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cruise prior to dry dock questions

imae39

By imae39,
in Holland America Line

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imae39

imae39

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Looking at the Nov. 29 sailing of the Eurodam. Following this cruise the ship goes into dry dock. Will they be starting work on the ship during the cruise?

Any thoughts on this? Would you sail on this ship knowing this?

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catl331

catl331

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Posted (edited)

We were on the Zuiderdam just before a dry dock, and while they didn't start doing any work in advance (that we could see) we found a lot of little things needing repair - like they were letting things slide that would normally be taken care of routinely if a d-d was not imminent. We got a good price on the cruise, so if a cruise was a big enough bargain we would consider doing it again.

Edited by catl331
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RuthC

RuthC

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Twice I have been on the final cruise of a HAL ship prior to a dry dock that was to involve major changes to the ship. On neither cruise was there any apparent work done until the final evening. When we came out of the dining room, the elevators were all padded, and the shops were packing their stock, for example.

We had seen workers aboard---they could be spotted wearing steel-toe boots, and picking up their lunch dishes and stacking them on the stewards' trays.

 

But there was no work started, at least in the passenger areas of the ship.

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Crew News "Live from...." Rare

Crew News

Posted
Posted
Looking at the Nov. 29 sailing of the Eurodam. Following this cruise the ship goes into dry dock. Will they be starting work on the ship during the cruise?

Any thoughts on this? Would you sail on this ship knowing this?

 

We are booked on this cruise and it will be our second "pre-drydock" cruise. During the previous cruise we did see workers with clipboard noting things to be repaired but no work commenced while passengers were on board.

 

I have booked the Pinnacle Grill for the last night to take advantage of the "all you can eat king crab legs" special (fingers crossed).

 

Our roll call is very small and we hope you choose to join us.

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sail7seas

sail7seas

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I've heard of some chairs/upholstered seating from public areas being removed to get a start on upholstering work. For the most part, no actual work begins while guests are aboard.... at least that is visible or disruptive to guests.

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Boatdrill

Boatdrill

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Posted

Veendam, last April, PC. Ship was going into drydock after arriving in Ft. Lauderdale. The back deck (portside) was roped off the last half of the trip for deck and railing repair/maintenance.

 

And other than some occasionally nutty service :) all was normal.

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Lizzie68

Lizzie68

Posted
Posted
I've heard of some chairs/upholstered seating from public areas being removed to get a start on upholstering work. For the most part, no actual work begins while guests are aboard.... at least that is visible or disruptive to guests.

 

Oh yeah? Try almost a week of not being able to use your balcony because they were scraping, drilling, sanding and painting balconies.

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bobpell

bobpell

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Our partial Panama Canal cruise was just before dry dock on the Zuiderdam. Picture the aft pool deck with just 40 chaise loungers instead of the normal compliment.

Why became evident when as we were disembarking in FLL a huge crane was lowering shipping containers on to the open spaces aft both on deck 9 and 10!!

The grumbling by the seething, milling sun worshippers was bubbling up worse and worse by the last few days. No explanation was given by the tight lipped crew.

I felt like I was at an all inclusive in Cuba or the DR when I went up at 6:30 AM to purloin two of the coveted loungers for the day!!

Never again

Bobpell

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take us away

take us away

Posted
Posted

Have been on cruises pre-dry dock and had many, many officers and contractors milling about making notes, measuring spaces. Chairs did seem to disappear now and again and empty cabins were used for storage, small tasks, etc. so there was more traffic around these cabins. Did notice one was the recovery station for the chairs. Some of the contractors usually ate breakfast in the Lido and we could get the inside scoop on what was going to be done. Worst problem we had was they ran out of a few small things like condiments, some types of tea - but that can happen on any cruise.

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Tampa Girl

Tampa Girl

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Posted
Our partial Panama Canal cruise was just before dry dock on the Zuiderdam. Picture the aft pool deck with just 40 chaise loungers instead of the normal compliment.

Why became evident when as we were disembarking in FLL a huge crane was lowering shipping containers on to the open spaces aft both on deck 9 and 10!!

The grumbling by the seething, milling sun worshippers was bubbling up worse and worse by the last few days. No explanation was given by the tight lipped crew.

I felt like I was at an all inclusive in Cuba or the DR when I went up at 6:30 AM to purloin two of the coveted loungers for the day!!

Never again

Bobpell

 

 

Was that on the cruise that just docked in FLL on March 16th? If so, it was not the last cruise before drydock. It was headed to Italy for drydock, with passengers aboard. Sorry the diminished number of lounger chairs upset you. I noticed nothing upsetting about the cruise, but I did notice an unusual number of rather surly and very rude passengers on the ship. Something I have never experienced before. One irate woman accused my brother of bringing his own "Dive In" beeper aboard when his went off before hers! Where do these people come from??? And casual dress? My SIL reported that one "gentleman" arrived in the MDR for breakfast with shorts and no shirt - bare chested. Another gentleman frequently came into the dining room, even on formal night, in coveralls. Clearly, different people have differing ideas as what "casual" or "smart casual" means.

 

Nonetheless, we had a great cruise and the food on the Zuiderdam was the best that we have experienced on HAL. Life is too short to get upset about the small stuff.

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sail7seas

sail7seas

Posted
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Oh yeah? Try almost a week of not being able to use your balcony because they were scraping, drilling, sanding and painting balconies.

 

That's not good.

Did that happen to you? Which ship, if so?

 

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sail7seas

sail7seas

Posted
Posted (edited)

No, of course not, ,,,,,, but I think you knew that.

Do you know why it's a secret which ship? I was chuckling at 'mystery vessel'. :D

 

Edited by sail7seas
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