SkySea Cruise Line announced the completion of an extensive drydock on the Golden Era and the start of its new homeport operation in Shenzhen which will run through the end of the year.

The ship entered Cosco Shipyard in Zhoushan on Oct. 25 and emerged on Nov. 11.

“We were set to drydock in January, with an extensive plan to do both a marine and hotel refurbishment,” said Ken Muskat, CEO of SkySea.

“We moved it up by a couple of months because there were a few things we wanted to do. There were some things that needed attention earlier,” Muskat said, in an interview with Cruise Industry News. 

“We had good business opportunities come up in January and February. The drydock was available and we were able to get about 90 percent of everything we wanted to do get done early.”

It was the first major project to use a turn-key Chinese interior refit company, as SkySea partnered with China State Shipbuilding Corporation and G-Art on interior renovations.

The drydock included routine work and equipment maintenance as well as a number of hotel projects including the addition of two new conference rooms.

The new SkySea Board Room located on Deck 7 can hold up to 50 guests and the new SkySea Conference Room located on Deck 12 can hold up to 100 guests, the company said.

In addition, the Grand Restaurant was renovated with a new Chinese look and feel.

Also, in partnership with international beauty brand PhiSkin there is a new hair and beauty salon. As well, the company added expanded retail shops and a pharmacy was added to the retail offerings.

The Golden Era will now sail 13 cruises from Shenzhen, sailing to Miyakojima and Okinawa in Japan and Da Nang and Halong Bay in Vietnam.

Scenes from Golden Era’s Drydocking: