Carnival Legend enters drydock for a makeover

[Jason 413]

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) -- Where does a cruise ship go for R&R? Portland.

The Carnival Cruise ship Legend is in dry dock at Vigor Industrial for R&R -- Repair and Refresh -- for 13 days. The 963-foot long cruise ship is the largest ship to date that's been in dry dock at the Portland facility on Swan Island.

During its nearly 2-week stay, the Legend will have about 135,000 square feet of paint removed and recoated. Repair work will entail access points to be cut into the steel, which, obviously, would have to be completely sealed, said Athena Maris, a spokesperson for Vigor Industrial.

Routine maintenance will include the bow thruster and Azipod maintenance, plus maintenance of the life boats and other necessary items.

But there's way more than just routine maintenance being done.

Maris said a Guy's Burger Joint  -- developed with star chef Guy Fieri -- will be added, along with the RedFrog Rum Bar and BlueIguna Tequila Bar, plus the BlueIguana Cantina. The kids area Camp Ocean will be upgraded and Circle C (which caters to tweens) will also be rolled in.

All of that work means long days ahead for Vigor employees, according to senior project manager Mike Nutter.

"A lot of hard work. A lot of our employees here are working, 12-14 hour days, 7 days a week," Nutter said. "Some of us worked 16, 17, 18-hour days yesterday getting set up, so hats off to everybody. We're really proud of our safety record and what we do so, I think everybody is excited to get going and getting this thing out of here on time, so we can get back to our normal routine."

Nutter also said that in addition to his crew, about 1,700 subcontractors were hired to help with the maintenance including pipe repair and covering the entire exterior of the ship with a fresh coat of paint.

The economic impact 

According to the Carnival website, the company is "investing $65 million into Funship 2.0 upgrades" during this 2-week dry dock period.

Carnival's Vance Gulliksen told KOIN 6 News they are "booking hotel rooms for crew and workers who are also spending money in the city during their time off."
There are about 2,000 people total in Portland for the renovations, about equally split between contractors and crew, he said. 

Nutter also added that his crew is from "all over the world."

The last time a Carnival Cruise ship was in Portland for dry dock was about 18 months ago, he said.

What's next?

After the renovations and repairs, the Carnival Cruise ship will sail to Alaska for a 7-day cruise. The ship is scheduled to leave May 15 from Seattle.

By Eileen Park and KOIN 6 News Staff
Re-posted on CruiseCrazies.com - Cruise News, Articles, Forums, Packing List, Ship Tracker, and more
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