Cruise Ship Tour

[Jacks Nana]

Has anyone done the Ship Tour....if so, how much did it cost and was it worth it...I would love to go on the bridge and look out...Also, how do you go about booking something like that...thanks:)

[idahospud]

$150, sign up with passenger services desk as soon as you board. Tour is usually the morning of the last sea day. For me it was totally worth it. Received a goodie bag along with the tour itself.

[Host Jazzbeau]

We did the Ultimate Ship's Tour on Coral Princess. It was expensive ($150 pp) but totally worth it. Here are my notes from the tour:

 

Eight of us visited the Bridge [and met the Captain], the lines/ropes/anchor room, backstage at the theatre, the print shop, the photo lab, the Engineer's control room, the quartermaster and food storage area [huge refrigerators and freezers, now mostly empty after 10 days of non-stop eating] and the baking and food prep galleys with the Executive Chef, the medical center [surprising how well equipped they are, but no free samples of controlled substances…] and the laundry [wow! what an operation]. We walked back and forth across M1, which is the main crew corridor to access everything from stem to stern. It was really amazing to see behind the scenes! We were treated to chocolate dipped strawberries, freshly made candy, and fruit punch in the galley. We wound up the tour in the Wheelhouse museum where we were served hors d'oeuvres and Champagne [the good stuff]. Later that afternoon, our cabin steward knocked on the door and presented each of us with a Princess tote bag filled with five 8x10 group photos taken on the tour, a large picture frame, a personalized note pad, an apron, and the deluxe terry bath robe [note: the list price of all that stuff is more than the cost of the tour]. Almost as thrilling as catching loot at a Mardi Gras parade!

[peety3]

I concur with what Host Jazzbeau wrote - it is a lot of standing, some spaces will be more interesting than others, and you could freeze your tuckus off in the fridge. When we did it, we got to go up where the "smokestacks" are...not lots to see, but apparently many passengers requested it and they could legally add it, so they did. There could easily be an accent/language barrier in some spaces, so just be ready for that. The engine control room was particularly "Italianized" and hard to parse, but YMMV. The staff loves to show what they do.

 

Interpret at your discretion: the paperwork explicitly said we could not take pictures. However, the captain was willing to let us take pictures from the bridge, and had I known that, I would have been beyond willing to carry my camera for the duration of the tour (and surrendered the batteries to the guides, if they wished) to be able to take pictures from the bridge.

[jrzebird]

I concur with what Host Jazzbeau wrote - it is a lot of standing, some spaces will be more interesting than others, and you could freeze your tuckus off in the fridge. When we did it, we got to go up where the "smokestacks" are...not lots to see, but apparently many passengers requested it and they could legally add it, so they did. There could easily be an accent/language barrier in some spaces, so just be ready for that. The engine control room was particularly "Italianized" and hard to parse, but YMMV. The staff loves to show what they do.

 

Interpret at your discretion: the paperwork explicitly said we could not take pictures. However, the captain was willing to let us take pictures from the bridge, and had I known that, I would have been beyond willing to carry my camera for the duration of the tour (and surrendered the batteries to the guides, if they wished) to be able to take pictures from the bridge.

 

And I concur with Peety and Host Jazzbeau. The UST is one of the best things I've done. I did everything that Jazz did, but we also got to climb the stacks, and our snacks were on the Bridge with the Captain. We had amazing canapes, including some excellent caviar and alcoholic or non-alcoholic drinks. I was awed by almost everything, but particularly impressed with the laundry, medical center and engineers' control room. Oh, and the rope room.

 

I did this on the Caribbean Princess and would love to do it on my current fa vorite, the Regal Princess. However, I already have 2 robes from Princess and one from HAL. How many robes can I have! I wish they would offer this tour with the option of saving $50.00 and not getting the robe. Believe me, they are plush and wonderful, but I can't live long enough to wear them all!

 

Take the tour, you'll never be sorry.

 

Maureen

[GUT2407]

Has anyone done the Ship Tour....if so, how much did it cost and was it worth it...I would love to go on the bridge and look out...Also, how do you go about booking something like that...thanks:)

 

$150 last I knew.

 

Haven't met anyone who didn't love it.

 

 

And yep you get some goodies,

 

Cookbook

Photo with the Captain

Robe

Personalised note pad

 

I think there was something else too??:confused::confused:

[Host Jazzbeau]

We were driving home from the cruise. If we had been flying, those Robes might have put our luggage over the limit. :eek:

[ar1950]

We were driving home from the cruise. If we had been flying, those Robes might have put our luggage over the limit. :eek:

 

DW told me to go for it. She didn't particularly want to do it so only one robe. Good thing because we were flying. A ton of info that you would not normally get in any one place, so, ya, well worth the $150. Especially with the goodies that they give you being a bonus.

 

PS, if you do the tour be sure to question the ship's store master and the Executive chef about the butter vs butter blend issue.........opps, did I just get my post deleted??? :D

[Triship]

Thank you for the information on this. I am looking doing this when we are on Emerald latter this year. At least I know now where to book it.

[GUT2407]

We were driving home from the cruise. If we had been flying, those Robes might have put our luggage over the limit. :eek:

 

Hadn't thought if that, but we always drive so it's not an issue.