Behind-The-Scenes Ship Tour benefit question

[greg2014]

I am Platinum and have questions about benefit "Behind-The-Scenes Ship Tour".

 

When I am travelling with somebody who is not Platinium, is it possible to attend this tour together with such a person or it is dedicated only for Platinium ?

 

The 2nd question is if this benefit working now in pandemic period ?

 

I am starting my cruise next week on Epic from Civittavecchia.

 

Thank you for any help in advance 🙂

[poohdreaming]

Before the pandemic, the behind the ship tour is only for those guests that are Platinum+. Only yourself can go on this tour. Cannot give it to someone else or have another non platinum guest come along with you. Once in awhile, you might heard of rules bended but it really supposed to be for Platinum+.

 

As for right now in this pandemic period - only for those guests that recently cruised can answer your question. To me, I do not see it happening. 

[Jenjohncourt]

17 minutes ago, greg2014 said:

I am Platinum and have questions about benefit "Behind-The-Scenes Ship Tour".

 

When I am travelling with somebody who is not Platinium, is it possible to attend this tour together with such a person or it is dedicated only for Platinium ?

 

The 2nd question is if this benefit working now in pandemic period ?

 

I am starting my cruise next week on Epic from Civittavecchia.

 

Thank you for any help in advance 🙂

They aren’t doing them now with the pandemic. 

[don't-use-real-name]

The simple answer is the tour if ONLY for the Platinum guest.

You can ask the Next Cruise people about a non-platinum

tag-a-long guest and the answer is usually "NO" -

"BUT" sometimes if the tour is not full  -  an exception may

be made - If you are in a Suite (Haven) see if your Concierge

can pull some strings,

Even if the non-platinum guest would pay the regular BST

to go on this tour this is NOT an alternative consideration.

 

So you can ask the Next Cruise people - expect a NO !   

[ChiefMateJRK]

29 minutes ago, don't-use-real-name said:

Even if the non-platinum guest would pay the regular BST

to go on this tour this is NOT an alternative consideration.

What is "BST?"

[Old & Retired]

Behind the Scenes Tour.

[don't-use-real-name]

9 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

What is "BST?"

B - Back (Behind)

S - Scenes

T - Tour

 

Complimentary to the Platinum - Platinum + and Ambassador guest only

A Reservation tour through the Next Cruise nominal charge around $90 per person.

 

Tour consists of the Laundry Room - Back Stage of Theatre - Main Galley -

and a walk down the crew deck 3 on most ships I95 

NO BRIDGE or Engine Room visits !

Edited September 10, 2021 by don't-use-real-name

[luckyinpa]

why wouldnt ncl have a paid tour. it's additional revenue. i loved my princess tour. 4 hours including control room. anchor room, and 1 hour on the bridge with the captain. it's fantastic. and tons of swag too

[phillygwm]

2 hours ago, greg2014 said:

I am Platinum and have questions about benefit "Behind-The-Scenes Ship Tour".

 

When I am travelling with somebody who is not Platinium, is it possible to attend this tour together with such a person or it is dedicated only for Platinium ?

 

The 2nd question is if this benefit working now in pandemic period ?

 

I am starting my cruise next week on Epic from Civittavecchia.

 

Thank you for any help in advance 🙂

I'm Platinum and travel solo in my cabin, but usually have friends with me.  I've always been told I could bring one guest.  The tours are capacity controlled because you're going through the laundry, backstage at the theatre, etc. so I suppose it depends on how many have signed up.

 

I was interested in knowing whether the tours were running because I do find them interesting and usually join.

[complawyer]

by the way,its a free tour so check it out if available. if not, you aint missing much. the best i can say is meh!

[Sand and Seas]

54 minutes ago, luckyinpa said:

why wouldnt ncl have a paid tour. it's additional revenue. i loved my princess tour. 4 hours including control room. anchor room, and 1 hour on the bridge with the captain. it's fantastic. and tons of swag too

I have seen NCL offer a paid tour, but can't recall if that has been on every ship.  We have enjoyed the free Platinum tours.  

 

 Please note that every time I've taken the tour it was required you have close toed shoes for safety.  

[The Traveling Man]

14 hours ago, luckyinpa said:

why wouldnt ncl have a paid tour. it's additional revenue. i loved my princess tour. 4 hours including control room. anchor room, and 1 hour on the bridge with the captain. it's fantastic. and tons of swag too

NCL currently has suspended the BTS tours in accordance with CDC guidelines to maintain social distancing between passengers and crew, i.e. they don't want any potentially contagious passengers anywhere near the restricted crew areas.  For the same reason, NCL also has suspended another Latitudes benefit, dinner with an officer.  Before the pandemic, though, the BTS tours offered at no charge to Platinum and above Latitude members were a somewhat trimmed down version of the tours offered for a fee through the Shorex department.  The free tours did not last as long and typically visited fewer areas of the ship.  For security reasons, the bridge, engine room, and other sensitive areas of the ship, however, have been off limits to most NCL group tours for about a decade.

[The Traveling Man]

14 hours ago, complawyer said:

by the way,its a free tour so check it out if available. if not, you aint missing much. the best i can say is meh!

The tour is interesting the first time around, or maybe the first time on a new class of ship.  After that it's pretty ho-hum.  The most interesting parts for me were the automated machines in the laundry.  It's amazing how they can wash, dry, and fold SO MUCH linen each day.  Another plus was a tour of the galley when we met Executive Chef Praveen.  We managed to hit it off with him and now each time we sail with him he always make a special effort to make sure we are well taken care of in the restaurants.  Probably the most memorable experience BTS, though, was on the Spirit when we visited the recycling area.  The Chief Environmental Officer, Eszter, was a real hoot!  A half dozen of us on the tour were so impressed with her vivacious personality that we invited her to join us for dinner the next night.  We were seated in the MDR at 6:00 PM.  Just after 9:30 we noticed that we were the only ones left in the whole room, but "live wire" Eszter was still going strong with stories about her native Hungary, and none of us wanted the evening to end.

[eileeshb]

I am curious as to whether the bridge viewing room on Epic is still in existence and accessible? 
I’ve only been on the Escape, Getaway and Breakaway which don’t have a viewing room. I did the pay-for behind the scenes tour on 2 of those ships and we saw the dressing rooms for the cirque shows and backstage for the main theatre before heading to the main galley, food storage, laundry, and waste management areas. One of the ship photographers popped up at the Galley and took a picture of each person posing with an oversized whisk. At the end of the tour we got the photo in a presentation mount with a map of the itinerary and a picture of the ship and captain,  no extra charge. 
Whenever covid restrictions end you might be better off asking the excursion desk if your friend pays for their Behind the scenes tour would they be willing to let you tag along instead of doing the complimentary latitudes tour. 

[ChiefMateJRK]

6 hours ago, The Traveling Man said:

We managed to hit it off with him and now each time we sail with him he always make a special effort to make sure we are well taken care of in the restaurants. 

How does that work?

[The Traveling Man]

2 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

How does that work?

I don't really remember exactly what we started talking about that got him to open up to us.  I just know that I asked him a question or two about his work, where he grew up, how he got interested in being a chef, etc.  Since then, whenever we are on a cruise with him, he always makes a point of checking our restaurant reservation schedule so he can come by our table in one of the specialty restaurants on the first or second day of the cruise.  He knows that I prefer no garlic, so sometimes he goes into the kitchen and personally prepares my meal.  He's just a really a great guy and we love cruising with him.

[The Traveling Man]

18 hours ago, eileeshb said:

I am curious as to whether the bridge viewing room on Epic is still in existence and accessible? 
 

The bridge viewing room still appears on the deck plans, but it's been a while since my last voyage on the Epic and I have forgotten how to access it.  As I recall, you would reach it by walking all the way forward in the starboard hallway on Deck 13, but the plans now seem to indicate that part of that hallway has restricted access.  We plan to be on the Epic next month, so I will check it out then and try to get back to you with an answer.

[eileeshb]

1 hour ago, The Traveling Man said:

The bridge viewing room still appears on the deck plans, but it's been a while since my last voyage on the Epic and I have forgotten how to access it.  As I recall, you would reach it by walking all the way forward in the starboard hallway on Deck 13, but the plans now seem to indicate that part of that hallway has restricted access.  We plan to be on the Epic next month, so I will check it out then and try to get back to you with an answer.

I’ll be on myself on October 13th so I’ll have a look around, but I suspect it’s no longer publicly accessible even though it’s still shown in the deck plan. 

[babba]

Just got off the Jade two weeks ago and the Ship Tour was not offered ... another blame on the pandemic ... It amazes me that the casino is open (said in a sarcastic voice 🙂) ... the officer dinner for platinum plus was not offered also ...