Volendam 8 million dollar docking period October 2024

[Alphen]

Volendam will undergo a 21 days docking period this October with an investment of

8 million dollars. Work will include:

All cabins on deck 1,2 and 3 will get new carpets, as well as all the corridors and hallways. New drapes throughout, all cabins to be fitted with USB outlets 

Major Spa refit , Library relocation, Lido pool midship refit as well as a big Technical refit including work on steam and piping. Also ADA accessibility adjustments throughout the ship will be done, all according to the current HM on board, Florin.

[TiogaCruiser]

Any idea as to where the library is to be relocated?

[rodndonna]

We're on deck 1 - Sept 28-Oct 4....

 

I guess we won't have to feel too bad if we spill a drink on the carpet anyway 😗

[Fred321]

Library is in the perfect spot now. 

[Alphen]

36 minutes ago, TiogaCruiser said:

Any idea as to where the library is to be relocated?

Think they said it is moving to starboard.

[TiogaCruiser]

2 minutes ago, Alphen said:

Think they said it is moving to starboard.

Hmmm.

The apparent options on starboard are the space where the classical musicians perform (formerly LCS), the room they carved off of the Explorers Lounge (which I believe they still call by that name) and the Kings Room). Neither are that big.  Any idea what they plan for the vacated space?

 

Kn my recent experience Explorations (library) was packed most of the time.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Thanks for sharing, 

[HappyInVan]

Frankly, I'm surprised that HAL is putting money into a 25-year ship. I wonder if they'll do the same for the sister ship Zaandam?

 

Does not look life HAL is expecting new ships? 

 

[InTheWASide]

9 minutes ago, HappyInVan said:

Frankly, I'm surprised that HAL is putting money into a 25-year ship. I wonder if they'll do the same for the sister ship Zaandam?

 

Does not look life HAL is expecting new ships? 

 

honestly, if it takes a delay in ordering newbuilds to get some of these ships a proper update and not just a series of decent band-aids I'm all for it... curious what would be going in that space though - only thing I can think of that makes sense is if they're going to move the books/games section in order to make the existing explorations cafe a grand dutch cafe

[happytotravel]

Hopefully, we will have a Dutch cafe.  I'm sailing next June and will be on deck 3 so nice to hear they will be working on the cabins there.

 

I was on the Volendam this past June and loved her.  She is just the right size for me.  I'm not interested in the larger ships that are being built these days.  Too much like an amusement park in my opinion.  But, to each is own.  I just wonder where some of these ships will dock as some ports are fighting against thousands of people descending on them.

 

Enjoy life and enjoy planning your next cruise!

happytotravel

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

55 minutes ago, HappyInVan said:

Frankly, I'm surprised that HAL is putting money into a 25-year ship. I wonder if they'll do the same for the sister ship Zaandam?

 

Does not look life HAL is expecting new ships? 

 

The Volendam is doing the Pole to Pole Grand Voyage in 2025 and the Grand World Voyage in 2026. Perhaps, that is why they are doing such a large investment in an older ship. 

[Petronillus]

Do three weeks out of service and an $8 million budget represent more than a usual interim drydock? I'd appreciate hearing from some of the veterans/experts.

[Wehwalt]

1 hour ago, SJSULIBRARIAN said:

The Volendam is doing the Pole to Pole Grand Voyage in 2025 and the Grand World Voyage in 2026. Perhaps, that is why they are doing such a large investment in an older ship. 

Not to mention the Atlantic Adventurer right after she comes out of dry dock, and the same again in 2025.

 

I think someone posted the new orders from CCL and there is nothing for HAL this side of 2028?

Edited September 17 by Wehwalt

[TRLD]

2 hours ago, HappyInVan said:

Frankly, I'm surprised that HAL is putting money into a 25-year ship. I wonder if they'll do the same for the sister ship Zaandam?

 

Does not look life HAL is expecting new ships? 

 

Looks like that all of the CCL brands are keeping ships longer since none of them except for Carnival have placed any orders since 2019. Not a surprise since they can keep them considerably longer than they did pre covid.

 

Even if they placed an order tomorrow they would not sail for 2 to 3 years from now. Expect their next order to be in 26 with a 29 delivery.

[CruiserBruce]

34 minutes ago, Petronillus said:

Do three weeks out of service and an $8 million budget represent more than a usual interim drydock? I'd appreciate hearing from some of the veterans/experts.

The standard every 30 month drydock usually is two weeks, and focuses on below the water line work. I would say an announcement like this makes it out of the ordinary.

[beachbum6264]

We are booked on the first cruise after the dry dock (42 days to Mediterranean) and have been wondering what was going tone done. Thanks for posting this info. 

[Alphen]

46 minutes ago, Petronillus said:

Do three weeks out of service and an $8 million budget represent more than a usual interim drydock? I'd appreciate hearing from some of the veterans/experts.

Not a veteran, nor an expert, HD stated normal docking would take 12 to 14 days, so this is not normal. Also they were expecting over a thousand workforce and or contractors to be involved.

[TiogaCruiser]

2 hours ago, InTheWASide said:

honestly, if it takes a delay in ordering newbuilds to get some of these ships a proper update and not just a series of decent band-aids I'm all for it... curious what would be going in that space though - only thing I can think of that makes sense is if they're going to move the books/games section in order to make the existing explorations cafe a grand dutch cafe

I was kind of thinking on these lines also. 
 

Last month we noticed that the section lobbed off of the old Explorers Lounge (I think they kept the name) had become another game room. It’s not that big and not that conducive to tables and upholstered comfort furniture. (But it sure was a good place to put the mah jhong sets and keep the racket out of the library.)

 

 

[St Pete Cruiser]

Remember, the Volendam is about the size of the Viking ocean ships and several other super premium line ships.  Since it seems doubtful that Carnival will commit to any more ships that size for Holland America, I do hope the money is invested in the two remaining R class ships.

[oaktreerb]

Dear HAL:  Every ship should have a Grand Dutch Cafe.

[TRLD]

59 minutes ago, St Pete Cruiser said:

Remember, the Volendam is about the size of the Viking ocean ships and several other super premium line ships.  Since it seems doubtful that Carnival will commit to any more ships that size for Holland America, I do hope the money is invested in the two remaining R class ships.

Most likely any new ships will be similar to their most recent builds in the 2500 to 3000 range.

[Ready2go11]

@Alphen i am on just before dry dock.
 

Who is the C&TD on board now?  

 

Navigator app still has old Pinnacle lunch and dinner menus so I am hoping I will get at least one more Pinnacle burger and brownie dessert for lunch. Figuring they will not change to the new menus til after dry dock. Has there been any discussion from Florin about that change to Pinnacle?

 

Thanks!

 

 

[BermudaBound2014]

6 hours ago, Petronillus said:

Do three weeks out of service and an $8 million budget represent more than a usual interim drydock? I'd appreciate hearing from some of the veterans/experts.

Not an expert but comparing the Volendam dry dock to celebrity Constellation dry dock, 8M is a very minor investment.

 

The Constellation scheduled to get a 50 million dollar renovation.

 

“ Celebrity Constellation cruise ship is scheduled for a $50 million renovation that is set to begin in November 2024. The ship's original renovation plans were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and were then postponed again from mid-2021 to Spring 2024.”

 

Keep in mind, the Celebrity  Constellation just got all new carpeting and soft furnishing in 2021 but the

entire renovation was postponed due to covid so the 50 Million dollar investment is in addition to that pretty recent update (I sailed her in 23 and the public areas looked very new and fresh).
 

For comparison the Connie was built in 2002 and Volendam in 1999. The Connie is slightly bigger at 91k GY (compared to 61k GT) but I’d consider her pretty small by todays standards 

 

My plane is about to land so I can’t dig deeper right now, but this is what I found in a quick search.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 18 by BermudaBound2014

[CruiserBruce]

91k tons is not "slightly bigger" than 61K tons, its half again as much. That is a lot more space for more stuff, more pax, more cabins and other stuff to refurbish.

 

I am not sure you can just compare drydocks and refurbishments by cost and size of ship. Maybe Connie just needed more work...

[shadow 123]

8 hours ago, SJSULIBRARIAN said:

The Volendam is doing the Pole to Pole Grand Voyage in 2025 and the Grand World Voyage in 2026. Perhaps, that is why they are doing such a large investment in an older ship. 

It's also going to the Mediterranean in 2025.I'm scheduled for that.