Pride Tours? (Bridge, engine room, crew galley, etc.)

[DaveCroozer]

Sailing with my kids, they have never been on a ship before and about 30 since I was... so really hoping we can get a tour.

 

Does Pride offer these, and we sign up on board? Any tips or advice for us?

 

TIA

 

Dave

[dulcimergirl]

The Behind the Fun tour is just what you want. I do it on every cruise. Well worth the money. You get to see the Bridge, Engine control room, laundry, food and liquor lockers, behind the stage, chat with the stage manager. A visit to the crew dining room. You also get to see the galley, and have a chat with the head Chef. It is a long tour. I'm pretty sure there is an age limit though. You have to also wear closed toe shoes.. no camera's or phones allowed. Book it on board.

[Beeslilmama]

I have never heard of this tour before. When should I book it and is there an extra charge for it?

[chengkp75]

I have never heard of this tour before. When should I book it and is there an extra charge for it?

 

The charge varies with the class of ship. You need to sign up for it first thing upon boarding. They don't do it in advance. Limited spaces, so if it is important, get to guest services as quickly as possible.

[nwcruiselover]

In case you want a ballpark price, I paid $95.00 on one of the larger ships. It's less for smaller ships, but I don't know the exact price. It's well worth the money. If you want to be assured of a spot, sign up the first day as soon as you get on the ship. They take small groups and availability is very limited.

[SadieN]

How old are the kids? There's an age minimum. I'm

[cefm]

It was about $40 on the Fantasy (and you get a hat and a lanyard, and a special gift from the galley) the lager the ship the larger the cost and the more items you get.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Beeslilmama]

Anyone know the price for the Pride?

[fireofficer5]

Back in the 90's, the bridge and galley tour were complimentary.

 

Engine room tour, now I'd like to do that one.

 

See how many people fall down the stairs and pass out from the heat, also help shovel coal into the fire box.

Edited December 8, 2015 by fireofficer5

[cruisernh]

Thanks to original poster I was going to do a search on this exact thing. So Pride does offer this? Anyone know the cost?

[chengkp75]

Back in the 90's, the bridge and galley tour were complimentary.

 

Engine room tour, now I'd like to do that one.

 

See how many people fall down the stairs and pass out from the heat, also help shovel coal into the fire box.

 

While I have heard that a couple of CC members were actually taken into the engine room for a tour, this is extremely rare, and unusual. Generally, it only takes in the Engine Control Room, for liability reasons. Further, the engine spaces are "Restricted Areas" as per the ship's Security Plan (per the ISPS code), and these areas are off limits to most of the crew as well, with only the engine gang allowed access. Fire teams have to have master key cards to access a fire in the engine spaces, since most of them are not engineers.

[cjankowski]

Hi - Just off the Pride and I did the Behind the Fun tour. You need to sign up once on board with at the excursion desk. It was $95. We visited many places and received 2 photos & some treats in our room. I was a wonderful tour and the human resources lady is so funny :)

[nybumpkin]

While I have heard that a couple of CC members were actually taken into the engine room for a tour, this is extremely rare, and unusual. Generally, it only takes in the Engine Control Room, for liability reasons. Further, the engine spaces are "Restricted Areas" as per the ship's Security Plan (per the ISPS code), and these areas are off limits to most of the crew as well, with only the engine gang allowed access. Fire teams have to have master key cards to access a fire in the engine spaces, since most of them are not engineers.

When we did the Behind the Fun tour in 2010 we really liked the engine control room. You get to see much more than how the engines are operating - you see schematics of the ship and instruments showing the functioning of all the various systems, including electrical operations, temperature, firefighting equipment, environmental operations, etc. The Chief Engineer met us there and was very willing to answer questions about operations.

 

This tour isn't cheap, but for us it was well worth it. While the bridge and engine control rooms are the highlights of the tour, being able to see areas like backstage, the galley (both passenger and crew), laundry and the forward bow area really was fun. It's a lot of walking (and a lot of stairs), though.

 

BTW, chengkp75, oldest son is stateside right now, taking a navigation course. A KP deckie grad is his instructor.:D

Edited December 9, 2015 by nybumpkin

[bakersdozen12]

I'm pretty sure there is an age limit though.

 

 

There isn't an age limit, but there is an age minimum. Kids have to be at least 8, and anyone under 18 needs to have an adult present.

 

We did the tour on the Dream, and it was worth the money. I don't think I would do it on every cruise, but once is a great experience. My favorite parts were the galley (it's impressive how incredible clean they keep it) and the engine control room (kept thinking the whole time that I got into the wrong line of work). I definitely recommend the tour, and your kids will love it. Be careful, though. At least one will come home wanting to work on a cruise ship! [emoji6]

Edited December 9, 2015 by bakersdozen12

[vwrestler171]

Also you have to have closed toe/closed heel shoes too. Lots of stairs and walking.

[nwcruiselover]

Also lots of standing. It's about a 3 hour tour, and most of the areas don't have anywhere to sit, so people should be able to stand for most of the tour. They have a break about halfway through in the staff lounge, and at the end in the steakhouse. That's the way it was on the Spirit when I did the tour.

[chengkp75]

It's a lot of walking (and a lot of stairs), though.

 

BTW, chengkp75, oldest son is stateside right now, taking a navigation course. A KP deckie grad is his instructor.:D

 

That's why you don't see a lot of overweight crew. :D

 

I'm at our union school on Maryland's Eastern Shore, taking required STCW courses (after 40 years at sea, still new requirements all the time), and this week the "Gray Funnel Line" has taken over. They are all taking a "Engine Duty Officer" course. I see LCDR's and CDR's as well as junior officers, so this just tells me that engineering in the Navy is still just a duty billet required for promotion, rather than a career path.