Carnival, Fantasy - Other - 9/08

Submitted by noelburke82 on Sat, 04/25/2009 - 00:56.

In my post, I have tried to give you some insite of how things were during the Drydock for the Carnival Fantasy last year ('08). Hence my reason for posting some photos (plus, no one else on the internet seems to have added any!).

I was one of the entertainment technicians onboard this ship, and as such worked for the entertainment department (approx 50 odd staff). I was responsable for looking after all the audio related venues on the ship, as well as running all the shows in the Universe Lounge. I worked on board for 6 months, and I hail from Perth, Western Australia.

All the non technicial people (musicians, dancers, DJ's), were either sent home, or to other ships during the one month of drydock.

This took part directly after the Elvis Cruise (which I may put up some photos of soon). This was during Hurricane Gustav (but that is another story).

The Drydock was based out of Atlanic Marine, in Mobile Alabama (not far from the Austal Ship Yards). Due to immigration problems for the first few days, we were forced to Travel to Progresso (Mexico). This was to do with the contract workers coming on board from all over the world. It was a very confusing situation that required us to enter international waters.

As you can tell by the photos I have submitted, almost all the venues on the ship were completely gutted. There was not much left of the disco by the time we removed everything, and the Casino had all its machines removed, while new data systems and p.a's were installed.

Due to other upgrades on the ship (not related to my areas), a lot of concessions had to be made. Water was shut off at certain times every night due to plumbing upgrades (which meant if you finished work too late, no showers!). All the dining rooms on the ship had upgrades (including staff), which meant that meal times had to work on rosters, and meant longer wait times than usual. Some nights the airconditioning had to be turned off as well for upgrades (which turned my small cabin in a sauna!).

Hopefully you are enjoying all the upgrades which were installed. A lot of man hours went into upgrading the Fantasy.

These are a few related to my area's.

New LED lighting system on the Lido deck, and upgrades to the existing sound system.

New Water slide park also with new sound system.

New Lighting and stage area on the promenade.

Brand new QSC sound system in the Cats Lounge.

New JBL Sound system , and Yahama LS9 digital desk upgrade in the Karaoke area.

Re-surfaced stage in the Universe Lounge. Complete service on all lights, and sound system.

Atlanic Marine