Half a million viewers later, Grand Princess makes her big re-entrance with a sleek new profile.

For Princess Cruises, this was a drydock on the grandest scale – 24 days of non-stop labour for 1,400 contractors to facilitate the complete redesigning of its 13-year-old Grand Princess.

“This drydock has been a monumental effort, and we’re very proud of the teamwork by everyone involved to create this sparkling ‘new’ ship,” said Jan Swartz, Princess Cruises’ executive vice president.

It took 10 hours alone for the workers to dismantle the iconic Skywalkers nightclub, a move that will help improve the energy-efficiency of the vessel; but workers also had a busy time creating the Piazza atrium, the new One5 nightclub, new eateries and a tea lounge; and remodelling the casino, boutiques and art gallery.

During the drydock, the cruise line kept its fans in the loop by sharing daily videos of the transformation online on the company website, as well as YouTube and Flickr. According to Princess Cruises, almost half a million people tuned in throughout the 24-day period!

Did you have a peek? You still can here at Grand Princess Video Journal.