizon dry dock, any ideas of what will be done?

[MSUSigmaK]

Has anyone read or heard of what will be done to the Horizon when she is in dry dock? I have seen the pictures of the one balcony and updated cabin but, are they planning to do the same to other cabins this year? And, which cabins will they update? I have read various time frames for the dry dock, from one to three weeks, it doesn't give them much time to make changes.

 

We loved the Horizon last November but she does need new carpeting, bedspread, curtains, etc. It isn't likely that Celebrity would respond to these questions so I am hoping to receive responses from my fellow cruise critics.

[The Mate]

Hi,

Horizon does her last scheduled run, a 6 day trip Norfolk-Bermuda-Norfolk from Oct.17 to Oct.23rd. She is then 'out of commission'[ or I assume in dry dock] till she returns to Tampa Nov.29th, so she will be dry docked for about 5 weeks.

She is supposed to be refurbished with the addition of balconies[ don't know how many or which decks] and I believe the Zodiac club will be turned into an 'alternative dining' restaurant.

 

Don't count the days....make the days count. M&Ms

 

1989 - Carnivals Mardi Gras

1996 - Carnivals Holiday

1998 - Norwegians Leeward

1998 - Norwegian Sea

2000 - RCL Monarch of the Seas

2002 - Norwegian Sky[repos]

Norwegian Sky[bk to bk]

2003 - Norwegian Sea[repos]

2004 - Horizon [reposition]

 

[Chichi]

The Atlantic deck rooms CC Class will have varandah.

 

Hi Mate.

 

Seaward (Norwegian Sea)- 1996

Monarch of the Seas - 1997

Majesty of the Seas - 1998

Monarch of the Seas - 1999

Horizon - 1999

Horizon - 2000

Zenith - 2001

Millennium - 2002

Horizon - 2004

 

 

 

 

[CaribbeanBound]

I understood the entire Atlantic deck might get verandas --- including the suites. Do you know otherwise?

[gfcacc]

Are you sure about dates? We were just given a flyer offering an 8 night Bermuda cruise out of Norfolk leaving on Oct. 23-31. Also received Captain's Club coupon showing that sailing date on Horizon.

[CaribbeanBound]

Those dates are also on the Captain's Club calendar that just arrived inside the recent newsletter. I understand the drydock dates are not available for booking on the Celebrity website --- although there has yet to be any official mention of a drydock or rehab.

[Guest]

The ship is only scheduled for drydock for 12 days. I do not believe that everything that has been talked about will be accomplished in those 12 days. Also, Celebrity has made no public announcements on any changes being made. I would guess you might see the normal cleaning and maybe a specialty restaurant but with the time constraints do not believe there will be everything that has been rumored.

 

Here is the ships schedule before and after the drydock. Confirmed by both the latest newsletter and the web site.

 

Oct. 23, last Bermuda trip finished on 31st. goes into drydock until the 12th of Novemeber when it does a 7 night Western Caribbean.

 

Don

[Shirley and Les]

I suspect Celebrity installed the "prototype veranda cabin" to test the possibility of fabricating the verandas before the ship is in drydock and then only installing them as part of the drydock procedure. If they can gut all of the cabins and replace the furniture in twelve days, I suspect they can hang verandas in the same amount of time.

Les

[The Mate]

I apologize for the bad information in my previous post, the search engine I used did not list any cruises for the Horizon between Oct.23rd and Nov 29th, and I assumed she was in dry dock. However both the Celebrity website and Travelocity site show a 8 day Bermuda cruise Oct.23-31, and a 7 day caribbean Nov. 12-19, so it appears she is in dry dock for only 12 days as dkjretired correctly posted. My error.

 

Hi Chichi, hope you and Pat are well and hitting them right down the middle!!

 

Don't count the days....make the days count. M&Ms

 

1989 - Carnivals Mardi Gras

1996 - Carnivals Holiday

1998 - Norwegians Leeward

1998 - Norwegian Sea

2000 - RCL Monarch of the Seas

2002 - Norwegian Sky[repos]

Norwegian Sky[bk to bk]

2003 - Norwegian Sea[repos]

2004 - Horizon [reposition]

[rebeljohn]

I wonder if some of the preliminary work will be done beforehand. During our April 2nd cruise, they were doing some welding on the ship in preparation for Veranda installation. One of the cabins on our floor actually filled with smoke early one morning.

 

REBELJOHN

Constitution '89 Meridian '90

Norway '91 Celebration '93

Zenith 11/01 Sensation 5/02

Century 11/02 Atlantica 03/03

Zaandam 11/03 Horizon 4/04

[missm]

Please see my mini-review on our Horizon to Bermuda cruise and the insider info we received from the staff on board.

 

MissM

[hdawson]

Beware of "insider" information. I've read that either a cruise director or chief engineer on one of the RCI ships was telling guests that Labadee had been destroyed by the rebels. Fact: Not at all true.

Also read that a cruise director on a Carnival ship about 9 months ago stated that Carnival would build an additional smoke free ship because of the strong demand. ROFL at that one.

[ECCruise]

MissM's information is correct. The "insiders" that she talked to and one that we talked to all said the same thing. I realize that the schedule shows otherwise, but we talked to and saw enough workers and engineers who were on board last week to feel pretty confident that major things are going to occur in a 4-5 week period later this year.

[donnaw]

Hi all,

 

We spent a bit of time talking with John and several other officers on our March cruise. Some of the work will be ongoing and the rest will happen in drydock. All cabins will be upgraded along with internet access and a much improved satelite connection (John said something like 36 channels in cabin). Word from them is that they intend to go state of the art and upscale the entire ship to widen the gap with the rest of the mass marketers. They were not positive about all of Atlantic deck getting balconies but were hoping for that.

 

They made a good case, they were due for a refurb and if you are going to really upscale a ship then they are an excellent candidate since they are small and costs would be much less. If it is successful then Zenith will get the full treatment and they will take it from there.

 

Horizon's First Balcony 3/04

 

http://community.webshots.com/scripts/editPhotos.fcgi?action=viewall&albumID=125594606

 

Donna

 

Cruise Total: 8 Dawn Princess 12/8/01, Dawn Princess 8/19/02, Celebrity Century - 1/04/03, Carnival Fascination 5/2/03 Celebrity Horizon 3/1/04

 

[CKBob]

I hope they plan on making some larger suites on board. There largest suite, Celebrity Suite, is very small and they only have two of them (No Balconey yet). Maybe they can make larger baloney suite cabins on the stern of the Atlantic and Bremuda deck.

[Richard Stein]

The balconys will be in CC class and suite cabins. The price for these cabins is $300 higher after the rehab than before per quotes I have seen. That is why I'm in a CC class on this ship to Bermuda on the labor day week.

 

Horizon, 9/5/04, Sapphire Princess, 6/13/004 ?

Zuiderdam-2003, Constellation -2003, Infinity-2002, Vision of the Seas-2002,

Mercury-2001, Norwegian Sky-2000, Horizon-2000, Ryndam-1999, Grand Princess-1999, Westerdam-1998, Grand Princess-1998, Oriania-1997

1985-1996-3-HAL, 1-RCCL, 2-NCL, 11-Princess, 1-Royal, 1-Cunard

[Guest]

The prices are higher after the drydock because the ship is doing a 10 day cruise instead of a 7 day Bermuda cruise.

 

I just am trying to warn everyone that these rumors have been floating for a couple of years and thus far have been just rumors. I still don't think 12 days is enough time to get everything accomplished that they say is being done.

 

Don

[hdawson]

Don, they're using balcony upgrade kits from Home Depot.

[jsea]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by donnaw:

All cabins will be upgraded along with internet access and a much improved satelite connection (John said something like 36 channels in cabin). Word from them is that they intend to go state of the art and upscale the entire ship to widen the gap with the rest of the mass marketers.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

 

I like the sound of that. Horizon seems like she is going to be a first-rate 'small' ship after this work is done.

 

Good job, X.

[CaribbeanBound]

hdawson is right.

I got me a couple of veranda upgrade kits for my house just last week. I can't get more than a couple of chairs and a small table out on them though.

[Guest]

hdawson:

 

Sounds good, maybe run out and put one on the house, be cruising 365 days a year. Seriously, everyone just assumes this is happening and some things just don't add up. I think of the rumor mills at work years ago and then apply that to the people being told all this definite info. Only positive sign is really the new veranda on the Horizon but still no proof of anything being done other than a normal drydock.

 

Don

[missm]

Don,

 

The time frame we were given for the refurb. was 4-5 weeks, not 12 days.

 

We will all have to wait and see just exactly what will be done. The Horizon has tremendous potential to be a beautiful ship, but we'll just have to see what Celebrity delivers. Think positively!

 

MissM

[Guest]

What I was saying is the ship is only scheduled for drydock for 12 days from Oct. 31 to Nov. 12 and that does not include travel time to and from the drydock.

 

Don

[jsea]

While I agree that the timeframe seems tight, given the fact that Celebrity has already renovated several rooms onboard and added a balcony to one it doesn't make sense that they wouldn't do the refurb ship-wide.

 

Celebrity has already proven they can work on the upgrades with passengers onboard, so I certainly don't see what would prevent them from doing the work in-transit to the ship yard.

 

12 days might not be a lot, but with an army of workers and a slew of pre-fab balconies, I bet it's doable.

 

Also keep in mind that Celebrity is known for canceling cruises, so if the work gets delayed I am sure they won't mind x-ing a cruise (tongue sort-of in cheek).

[Guest]

Well it appears that official information from Celebrity on the Hori-Zen refurb has begun leaking out in the European Capt Club newsletter according to excitedofharpenden. Read for yourself--pretty much discusses the same set of changes (including balconies) that have been rumored but still no word on timing.

 

http://messages.cruisecritic.com/2/OpenTopic?a=tpc&s=927093444&f=147097554&m=769104281

 

Hey I realize that we still have not gotten any official notification of the changes, but not too long ago I was reading posts that said how balconies could not be put on the Hori-Zen because of design constraints, time, or money. So the pilot balcony on the Horizon reported on this board combined with this newsletter information from Celebrity is very very encouraging.

 

Jubilee 1991 Solar Eclipse

Century FO 1996 E Carib

Mercury FO 1998 W Carib

Galaxy SS 2000 Alaska IP

Infinity FV 2002 S Carib

Horizon HS 3/05 W Carib