Carnival Cruise Line is continuing to refit its ships to standardise the facilities and the look of its fleet. This programme was launched a few years ago, and the company is still in the process of rolling out the brand standardisation. Mr Fryers said the majority of the fleet will have been finished in the next two years. “Because of the number of ships, there has been a lot to do and we have tried to fit the interior refits into the ships’ drydock schedules.”
He explained it can be difficult to fit this work in with drydock schedules. “We are trying to squeeze a lot into a short time period to get these projects done. This is not easy. Not only is there the refurbishment work, but the marine and hotel operations have projects that need to be taken into account, too. There is so much of an overlap in certain cases that it is not physically possible to undertake all the works. This means that sometimes the interior refit is rolled forward to the next drydock or, if at all possible, some work will be done while the ship is in service.”
Mr Fryers pointed out work in service was not the preferred option. “This is looked at extremely carefully before a decision is made. We take into account the fact there are passengers on board, and any form of work could disturb them. We try to avoid that as much as possible. Also, from a project perspective, in-service work means the refit generally takes longer, because the time period is increased to work around the passengers.”
He explained the trend to prefabricate as much as possible is still going strong, with cabins, joinery, certain bulkhead panels and ceiling elements all being prefabricated. “More contractors are realising it is better and quicker for them, both from a quality perspective – control is better when the work is done in their factories – and in terms of a better time period for installation. It also helps reduce costs for the shipowner.”
The latest vessels to be getting the standardised treatment from Carnival Cruise Line this year include some of the Fantasy class ships. Carnival Inspiration and Carnival Fantasy will get this treatment in drydock. Carnival Imagination will follow suit, towards the end of 2016.
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