Ultimate Ship Tour...

Hello

Can anyone comment on the Ultimate Ship Tour?

I was thinking of booking it, we are on the Ruby in February. I just wondered if anyone had done it and what they thought of it?

Cheers,

Darcie

Hello

 

Can anyone comment on the Ultimate Ship Tour?

I was thinking of booking it, we are on the Ruby in February. I just wondered if anyone had done it and what they thought of it?

 

Cheers,

Darcie

We did it last on the Golden and it was fantastic.

There are alot of detailed descriptions of it here on CC.

Book it quickly when you board as it fills up fast. Ours was limited to 12 people.

Hello

 

Can anyone comment on the Ultimate Ship Tour?

I was thinking of booking it, we are on the Ruby in February. I just wondered if anyone had done it and what they thought of it?

 

Cheers,

Darcie

We did this tour on Sapphire last April and loved it. We highly recommend it.

And as Keith recommends, book fast due to the limited number of spaces.

We did it last year on the Ruby...Was great and well worth the charge!

Donna

My wife and I took the UST on the CB last year. We enjoyed it very much.

Cost: $150 pp

Sign up: Pursers desk (or whatever they call it now). We signed up immediately on boarding the ship. They said there would be a lottery but it may help to sign up early. We were informed of our selection several days into the cruise.

Escorted by assistant cruise director.

Tour:

Theatre- on the stage, back stage and below the stage. Met with technical director and several dancers. Ship's photogrpaher took our picture with the dancers.

Galley-met with chief purser and executive chef. Also saw storage areas. Treated to some cookies and petit fours. We each recevied a chef's jacket.

Print shop-Saw where princess patter and photographs are printed. Each given a pad of personalized stationery.

Engine control room-met with chief engineer. explained propulsion system and patiently answered a myriad of questions. Another picture taken here.

Medical facility-met with one of the ship's physicians and saw treatment rooms,x-ray facilities.

Laundry-Aside from bridge most fascinating. Saw huge washing machines, dryers, pressing machines and folding machines. Each of us were presented with a plush Princess bath robe which was deliverd to our stateroom.

Funnel-Escorted by staff captain, behind logo next to funnel. Required climb of a short flight of stairs.

Bridge-we spent about an hour on the bridge with the captain. Photographer took our picture. We were given a tour of the bridge. We also had mimosas, champagne, and hors doeurves.

We were asked not to bring a camera but I brought one anyhow. I asked the captain and he had no problem with taking pictures on the bridge.

This was a unique and fascinating experience which I highly recommend.

My wife and I took the UST on the CB last year. We enjoyed it very much.

Cost: $150 pp

 

Sign up: Pursers desk (or whatever they call it now). We signed up immediately on boarding the ship. They said there would be a lottery but it may help to sign up early. We were informed of our selection several days into the cruise.

 

Escorted by assistant cruise director.

 

Tour:

Theatre- on the stage, back stage and below the stage. Met with technical director and several dancers. Ship's photogrpaher took our picture with the dancers.

 

Galley-met with chief purser and executive chef. Also saw storage areas. Treated to some cookies and petit fours. We each recevied a chef's jacket.

 

Print shop-Saw where princess patter and photographs are printed. Each given a pad of personalized stationery.

 

Engine control room-met with chief engineer. explained propulsion system and patiently answered a myriad of questions. Another picture taken here.

 

Medical facility-met with one of the ship's physicians and saw treatment rooms,x-ray facilities.

 

Laundry-Aside from bridge most fascinating. Saw huge washing machines, dryers, pressing machines and folding machines. Each of us were presented with a plush Princess bath robe which was deliverd to our stateroom.

 

Funnel-Escorted by staff captain, behind logo next to funnel. Required climb of a short flight of stairs.

 

Bridge-we spent about an hour on the bridge with the captain. Photographer took our picture. We were given a tour of the bridge. We also had mimosas, champagne, and hors doeurves.

 

We were asked not to bring a camera but I brought one anyhow. I asked the captain and he had no problem with taking pictures on the bridge.

 

This was a unique and fascinating experience which I highly recommend.

Sounds like a wonderful experience.....:):):)

Bob

Interesting thread! My wife just asked me last night if I would consider taking this tour with her friends' husband (also a friend of mine), who we are sailing with on the Grand Princess TA in April 2010!

I'm thinking this would be a great tour for us, but have a feeling the Chef's Table Tour is on the mind of the Ladies... !!!! Methinks I've been hornswaggled... ;-)

We did both the Chef's Table and the Ultimate Ship Tour on the Emerald, and both were great, but if we had to pick one it would be the latter. The Chef's Table gives you a kitchen tour, but so does the Ultimate Ship Tour, along with a tour of the provisions areas and a candid discussion with the responsible personnel. You can get a nice meal anytime, but the ship tour was once in a lifetime special.

Les

Thanks so much for all the information...I will head to the desk as soon as I board!!

Cheers,

Darcie

I'm thinking that Derek and I will do the 'Ships Tour' and leave the 'Chefs Table' for Ann and Denise..!!

Will head to the Purser's Desk, first thing.. Thanks for all the info.. =-)

(Wondering if they may offer the tour a second or third day, since we have 8 'sea' days..!!)

I am totally interested in this tour, but I have some minor problems with my knee.

walking is fine, it's stairs that cause it to hurt.

how much time is spent climbing stairs? (or how many flights to climb at one time?)

specifically on the Crown Princess.

Warning to photograpy people!!!! You will be told NOT to bring a camera!!:eek:

You will be required to sign an agreement that states you will NOT take pictures!!!:eek::eek: DH had a meltdown, because he has wanted to do this kind of tour for years. Well, he took his small camera, anyway, and took his pictures. He asked the ship's officer, who was conducting the tour, and he said OK, just don't take pictures when they tell you NO. Other passengers were angry, because they didn't bring their cameras.:mad: A ship's photographer follows the tour, and you get free pictures, but DH just has to take his own. He was only stopped twice - once in the laundry:confused: and on the bridge. So go for it! You can't sign up for this tour like a shore excursion. You get on a list at the purser's desk, and they will notify you if you make the cut. Remember, you are paying $150.00 for this tour! Are they really going to say "NO!"?

My wife and I took the UST on the CB last year. We enjoyed it very much.

Cost: $150 pp

 

Sign up: Pursers desk (or whatever they call it now). We signed up immediately on boarding the ship. They said there would be a lottery but it may help to sign up early. We were informed of our selection several days into the cruise. No lottery, There was a signup sheet for the first 10 passengers, After that there was the standby list.

 

Escorted by assistant cruise director. Escorted, at least initially, by the cruise director.

 

Tour:

Theatre- on the stage, back stage and below the stage. Met with technical director and several dancers. Ship's photogrpaher took our picture with the dancers. We were given a ride on the stage elevator from below up to the stage. The picture taken was of all of us on the elevator when it reaced the stage.

 

Galley-met with chief purser and executive chef. Also saw storage areas. Treated to some cookies and petit fours. We each recevied a chef's jacket.

 

Print shop-Saw where princess patter and photographs are printed. Each given a pad of personalized stationery. Print shop and photo lab were two seperate stops. In each case, the head of the department spoke with us.

 

Engine control room-met with chief engineer. explained propulsion system and patiently answered a myriad of questions. Another picture taken here.

 

Medical facility-met with one of the ship's physicians and saw treatment rooms,x-ray facilities.

 

Laundry-Aside from bridge most fascinating. Saw huge washing machines, dryers, pressing machines and folding machines. Each of us were presented with a plush Princess bath robe which was deliverd to our stateroom. On the Crown, it was the lesser robe that we received, not the plush one.

 

Funnel-Escorted by staff captain, behind logo next to funnel. Required climb of a short flight of stairs. Due to sudden fog, we had to bypass this part of the tour.

 

Bridge-we spent about an hour on the bridge with the captain. Photographer took our picture. We were given a tour of the bridge. We also had mimosas, champagne, and hors doeurves. We had the tour of the bridge and the group picture, but the food and drink were served to us in the Adagio Lounge after the bridge tour.

 

We were asked not to bring a camera but I brought one anyhow. I asked the captain and he had no problem with taking pictures on the bridge. I did the same. Only place I took pictures was on the bridge. Some others have posted they were allowed to take pictures everywhere but the engine control room.

 

This was a unique and fascinating experience which I highly recommend.

Agree fully, well worth it.

We took it on the Crown last fall. I have indicated differences in our experiece in red up above.

We did this on the Star last month.

We were the 2nd and 3rd names on the list, and it said there was a lottery. The Patters also said it was a lottery but I doubt it, because we got our invitation before the official closing time of the lottery. My guess is that they tell you it's a lottery so that they have enough people to fill it in case somebody withdraws.

Our tour didn't go to the funnel but went to the mooring area at the bow of the ship.

And there was nothing that said you couldn't bring cameras.

We did both that and the Chef's table, and am glad we did both (especially since my company suffered a major financial problem about then and laid me off the week after the cruise - I might get hired back later, but hopefully I will have a job before then and will be able to decide what's best) because it may be a while before we can do them again.

I'd do the Chef's Table again, but probably not the Ultimate Tour until there are some changes - nothing wrong with it, just no need to see the same things, and how many chef's jackets do you need.

I'm curious, but what in the world does everyone do with the chef's jacket when they get home?

We just did the tour last week on the Ruby. We toured all the areas listed above by other posters except the Medical facility, due to the fact they had people in there. Also, we didn't get personalized stationary, we received the Chef's Jackets (no clue what we're going to do with them!) Fluffy robes that are really nice, pictures from the tour and two frames (DH and I both did the tour).

We really loved the tour, as it was unique and informative. You use some of the stairs in the crew area, plus the stairs to the funnel area. If you have a hard time with stairs, it may not be for you. The stairs in the funnel area are steep. We thought it was worth it, altho we probably won't do it again.

Beth

PS. We only had 10 people on our tour, altho originally there were going to be 12. One couple dropped out the morning of the tour and we were told there wasn't time to get anyone else on the tour, so we took that to mean they may do some type of screening?? Wasn't really sure, but that's the impression we got. Wouldn't be surprising if they did some type of screening process due to the fact we're going in restricted areas.

Hello

 

Can anyone comment on the Ultimate Ship Tour?

I was thinking of booking it, we are on the Ruby in February. I just wondered if anyone had done it and what they thought of it?

 

Cheers,

Darcie

Hi,

Personally, having been on/in/under water since the flood,

I enjoyed it immensely. My wife had no interest in taking it.

She had other activities scheduled.

Here's a composite of the photos we all received. I have posted

this before, so sorry to those who have seen it before.

Regards,

Maxx

:cool::cool:

I'm curious, but what in the world does everyone do with the chef's jacket when they get home?

If you figure it out please tell. I suggested my husband and dad wear those to BBQ at my nephews wedding in July. They are having an outdoor wedding.

When do you find out if you are picked to go on the tour? How many days into the cruise?

I'm curious, but what in the world does everyone do with the chef's jacket when they get home?

At the risk of sounding "cheap" this is the very reason I haven't booked the tour yet. If they would just leave off the chef's jacket and the robe x 2, because my DH and I would both want to do it, and lower the price just a bit, we would jump at this!

My wife and I took the UST on the CB last year. We enjoyed it very much.

Cost: $150 pp

 

Sign up: Pursers desk (or whatever they call it now). We signed up immediately on boarding the ship. They said there would be a lottery but it may help to sign up early. We were informed of our selection several days into the cruise.

 

Escorted by assistant cruise director.

 

Tour:

Theatre- on the stage, back stage and below the stage. Met with technical director and several dancers. Ship's photogrpaher took our picture with the dancers.

 

Galley-met with chief purser and executive chef. Also saw storage areas. Treated to some cookies and petit fours. We each recevied a chef's jacket.

 

Print shop-Saw where princess patter and photographs are printed. Each given a pad of personalized stationery.

 

Engine control room-met with chief engineer. explained propulsion system and patiently answered a myriad of questions. Another picture taken here.

 

Medical facility-met with one of the ship's physicians and saw treatment rooms,x-ray facilities.

 

Laundry-Aside from bridge most fascinating. Saw huge washing machines, dryers, pressing machines and folding machines. Each of us were presented with a plush Princess bath robe which was deliverd to our stateroom.

 

Funnel-Escorted by staff captain, behind logo next to funnel. Required climb of a short flight of stairs.

 

Bridge-we spent about an hour on the bridge with the captain. Photographer took our picture. We were given a tour of the bridge. We also had mimosas, champagne, and hors doeurves.

 

We were asked not to bring a camera but I brought one anyhow. I asked the captain and he had no problem with taking pictures on the bridge.

 

This was a unique and fascinating experience which I highly recommend.

Not to denigrate the tour, I'm sure it's great and worth the money. But I can't resist mentioning that I've taken each of these tours individually (sans the "Funnel Visit") without any fee. A sign of the times.

At the risk of sounding "cheap" this is the very reason I haven't booked the tour yet. If they would just leave off the chef's jacket and the robe x 2, because my DH and I would both want to do it, and lower the price just a bit, we would jump at this!

This is exactly my feelings about the tour. We've seen almost everything they mention & if they would eliminate the meaningless items the price could be reduced to a manageable amount we might consider it since I haven't seen the laundry or funnel yet.

I wouldn't hold my breath about any reductions as they seem to fill up on most cruises.

Did this on the Ruby in October and loved it. No problem with cameras except in Engineering and the controls on the Bridge were not to be photographed.

I would wear my Chef's apron to cook in if I had figured out that they were unisex sizes - didn't, so I ended up with one way too big.

We only had 9 on our tour, so not every cruise apparently fills up. It was great!

But I can't resist mentioning that I've taken each of these tours individually (sans the "Funnel Visit") without any fee. A sign of the times.

Much of the tour is 'behind the scenes' in sections that I don't think passengers have ever been admitted. I know about bridge tours in the past pre 9/11 days, but with the exception of the medical center (of course you could get sick and see it but I don't recommend that) weren't the control rooms laundry, provisioning, prints shop, funnel, anchor etc. offlimits?

When we took the tour on the Emerald last summer the question and answer sessions with each department head really made the tour -- you could tell how proud they were of their department and each and every one of them was unfailingly gracious and informative. They gave a little talk on their department and then took endless questions from the tour members.

We highly recommend the tour -- save space in your luggage for the goodies! We ended up stuffing the two (fluffy) robes into one of the Princess totes (we also received two of them) and using it as a carry-on!

I am totally interested in this tour, but I have some minor problems with my knee.

 

walking is fine, it's stairs that cause it to hurt.

 

how much time is spent climbing stairs? (or how many flights to climb at one time?)

 

specifically on the Crown Princess.

There were some very steep stairs in some areas on the Golden.

Not normal pass stairways but crew types.