Behind the Scenes tours....all Ships?

[mchittum0907]

Do you go to the shore excursion desk to sign up for Behind the Fun or customer service desk?

 

 

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[bwellen]

Do you go to the shore excursion desk to sign up for Behind the Fun or customer service desk?

 

 

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Some have posted that they have gone to the customer service desk and booked the tour, however most (including us) people signed up at the excursion desk. In fact at the excursion desk they actually put our names onto a clipboard and the tickets were not delivered to our cabin until the next day. So I'm not how they would keep track of who has signed up if they are using two different locations.

 

 

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[wlc108]

I just got back from the Carnival Miracle and did this tour. I paid $95 (I think) and it lasted from 9am to 12:30pm. It was a GREAT experience and I'm so glad I did it. An HR director led the tour and it seemed like all the crew knew her, greeting her by name as we went by.

 

I got 2 "free" 8x10 pictures of the group with the captain and in the galley, and some nice other things. It was worth the price for the experience.

 

On the other hand, I wouldn't do it again on the same ship or on a smaller ship since I've already done it on this one once, but I'd do it on a larger ship :)

[Tiger0613]

I just got back from the Carnival Miracle and did this tour. I paid $95 (I think) and it lasted from 9am to 12:30pm. It was a GREAT experience and I'm so glad I did it. An HR director led the tour and it seemed like all the crew knew her, greeting her by name as we went by.

 

I got 2 "free" 8x10 pictures of the group with the captain and in the galley, and some nice other things. It was worth the price for the experience.

 

On the other hand, I wouldn't do it again on the same ship or on a smaller ship since I've already done it on this one once, but I'd do it on a larger ship :)

 

I won't repeat a ship. I will however tour at least one ship per class. The tour is nice no matter what size the ship is.

[Pellaz]

Do you go to the shore excursion desk to sign up for Behind the Fun or customer service desk?

 

Go to Shore Excursions immediately upon embark. They're always open during embark-times and as mentioned, the tour usually fills up...sometimes VERY quickly. If ShoreEx is closed you can probably sign up at Guest Services instead -- it's not like they don't WANT to take your money ;) -- but I wouldn't wait.

 

I'll be on Vista in October and needless to say, ShoreEx will be my first stop after boarding. This is another good reason to get FTTF if you're not Diamond or Plat. :)

 

I just got back from the Carnival Miracle and did this tour. I paid $95 (I think) and it lasted from 9am to 12:30pm. It was a GREAT experience and I'm so glad I did it. An HR director led the tour and it seemed like all the crew knew her, greeting her by name as we went by.

 

I think every tour I've done (six) have been led by the HR Director or their assistant. They are well-placed to lead the tour since their English is generally good and they seem to know everyone...and vice-versa. :)

On the other hand, I wouldn't do it again on the same ship or on a smaller ship since I've already done it on this one once, but I'd do it on a larger ship :)

 

Last October on Conquest for the second time in a year, I had decided not to ever repeat the tour on the same ship and actually enjoy sleeping-in on the last sea-day for the first time EVER on Carnival :D .

--But in the end, I decided to repeat the tour and I'm really glad I did, as I learned some new stuff I hadn't known before -- like the location of the Captain's stateroom -- and we saw a couple of things I hadn't seen before, like the inside of an actual "crew double" cabin.

[Supercrossfox21]

This will be my moms first cruise ever (shes 72) on the inspiration and I would love to take her on a behind the scence tour, but there is no way she could make it 3hrs walking. Does anyone know if i can push her in a wheelchair to get her from point a to point b and then she can walk when we get to a specific area?

[Drrandall]

$95 to be shown a tour of a ship? Lol. I don't think so. This blows my mind.

I can take a VIP tour of Coors brewery with free beer for free. Can't believe they would actually charge you. To each their own I guess.

[chengkp75]

This will be my moms first cruise ever (shes 72) on the inspiration and I would love to take her on a behind the scence tour, but there is no way she could make it 3hrs walking. Does anyone know if i can push her in a wheelchair to get her from point a to point b and then she can walk when we get to a specific area?

 

No. The areas are crew areas, nothing is disability accessible, and so stairs are steeper, and there are more stairs, since you are often below the subdivision deck, meaning the watertight doors are closed, and they would not hold the tour for you to access an elevator, as the crew elevators are just as busy or more so than the passenger elevators. Many, who don't consider themselves to be mobility challenged, but are just a wee bit out of shape have said the tour is a workout.

[Moviela]

...I can take a VIP tour of Coors brewery with free beer for free...

 

I was shown the Coors Golden plant by none other than Pete Coors himself, and had a great time.

 

I also paid for a behind the fun tour on Carnival Imagination and found it far and away better. It was at the same time fun, educational, eye opening, and gave me appreciation for the jobs big and small that crew perform making for good safety, courtesy, show, and efficiency.

 

I can say I had the best time of any excursion I have taken right there on the ship.

[Drrandall]

I was shown the Coors Golden plant by none other than Pete Coors himself, and had a great time.

 

I also paid for a behind the fun tour on Carnival Imagination and found it far and away better. It was at the same time fun, educational, eye opening, and gave me appreciation for the jobs big and small that crew perform making for good safety, courtesy, show, and efficiency.

 

I can say I had the best time of any excursion I have taken right there on the ship.

But you should not be charged $100 per person. That should be free .......period. the biggest joke I've seen looking at all the other excursions I could book.

[ABQrobin]

We just did it on the Magic and thought it was fantastic and worth every penny. Getting to go to the Engine control room, have the head Engineer speak for 20+ minutes was amazing for my DH. He was enthralled. So much to see and learn. I was impressed with the tours of food storage, laundry machinery, crew galley and quarters, etc. The HR director explains all the details of the crews lives, their benefits, how she helps them achieve personal goals. We both enjoyed the backstage of the theatre with the castmember showing us how they do it all. Just so much to see.

You have to walk A LOT, up and down metal stairs, hallways, and standing the whole time...for 3-4 hours. You get to go up on the Bridge, which is beautiful, too. And photos with the whole group, then with Captain.

The swag bag at the end gives you those photos 8"x10" for free, hat, lanyard, totebag, etc. And you get a goodie plate delivered to your room with choc covered strawberries, etc.

 

Loved it... worth the money. Do it at least once.

 

robin

[vlynn]

I really want to do this on our next Pride cruise. It looks like it will be at least 95$.

 

My question is does anyone know if they do more than 2 on a longer (14 day) cruise?

 

We will have to board late so....

[brepri_h]

They all have the tour to my knowledge. Space is limited so you need to sign up for it the moment you get on board to secure your spot.

 

I had not realized there was a price difference from ship to ship. When I got on the Breeze I went to book but they told me it was $95 and I decided not to do it. They also said it was like 6hrs long on the last sea day and I didn't want to spend so much of my last sea day doing that.

[drgonzogoo]

We did it last year on the Breeze and it was great!! We skipped it this year on the Magic..... however, we did attend the art auction. While we were waiting for the auction to start I had to visit the bathroom. I was a bit fuzzy on my bearings so as I was searching/killing time and saw 2 crew members in the little barroom beside the dining room entrance. I went in to ask directions and the female crew member nearly ran me over with the little cart she was pulling that was filled with Behind the Fun stuff(here's where the Bic caught spark) and she gave me nav to the nearest bathroom. Well the other guy was allll by himself with a left-over tray of Mimosas. Sooo I said, "Heyyyy buddddyyyy! Can you spare a couple of those?!" He laughs and says something and waves at me. Sooo I slipped the guy a fresh $10 spot, slammed 1, grabbed 2 more and headed for the can. I drained it and on my way back to the auction, I thought Id check on my friend. Him and his tray were still there, I slipped him a 5, grabbed a mimsy for the road..... it was the best art auction EV-AH! So, the moral is, do the Behind the Fun tour becuase you get mimosas when it's over.... and it's a BLAST!!

[AMbliss]

Would anyone know the cost of this tour on the Sensation? I'll have my family of 5 but I might just do it by myself since that could be close to $500 and my kids would probably lose steam after the first hour.

 

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[Tiger0613]

Would anyone know the cost of this tour on the Sensation? I'll have my family of 5 but I might just do it by myself since that could be close to $500 and my kids would probably lose steam after the first hour.

 

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My experiences so far:

4-day Inspiration: $55

4-day Triumph: $95

8-day Legend: $95

 

The Inspiration is in the same class as the Sensation.

 

https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1386/~/carnival’s-‘behind-the-fun’-tour

 

From the Carnival help page:

• Depending on the duration of the cruise, the cost is $55 USD to $95 USD per person and is approximately 2 hours to 3-1/2 hours long.
  

I saw a theory that the tour costs more if there is a steakhouse. I was expecting the tour on a 4-day cruise on the Triumph to cost $55 due to the lack of a steakhouse. It was $95. I don't see how the length of the cruise has anything to do with the cost.

[Pellaz]

I saw a theory that the tour costs more if there is a steakhouse. I was expecting the tour on a 4-day cruise on the Triumph to cost $55 due to the lack of a steakhouse. It was $95. I don't see how the length of the cruise has anything to do with the cost.

 

Neither do I.

 

It had been my experience from 2010-2016 that my cruises on Imagination and Victory -- neither has a steakhouse -- had BtF tours priced at $55, while on Conquest-class ships with a steakhouse it was $95.

Carnival has now seemingly adopted some other arbitrary method of pricing based on cruise-length and maybe ship size. It's still worth it, "free" mimosas or not. :)