My Ultimate Ship's Tour -Island Princess

[snedecor]

I'm so glad I read about this on CruiseCritic! I did this tour on our 8/17/09 Island Princess northbound Inside Passage, and found it fantastic.

I signed up as soon as I boarded, as I heard there may be a bunch of people signing up. The purser's desk people were a bit perplexed to see a sign-up so soon, they didn't even have the forms printed out, and I needed to come back after a couple of days to actually sign the form.

On the final sea day, we were directed to wait in the Princess Theater at 8:30 am. There were 10 of us on the tour. We were met by the assistant cruise director, who took our liability release forms and started the tour.

We were introduced to the Theater manager. He took us up on stage and showed us the rising platform, the trolley that takes props onstage from stage left and right, the fiber optic backdrops, the computer controlled lights, the 10 or so special drops that come down on cue from the attic, etc. We then went into the dressing room and met two of the dancers and talked to them about their work, quick dressing, the weight of the costumes, etc. We then all went back on stage where we got our photo taken with the dancers in costume.

It was then off to the galley. We had an extensive tour of both the galley and the storerooms. We saw the bread room, the vegetable galley, the meat section, the huge pots for soup, and the pastry team preparing for the gala buffet that night. We were given champagne or orange juice and chocolate-covered strawberries. In the storeroom, we saw how the different stores are segregated and kept at different temperatures, and learned how most stores are obtained in Vancouver, two weeks in advance, but fresh fish is obtained in Ketchikan for each cruise.

After the galley, we descended to the "M1", the main throughway for the crew, running the length of the ship. We passed the mechanics shop, the plumbers, carpenters, etc, and stopped in to see the incinerators and the storage area where they segregate trash. We then went to the engine control room, where the entire ship can be controlled and even steered if necessary. We talked to the head engineer, who has worked for Princess for 30 years, and even worked on the original "Love Boat". Note: we didn't go into the engine room, but were able to see what we wanted of the engines the generators, and the drive shaft by controlling remote cameras. We discussed speeds and fuel used and maintenance, and the emergency and engine control systems. After our picture was taken, we proceeded to the hotel director's realm.

Our first stop was the printing room. The patters, the menus, and all the communications are produced from this room. It's a lot smaller and less automated than you would think. There is no folding machine on board, the stateroom stewards are required to do all folding. After that we went to the photo lab and saw the huge automated machines that print all the pictures, and the 1.5TB drive that stores all the pictures. NOTE: they store pictures for several months after a cruise, so you may be able to get a much-beloved picture that you had purchased and lost replaced, but they said it's hard to find a particular picture, as there is not a way to tag them by person or cabin. We got a few stock photos to take home, and it was off to see the dry stores, where they store supplies such as paper towels and the indispensable toilet paper.

We then went to the laundry, where we saw the automated washing and drying system, the automatic ironing machines, and the sheet, towell, and washcloth folding machines. It runs 24 hours a day, and was very busy while we were there. Curiously, it was air-conditioned and pleasant, and the workers seemed happy! We also saw the passenger and crew laundry areas and learned that each crew member has his own uniform and gets paid laundry services.

Afterwards, we were met by another assistant cruise director, and brought to the medical center. The ship's doctor (1 of 2) met us and we spent about 30 minutes touring his area, discussing what type of maladies he treats, saw his operating table, his medical laboratory (a machine the size of a large laser printer), his emergency room, and he discussed how he can send x-rays and ekg's via e-mail to land-based specialists and a special discussion forum for all ship's doctors. (I didn't ask him where they store the dead people.....)

As time was getting short, we were then met by the staff captain, and given a tour of the mooring deck, where we saw the 8 huge reels of 3-inch diameter lines that snake out in every direction and hold the ship fast to the dock. We also saw the huge anchor chain, and a bit of the top of the anchor. Interesting tidbit, the ship's anchor itself is too light to hold the ship. What they do is let out lots of the incredibly beefy anchor chain out and the huge weight of the anchor chain does most of the work holding the ship on station.

After another picture, we were met and taken to the bridge of the ship, of course my favorite place. We saw the navigation equipment, radar, etc, talked to the officer on deck, saw the emergency control system, and were able to watch the lookouts on constant duty scanning the sea. The navigation system will in most cases identify the blips seen with ship's name, etc. and we even saw another cruise ship on radar (can't remember which one). The officer on deck told us that the radar is very sensitive, and will pick up floating trash and logs at times. As the attendants set up for more champagne, cookies, desserts, etc, we got a tour of the wing bridge, where they stand to bring the ship toward and away from the dock.

The captain (Roger Bilton) then sauntered on deck (the junior officers standing a bit straighter and becoming more formal) and talked with us for a good 20-30 minutes. He is the spitting image of a dashing English sea master, strong English accent, steely eyes, etc. He welcomed us warmly, answered our questions, recounted a few good stories, mostly related to weather and large seas, told us some interesting information about the transfer of authority when he comes on deck, etc. The captain declined the champagne (said he was driving, yuk yuk.) We then gathered together for a final picture up on the bridge with the captain, and dispersed.

Later on that afternoon, we had delivered to our stateroom a large chef's coat, the fluffy luxurious ship's robe, all our photos taken along the way, the complimentary stock photos, along with the photo taken on the bridge in a nice wooden frame.

It was worth the $150 cost for me to see the inner working of the cruise ship and to meet the people who make it happen for the passengers. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and highly recommend it.

[can786@aol.com]

Sounds like a great experience but quite honestly I wouldn't have room in my luggage to take home a chef's jacket or robe! It's too bad they don't offer an option for the tour for less money without the take home goodies. I might just do it then.

[choochella]

Wow, thanks for such a thorough review. I would love to do this on our next cruise (in October on the Ruby), but I don't think I can get my DH to spring the $300 for both of us. Maybe I'll just go myself. This all sounds very interesting to me. I would LOVE to see the inner workings of the ship. And, the Ruby is so new, I'm sure it would be a fantastic tour!!

[cruisingallover]

Sounds like you had a great time.

[bhopal21]

Thanks for the detailed recap.

Mike

[Colo Cruiser]

Thanks for the review.

[LARGIN]

Thanks.. This tour is on my to do list

[wickedwitchofthewest]

thanks for the great review of the tour - its making me want to do this more than ever. I'll be signing up if I can

[Scubagal1]

Great review! The Ultimate Ship Tour was one of the highlights of our trip.

[gertz]

Hi Snedecor we were on the same cruise. When we get unpacked I'll do a little review have a few things to say about a great ship and cruise in spite of a minor weather problem. We did spend some time in Seward after the cruise that is why we are not unpacked yet.

Did the UST on the Sapphire in April and as close as I can tell from your review it is the identical itinerary. We thought it was terrific. Josh the CD was are guide not sure I could have handled the CD from the Island for the guide. Meaning I would be laughing uncontrollably for the entire tour.

We did the Chefs Table on this one Excellent. However, if I had to choose one or the other, and wife agrees. It would be the Ultimate Ship's Tour.

Jack
for the lovely

[TuxedoMan]

Originally Posted by LARGIN

Thanks.. This tour is on my to do list

Cannot wait to go on ours!

[cmarshall9]

Snedecor,

Thanks for such a great re-cap of the tour. I can never think of a good gift for my hubby and that sounds too perfect. He'll never spring for himself, but if I give it to him for Xmas...! I think I'll do that for the January cruise we have planned!

Thanks again for the great gift idea.

[PeggySand]

My husband is very interested in this tour. You were very detailed, and he will enjoy reading it. One question: Did they show you the drinking water systems at all? Hubby treats drinking water for a living, and is interested in seeing the system on the ship.

Thanks, Peggy

[snedecor]

Originally Posted by PeggySand

My husband is very interested in this tour. You were very detailed, and he will enjoy reading it. One question: Did they show you the drinking water systems at all? Hubby treats drinking water for a living, and is interested in seeing the system on the ship.

Thanks, Peggy

Peggy,

They told us about it, but didn't show. As I recall, they discussed the desalinization plant, the grey water recycle system, and the black water treatment and release system. You might be able to talk them into a peek, though. I was interested in the garbage incineration and sorting/recycle system, and they took us by for a quick look.

[TLC535]

Really appreciate the detailed review, we had been wondering if it was worth it....definiatly sounds like it might have to give it a go in October...Thanks again.

[snedecor]

Originally Posted by choochella

Wow, thanks for such a thorough review. I would love to do this on our next cruise (in October on the Ruby), but I don't think I can get my DH to spring the $300 for both of us. Maybe I'll just go myself. This all sounds very interesting to me. I would LOVE to see the inner workings of the ship. And, the Ruby is so new, I'm sure it would be a fantastic tour!!

It was a fun thing to do. I got the tour, my wife got the $159 "midnight sapphire" earrings and pendant.

It was funny, when we would enter public spaces on our way to another area, people tried to just "merge with the crowd" and join the tour. The assistant CD had to gently tell them that this was a private tour and escort them away...

It was interesting on many levels. We engineer types loved the engine control room and the bridge. The foodies loved the galley tour. A college student considering management was really interested in the people managers and the business side. There was really something for everyone.

[snedecor]

Originally Posted by gertz

Did the UST on the Sapphire in April and as close as I can tell from your review it is the identical itinerary. We thought it was terrific. Josh the CD was are guide not sure I could have handled the CD from the Island for the guide. Meaning I would be laughing uncontrollably for the entire tour.

We did the Chefs Table on this one Excellent. However, if I had to choose one or the other, and wife agrees. It would be the Ultimate Ship's Tour.

Jack
for the lovely

That's interesting, I found Pete the CD not to be all that funny. He did have "dulcet tones" and could talk up a storm. He seemed a bit jumpy in front of an audience, and I'm really talking about his hands. Personally, I liked Mark the assistant CD a bit more.

On the tour, the guides did very little talking, BTW. A little about the M1, a little about crew cabins and sharing and cleaning arrangements, etc.

One thing was consistent at every turn. The crew was friendly, and to a person, proud of what they did.

I'll probably wait until another class ship to do another one, but it was a lot of fun, and highly recommended.

[Clutterlady]

Got my DH to read your post, and he said he definitely wants to do this tour.....but so do I Thank you, sounds terrific!

[snedecor]

Originally Posted by Clutterlady

Got my DH to read your post, and he said he definitely wants to do this tour.....but so do I Thank you, sounds terrific!

CL,

Be sure to sign up as soon as you get on board. I believe there are only 12 spots (although I may have heard of 20 going) on the tour.

They're not really pushing it that hard, one mention heard in the CD talk, and one blurb in the Patters, but if they start advertising it strongly, it will be a sure sell-out.

[snedecor]

I forgot to mention that in addition to the two diesel engines running generators there is also a turbine engine onboard, and interestingly enough, it is up in the stack area of the ship, way above the passenger decks!

The Officer in charge of the engine control room stated that is only used when they need to make maximum speed. He also stated that is was quiet, and you couldn't hear it from any passenger space.

I was a little disappointed in that, it would have been cool to have the Captain announce, we're making top speed, and hear the jet engine whining up to speed, and see afterburner flame coming from one of those nacelles up top!