The Regal Princess' Facelift

By Peter Malbin for Cruise Industry News

To say that Regal Princess had a major facelift during its scheduled drydock period at Cascade General Shipyard in Portland, Oregon, September 20 to October 4, is something of an understatement.

In addition to the normal drydock maintenance, three major changes were made to the Regal Princess, explained Paul Barrett, superintendent engineer for Princess Cruises. The vessel's Lido Cafe was extended and enclosed with an aluminum structure. A youth center was installed above the Lido Cafe and the atrium was completely remodeled.

"We did it to bring the ship into the new millennium," said Barrett, who was project manager for the atrium remodeling.

The Regal Princess was built in 1991. Its sister ship, Crown Princess, will have a similar retrofit next year and get an additional stern thruster.

Around the Clock

Work on Regal Princess' deck extension commenced one month before the vessel arrived in Portland. During the drydock at Cascade General, 240 craftsmen from seven different companies worked 14-hour days; an additional 40 workers toiled throughout the night.

The children's center being lifted aboard the Regal Princess

The huge scope of the projects required the work of several contracting companies. Princess Cruises selected Callenberg Engineering to do the electrical work, while J.P. Colie expanded and refurbished the cafe on the Lido Deck and added a children's center to the deck above. ELX Marine built all the food service areas involved with the Lido Cafe conversion. Maritime Services Corporation was contracted to remodel the atrium.

Before Regal Princess set sail for Portland, contractors boarded the ship in Vancouver and removed existing materials that were no longer required, such as electrical installations, windows and revolving doors.

"As soon as the vessel arrived in Portland, we had the Lido Deck extension in place in 24 hours and the children's center in place in 48 hours," said Surendra Menon, executive vice president of Cascade General Portland Shipyard. The installation time in the shipyard was only 11 days, Menon said. "Three hundred and fifty people were employed from the shipyard. Work took place 24 hours a day."

Lido Cafe

Bob Maddison was Princess Cruises' project manager for the Lido Cafe extension and installation of the youth center. James P. Colie & Associates worked for several months on planning, purchasing and prefabrication prior to the drydock installation.

The goal in refurbishing the Lido Cafe was to make it a 24-hour restaurant with increased seating capacity. "It was much more than redecorating an existing space," said James P. Colie, the company's president. Workers removed the entire interior of the cafe and expanded its dimensions outward over the aft section of the Lido Deck and enclosed the addition with windows.

A new glass wall was installed at the perimeter of the new extension, which enclosed an evening dining area, a dance floor and stage. A new decorative ceiling encloses all the new ventilation trunking, as well as a sprinkler system.

The rest of the existing Lido Cafe was remodeled with new banquet seating arrangement, column covers, decorative tile bulkheads, tiled floor, new beverage and waiter stations, and a new-look serving line.

ELX Marine Division contracted with Princess Cruises to build all the food-service areas involved with the Lido Cafe conversion. "The design for the Regal was modified to include the addition of a mini-galley and a repositioned grill counter," explained Michael Chapman, project manager for ELX.

The Lido Cafe - before (insert) and after (main picture)

For the new mini-galley, ELX fitted in therma-module cooking equipment that is designed to be hung off the wall. It takes about 10 percent less space than conventional stand-alone equipment, Chapman said.

For the area to work as a bistro in the evening, the new galley was installed within the existing pantry area. This required its own ventilation, fire insulation and fire-suppression equipment, as well as all the cooking equipment usually found in a modern galley. A new pantry was created as a food-preparation area.

At the forward end of the new Lido Cafe, two new serving lines were installed on the open deck. On the port side, a new salad bar was constructed with refrigeration equipment and its own pantry and beverage station. On the starboard side, a new hamburger bar was installed, again with its own pantry and beverage station, as well as extraction and fire-suppression equipment.

There are four new entrances at the four corners of the new cafe, each with double swinging automatic doors. Lighting was changed throughout. A new dimming system was installed, new fire detectors, new PA system speakers, new theater lighting over the dance floor and above the stage, as well as amplification and sound equipment on the stage. All new and existing ceilings were repainted, new granite bases were installed on all vertical surfaces and the untiled floor areas were carpeted.

Children's Center

The children's center is an entirely new addition to the Regal Princess, replacing a basketball court. It was constructed at the shipyard prior to the drydock and outfitted with insulation, ventilation trunking, sprinkler system and cabling. As this was to be installed partially over the new Lido deck extension, it could not be brought onto the ship until the Lido extension was in place and consolidated.

The 2,000-square-foot children's center contains four store rooms and two bathrooms. A built-in, multi-purpose section can be used as a computer area or an art workshop. The center can be divided into two rooms so that younger children can be apart from teen-agers; it can also be used for other purposes, such as conferences or meetings.

The atrium - before

The atrium - after

Atrium

The Regal Princess' new atrium was modeled after the style adopted for the Sun Princess and the Dawn Princess, said Barrett. It cost approximately $2 million and it took 12 days. The project involved gutting the atrium area, all three decks and one gift shop.

"The decor in the atrium was eight years out of date," Barrett said. "There were a lot of pink laminates with stainless steel and it wasn't particularly warm. We recovered the wall laminates with a wood effect called Belbian throughout the atrium." Marble toe kicks and wood crown moldings make the whole area "warmer," he said. All pillars were clad with marble and Belbian to "make them look more substantial," he added.

"We installed a decorative marble floor at the base of the central staircase on deck five. We placed marble planters (boxes for palm trees and flowers) at the base of the existing columns," Barrett said. Bronze sculptures adorn a lower-level pool.

A metallic sculpture of dolphins is now the backdrop to the reception desk on starboard. The face of the reception desk contains marble and wood moldings.

Maritime Services Corporation (MSC) was responsible for the construction, fabrication and installation of the atrium. "The project was very large in scope," said David Culpepper, project manager for the company. "There were 15 separate work items aboard the vessel that had to be completed. We had to figure out how to fit so many people in such a limited space and get all the work done in a limited amount of time." At one point, workers had to install a chandelier 30 feet up.

"We remodeled the Bacchus Bar, put up new signage and moldings on two storefronts, installed 20 marble planters on all three decks, installed a lace curtain waterfall, two ponds and waterfalls, painted overheads, reconfigured soffits, added wood trims to all the soffits, installed Formglas decorative moldings, modified offices, shops, installed new column wraps and recovered every wall in the atrium with Belbian."

Added Wren Swan, an engineer for MSC, "The atrium was a very plain, simple space and we put tons of marble into it. It looks very classy now."

The storefronts of decks six and seven now contain marble, Formglas and wood moldings, as well as brass-lettered shop signs. The Signature Collection shop, which sells sundries, was completely stripped and remolded, with new lighting, carpets, displays and wall panels.

On deck five La Patisserie Bar now has three new rectangular ship-side windows that provide natural lighting. Its bar face and soffits were upgraded with marble, leather and wood moldings.

"We're very pleased with the outcome," Barrett said. "It makes a substantial difference to the look of the atrium. When you go back on the Crown Princess, which has not been done yet, you really notice the difference. We look forward to doing the Crown next year."

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