thoughts on the "Ultimate Ship Tour"

Appreciate these postings. Getting ready to do our first cruise with Princess. Boarding the Island Princess in Fort Lauderdale Tuesday afternoon on the way to San Francisco via the Panama Canal.

 

KEY PHOTO QUESTION???: What are the mechanics and "details" for how the photos come from the ship's photographer? Just a few 5x7" prints in a paper folder? Or, a large number of visual images on thumb drive? If you have not purchased the photo package for this trip, do you still get theses photos? If you have your camera along, will that photographer be kind enough to snap some pix's (in the safe and appropriate areas of the ship) for us? Any other details to share? Overall, this tour sounds very interesting. Just want to know as much as possible on the photo potentials and process. As I have done on many other cruises, I like to do live/blogging with many visuals images included. Would like to "show off" this tour!

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Enjoyed a 14-day, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure, getting a big sampling for the wonders of "down under” before and after this cruise. Go to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

for more info and many pictures of these amazing sights in this great part of the world. Now at 171,921 views for this posting.

you are not allowed to take your own pictures.

It depends on the cruise ship ...some of my photos are 8x10 and some are 5x7

Do you sign up for the ship tour at guest relations desk Yes passenger services desk; or somewhere else? What is the cost per person? Yes Does the tour vary by ship? Yes How many do they take on tour? I think it was 25 but not sure, may vary but rather limited. I assume it is first come first served for this tour? Yes Thanks

Hope this helps

Do you sign up for the ship tour at guest relations desk; or somewhere else? What is the cost per person? Does the tour vary by ship? How many do they take on tour? I assume it is first come first served for this tour? Thanks

$150 per person.

Do you sign up for the ship tour at guest relations desk; or somewhere else? Guest Relations Desk.

 

 

What is the cost per person? $150

 

 

Does the tour vary by ship? Not by much. On any of the ships might not see the medical center if there are patients there,

 

 

How many do they take on tour? 12 to 15 people

 

 

I assume it is first come first served for this tour? Usually.

 

 

Thanks

see above in red

To everyone who replied to my questions; thank you very much. I have all the answers.

We just did it on the Regal and thoroughly enjoyed it. Four hours long, a group of around 12 people. We went right to Passenger services when we boarded and we were already near the end of the cutoff for the group, it definitely fills up and is very limited. Really not many stairs. I found the areas especially interesting were the galley and food stores, the bridge and the laundry.

One thing that really touched me was how friendly every employee was who saw our group. There are so many behind the scenes jobs where they do not have any passenger contact, one man we met cut up whole chickens all day long, that was all he did every day. But everyone had a smile and a cheerful hello for the group. It gave me an added appreciation for everyone who makes our cruise so wonderful.

I did the UST last year on the Royal. There were 12 of us. Two were denied participation due to mobility issues. Our goodie bag included stationary, waffle robe, pix, and apron.

Good use of OBC. Wouldn't do it again, certainly not worth the money. Apron was only item worth keeping.

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There were some stairs on the Regal tour (theater stage, front anchor area). The tour lasted about 4 hours on the last Sea day in the morning.

We went on the tour last year (2016) and really enjoyed it. My favorite was when we were on the bridge, seeing the windshield wipers bigger than a car. Then in the distance, there was a whale, who got closer and closer until just before contact, dove under the ship. The perceptive was AMAZING, as I've never seen such a large creature so close. It was HUGE. I think I spent the entire bridge time with my nose pressed against the glass.

We visited the engine control room (where they wouldn't allow me to push any buttons), medical center, security center (with a brief look into the brig, just another room, no bars or anything, grins), kitchen (multiple places, such as the cold storage, freezer, butcher shop, prep and cooking area) where we were treated to drinks (alcoholic or not) and munchies, we all had to wear white coats while there, crew quarters (little tiny rooms), theater backstage, laundry (where we saw the folding machines, the industrial washers and dryers, with all those hard working, behind the scenes, employees working in that HOT, HUMID confined space), printing room (tiny room, very very small, but highly organized), florist area, anchor room and of course the bridge. We were taken to the passenger off-limits crew only areas, using crew only elevators, using the main crew hallway that traversed the entire ships length, the crew called it I-95 I think.

Swag included multiple pictures and a picture frame, personalized stationary, very plush waffle robe (I would have preferred the terry cloth), checkered apron, an extra blue princess bag. I *think* there was more, but my memory fails.

I would highly recommend it. You visit numerous "behind the scenes" areas of the ship. When we took the tour, we were provided a chef's jacket and a terry robe, which we really didn't want either one.

I wonder why they don't let you book ahead online like the other excursions. Then you'd know that you have a spot & they'd know how many sessions to run.

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I wonder why they don't let you book ahead online like the other excursions. Then you'd know that you have a spot & they'd know how many sessions to run.

My guess is that they really don't want to run that many sessions. This has to be an imposition on the crew. It sounds like they are all well-trained and, so, are very courteous to the visitors. However, their positions are not really "passenger facing." In several of the reports on this thread, it sounds like the captain, himself, has spent considerable time with these visitors--on the bridge and, in at least one report, in his cabin. I agree that the captain does have "passenger facing" responsibilities, but this is just one of his many responsibilities. I would be very surprised if Princess was interested in selling more than one of these excursions per cruise unless it was something like, say, an itinerary of more than two weeks.

Again, just my guess.

While from talking with them the crew really does enjoy the chance to show off what they do and how proud they are of doing it, the tour is very disruptive to operations (you need to have security with you at all times, some equipment may not be able to be used during visit for safety issues, senior officers are spending time, they have to clean the galley surfaces after you leave, etc)... So they really do want to limit the impact.

If there is enough demand they MIGHT run 2 on a longer cruise, that's the most I have ever seen (2 on an 11 day)

I wonder why they don't let you book ahead online like the other excursions. Then you'd know that you have a spot & they'd know how many sessions to run.

 

 

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My guess is that they really don't want to run that many sessions. This has to be an imposition on the crew. It sounds like they are all well-trained and, so, are very courteous to the visitors. However, their positions are not really "passenger facing." In several of the reports on this thread, it sounds like the captain, himself, has spent considerable time with these visitors--on the bridge and, in at least one report, in his cabin. I agree that the captain does have "passenger facing" responsibilities, but this is just one of his many responsibilities. I would be very surprised if Princess was interested in selling more than one of these excursions per cruise unless it was something like, say, an itinerary of more than two weeks.

 

Again, just my guess.

Some other cruise lines (CCL and Celebrity for example) run their tour multiple times a day with a shortened version on port days.

The result is that the staff you meet with in each area (especially the Caption on the bridge) seem to be very bored with their presentations. The Captain on a CCL ship where we took the tour gave his standard tour speech without any sound of enthusiasm.

The Princess UST being done just once a sailing is a break in routine from the daily grind for the presenters and as a result the presenters are much more enthusiastic about showing off their areas making it a better tour.

It's a shame they can't offer an adapted tour for disabled passengers

I cruise for creme brûlée, lobster and warm chocolate melting cake!

We did the UST on the Golden a number of years back. We got all the requisite swag for the price. I still recall visiting the Princess Theater and the behind the scenes parts of the theater, like the dressing room, wardrobe, lighting control. We went on to the forecastle and met with a second officer and learned about anchoring and docking the ship. We went to the food storage and prep area, then onto one of the galleys and had a snack and mocktail. From there we visited both the photo lab and the print shop, then the laundry, and then onto engineering control. After that all the way up to the bridge where we met with the captain, had more food and campaign and, got a very in depth overview of shipboard operations and that was that. Later on that day our cabin steward dropped by with a massive quantity of stuff. A folder full of photos that the photographer took while we visited all of the different departments, I believe we got one photo per department where our group posed with the staff we met there. We received the fluffy robes, chef's jackets, the print shop made personalized note pads for us and we received a 4 page overview of bridge operations. It was well worth the $150 we paid.

I would not necessarily do the UST on another Grand class ship, but I would consider doing it on a Royal class ship considering how different they are.

There is a lot of walking and a lot of stairs. I don't see this tour being good for anyone with mobility problems because so many of the work spaces on board a ship are not easily elevator accessible. I know that there is a galley tour associated with one of the cooking demonstrations or shows. That would probably be the only behind-the-scenes ship operations tour that would be accessible for disabeled passengers.

It's a shame they can't offer an adapted tour for disabled passengers

 

 

I cruise for creme brûlée, lobster and warm chocolate melting cake!

 

There is a lot of walking and a lot of stairs. I don't see this tour being good for anyone with mobility problems because so many of the work spaces on board a ship are not easily elevator accessible. I know that there is a galley tour associated with one of the cooking demonstrations or shows. That would probably be the only behind-the-scenes ship operations tour that would be accessible for disabeled passengers.

Since, per SOLAS, the crew cannot be mobility limited, the crew areas are not designed for accessibility. Even a galley tour would be difficult for someone in a wheelchair or scooter due to the narrow walkways and drainage grooved tiles. Even for those without mobility issues, many find the crew stairways (ladderwells in nautical parlance) to be excessively steep, and these are outdone in steepness by the engine room ladders.

Back when the Norwegian Sky was the Pride of Aloha in Hawaii, the CD went around and video taped a lot of behind the scene areas, then did a voice over (he even went down to the engine rooms) and put it on the cabin TV's. That was at a time when NCL didn't do paid tours, so not sure they would want to interrupt the revenue stream, though the Senior Officers would by far prefer to tape this once, and not do it weekly.

We were on the Regal for 3 weeks, starting Jan 22. We inquired about the signup procedure at Passenger Services during week2. Were told to come back to Pass Serv by 11:30 at the beginning of week 3, because they couldn't schedule until the ships calendar flipped to the next cruise. After having to leave the ship for Custom Immigration, we were probably the 30-40th folks back on, there was no line at Pass Serv, and it was a few minutes after 11. Upon inquiring about the Tour, the dude pulled out a 3 ring binder from a drawer and said the Tour had been fully booked since last the previous Friday. Therefore, the ships clock is irrelevant, and the reservations are not made into the ships electronic scheduler. In my opinion, to get on a Tour you have to be someone special, or extremely lucky, most likely the former. I doubt that I will ever attempt this again.

Outtatown, that is sad and bad. Guess when you originally went to guest services; a supervisor should have been called. They normally know everything about the ship activities. Sorry you didn't get on tour

We were on the Regal for 3 weeks, starting Jan 22. We inquired about the signup procedure at Passenger Services during week2. Were told to come back to Pass Serv by 11:30 at the beginning of week 3, because they couldn't schedule until the ships calendar flipped to the next cruise. After having to leave the ship for Custom Immigration, we were probably the 30-40th folks back on, there was no line at Pass Serv, and it was a few minutes after 11. Upon inquiring about the Tour, the dude pulled out a 3 ring binder from a drawer and said the Tour had been fully booked since last the previous Friday. Therefore, the ships clock is irrelevant, and the reservations are not made into the ships electronic scheduler. In my opinion, to get on a Tour you have to be someone special, or extremely lucky, most likely the former. I doubt that I will ever attempt this again.

You don't need to be "someone special". What you need is to head directly to Passenger Services as soon as you initially board the ship and get your name on the list, and the sooner you do that the better your chances are of making it. It is a "first come, first served" system.

...VTX-AL