Does RCCL Do a "Behind the Scenes" Ship Tour?

[sailawaybellaluna]

I've been cruising Carnival a lot recently, and have done the ship tour. I was wondering if Royal has something similar?

 

Previously, on Carnival ships, you must book at Guest Services the moment you get on board, because it literally sells out in the first couple of hours.

 

I'd be interested to do a tour of our upcoming Vision of the Seas ship.

 

Does Royal offer something like this? If so, can you tell me how I would book it and the approximate cost?

 

Thank you!

[nomarfan5]

I heard recently that yes they do and it is $150 per person. I had asked where to book it but never got a response. Maybe someone here will know because I really want to do this on our next cruise.

[reedl]

They do, and it is too expensive (in my opinion). It was $150 per person.

 

I went on the one on the Liberty. Here are some pictures.

 

http://pblq.com/bts.html

 

Reed

[sailawaybellaluna]

Wow, $150 really is expensive!

 

Thank you for responding, and for the photos!

 

I guess at the end of the day, most ships are quite alike, as those pics look exactly like what I saw on my Carnival tour!

 

On Carnival the smaller ships are $55/person and the larger are $95/person. I thought that was a bit pricey!

[Surfguyxxx]

They do, and it is too expensive (in my opinion). It was $150 per person.

 

I went on the one on the Liberty. Here are some pictures.

 

http://pblq.com/bts.html

 

Reed

 

 

Great pictures! Thanks for my $150 tour.........:D

[royalcruz]

I saw it on my prebooking options on Vision for 150 pp. You can sign up online.

[slyster]

Just curious why it's so expensive. I went on a galley tour that included an all you can eat buffet and that cost around $20 or so per person. Just wondering what you get for $150.

[velvltanne]

The last few times I sailed I was offered a choice of Bridge, Kitchen or Theater behind the scenes tour for free. I think they may offer it to Diamond also, but not 100% sure.

[steveru621]

The last few times I sailed I was offered a choice of Bridge, Kitchen or Theater behind the scenes tour for free. I think they may offer it to Diamond also, but not 100% sure.

 

We were told via guest relations (from the LA) on the Explorer the tours (Entertainment-Galley) for Diamonds have been discontinued. Not sure why, or if this all of the ships since we never spoke to the LA directly. Interested to know from other Diamonds on other ships if this is the new normal?

[Clarea]

Just curious why it's so expensive. I went on a galley tour that included an all you can eat buffet and that cost around $20 or so per person. Just wondering what you get for $150.

The tour takes around 3 hours and includes many areas such as bridge, engine control room, crew mess, crew rec area, laundry, galley, etc.

[reedl]

Great pictures! Thanks for my $150 tour.........:D

 

You are welcome. I took pictures of pretty much every place we visited. I happen to love behind the scenes tours, and have done many of them at Disney. They are much less expensive, and you see many things also. The coolest one is the "Keys to the Kingdom" which is solely at the Magic Kingdom. You get to the where the parade floats are stored, the water storage area for Splash Mountain, the garbage sucker pipe and storage building, and beneath the Magic Kingdom which is called the "Utildor" for Utility Corridor. Plus you go on a few rides and they tell you the secrets about those rides.

 

OTOH, the RCCL backstage tour was interesting, but not in my mind worth the $150 per person for around 3 hours.

[ryano]

Just curious why it's so expensive. .

 

My guess is to keep the #s manageable. If it were much less than that, everyone would want to do it and that is impossible.

 

Just a guess though :) I may be completely off base

[rimmit]

Hard to believe these tours used to be free...

[Retired LEO]

We were told via guest relations (from the LA) on the Explorer the tours (Entertainment-Galley) for Diamonds have been discontinued. Not sure why, or if this all of the ships since we never spoke to the LA directly. Interested to know from other Diamonds on other ships if this is the new normal?

 

I haven't received any invites for any tours in awhile.

[FLSteve11]

I haven't received any invites for any tours in awhile.

 

We got all 3 invites (Bridge, Galley, Backstage) on our Allure cruise last week. So they're still doing them (for D+ at least)

[KevintheIrishDJ]

You are welcome. I took pictures of pretty much every place we visited. I happen to love behind the scenes tours, and have done many of them at Disney. They are much less expensive, and you see many things also. The coolest one is the "Keys to the Kingdom" which is solely at the Magic Kingdom. You get to the where the parade floats are stored, the water storage area for Splash Mountain, the garbage sucker pipe and storage building, and beneath the Magic Kingdom which is called the "Utildor" for Utility Corridor. Plus you go on a few rides and they tell you the secrets about those rides.

 

OTOH, the RCCL backstage tour was interesting, but not in my mind worth the $150 per person for around 3 hours.

 

Do they give you any gifts? On Princess you get gifts worth twice and the price.

 

Pax et bonum,

Kevin

[PatrickCruises123]

I did the tour on the Allure of the Seas and it was awesome and took over 4 hours. Definitely worth the $$. They took us through every part of that ship, from bow to stern.

[Clarea]

Do they give you any gifts? On Princess you get gifts worth twice and the price.

 

Pax et bonum,

Kevin

I remember people saying they got some sort of gift, but don't recall what it was.

[PatrickCruises123]

not that I recall

[Sharkb8]

We did the tour on Freedom a couple of years ago. We got lunch, champagne at the end, aprons, luggage tags and sisal bags. From what I understand, that was a good haul. I believe that we also got discounts on two of the specialty restaurants.

 

We were able to pre-order through excursions, but that's not current practice fleet-wide.

 

 

Just curious why it's so expensive. I went on a galley tour that included an all you can eat buffet and that cost around $20 or so per person. Just wondering what you get for $150.

[Ourusualbeach]

We did the tour on Freedom a couple of years ago. We got lunch, champagne at the end, aprons, luggage tags and sisal bags. From what I understand, that was a good haul. I believe that we also got discounts on two of the specialty restaurants.

 

We were able to pre-order through excursions, but that's not current practice fleet-wide.

 

We received he same gifts a couple years ago on the Monarch.

[majarosh]

Funny you should ask...just hung up from RC (20 minutes wait to get through)..Asked just that question...Enchantment price $ 150...."for a 3 hour tour"

[chengkp75]

As for the cost, it could be broken down as follows, not necessarily in order of importance:

 

1. As a means to control admission numbers, as already mentioned

2. As compensation to the company for taking time from the department heads (Captain, Chief Engineer, Executive Chef) busy days to speak at the tour (note that I said the company, not the officers who get compensation!)

3. As compensation to the company for taking time from the Guest Services person (or whoever leads the tour).

4. Liability insurance for taking guests into crew areas

5. Sheer profit. As long as the tours sell out within hours at this price, why fool with the price?:p Except to make it go up:eek:

[negc]

We got all 3 invites (Bridge, Galley, Backstage) on our Allure cruise last week. So they're still doing them (for D+ at least)

 

They were also offered on the Liberty in January and the Freedom last month, so the claim that the Galley Tour has been discontinued, if true, is apparently limited to Explorer. They are less extensive and don't include all the areas that the "All Access Tour" offers but frankly, I don't think that the additional offerings are worth the price. :)

[yolanda1]

They sometimes offer these tours to Suite guests, and it is also possible to bid for them in the Wishes Auction. I'm not sure if you can book and pay them though.