All access tour-worth the cost?

[ctcruisergirl]

I was looking at booking the All access tour for our upcoming sailing in a few weeks on the Jewel..i was in sticker shock at the $150pp price....has anyone done this? Did you think it was worth it?

[jaredgold33]

We did the tour a couple years ago on the Allure....it was definitely worth it to us. We toured one of the main kitchens, laundry room, the bridge, the engine room, the aquatheater, the rooms where they store alcohol and other foods, the crew gym, crew windjammer, and crew coffee bar/store. It was a really interesting tour, something everyone should do once!

 

As for the price, the tour was only offered several times throughout the cruise and each tour there was approx. 15 people if I remember correctly. The high price is due to the small number of tour spots available. But I thought it was definitely worth the money. They also gave us nice souvenir bags with an apron and a "behind the scenes" lanyard.

 

I imagine that it is probably the same type of tour on the Jewel minus touring the aquatheater.

[leosmom08]

I was just wondering the same thing. Is there an age minimum? Our seven year old would LOVE to see the engine room and the bridge.

[jaredgold33]

I was just wondering the same thing. Is there an age minimum? Our seven year old would LOVE to see the engine room and the bridge.

 

I'm not sure what it was when I went, but I'm almost positive that the current age minimum is 6 y/o. I believe I saw that on my cruise planner page yesterday. I just went to check but can't access it because of RCI's tech issues:mad:

[LMaxwell]

For what it is worth you do NOT see the engine room; you see the engine control room . Big difference.

[jaredgold33]

For what it is worth you do NOT see the engine room; you see the engine control room . Big difference.

 

Very true, sorry I should have mentioned that. You can't go to engine room due to safety issues. Engine control room is still very interesting though and has a live video feed to the engine room if you're that interested.

[smallchange]

We were a group of four couples and the ladies surprised our husbands by booking this tour for them. They thoroughly enjoyed the three hour tour. The only thing that somewhat marred the tour was a lady who obviously did not pay attention to the caution that one must be fit enough to do a lot of walking and climbing stairs, etc. She complained quite a lot and finally disappeared from the tour before it ended.

[NorbertsNiece]

I had a super time on the tour on Freedom...... The page with pics in my blog is here.

[Tamie R]

I was looking at booking the All access tour for our upcoming sailing in a few weeks on the Jewel..i was in sticker shock at the $150pp price....has anyone done this? Did you think it was worth it?

 

 

DH and best friends husband just did this tour last week on The Oasis and LOVED it. It is spendy but DH loves that kind of stuff so it was worth the look on his face when he was telling me all about it.

[peteukmcr]

I arranged it as a surprise for my partners birthday on Adventure during the recent TA. Expensive, yes, worth it, yes. We visited behind the scenes at the theatre, the bridge, studio B, recycling, engine control room, galley, crew areas, food sanitisation, storage and preparation areas.

[Margy23]

We took the All Access tour on Enchantment last year and thoroughly enjoyed it. We spent over three hours exploring behind-the-scenes areas on the ship. The only items I have to add are seeing how they handle backdrops, etc., on moving stages; interesting sessions with the Personnel Manager, the Manager of Food Stores, and the Captain; and walking down I-95 in the crew area.

 

I would compare it to the back-stage tour at Disney World, but I think this was better!

 

Margy

[LadyShiva]

My DH loved it on the Allure for all of the above reasons listed! :)

 

Make sure to take good closed toe walking shoes in your suitcase if you're interested. I think you also have to have long pants (seem to remember Middle-Aged Diva being sent back to her room for pants--can anyone confirm for me?)

Edited May 13, 2014 by LadyShiva

[madelk]

Did it on Radiance at Christmas time and yes it was expensive but I loved it. There were only two small groups sent half an hour apart and it was only available on the last sea day. As someone else mentioned - you need to be physically ok - not super fit but certainly independent - those on walking sticks etc will struggle. The crew areas aren't carpeted either and even though I had my hiking shoes on I still found the kitchens and the crew corridors quite slippery.

If I were to get the opportunity to do it on another ship I'd happily pay the money again :) I'm of the understanding that the don't offer it all the time on all sailings.

[jules815]

After reading this thread and looking at the pictures, I think I'm going to book this for my husband and I on Freedom.

[karmacats]

Definitely worth it! We did it on Liberty and loved it so much we did it again on Allure. It was interesting to see the differences between the two ships, and although there was a lot of overlap on both tours (galley, bridge, engine control room, laundry, food storage/refrigerators, etc), we did see some different areas on each tour (on Liberty we saw the carpentry shop and sewing repair area, on Allure we got to go backstage at the main theater). Friends came with us on the Allure tour and said it was one of the highlights of their cruise. DH liked these tours so much he's already told me he wants to sign up for one on Quantum if it's offered. So, yeah, I guess we're fans of the tours, even if they are pricey.

 

A couple technicalities - you have to wear long pants and closed-toed shoes. You will get a security pat-down before going to the bridge and the engine control room. You can bring a camera and take pictures almost everywhere (they will tell you if there's something you can't take pix of), but no video.

[madelk]

You will get a security pat-down before going to the bridge and the engine control room. You can bring a camera and take pictures almost everywhere (they will tell you if there's something you can't take pix of), but no video.

 

I had forgotten about that! Security made us turn our cameras on to prove that they were cameras and not some other disguised device. It was the weirdest thing for them to try to explain and a couple of the older passengers just didn't understand what they wanted and cause the security personnel to fuss and the oldies to panic in the confusion. :eek:

[Cruisin' Again 86]

Where do you sign-up for the tours, can it be done prior to the cruise ??

[madelk]

Where do you sign-up for the tours' date=' can it be done prior to the cruise ??[/quote']

 

I booked mine about a month before the cruise. From memory it was listed in the cruise planner as one of the shore excursions.

[papcx]

There's a lot of talk about these tours on here at the moment (there's a couple of other threads on the go as well)

 

We'll defiantly be doing the Allure next year, if there's spaces! All you lot mean it's not as secret as it used to be! :)

[yolanda1]

We have been lucky to do a couple of them on 2 ships, but haven't paid the $150 fee. First time was part of a Wishes Auction prize we had bid for and won, and the other was complimentary when we were staying in a suite.

 

We really enjoyed both tours, especially the Bridge and the kitchens. It made us appreciate how hard everyone works behind the scenes.

 

Don't forget to take your camera with you for photos with the Captain and crew on the bridge etc. - and as others have said, you must wear closed toe shoes or you won't be able to go. Enjoy!

[S'moreParty]

Just wondering if I can go behind the scenes on all All Access type cruise like Royal Caribbean does?

 

Thanks!

 

Alley

[dancinman66]

I've done half of it and all I've spoken to who paid for it we're stoked and lived it thinking definite great value

 

 

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[HesterMofet]

Definitely worth the money and the time. But don't expect any "goodies" at the end. We got a champagne toast at the end, but no lanyards, bags or hats. This was on Freedom last October. We signed up for the offer that was $180 and with it you got two specialty restaurants.

[TXMary]

We are signed up to do this on Allure in a few weeks. Pants and "good closed toed shoes"...will jeans and tennis shoes work?

[Clarea]

We are signed up to do this on Allure in a few weeks. Pants and "good closed toed shoes"...will jeans and tennis shoes work?

Yes, that will be fine.