Are there ship tours on Oceania?

[Love.II.Cruise]

We just got back from a Princess cruise and had the pleasure of doing the Ultimate Ship Tour on a sea day. This cost was $150pp and was about 3.25 hrs long (it included a chef's jacket and robe and several pictures of our tour).

 

We saw the print shop, photo shop, where the anchors and lines are, medical facility (met the Dr.), walked around the whole galley (met the Executive Chef), got to walk into one of the walk-in fridges, learned there were 9 galleys (!) - of course smaller than the main, learned this ship didn't have a brig, saw the laundry area, visited the main theatre (met some of the dancers) and went back-stage, visited the engine control room and bridge (met the Captain). What a wonderful experience this was! We got to see a lot things in action! This tour really gives one an appreciation of what goes on behind the scenes and is very educational.

 

Our next cruise is a TA with Oceania and we'll have several sea days. Does Oceania do something like this? If so, how does it work? I know with Princess you have to sign up when you board and if they reach the max people allowed - they do a drawing for who goes.

[sitraveler]

Oceania does not do ship tours.

 

Various reasons given- Homeland security and such.

[Rickey 88]

On the Regatta, Insignia and Nautica, it is more a case of lack of adequate space to conduct tours. We've been on other ships and usually the tours involve trekking into small storage spaces, interfering with chef's preparations before meals and otherwise just getting in the way.

Because of the small "behind scenes spaces", Oceania has never offered tours and I hope never will. We have never spoken with anyone who felt that they were "missing" something.....

[Mura]

On our first Renaissance cruise (on the R2, now Regatta) we had such a tour but it was around 3pm on the day everyone boarded. We did go through the kitchens and such but nothing was happening yet so we didn't get in anyone's way. It WAS very interesting. (I would have thought that even at 3pm they would be prepping dinner but that doesn't fit in with my recollection.)

 

But even Renaissance stopped doing those tours, and after 9/11 Homeland Security always seemed to be given as the excuse.

 

Mura

[Shining Clem]

We were not missing anything on our T/A sailing of the Constellation (Celebrity) last May when the opportunity presented itself. Our first big cruise ship. We were very excited to be able to take first a tour of the bridge, then the engine control room. No pix were allowed, we were wanded for heavy metal, and accompanied by a very stern security guy (who I managed to get a smile out of by the engine room tour!). In addition to HS, I think they are very concerned about someone doing sabotage damage to the ship.

 

Then, late in the voyage they did a kitchen tour. Not many crew about, but some of the endless pots were still being washed, and ice cream being made.

 

We really were grateful for the opportunity and it added greatly to our enjoyment of the cruise. My grandfather was a Danish merchant seaman. He was an artist in metal, fixing engine parts mid-voyage, 100 yrs ago. He then worked in the Boston Navy Yard. I tried to take the tour through what his wide eyes would have thought of it - not understanding much of what I was seeing but having some appreciation of the changes from what his workplace would have been. And wishing I could resurrect him for an hour or two to join the tour.

 

Both of us really enjoyed the bridge tour - the views, the monitors with so many charts & information, the great descriptions. Looked like an early NASA control room or Star Trek set! Having taken a navigation course and had a small sailboat in younger days this tour was interesting too. Others asked interesting questions we didn't know we had!

 

I think Celebrity is now also charging for these tours, having expanded them beyond what we did in 3 separate tours. I think they are a great idea, because you gain a greater appreciation of the knowledge and equipment needed on the ship. I think the crew appreciates it too; gives them a break and a chance to show off a bit. :cool::D I think the Chef from Peru would have talked to us right through dinner, if we had let him! We got to tell him directly what we appreciated.

 

Can understand if Oceania isn't doing this due to space restrictions, but now knowing this, makes us even more grateful for the opportunity last May. YMMV

[Andromeda93]

On our Marina cruise in fall 2011 we asked the Concierge if there was a ship's tour available. It was our first ocean cruise and we thought it would be very interesting; we had a bridge 'tour' on a river cruise in 2009 and enjoyed seing the modern nav electronics etc. However, we also got the security speech as the reason O does not offer these tours.

[hondorner]

Oceania does do bridge tours for small groups of invited guests from time to time, nothing publicized, and depending very much on the willingness of the Captain. There is nothing generally available as an option.

 

We did have an extensive bridge tour of Norwegian Jewel on a New England cruise, but it was also by invitation to the Cruise Critic meet & greet folks, which the Captain attended and extended the bridge tour invitation. He let us know, however, that it was his perogative, that he enjoyed the bridge tours, and that most Captains do not. It was not offered as an option to others passengers.

 

I'm always fascinated by "how things work", and would pay dearly for a "behind the scenes" ship tour, but have never had the opportunity. However, that opportunity alone is not enough to get me to sail Princess or Celebrity...:)

[gerryl12]

We did a ship's tour on the NCL Pearl in September. The cost was $50, which I thought was quite reasonable. We went to the bridge, recycling department, stores, laundry, back stage theater, and the kitchen. It was quite extensive and I thought a great value, better than the $150 for Princess even though we didn't get a robe.

 

Too bad Oceana doesn't have tours.

[Shining Clem]

We did have an extensive bridge tour of Norwegian Jewel on a New England cruise, but it was also by invitation to the Cruise Critic meet & greet folks, which the Captain attended and extended the bridge tour invitation. He let us know, however, that it was his perogative, that he enjoyed the bridge tours, and that most Captains do not. It was not offered as an option to others passengers.

 

How do you know this? On the Constellation, it was offered to separate small groups of passengers and well done by junior officers. We thought frequent past passengers might have this privilege, that's why we were so grateful as first timers to have the opportunity. We had a generally positive experience on the Constellation (see review) and hope to have the same shortly on the Regatta.

 

I'm always fascinated by "how things work", and would pay dearly for a "behind the scenes" ship tour, .... that opportunity alone is not enough to get me to sail Princess or Celebrity.

 

Apples and oranges both have their merits. No, we would not chose a cruise line just for a behind the scenes tour either. We all have reasons we make certain choices and as long as it works for us, that's all that matters. Norwegian, Costa, Carnival, Cunard, Chrystal would not be our choices due to a combination of lax no smoking enforcement, some lack of seamanship and other on-board experiences. Other premium lines offer open bars, we don't want to pay for this. :D;)

[hondorner]

We did have an extensive bridge tour of Norwegian Jewel on a New England cruise, but it was also by invitation to the Cruise Critic meet & greet folks, which the Captain attended and extended the bridge tour invitation. He let us know, however, that it was his perogative, that he enjoyed the bridge tours, and that most Captains do not. It was not offered as an option to others passengers.

 

How do you know this?

I was on that cruise and it wasn't offered to anyone else...I don't know how else to answer this.

[Love.II.Cruise]

Thanks for all the replies! We are a little bummed Oceania doesn't do ship tours now that we've seen one. Despite small spaces, we don't see why this couldn't be offered but for smaller groups than our tour on another ship, which was 18 people on a ship of just under 2000 passengers. We were even fortunate to see the engine room and bridge on Paul Gauguin (about 326 passengers) when Regent ran it (and this was after 9/11).

 

We are not saying we'd miss anything on our cruise, but we'd sure enjoy it if they offered a ship tour for our upcoming cruise on the new Riviera during our TA. We just thought it would be a nice way to spend the morning on one of the sea days. Instead we'll just have to take every cooking class (which we are very looking forward to).

 

We understand this doesn't appeal to everyone, but we are the types of people that love to see the effort that goes into making our vacation fabulous.