Behind the Scenes Tour Review -- Carnival Spirit

[capndinghy]

This review of the Behind the Scenes Tour was written this past September while on The Carnival Spirit Vancouver Hawaii Cruise on September 14th, 2011.

 

 

Behind The Scenes Tour on the Carnival Spirit En route To Hawaii

 

 

 

 

I a past life I was in the transportation industry, albeit an airline. I guess that is why I have such a curiosity about the behind the scenes detail of cruise ship operations . In my former life I was responsible for a crew of 15 and about 250 passengers, A cruise ship is of course many times larger in all aspects, except for altitude and the speed my jumbo jet provided.

 

 

Since these tours literally take one behind the scenes, the groups must be kept small out of necessity. The tour groups are limited to 16 people and can only be booked on a first come first serve basis once on board the ship. One can book one through the Tour Desk on board. This was the main reason I wanted to board as soon as possible. It is important to try and book your tour as soon as you board because they do fill up fast.

 

 

Everyone gathered at at 8:45 and were issued “passes” permitting us entrance to the inside non passenger areas of the ship. A Security man wanded us to make sure no one was hiding an Uzi and I did notice he discreetly followed us throughout the 3 hr tour. No cameras were allowed, which makes sense from a security standpoint. (Remember the Achilles Laura?) Our tour guide was the inboard director of Corporate Training for Carnival and was quite Knowledgeable. The tour was really interesting and great exercise. You see the crew does not have very many elevators so there was quite a bit of stair climbing up and down the various rabbit warrens unseen by us paying passengers.

 

 

Basically we were given a tour of each 'department by that's department head. I shall list the places visited before I forget them all;

 

1. Show Stage and back Stage
   
2. Galley which is really interesting. There are 4 of them. The kitchens are giant of course with various meals in various stages of preparation. The Meat Freezers and Beer Cooler was a big hit with everyone.
   
3. Crew dining areas
   
4. We did not see any of the crew living accommodations, since they were all full.
   
5. The laundry Thousands of sheets, towels, etc. The sheets last for about 60 washings then must be replaced. Carnival donates them to various Charities.
   
6. The crew lounge
   
7. The “Engine Room”. The main engine, generator control, ballast, and engineering area. And a nice briefing by the Chief Engineer.
   
8. The Bridge. My Favorite! The 2nd and 3rd Officer were on watch along with a Yeoman on the bridge. They very cordially answered everyone’s (sometimes stupid) questions. Then the Captain Roberto Poldi, gave us his guided tour . We all had our photos taken with him. (Part of that 95 bucks). I have been in the Captain and his operating crew's position as an airline pilot and understand the line between 'marketing' and operations. I want to thank him for being so cordial, he really is an interesting and engaging guy.
   
9. A visit to the upscale steak house and really good presentation by the Chef there. We were then presented with cool knapsacks, hats, lanyards, and other memorabilia of our tour along with Champagne. Guess who signed up for dinner at the Steakhouse?
   
10. I almost forgot -The environmental (read garbage) area. Carnival is quite proud (rightfully so) of how they handle all the trash generated.
    

 

 

 

After the 3 hour workout climbing the behind the scene stairways and passage ways we headed out to lunch in the Main Dining Room.

 

 

I would recommend this tour if you are curious about the 'inner' workings of these huge ships. One does need to be in good enough physical condition to climb stairs and walk during the 3 hour tour.

[megmno]

We did this tour on the Miracle last summer with our teenage kids. There's a certain "geek factor" to the tour but we found it very interesting. ("Geek factor" meaning that if Discovery Channel is one of your favorite television channels, you are probably a geek!)

 

You're lucky you got to see the engine room -- our tour could only see the engine control room and chat with the chief engineer. Some kind of safety issue...

[OnePsychLynne]

Love the review! I plan to do the BTF tour as a surprise for my husband when we cruise the Spirit in Alaska:) Thanks for all the great info!

[Frank12]

I thought the laundry room was fascinating!

[capndinghy]

Carnival is quite proud of its Eco-Friendly Trash System!

[beachbum83]

I was in the Coast Guard and so want to do this tour! (not sure the rest of my group will be up for the $95).

 

What time did you sign up? Any idea at what time it filled up?

[jimbo5544]

Nice post and review of the tour. Thanks!

[SadieN]

I was in the Coast Guard and so want to do this tour! (not sure the rest of my group will be up for the $95).

 

What time did you sign up? Any idea at what time it filled up?

 

 

Sign up at Guest Services or the Shore Excursion desk.

 

If you do the tour on a Fantasy class ship it is only $55 because there is less places to go but it is just as long. At least ours was.

[crusinpsychRN]

I thought the laundry room was fascinating!

 

I was surprised how small the laundry area is on Inspiration. The guide was really into the automatic folding towel machine for some reason.

The goodies in the room were fabulous!

No BR break though for 2 1/2 hours.

[bobbiejean]

We did this tour on the Glory in October. Loved it. Go to the shore excursion desk as soon as you board.

[Aplmac]

$95 and I can't take photos? =deal-breaker! :cool:

 

 

I took many pics behind-the-scenes on an RCI vessel

and it wasn't a problem for them

 

 

(although they did say no pics on the bridge..)

 

looking forward

 

 

looking aft

 

.

[LBumb]

sounds like fun.

[mindymp]

It is fun, although I don't think they allow anyone in the engine room, it's the engine CONTROL room.

[medley01]

Thank you for the quick review. I have been on a couple of Behind the Scenes and Bridge tours on previous cruises on the SS Norway and the Norwegian Sky and they were fascinating.

 

I am hoping to get a chance to participate in the tour on the Magic in October on the TA from Barcelona. Curious if anyone knows if there is an age restriction, my 4 year old would enjoy this and should be able to handle the 3 hour duration.

[marshhawk]

Thanks for the review, DH and I were discussing doing this on our next cruise. Our friends did it on the Legend, and they were so worn out when they were done, that they missed tea that day....For any one who has done the Fantasy class tour-was it three hours, lots of stairs, and what did you get? And to the OP thanks, do you think it was worth the 95$