Is the "Ultimate Ship Tour" back?

[talkorpi]

Hi everyone,

 

Looking forward to our first Princess cruise coming up in just a few weeks (April 2nd can't come soon enough!) and I saw that Princess used to offer a behind the scenes ship tour.  I am a total ship nerd and would LOVE to do something like this experience - I did it once back on the Carnival Breeze in 2017 and it was one of the coolest things ever!

 

Does anyone know if Princess has resumed this?  I know that a lot of the cruise lines shut this down during the pandemic but most of them have started them back up again.  Is Princess doing the Ultimate Ship Tours again?

[DUCHESSRN]

42 minutes ago, talkorpi said:

Hi everyone,

 

Looking forward to our first Princess cruise coming up in just a few weeks (April 2nd can't come soon enough!) and I saw that Princess used to offer a behind the scenes ship tour.  I am a total ship nerd and would LOVE to do something like this experience - I did it once back on the Carnival Breeze in 2017 and it was one of the coolest things ever!

 

Does anyone know if Princess has resumed this?  I know that a lot of the cruise lines shut this down during the pandemic but most of them have started them back up again.  Is Princess doing the Ultimate Ship Tours again?

I hope they bring it back , no sign of it on our Christmas cruise.

[phoebe2m]

We signed up for it on our current cruise, Crown Princess to Hawaii. A few days later we were notified the tour was cancelled due to logistics. Maybe next cruise? BTW we have done the UST several times in the past.

Edited February 14, 2023 by phoebe2m

[Guest ldtr]

was not available on  the Discovery a couple of weeks ago, but they were doing the bridge tour.

[BamaVol]

Can someone describe this UST?  I’m intrigued. 

[caribill]

46 minutes ago, BamaVol said:

Can someone describe this UST?  I’m intrigued. 

 

It is an extensive behind the scenes tour of the ship. A group usually limited to about 12 people tours places such as the photo shop, main laundry room, printing facility, medical center, engine control room (not the engine room), the bridge, the galley, the storerooms, and more.

 

When it is done, it is usually only once a cruise and usually is on the last sea day.

 

At each stop, the department head or a stop assistant briefs the group about how that department works followed by a Q&A session.

 

Price is $150/person (think of it as an on ship shore excursion) and comes with some swag including a bathrobe, pictures taken by a ship's photographer along the way, and more.

 

Almost every person who has taken the tour and posted about it said it was worth the time and money.

 

'If it is being offered, you sign up for it at the Passenger Service desk. Since participation is limited, sign up as soon as you can after boarding.

[Lanwood]

Tried signing up on the Majestic a couple of weeks ago. Told not being offered. Assumed it had something to do with Covid and keeping passengers out of crew areas?? They also didn't do the Galley tour with the Chefs table.

[Bobbiegentry]

Just this minute inquired at both the Purser’s desk and at Shore Excursions.  
Both advised it’s not being offered on this cruise (Diamond). Hasn’t been since the pandemic and no information on when/if it will return. 

[talkorpi]

32 minutes ago, Bobbiegentry said:

Just this minute inquired at both the Purser’s desk and at Shore Excursions.  
Both advised it’s not being offered on this cruise (Diamond). Hasn’t been since the pandemic and no information on when/if it will return. 

 

Thank you so much for asking!  What a bummer.  Hoping it will miraculously be back by the time I set sail in April...

 

Enjoy the rest of your time on the Diamond!

[Buckybee]

Best $150 I ever spent on a ship. Leaving Thurs on Emerald and fist thing I will do is go to the service desk and sign up if offered. You get to see the ship from top to bottom. Swag is worth the $150. Each department you visit gives you a gift pertaining to what they do. Kitchen gave a chefs jacket and hat and the print shop gave custom stationary with your name on it. 

[talkorpi]

55 minutes ago, Buckybee said:

Best $150 I ever spent on a ship. Leaving Thurs on Emerald and fist thing I will do is go to the service desk and sign up if offered. You get to see the ship from top to bottom. Swag is worth the $150. Each department you visit gives you a gift pertaining to what they do. Kitchen gave a chefs jacket and hat and the print shop gave custom stationary with your name on it. 

 

Oh my gosh, don't get my hopes up!  When we did it on Carnival many years ago I think I got a baseball hat and a group picture.  I am a home cook so getting a Chef's Jacket with the sea witch would be an absolute DREAM come true!

[SantaFeFan]

12 hours ago, caribill said:

 

It is an extensive behind the scenes tour of the ship. A group usually limited to about 12 people tours places such as the photo shop, main laundry room, printing facility, medical center, engine control room (not the engine room), the bridge, the galley, the storerooms, and more.

 

Price is $150/person ... Almost every person who has taken the tour and posted about it said it was worth the time and money.

 

'If it is being offered, you sign up for it at the Passenger Service desk. Since participation is limited, sign up as soon as you can after boarding.

 

I'll vouch for it being well worth the money. As well as those areas mentioned above, we toured the backstage area of the main theater, the area where the anchors are "parked" while at sea, the crew lounge and mess, as well as using the "I-95" corridor to move about the ship. (I-95 is the crew only lower level central corridor that stretches from front to back of the ship for crew and supply movements). 

 

Edited February 14, 2023 by SantaFeFan

[damiross]

I would like to tour the "backstage" of the ship.  However, I don't really need all the crap that they give out so they can justify $150 for the tour.

 

There is often a kitchen tour that is free.  Don't need to see that on an Ultimate Ship Tour.  Would like to see just two things - the engine room and the bridge.

[Guest ldtr]

1 hour ago, damiross said:

I would like to tour the "backstage" of the ship.  However, I don't really need all the crap that they give out so they can justify $150 for the tour.

 

There is often a kitchen tour that is free.  Don't need to see that on an Ultimate Ship Tour.  Would like to see just two things - the engine room and the bridge.

The bridge tour is free. ask as customer service when you board if they are doing one on your cruise.

[Guest ldtr]

1 hour ago, damiross said:

I would like to tour the "backstage" of the ship.  However, I don't really need all the crap that they give out so they can justify $150 for the tour.

 

There is often a kitchen tour that is free.  Don't need to see that on an Ultimate Ship Tour.  Would like to see just two things - the engine room and the bridge.

duplicate

Edited February 15, 2023 by ldtr

[SantaFeFan]

3 hours ago, damiross said:

I would like to tour the "backstage" of the ship.  However, I don't really need all the crap that they give out so they can justify $150 for the tour.

 

There is often a kitchen tour that is free.  Don't need to see that on an Ultimate Ship Tour.  Would like to see just two things - the engine room and the bridge.

 

There is not that much "crap". Just a few dollars worth of stuff that are more souvenirs than anything else. And no non-crew members are allowed in the engine room. Instead, you visit the engine CONTROL room. Some ships have windows that look over the engine room, but many don't. 

 

The tour that I took was approximately three hours long, with refreshments included. 

Edited February 15, 2023 by SantaFeFan

[caribill]

8 hours ago, damiross said:

There is often a kitchen tour that is free.  Don't need to see that on an Ultimate Ship Tour. 

The kitchen tour after the cooking demo in the Princess theater has not been held since the pandemic started.

 

That tour was a quick walk though with very little food preparation being visible. The UST tour goes much further into the galley and is much more than a fast walk through and is usually led by the head chef.

[SAKay]

We had the galley tour in Dec 2022 on the Caribbean Princess Panama Canal cruise. 

[MissP22]

On 2/14/2023 at 2:39 PM, Buckybee said:

Best $150 I ever spent on a ship. Leaving Thurs on Emerald and fist thing I will do is go to the service desk and sign up if offered. You get to see the ship from top to bottom. Swag is worth the $150. Each department you visit gives you a gift pertaining to what they do. Kitchen gave a chefs jacket and hat and the print shop gave custom stationary with your name on it. 

Those value of those "gifts" are only in the eye of the beholder. 

 

 

13 hours ago, caribill said:

The kitchen tour after the cooking demo in the Princess theater has not been held since the pandemic started.

 

That tour was a quick walk though with very little food preparation being visible. The UST tour goes much further into the galley and is much more than a fast walk through and is usually led by the head chef.

Yes, the kitchen tour is back and if you've seen it before, not that exciting.

Just a brief run through of the galley with no samples or cooking. 

[jwattle]

22 hours ago, SantaFeFan said:

 

There is not that much "crap". Just a few dollars worth of stuff that are more souvenirs than anything else. And no non-crew members are allowed in the engine room. Instead, you visit the engine CONTROL room. Some ships have windows that look over the engine room, but many don't. 

 

The tour that I took was approximately three hours long, with refreshments included. 

Few dollars worth of stuff? We got the nice plush robes, chef coats and chef hat, photos, personalized pads, pic frames...but you do you. As a female in a "man's world" with cars, the engine control, bridge and anchor rooms were amazing to see, as well as many other "crew only' areas.

[PTMary]

deleted

Edited February 16, 2023 by PTMary

[beg3yrs]

I'm glad this topic came up. We've done the UST on the R class, Jewel class, Dawn class and Grand class ships. Somehow we haven't done the Royal class UST yet but next year, fingers crossed, will definitely try the new Sun class UST if it's offered.

[SantaFeFan]

15 hours ago, jwattle said:

Few dollars worth of stuff? We got the nice plush robes, chef coats and chef hat, photos, personalized pads, pic frames...but you do you. As a female in a "man's world" with cars, the engine control, bridge and anchor rooms were amazing to see, as well as many other "crew only' areas.

 

All we got was some personalized stationary, a picture frame, and a single photo of the group with the captain.

 

Not sure why your "but you do you" comment is warranted. That phrase is a condescending way of telling someone that they are wrong.  🙄

 

 

Edited February 16, 2023 by SantaFeFan

[DCThunder]

On the TA that I did on Regal in November, Alex the ED, arranged for a free "back stage" tour of the Princess Theatre including a panel discussion with two featured singers, several dancers, and a stage manager about their life as performers on cruise ships.  We then walked through the back stage area, seeing the dressing rooms, the storage for the stage sets and other props for the shows and then walked across the stage.  There were performers at various points who would answer questions about how the shows worked. 

 

A few days later one of the third deck officers gave a presentation about how you became a cruise ship officer, the promotion path to captain, and discussed other facts about the navigation and running of the ship.  He showed a lot of photos of the bridge and other areas of the navigation areas.  We didn't get a tour, but his presentation was very informative and he stayed behind to answer questions.

 

Both of these were totally ad hoc events, but they were both highlights of this particular trip for me.  If you ever see something like this offered on a sea day, besure to attend.

[MissP22]

1 hour ago, SantaFeFan said:

Not sure why your "but you do you" comment is warranted. That phrase is a condescending way of telling someone that they are wrong.  🙄

 

I don't know why you take that comment in that way but to me it only says if you fee the stuff it worth it, then go for it. I personally don't need a thing that they present as gifts. They're all items I consider as worthless. Either I have them at home or just stuff I have no interest in....like a chefs jacket, robes (have 1/2 dozen) or hat. Unless your going to a Halloween party next year, then it winds up at Goodwill.