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All Access Tour - My Review from the Allure's Tour

dotcomgirl

By dotcomgirl,
in Royal Caribbean International

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BillOh Holiday Sharing Rare

BillOh

Posted
Posted

Wow, I've seen every inch of the publically accessible areas on Allure. (with the exception of the ladies rooms :o ) So this was a nice thread to go through, but it has increased my cruise withdrawl symptoms. On one hand, it appears they found a way to charge you for an excursion without getting off the ship. :D I'm not sure I would pay $300 for the two of us, but when you start with a large OBC, I might splurge. While I consider myself knowledgeable, this is the first I heard of it outside of the Diamond and above tour. Is it new?

 

Going back to the status board where it showed the number of people on board, do you know what the numbers in parentheses was? At first I thought it might be capacity, but if it was, they were over capacity for the crew. I also saw there that this was Voyage 39. I was on Freedom's 100th voyage, I might have to go back for Allure's 100th and get another piece of cake!

 

Thanks for the great photos of areas I haven't seen.

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hgmizzou

hgmizzou

Posted
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Thanks so much for the GREAT pics and posting about the tour. I didn't even know this kind of tour was an option! Unfortunately, I don't think I would be able to take advantage of the offering because my knees wouldn't be able to handle the stairs. I REALLY appreciate the opportunity to get to experience it at least through pictures!!!

 

For those posting negative comment - why :rolleyes:? If you don't want to go - then don't. No need to be disparaging about someone who does!

 

Glad you got to go and that you enjoyed it!!! :)

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bradpole

bradpole

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...For those posting negative comment - why :rolleyes:? If you don't want to go - then don't. No need to be disparaging about someone who does!

 

I couldn't agree more. This tour is targeted at a very particular and very small audience. And in general I think it is a tour that you'd only do once.

 

I did equivalent tour on Princess a couple of years ago and thoroughly enjoyed it. We had some OBC and I figured I'd give it a try.

 

To the OP:

Thank you for taking the time to publish your pictures and such a detailed review! I'm sure you will convince a few people who had been thinking about this tour to give it a try, as well as reinforce other people's opinion that the tour is silly and a waste of money :)

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Woch2331

Woch2331

Posted
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When we boarded the Allure around 11am on Day 1 (we were some of the first people on board), we made a beeline for Guest Services and the Tour was the very first thing we asked for since we knew it was so limited.

 

Can you only sign up for the tour on the ship?

Wasn't sure if any advance reservations were allowed.

 

_

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BillOh Holiday Sharing Rare

BillOh

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$150 for a tour of a ship? What a rip-off!

 

You need to pay me to see the garbage room or watch people pile boxes of vegetables. What a mundane experience.

 

Debbie? Debbie Downer, is that you?

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Gig103

Gig103

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Thanks so much for taking the time to post. You just saved me $300. I will show my husband your post instead of taking the tour.

 

That's probably why Carnival doesn't allow photos for theirs :D

$150/pp is pretty steep, I think $75-$100 would be more reasonable. But it is a unique experience.

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bradpole

bradpole

Posted
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That's probably why Carnival doesn't allow photos for theirs :D ...

 

Could be... but in actuality they aren't taking you to any place that hasn't been shown numerous times on the Travel Channel or other networks when they film a cruise ship special.

 

For some seeing a picture isn't the same as seeing these places first hand, at least once. And I was one of those people, for me seeing pictures of the behind the scenes area wasn't the same as actually visiting them in person.

 

Personally I think Princess offers better value (gift wise) for their version of this tour. The gifts on Princess included a very nice fluffy robe, a chef's jacket, as well as several photos taken of you with officers taken in various tour stops (if memory serves me correct we got a photo taken in the forward mooring station, backstage with a couple of dancers, the galley with the chef, and on the bridge with the captain)

 

Regardless of the cruise line, and the gifts at the end of the tour, if you are at all curious of what goes on behind the scenes, and watching videos and seeing pictures isn't enough, sign up for one of these tours if your budget allows!

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Sequim88

Sequim88

Posted
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it seems that Samantha Brown did an actual engine room tour and she had to have major hearing protection.

 

The turbine engines are really the same thing as a jet engine. Like standing next to a 747 engine nacelle in full thrust operation. My understanding is the waste heat from this is then used to run a steam turbine and the left over heat from that goes to the water distiller process. All of them pretyt noisey.

 

My thnaks also to the OP. Great pics and nice to have an idea what the tours are like. $75 for me would be a sure thing, $100... maybe. $150, not likely. But since the group was large anyway and they don't want to be trotting passengers around every day it's a "what the market will bear" sort of thing.

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roscoegirl

roscoegirl

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Thank you very much for sharing your All Access Tour experience. I think this is an o.k. offering from RCI especially since most cruisers would otherwise not have such an opportunity to see these areas. I would love to do something like this but the physical aspects would be way to much for me--ouch!:) My only question/concern would be touring the crew areas: did you get a sense for how the crew feel about passengers walking through their private space/areas? (if there were any crew members around during your tour...they were probably all working!) Thanks again.

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Sequim88

Sequim88

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My only question/concern would be touring the crew areas: did you get a sense for how the crew feel about passengers walking through their private space/areas?

 

I had the same thought but not exactly from the crew perspective. Having read 'Cruise Confidential' and 'The Truth About Cruise Ships' - both of which detail crew life, albeit on Carnival - I wondered if RCI warns them to clean up their act, so to speak, on tour day. One more reason maybe that tours are limited.

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Woch2331

Woch2331

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Thanks for the excellent review - we will definetly be doing this on Allure - can you pre-book it or do you have to get to the Guest services on a first in, best dressed basis?

 

I found this:

http://www.royalcaribbean.com/customersupport/faq/subject.do?snav=2&faqSubjectName=Onboard+Extras&faqSubjectId=337&pnav=5

 

The last 8 questions are about the All Access Tour

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BillOh Holiday Sharing Rare

BillOh

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My only question/concern would be touring the crew areas: did you get a sense for how the crew feel about passengers walking through their private space/areas? (if there were any crew members around during your tour...they were probably all working!) Thanks again.

 

I wondered that too. At least its not done several times a day every day and I'm betting they know well in advance when it happens so they know to put their game faces on for a few extra minutes. Still, I'm betting as much as they drill the thoughts into passengers heads about fraternization between passengers and crew, that they do it 5 times as much for the crew, so I wouldn't doubt they aren't fond of the intrusion.

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Ocean Boy

Ocean Boy

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I wondered that too. At least its not done several times a day every day and I'm betting they know well in advance when it happens so they know to put their game faces on for a few extra minutes. Still, I'm betting as much as they drill the thoughts into passengers heads about fraternization between passengers and crew, that they do it 5 times as much for the crew, so I wouldn't doubt they aren't fond of the intrusion.

 

And I very much agree with you. As it is the crew has to always be at their best when they are in the passenger areas of the ship. I would think that they don't appreciate having their space, where they can be themselves, invaded.

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