Behind the Scenes Tour

[dmori]

Any info on booking a "Behind the Scenes" tour of our ship?! (Engine room, etc.) My 11yo so would LOVE this. Are these still offered? Can they be pre-booked or best booked day of embarkation? Any idea of cost associated or the day it would take place? Thanks! 

[Joe817]

15 minutes ago, dmori said:

Any info on booking a "Behind the Scenes" tour of our ship?! (Engine room, etc.) My 11yo so would LOVE this. Are these still offered? Can they be pre-booked or best booked day of embarkation? Any idea of cost associated or the day it would take place? Thanks! 

NO, Carnival stopped offering that when the Covid pandemic started. Has not started back up...yet.

[mz-s]

17 minutes ago, dmori said:

Any info on booking a "Behind the Scenes" tour of our ship?! (Engine room, etc.) My 11yo so would LOVE this. Are these still offered? Can they be pre-booked or best booked day of embarkation? Any idea of cost associated or the day it would take place? Thanks! 

 

Here's all the information about it. As Joe said has been put on indefinite hiatus for now...I did it on Ecstasy and enjoyed it.

 

https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1386/~/carnival’s-‘behind-the-fun-ultimate-tour

[nwcruiselover]

Definitely worth doing once they start offering it again.  It has to be booked onboard the ship, and to have the best chance of getting in, go to Shore Excursions as soon as you get on the ship to book it.

[CookieShip]

I don't believe you go into the engine room, but the engine control room that is just a bunch of computers. However, still a worthwhile tour, we got to on the bridge briefly the last time I went on the tour.

[Pellaz]

7 hours ago, CookieShip said:

I don't believe you go into the engine room, but the engine control room that is just a bunch of computers. However, still a worthwhile tour, we got to on the bridge briefly the last time I went on the tour.

 

No engine room  (and you wouldn't want to go there anyway), but you go to Engineering Control and it's a lot more than a bunch of computers.  😄  

 

I've done this tour on all of my Carnival cruises (pre-COVID) and I highly recommend it.  I've always learned something new each time.

Besides the locations mentioned on the website, you also visit the training center, and the steakhouse if the ship has one.  You go backstage to the main theater for presentations from a member of the performing cast and one of the tech crew,  and you may get to see inside a crew cabin if available, and also the crew bar.  We've generally seen the ship's brig and the morgue (just the outside).   

Each tour is different.  On two occasions we were taken up front to get a group photo by the ship's bell and spare anchor.  On one occasion we got to see the Captain's private dining room.  You will normally get a group photo with the Captain on the bridge and usually a single photo.  These photos are complimentary.  

 

If/when these tours return, I especially recommend the Vista-class ships.  Engineering Control on the Vista looked like a starship's bridge.  REALLY nifty!  

 

Edited March 14, 2022 by Pellaz
comma

[PhotoMike]

7 hours ago, Pellaz said:

 

If/when these tours return, I especially recommend the Vista-class ships.  Engineering Control on the Vista looked like a starship's bridge.  REALLY nifty!  

 

Agree about the Vista's engine control room. We were at Grand Cayman when I took this tour, and the officer in charge explained to us how the propulsion system automatically kept us in the same spot without the need for an anchor. Pretty cool technology! We had one of the show dancers lead our tour, and she gave me a chocolate coin that she swiped from one of her colleagues, and I still have it! (I put it in a plastic coin holder..haha)

[dmori]

Awesome, thanks everyone! We are cruising mid April on a Vista class ship (happy to hear about the control room on this class!). Fingers crossed that they may be offering it again at that time! Cheers 🙂

[hillbillycruisers]

We did this tour several years ago on the Ecstasy, and both my wife and I really enjoyed it. It was interesting to see a lot of the behind the scenes stuff, and too see and hear how things are done. Would definitely recommend this tour if they decide to bring it back.

[PhotoMike]

21 hours ago, dmori said:

Awesome, thanks everyone! We are cruising mid April on a Vista class ship (happy to hear about the control room on this class!). Fingers crossed that they may be offering it again at that time! Cheers 🙂

I second the recommendation to make a beeline to the Shore Excursion desk as soon as you get on, because chances are someone already got there before you..lol. The tour is called "Behind the Fun", if you ask for that, they will know exactly what it is you want. Oh, and they do a body cavity search to make sure you aren't smuggling your phone along while on it..lol!

[klfrodo]

I've taken the tour and would not do it again.

In my opinion, it takes away from the magic.

I really enjoy some sausage and gravy with biscuits in the morning. I just don't care to see how the sausage is made.

[LHP]

Question:

 

I know they stopped the Behind The Scenes Tour for many years ( like 10????) because of security issues.
 

I know it is currently on hold for Covid .

 

But when was it started back?  I hear people talking about doing it on the Breeze in 2018 and the Pride in 2019…

 

We did 8 cruises in 2018 ( including the Breeze) and 9 in 2019 ( including the Legend ) and never saw it offered ??? 

It is currently listed on the website on hold because of Covid … so that would imply it will return one day soon.

 

Anyone have any historical info on this ???  
 

I never saw any big release about its return. Was it all ships and all cruises???

 

Thanks 

[ShakyBeef]

We did the Behind The Fun tour last on Carnival Pride in 2016.  I didn't notice when it disappeared after that, since we haven't looked to book it since then.

[dolphinsfan246]

55 minutes ago, LHP said:

Question:

 

I know they stopped the Behind The Scenes Tour for many years ( like 10????) because of security issues.
 

I know it is currently on hold for Covid .

 

But when was it started back?  I hear people talking about doing it on the Breeze in 2018 and the Pride in 2019…

 

We did 8 cruises in 2018 ( including the Breeze) and 9 in 2019 ( including the Legend ) and never saw it offered ??? 

It is currently listed on the website on hold because of Covid … so that would imply it will return one day soon.

 

Anyone have any historical info on this ???  
 

I never saw any big release about its return. Was it all ships and all cruises???

 

Thanks 

I did the tour in 2013,2014, and 2019. If that helps your timeline. Would love to do it again and really wish they would bring it back! 

[LHP]

3 hours ago, dolphinsfan246 said:

I did the tour in 2013,2014, and 2019. If that helps your timeline. Would love to do it again and really wish they would bring it back! 

I notice your 2019 was in November on the Legend.

 

We were on the Legend for 2 weeks in December and it was not offered.

 

Our oldest son is a Submarine Nuclear Engineer and he would have definitely done it if it has been offered.

 

We did 8-10 a year during those time periods you mentioned and it was not offered on any of ours???

 

 

Edited September 8, 2022 by LHP

[chengkp75]

On 3/14/2022 at 1:59 PM, PhotoMike said:

We were at Grand Cayman when I took this tour, and the officer in charge explained to us how the propulsion system automatically kept us in the same spot without the need for an anchor. Pretty cool technology!

"Dynamic Stationing" (or keeping a vessel in one location without anchoring) has been around since the '70's, even before GPS made it much easier.  It is just that cruise lines have recently decided to upgrade their software to include stationkeeping.

[dolphinsfan246]

13 hours ago, LHP said:

I notice your 2019 was in November on the Legend.

 

We were on the Legend for 2 weeks in December and it was not offered.

 

Our oldest son is a Submarine Nuclear Engineer and he would have definitely done it if it has been offered.

 

We did 8-10 a year during those time periods you mentioned and it was not offered on any of ours???

 

 

That’s so weird! I wonder why it would be so inconsistent? I definitely did it on the Ecstasy in 2013 and Sunshine in 2014. And I have the pics to prove it 🤪 Really strange that it wasn’t offered on your Legend cruises either, I know we were the first or second cruise back to Tampa for Legend that year. I wonder if they cut it because Covid was starting to circulate the news in Dec 2019. 

[ProgRockCruiser]

17 hours ago, dolphinsfan246 said:

I did the tour in 2013,2014, and 2019. If that helps your timeline.

 

14 hours ago, LHP said:

I notice your 2019 was in November on the Legend.

 

We were on the Legend for 2 weeks in December and it was not offered.

 

58 minutes ago, dolphinsfan246 said:

That’s so weird! I wonder why it would be so inconsistent?

IIRC, the Captain, on advice from the Galley / Head Chef, or any other department involved, reserves the right to not offer it for any particular sailing.  Might depend on the length of the cruise too: not sure if they offer it on 3 and 4 day cruises.  Were you an a two-week cruise, like a re-positioning, or a B2B double header of two 7-day cruises?  Maybe they decided it was too problematic for a 14-day cruise in case "something went wrong".

 

Ah, just found this on the Carnival website (Aussie version, but assume same worldwide):

 

"On cruises 6 days or longer, a 3.5 hour tour offers ..."

"On 3, 4 or 5 day cruises, a shortened version of the tour may be offered, running approximately 2 hours."

 

There is nothing mentioned about not doing it for super-long cruises (like 10+ days).

[CarnivalShips480]

5 hours ago, dolphinsfan246 said:

That’s so weird! I wonder why it would be so inconsistent? I definitely did it on the Ecstasy in 2013 and Sunshine in 2014. And I have the pics to prove it 🤪 Really strange that it wasn’t offered on your Legend cruises either, I know we were the first or second cruise back to Tampa for Legend that year. I wonder if they cut it because Covid was starting to circulate the news in Dec 2019. 

They didn't cut it in Dec 2019, at least not everywhere. It was on Sunshine in February 2020

[tidecat]

I did it on the Sunshine in February 2017. I know it was offered on my September 2018 Splendor sailing, as well as Triumph and Victory in February 2019 and 2020.

[Pellaz]

As I mentioned earlier, I've done the BtF Tour on every sailing up to the COVID shutdown, generally one sailing per year from 2012 - 2019.  If there was a hold on the tours, I sure didn't notice it.  

 

Edited September 10, 2022 by Pellaz

[momoftwinboys09]

As of now, Carnival has paused all the Behind the Fun tours due to Covid.  This is from Carnival website:

 

CARNIVAL’S ‘BEHIND THE FUN' ULTIMATE TOUR

Please Note: Given our focus on returning to service and executing our health and safety protocols, we will not be able to offer this tour until further notice. Our goal is to ensure we can continue to deliver that exceptional value and experience we have always provided.