Cruise Ship Refurbishment 2013/2014 Dry-Dock Renovations Schedule & News

Cruise ship refurbishments and refits and the regular renovation of small and big passenger ships tends to be the best value-for-money strategy and a highly successful policy for major ship travel lines and companies in a time of world-wide economic uncertainty. If you take a look at the list of all newest cruise ships under construction or on order, you'll see a very small number of passenger ships to be built in the 2014-2016 period, the majority of which will join some of the largest ever fleets owned by the world's biggest companies - Carnival and Royal Caribbean International (or their bigger subsidiaries and brands).

Why refurbishment of cruise ships is so attractive & what the cruise ship renovations actually include?

• Time is money - while a cruise ship overhaul takes from 15-days to a month, to built a new cruise ship (from design to launch) takes about 3 years (depending on its size, special features, owner, etc).
• The cruise ship building cost - especially when "bigger-big" ships are concerned, the ship refurbishment is a lot more cheaper than to build a new one (or replacing older ones). In most cases, "refurbished" is synonymous to "maintenance and repairs" and "freshened up" - some engineering updates, hull cleaning, paint, new furniture and decors (sometimes changing the color scheme), new carpets, interactive TV systems and flat-screen TVs everywhere, ship-wide Wi-Fi coverage, replacing handrails and glass, upgrades of venues (sometimes new lounge areas), new amenities and services, etc. This will cost the company between 10 and 30-40 million dollars per ship, some refits may cost up to 50 million - and the ship will look like new!
• Major cruise ship overhauls may include reconstructing or adding new cabins, lounges, restaurants, a SPA facility, swimming pool(s), sometimes adding a whole new deck, and even better - a whole midsection, like the case of ms Enchantment of the Seas refurbishment/lengthening (the photo below)! Some technical enhancements, like a new external coating or an updated propulsion, for example, could significantly reduce fuel consumption (improving the ship's efficiency & environmental performance), while "most fun" modern time gadgets and contraptions attract huge crowds - like virtual "real time" windows in all Inside cabins, or a water park with a slide, or a kids-only area, or a hugely-huge movie screen by the main pool.

Cruise ship refurbishment news are some of the "most wanted" and extremely popular on all major on-line travel forums. All big lines put their liners into dry dock every few years to update (or upgrade) them - it costs money, but again - it's cheaper then going on brand new ships. It's a fact that many travelers are hesitant to take the first sailing post-drydock. Most dry-docks are routine - just refreshing, do not include major changes and have a fairly accurate schedule. A major refit, on the other hand, usually involves significant changes in construction (or services) and have an "unpleasant" tendency to start prior to the actual drydock (even during the sailing prior) and often continues into the first sailing after.

Cruise ship refurbishment jobs are another issue. In 2009 Saga Holidays (an UK company) refitted and refurbished its newly purchased Saga Pearl 2 ship (former name ms Astoria) spending 20 million pounds on this project and providing more than 300 jobs over a 3-month period.

cruise ship refurbishment schedule (2013-2014-2015-2016) upgrades & refits by line

(dry dock) Princess cruise ship refurbishments schedule

• 2013 - Caribbean (Feb 24 - March 1), Coral (Jan 19 - Feb 6), Diamond (Oct 24 - Nov 14), Grand (Dec 10 - 19), Island (Oct 10 - 29), Sun (Aug 7 - 19)
• 2014 - Sea (March 1 - 12).

(dry dock) NCL ship refurbishments 2013

• 2013 - Pearl (April), Sky (September)
• 2014 - Jewel (tba).

cruise ship renovation schedule (ships last refurbished in 2011 & 2012)

(links to the lines' itineraries hubs)

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