I just watched a series on TV called Drydock. It was a behind the scenes look at the refurbishment of the Sovereign of the Seas cruise ship. It was real interesting to watch but what got me was the upholstery work. It is the largest upholstery undertaking I have ever heard of and completed in such a short time.
They put a make shift shop together on one of the decks and had 7 machines ( all new Juki's) going with stitchers 16 - 19 hours a day. They also had an assembly crew as well putting the furniture together. They were reupholstering all the furniture in the Theater along with alot of other chairs, sofas, etc. They had a shipping container from NYC bring all the fabric in which was all special ordered. They had foam stacked all over the place
All of the stitchers I believe were Philipinos. They lived, ate and worked right there on the ship while it was in dry dock in Nassau. At one point they were stitching while the ship was steaming from Cape Canaveral to Miami and then to Nassau.
They all worked for the ships architect and he demanded perfection. The work looked to be of very high quality. He called them out a couple times for putting seams in the wrong place and made them redo the couches. lol.They had to have everything done and be off the ship in 2.5 weeks. If you watch the video you will see a shot of the Theater and some other dining booths, etc. They were still stitching when they left dry dock and was steaming back to Miami. :)
Very cool project but one I would never want to be a part of. Sewing for 16-19 hours a day for nearly 3 weeks straight ? No thanks. They couldn't pay me enough to work those kinds of hours. Hell those kind of hours would kill me. Most of the workers were young and looked to be in their 30's or early 40's. :)
Here is the video of the ship - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNhdoDYkTy8&feature=related (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNhdoDYkTy8&feature=related)
The series was played on Planet Green on cable if anyone is interested and will probably be repeated again.
Chris
Well, Carnival cruise lines doesn't demand perfection. I just got back from a cruise to the Bahamas. I saw a lot of crooked seams. And the chairs in the main dining room had BOTH sides of the same fabric exposed.
I've sailed on Royal Caribbean before. They DO seem to run a tighter ship.