Behind-the-scenes ship tour?

[Copper10-8]

On 12/19/2018 at 1:39 PM, TrakHack said:

Thank you for the advice and tips!

 

For those have done the tour, were you able to see the brig and the morgue?  

 

FYI - there are no brigs on the Vista-class ships and up. "R" and "S"-class ships still have brigs (see below on Maasdam) - Every HAL ship has a morgue, official name is "Coffin Room," and they are used as needed

 

Edited January 11, 2019 by Copper10-8

[TrakHack]

Outstanding! Thanks for the pic!

[Copper10-8]

Any time!

[HBCcruiser]

On 12/19/2018 at 1:39 PM, TrakHack said:

Thank you for the advice and tips!

 

For those have done the tour, were you able to see the brig and the morgue?  

 

September 2018 on the NA we stayed in the Pinnacle Suite and asked the concierge about doing a behind the scenes tour. They arranged it at no cost! We spent over 2 hours seeing all areas including the bridge and morgue. It was awesome!

[mcrcruiser]

On 12/19/2018 at 10:01 AM, OlsSalt said:

They have offered them on Vista class ships (Noordam, Westerdam etc). Check right away with the front desk to see if they are offering them. They are pricy ($150) but well worth the cost - totally  fascinating.  Best on board money we have ever spent.

Wow that is expensive . We have sailed many lines ;but ,we are Elite +  loyalty level with Celebrity  .For free we have been on Engine room ,the Bridge & kitchen tours at different times & we have been invited to the Captains table for dinner . All free 

Sad to say that Celebrity & their parent line Royal Caribbean have but  left California ports . We are because of our now ages (80) reluctant to fly  ;thus  ,we  love driving to our home port of San Diego to board a HAL vessel .or  a bit longer to San Pedro neat to Los Angeles  for Princess cruise ships  .Thus ,we are now essentially loyal to HAL & Princess ;which gives us enough variety  .  We have sailed all over the world & we love cruising & just to enjoy the ships many features & sailing on a ocean 

[terrydtx]

7 hours ago, HBCcruiser said:

September 2018 on the NA we stayed in the Pinnacle Suite and asked the concierge about doing a behind the scenes tour. They arranged it at no cost! We spent over 2 hours seeing all areas including the bridge and morgue. It was awesome!

If I paid for a Pinnacle Suite and they tried to charge me for that tour I would have been extremely upset. On our one and only X cruise we did get to do a Bridge tour for free and it was very interesting.

[sunnygidget]

We have done this tour on Princess for the same price. It was fantastic and lasted for a long time, with champagne and chocolate strawberries, plus some lovey appetizers.  Then we got back to our cabin there were gifts left for us to keep.  The blue checked apron, note pads with our names on them, a framed picture with the Captain on the bridge, plus the new packaged fluffy beautiful robes all to keep.  So the $150 for the tour went mostly for the lovely gifts.

 

We visited the sick bay, behind the stage, photo processing, print shop, kitchen, plus the fridges and storage area, the morgue, crew quarters, laundry (my personal favorite, those machines that fold stuff are amazing), anchor room, control room and of course the bridge.

 

Do they do this on Holland America?

 

Edited January 15, 2019 by sunnygidget

[Crew News]

1 hour ago, sunnygidget said:

We have done this tour on Princess for the same price. It was fantastic and lasted for a long time, with champagne and chocolate strawberries, plus some lovey appetizers.  Then we got back to our cabin there were gifts left for us to keep.  The blue checked apron, note pads with our names on them, a framed picture with the Captain on the bridge, plus the new packaged fluffy beautiful robes all to keep.  So the $150 for the tour went mostly for the lovely gifts.

 

We visited the sick bay, behind the stage, photo processing, print shop, kitchen, plus the fridges and storage area, the morgue, crew quarters, laundry (my personal favorite, those machines that fold stuff are amazing), anchor room, control room and of course the bridge.

 

Do they do this on Holland America?

 

HAL does the same tour with drinks and appetizers following.  Each person received a bag of goodies:  cookbooks, pins, mugs, magnets, ship model, etc.  A photo with the ship's Captain on the bridge found its way to my statetroom the next day.

 

My tour was fortunate to go down into the engine room:

 

 

Edited January 15, 2019 by Crew News

[sunnygidget]

This sounds fun!  We have 8 sea days in a row, hope our ship is offering this tour when we check in onboard, to add us to a possible list.

[OlsSalt]

On 1/13/2019 at 4:07 PM, terrydtx said:

If I paid for a Pinnacle Suite and they tried to charge me for that tour I would have been extremely upset. On our one and only X cruise we did get to do a Bridge tour for free and it was very interesting.

 

The Behind the Scenes tour is far more than just a bridge tour - you get down into the laundry and the tailoring rooms, all the food storage lockers, past the crew quarters, the workshops, the navigation room, the kitchens, and yes the bridge too. We did not get to see the engine room on our tour due what they said were security reequirements,  but others say this has now been added.  It does take a bit of stair climbing.

Edited January 15, 2019 by OlsSalt

[Copper10-8]

2 hours ago, OlsSalt said:

 

......................... It does take a bit of stair climbing.

 

More like ladders and lots of steps down and later, back up; the tour of the engine room is not for everyone depending on one's mobility

[faerievert]

Crap, there’s ladders? My husband’s recovering from shoulder surgery and can’t do ladders until a few weeks post-cruise 😢 

[Copper10-8]

1 minute ago, faerievert said:

Crap, there’s ladders? My husband’s recovering from shoulder surgery and can’t do ladders until a few weeks post-cruise 😢 

 

The ECR (Engine Control Room) on HAL ships is located on A-Deck and does not require any steps to access. The engine room itself is on B, C and D-Decks and requires descending to get down and ascending to get back where you started. In order to get there, there are ladders with handrails on each side

[terrydtx]

Is the $150 per person or per cabin? 

[Alberta Quilter]

2 hours ago, terrydtx said:

Is the $150 per person or per cabin? 

 

Per person.  Still well worth it, IMO.  I think of it of a shore excursion on the ship!

[sunnygidget]

Unfortunately, it's always per person.

[beaming90]

I can't wait, and I hope they offer it on my Alaska cruise in August!!!