ship tour?

[ladyruby]

does rccl do a ships tour? i no princess do at a cost so was wondering if rccl do also? thanks

[Cruzin-K]

Yes they do. Apparently this is something new that started last summer so I haven't had a chance to check it out yet.

[will773]

By ship tour, do you mean a behind the scenes tour of galleys and stuff, or do you mean going on the ship while it is in port for the day and exploring? I've heard of both.

[Ashland]

We were offered a ship tour for $150.00 pp on our recent western med cruise onboard Liberty...

[silentbob007]

For suites and D+ guests, ships will give a tour of backstage, galley, and/or bridge. There is an All-Access tour that is now being sold for $150 for much more.

[Oshawapilot]

On the Oasis class at least unless you're in a suite you're pretty much out of luck to get any tours whatsoever...as I discovered...even if you're willing to pay the $150.

 

The only chance was if they had an inordinately high number of suite/D+ members turn down their invite (or never make the request in the case of the All-Access tours) and there are actually spaces available.

 

It's one of my irritants with RCI.... I've never been aboard a ship where I haven't been able to get a bridge tour on request - Oasis was the first. I'll be trying again on Explorer again in April but after my dismal experience on Oasis I'm not holding out a lot of hope - at least the Voyager Class ships have the peekaboo viewing hole into the bridge for those interested.

[NorbertsNiece]

The $150 tour lasted about 4-5 hours on Navigator. I had a friend who participated in it and thought it fascinating.

[smallchange]

It was either last Jan. on the Oasis or 2 yrs. ago on the IOS that there was a free galley tour offered one day. I believe it was listed in the Compass or the dining room staff told us about it. Simply got in line (with a few hundred other people) and walked through the extensive galley and kitchens and prep places where they were working. It was interesting and not too time consuming and complimentary. Not happening anymore?

[reallyitsmema]

does rccl do a ships tour? i no princess do at a cost so was wondering if rccl do also? thanks

Yes, they do offer them. Here is a link to a wonderful review of the Behind the Scenes Tour on the Allure.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1472939&highlight=behind+the+scenes+tour

[mama02girls]

Smallchange, We might have been on that same tour with you. For anyone doing this , we recommend you get there VERY EARLY and get in the front where the person speaking is standing. We could hear nothing, and basically walked through the galley. It was still fun to see, but I wish I could have heard what was said!

 

Looking forward to the $150 tour one of these days on a caribbean itinerary when we are looking for something new and different to do. I'm glad to hear it is long and worth it. When we got our invite, we thought it would be an hour or so and said, "$150 for a tour! Forget it!" Haha, the joke is on us. I would have loved that 4-5 hour tour!

[E&B]

We have only been on one cruise before, on NCL, but they offered a free first-day tour. Not behind-the-scenes, but just a tour or the ship - very quick - to give you an overview of what the ship had to offer. Is anything like this available on RCCL?

[cruisenfever]

All Access Tour:

Official Launch: Effective on each ship's first July 2011 sailing on all Royal Caribbean International ships.

 

Cost: $150pp

 

Description: This tour will grant guests an all-access pass to various areas deemed "back of the house", such as the Galley, the Bridge, the Engine Control Room, Laundry and more.

[midwife1021]

For suites and D+ guests, ships will give a tour of backstage, galley, and/or bridge.

 

How do you book this tour? Or is it something that they send invites onboard to the qualified guests?

[cruisenfever]

How do you book this tour? Or is it something that they send invites onboard to the qualified guests?

For D+ and PC Members we get a card in our cabin from the LA that we must fill out and return indicating our preference(s).

[midwife1021]

For D+ and PC Members we get a card in our cabin from the LA that we must fill out and return indicating our preference(s).

Ah. So not necessarily suite guests.

[cruisenfever]

Ah. So not necessarily suite guests.

I believe that the Concierge may set something up for his/her suite guests on a particular sailing but this is not always the practice on all ships. :(However, if a suite guest is a D+ or PC Member then they would automatically get the card from the LA.

[cottagemama]

On our very first Cruise we did a galley tour on Carnival Victory and it was free:)

[rae8836]

Tried to do this on EX in October and actually did get to do this on NV on the New Years cruise.

 

There is a chance for confusion: D+ and suite guests (I think) get a card in the cabin to choose one of three available cruises: Bridge, Galley, Backstage. These tours are free if you get the card. In addition, there will be an opportunity for _anyone_ to sign up for the All Access Tour. Anyone can sign up with the cost being $150 per person. Also, in the two situations I was involved in, there was a minimum of 7 and a maximum of 15 participants. In my case we didn't make the minimum on EX. We ended up with 14 on NV.

 

I felt the All Access Tour was excellent, but I'm into ships. My wife was reluctant to attend but at the end said she enjoyed it.

 

One warning - the tour is long (ours was 4 hours +), you don't sit down much, and you walk a lot, including up and down some narrow, not built for passengers, stairs. We burned out two of our tour members - they had to drop out before the end due to fatigue.

[Ashland]

How do you book this tour? Or is it something that they send invites onboard to the qualified guests?

We were told about the tour by the DL concierge on LOS as there is a very limited number of passengers per tour allowed...All tour times offered filled up very quickly...