Royal Princess - Ultimate Ship Tour - 1/12-19, 2014

[Richmond]

We did the UST and it was interesting and informative and about 3.5 hours.

 

It is indeed expensive at $150ea. We did receive nice aprons and robes and notepads and multiple pics. Since we went as a couple, we now have duplicates of lots of group pics of our tour group, but it is nice they do try to get shots in various parts of the ship.

 

We had a couple of first time cruisers with us who also signed up at the same time on the first day, but they were "not selected" and "on the waitlist". The UST is only done once at 8:30a on the last day and you are not told until the night before if you have been "randomly selected" to be in the group of 12. There were at least 5 of the participants who had previously done an UST.

 

It's understandable it's only done once per cruise as the heads of departments stop for 15 minutes or more to chat with you and answer questions.

 

With the apparent high demand, I am not sure why they advertised late in the cruise on the Patter for people to do the UST, since it was obviously already "oversold".

 

We were glad to have participated and got a lot out of it, but doubt we will do it again as space is so limited and would like to allow others to see the innerworkings of how it all comes together to make the cruise experience what it is!

[Loonbeam]

Most of the patters are pre-set from week to week on the same route, the just swap out some activities and ads, weather etc. The notes for the UST were probably just on the standard layout they use for those days...

 

We did the UST and it was interesting and informative and about 3.5 hours.

 

It is indeed expensive at $150ea. We did receive nice aprons and robes and notepads and multiple pics. Since we went as a couple, we now have duplicates of lots of group pics of our tour group, but it is nice they do try to get shots in various parts of the ship.

 

We had a couple of first time cruisers with us who also signed up at the same time on the first day, but they were "not selected" and "on the waitlist". The UST is only done once at 8:30a on the last day and you are not told until the night before if you have been "randomly selected" to be in the group of 12. There were at least 5 of the participants who had previously done an UST.

 

It's understandable it's only done once per cruise as the heads of departments stop for 15 minutes or more to chat with you and answer questions.

 

With the apparent high demand, I am not sure why they advertised late in the cruise on the Patter for people to do the UST, since it was obviously already "oversold".

 

We were glad to have participated and got a lot out of it, but doubt we will do it again as space is so limited and would like to allow others to see the innerworkings of how it all comes together to make the cruise experience what it is!

[Richmond]

Most of the patters are pre-set from week to week on the same route, the just swap out some activities and ads, weather etc. The notes for the UST were probably just on the standard layout they use for those days...

 

I thought that too, Loonbeam, except on the Tour we went to the Printshop and the manager showed us a Patter he was working on which had all kinds of highlights and changes from the crew. He said they are never exactly the same, and they are sent to the department managers every day multiple times and are changed and corrected.

 

There was a "waitlist" and then there were others who didn't even make the waitlist. I would be surprised if this was specific to just our week.

[caribill]

Most of the patters are pre-set from week to week on the same route, the just swap out some activities and ads, weather etc. The notes for the UST were probably just on the standard layout they use for those days...

 

The keeping the standard contents applies to other parts of the Patter also.

 

On a January sailing of the CB which was delayed on embarkation day due to weather, the first sea day's Patter had the Captain correctly saying the ship would spend the following day at sea. However on the same page the message from the navigator said the ship would be in port that day.

[NeurosurgeryNP]

We did it on the CB in November 2012. It was a highlight of the cruise for us. We will never probably do it again due to the cost, but it was fantastic and I highly recommend it if you like to see the "behind the scene" stuff. It was something I've always wanted to do on our 6 prior cruises. If you think about it, it was like an excursion on shore, but we got goodies at the end - robes, stationary, and several group pics (that would have cost $20 each otherwise).

[sminfiddle]

I got to correct the Princess Patter when we visited the Print Shop on our UST! This was a big thrill for me. :D

He had the Log Of The Cruise open on the editing PC and I pointed out that where "Houston Shipping Channel" was used there and in the Patter from embarkation day, that nautical feature's name is "Houston Ship Channel."

He said that of course he had to check with the Navigator, but the change was indeed made for that Log, the next Log, and all the Patters going forward where they mention it!

(I Made A Difference :))

 

 

~sent using Cruise Critic app~

Edited January 23, 2014 by sminfiddle

[sparky-elpaso]

Were you allowed to take your own photos?

[MHE]

We did the UST and it was interesting and informative and about 3.5 hours.

 

It is indeed expensive at $150ea. We did receive nice aprons and robes and notepads and multiple pics. Since we went as a couple, we now have duplicates of lots of group pics of our tour group, but it is nice they do try to get shots in various parts of the ship.

 

We had a couple of first time cruisers with us who also signed up at the same time on the first day, but they were "not selected" and "on the waitlist". The UST is only done once at 8:30a on the last day and you are not told until the night before if you have been "randomly selected" to be in the group of 12. There were at least 5 of the participants who had previously done an UST.

 

It's understandable it's only done once per cruise as the heads of departments stop for 15 minutes or more to chat with you and answer questions.

 

With the apparent high demand, I am not sure why they advertised late in the cruise on the Patter for people to do the UST, since it was obviously already "oversold".

 

We were glad to have participated and got a lot out of it, but doubt we will do it again as space is so limited and would like to allow others to see the innerworkings of how it all comes together to make the cruise experience what it is!

 

I have done the "Behind the Fun" tour on Carnival. Carnival's fee varies based on ship size. It sounds like Princess includes some nice "gifts" for the $150 price.

 

I'm really interested in doing UST on the Royal as it is the newest ship in the fleet. Besides the Bridge, stage, and control room, what other locations did you visit on the tour?

 

This might be a birthday present to myself when I'm on the the 3/23 sailing.

[CTGirl]

We are thinking of doing this on the Royal in April. Where did you go to sign up for it?

[MTJSR]

I was looking forward to a review of the tour, was there anything worth mentioning?

Edited February 3, 2014 by MTJSR

[NeurosurgeryNP]

No, you can't take your own photos.

[janetz]

The Princess tour sounds so much better then the one my DH did on the Allure. The same price but longer, and I don't even think they were given anything.

[caribill]

Were you allowed to take your own photos?

 

No, you can't take your own photos.

 

Yes and no.

 

There have been different experiences on different ships.

 

Pictures in the engine control room are never allowed.

 

For pictures in other areas, ask when you visit them.

 

We only asked when we were on the bridge and were allowed to take pictures there.

Edited February 3, 2014 by caribill

[caribill]

We are thinking of doing this on the Royal in April. Where did you go to sign up for it?

 

Passenger's Services desk ASAP after boarding.

[CTGirl]

Passenger's Services desk ASAP after boarding.

Thanks.

[NeurosurgeryNP]

The Princess tour sounds so much better then the one my DH did on the Allure. The same price but longer, and I don't even think they were given anything.

 

It was amazing when we did it on the Caribbean. $150 - we got robes, pictures - about 5 I believe (and double since DH and I both did the tour), aprons, and a personalized note pad from the print shop. We also had champagne on the bridge/OJ, sodas, etc and snacks, from what I remember.

 

The way I look at it, we would have spent this on an excursion potentially and we got take homes from it because of it. It was an awesome experience and I think if you are interested in something like this, you have to do it once.