Behind the Scenes Tour

[emmajo]

I’m trying to find feedback on this tour on the Norwegian Sun. If anyone has recently done this tour, I would appreciate your comments. This is listed under entertainment and therefore isn’t eligible for any excursion credits. It will cost C$117 per person. Thanks for any information!

[smillerholmes]

I was on the Sun in April.  I did the free tour.  The tour was conducted by the CruiseNext staff.  It consisted of laundry area, galley, and theater.  It is my understanding the paid version is a little more thorough even though the bridge is still off limits.  My opinion is that I would *not* pay for the experience.  The only reason I went on the free one is because I like to do it once per ship in the hopes that I will see something awesome in the process.  I have yet to be wowed - I keep hoping...

[KforKitty]

We did the paid Behind the Scenes on the Star in June and in addition to the above we saw Engineering and The Bridge.  The Captain came onto the Bridge when we were there.  I really enjoyed it.

 

 Catherine 

[alanstarr]

4 hours ago, smillerholmes said:

The only reason I went on the free one is because I like to do it once per ship in the hopes that I will see something awesome in the process.  I have yet to be wowed - I keep hoping...

 

The best reason to do the free tour is that, in the kitchen, you can see all the meals scheduled for the entire cruise. Helps with planning when you want to book specialty restaurants!

 

Edited August 20, 2023 by alanstarr

[happytotravel]

Hi,

Which ever one you choose it is very interesting to see some of the behind the scenes of a ship.

The majority of people have no idea want goes on or how really hard the "behind the scene" crew work.  If you have never done a tour taking the paid one would be good to see the bridge and engine.  Something I believe worth seeing.

 

Enjoy your cruise, happytotravek

[hawkeyetlse]

32 minutes ago, alanstarr said:

 

The best reason to do the free tour is that, in the kitchen, you can see all the meals scheduled for the entire cruise. Helps with planning when you want to book specialty restaurants!

 

You can even see photos of what each dish is supposed to look like! But it's only useful if they schedule the tour near the beginning of your cruise… If you search around you can probably find photos that other people have taken of that wall in the galley. All the ships have the same menus, on the same rotation (although they occasionally experiment with different concepts, and you never know if they will have to rearrange something because of itinerary/supply issues on your specific sailing).

[RedRover96]

We've done a Behind the Scenes tour, it was on a different cruise line.  If it's offered on a sea day it's a great way to spend part of your day, really enjoyed, learned a lot worth the $'s.  With that being said, been there done that, probably wouldn't pay again, figure all are about the same.

[genealogyfan]

5 hours ago, smillerholmes said:

I was on the Sun in April.  I did the free tour.  The tour was conducted by the CruiseNext staff.  It consisted of laundry area, galley, and theater.  It is my understanding the paid version is a little more thorough even though the bridge is still off limits.  My opinion is that I would *not* pay for the experience.  The only reason I went on the free one is because I like to do it once per ship in the hopes that I will see something awesome in the process.  I have yet to be wowed - I keep hoping...

The bridge is not off limits anymore, at least on the ship I was on. I was on the Epic in April and my paid behind the scenes tour included the bridge.

[graphicguy]

I’ve done the Latitudes “Behind the Scenes” tour.  I’ve always enjoyed it.  

 

It consists of a tour of the Galley and the Theater.  Enjoyed those tours the most.  The sheer volume of food and drink they acquire, store and prepare daily is staggering.  Even the Theater tours are amazing given they have their own costume repair and seamstresses on board.  Seeing the hugeness of the large production facilities and the machinations they go through to put on the shows is impressive.

 

The Breakaway and Getaway tours are very similar, as they’re nearly identical ships.  The Bliss and Escape were a bit different, particularly the theater tours, as they were much larger.

 

I think they take about an hour +.  You view the galley, the freezers where they store food, the back stage operations and the “I95” areas where the crew traverse when they’re not working where we can see them.

[emmajo]

Thanks to everyone for your input. Exactly what we were looking for. We don’t have latitudes perks so we will fork out the $$ lol. We will likely choose a sea day during which to experience the tour . As suggested, it is probably something we would only do once, but it sounds interesting and informative. Appreciate you sharing your opinions!

[www3traveler]

1 hour ago, emmajo said:

Thanks to everyone for your input. Exactly what we were looking for. We don’t have latitudes perks so we will fork out the $$ lol. We will likely choose a sea day during which to experience the tour . As suggested, it is probably something we would only do once, but it sounds interesting and informative. Appreciate you sharing your opinions!

The Tour is only offered on Sea Days and sells out very quickly.  Book as soon as possible.  Enjoy

[julig22]

I was on the Sun a few months ago and I took both tours. Staff may have changed by now but the staff doing the tour were for the most part super passionate about their jobs, so both tours were interesting and fun IMHO.

Each ship is different so I'll probably keep going on the latitudes tours, but maybe pay for the longer tour on some as well. The theater arrangement is probably the biggest difference and very interesting. And it was comforting to me to see that there was an official "whale watcher" on duty on the bridge. Now if we could only convince them to make an announcement when they spot whales...

[www3traveler]

I have had several Captains and Staff Captains make announcements when they spot whales.

[dexddd]

21 hours ago, genealogyfan said:

The bridge is not off limits anymore, at least on the ship I was on. I was on the Epic in April and my paid behind the scenes tour included the bridge.

And the free used to include bridge visit plus sometimes just a bridge tour if in a suite.

[mking8288]

3 hours ago, dexddd said:

And the free used to include bridge visit plus sometimes just a bridge tour if in a suite.

This was 11 years ago, a group of about 15 that attended the CC Meet & Greet on the Gem were privately invited to do just the bridge tour on a sea day, met outside & escorted in ... photo ops, free & complimentary ... not part of the complimentary BTS tour as given then.  Subsequently, bridge tour was discontinued and excuse given was for security reasons 😎  perhaps, they're afraid that passengers on these tour would hijack the bridge from within - although security was present,  guarding from a distance. 

 

By the time we did the Breakaway's BTS tour for Platinum, it was most definitely excluded and watered down to 90 minutes with the 3 stops only, and with a fairly large group of 30 plus signed up, split into 2 smaller group, each with 2 uniformed guard escorting while the CruiseNext team member (Alvin O. was Asst CD then, since promoted when we saw him again in 2016 and more recently on another ship - he's among the best that really enjoy his work & has a great slide show presentation doing cruise ship operations in the atrium lobby)   The most recent one we did was on the Epic, which we rated as the worst of the worst, CN staff ran thru the whole 3 "stops" like a high speed train wreck in about 45 minutes, stated absolutely zero still photography allowed anywhere & anytime during "his" tour, as those are his "rules" - what a j e r k 😤 - stalled the group for 10 minutes down holding at I-95 while provisioning was moving crates & boxes around, doing absolutely nothing but stand & watch.  

 

Obviously, security isn't a safety factor anymore as they are taking money first and cheerfully give the paid tour with stops in the engine control room AND the bridge, or else, I struggled to see how they can stretch the 1 hour tour to 3 hours, unless they slow walk everyone these days, offer wine & cheers, and permit photos (which, evidently, had been taken freely & liberally as of late, posted here on CC) for the convenience of all.  At $129 to $149 p/p for the paid tour, no way but that's just me. 

 

Interesting enough, laundry operations on the newly & larger ships are more automated and AI / robotic assisted than the older & "smaller" ships, despite the larger quantities and sheer volume of pieces to be washed, dry, folded and sorted - that ship operations require fewer crew members working around the clock to run that department.  

 

Will see what's changed since we last the Escape 5 or 6 years ago, as we are going to be onboard soon again ... the Prima tour should be interesting as the design is likely different belong the pax decks, re-booked after cancelling her twice. 

 

  BTW, what's new with you lately 😉  sailing the Viva across this November, MSC ?? and/or busy at work. Regards. 

[BirdTravels]

12 hours ago, dexddd said:

And the free used to include bridge visit plus sometimes just a bridge tour if in a suite.

We have been on the Sky when the concierge arranged for a tour of the engine control room done by the Chief Engineer, tour of the galley done by the Executive Chef, and a tour of the bridge done by the Captain. The bridge tour was pretty cool because the Captain spent over an hour with us just chatting about topics people asked him about (career, favorite ports, plans). We were on the bridge at GSC as the ship secured from tendering, weighing the anchor and got underway back to Miami. The bridge officers all did their jobs while the Captain chatted with us. 

[dexddd]

11 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

We have been on the Sky when the concierge arranged for a tour of the engine control room done by the Chief Engineer, tour of the galley done by the Executive Chef, and a tour of the bridge done by the Captain. The bridge tour was pretty cool because the Captain spent over an hour with us just chatting about topics people asked him about (career, favorite ports, plans). We were on the bridge at GSC as the ship secured from tendering, weighing the anchor and got underway back to Miami. The bridge officers all did their jobs while the Captain chatted with us. 

That would definitely be a great experience.  Our special bridge tour was with Captain Benggston (sp).  He is a quiet guy but spent a solid hour with a couple families.  Talked about his career.  Definitely a great time had by all.

[Laszlo]

11 Years ago I did my second tour of the Gem. It was a small group of a dozen. At the end of the tour we found out we were going to the Bridge. I don't recall the name of the Captain but he spent an hour with us

 

 

 

[dexddd]

On 8/21/2023 at 10:30 AM, mking8288 said:

  BTW, what's new with you lately 😉  sailing the Viva across this November, MSC ?? and/or busy at work. Regards. 

Ahh you got me.  Booked MSC yesterday out of your fine town mid-October to the same lobster areas you went on recently IIRC.  Maybe you were on the Joy??

 

Think latest time we've ever booked.  Been on the ship twice already so third time should be a charm.

[azappraiser]

On 8/21/2023 at 4:26 AM, dexddd said:

And the free used to include bridge visit plus sometimes just a bridge tour if in a suite.

 

DW & I were in a mini-suite on the Gem in 2013, at the forward end of the companionway on deck 11; the door to the bridge was to our right when we stepped out of our cabin.

 

We had done several activities and an excursion with the folks staying in one of the Garden Villas.  We were able to tag along on their private bridge tour.  Then we went back to the Garden Villa for the rest of the day... unbelievably huge suite!

[eileeshb]

I did the paid tour a couple of times pre-covid, there were a couple of places with photography restrictions- the costumes in the theatre dressing rooms, and staff notice boards along I95. On both tours a ship’s photographer took a picture of each person on the tour in the Galley posing with some cooking equipment which was printed and mounted by the end of the tour. On those tours we did the backstage of the theatre, galley, food storage, butchers area, laundry and recycling.