All Access Ship Tour - Worth it?

[jeninchicago]

Thinking about the All-Access Ship Tour..... we'll be on Oasis on June 18.

 

A couple of questions...

 

• Does the ship offer any discounts if you purchase on the ship vs cruise planner?
  
• Is this a must do? We've never done it before.
  

Kids are 7 and 9 and totally curious about things, so trying to decide if this is something to add.... any input or reviews/feedback are appreciated!

 

 

Thank you!

[BillOh]

Saying yes! to get my reply in before the cliche, "only you can determine if its worth it." (coming back to edit)

 

 

I did this on Oasis and enjoyed it much, I think I spent all OBC on it, would I have felt it was as worth it, hand I spent money? Maybe a little less so. Royal has been modifying this tour and and it can be inconsistent from one guide to another (I got a lazy phoning it in guide) If you want to search through my post history and find my Oasis review from May of 2016 I posted a lot of pictures of the tour. I still remember fondly being on the bridge and the Engine Control room as my highlight. PS, if you wear a sweater or long sleeves in the theater or dining room, do so for this tour as well.

[DJLDRUMS]

I'd say it would depend on your C&A status. I'll guess and say you're possibly in one of the lower tiers of C&A status with young children. I know that with the upper tiers we'd receive notifications in our cabin about either free ship's tours or a discounted tour.

In my humble opinion I'd say it really is not a "must see" even with the curious in mind. A lot of the technical information might be a little overwhelming for them. We've done many tours on board and honestly I can say that we haven't seen many young people going along with their parents. While I can't say to do it or not to do it, I'd say it just might not be the best money you spent for your cruise vacation. Others may differ, but just one opinion.

[reallyitsmema]

Thinking about the All-Access Ship Tour..... we'll be on Oasis on June 18.

 

A couple of questions...

 

• Does the ship offer any discounts if you purchase on the ship vs cruise planner?
  
• Is this a must do? We've never done it before.
  

Kids are 7 and 9 and totally curious about things, so trying to decide if this is something to add.... any input or reviews/feedback are appreciated!

 

 

Thank you!

 

I have never seen that tour discounted, so if it is a must do for you, book via the cruise planner. I would also check to see the age restriction since I think your kids are under the required age. It is a long tour with lots of walking and standing, might be fun at first for the kids but tough after a few hours.

[setsail]

Book it and then come back and tell us about it and if it was worth it

[hgiles]

My wife and I just did this a couple of weeks ago on the Allure OTS. It was fantastic. I really enjoyed touring through the kitchen, "I-95", the bridge and the bowels of the ship. Completely worth doing once.

[Gloworm2]

I plan to do this on Oasis soon. Will wait and use OBC since there is no discount in advanced booking. Plus want to wait just in case the time conflicts with something even more interesting

 

 

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[Havingfun2010]

Well I did it. As far as is it worth it? I did it, my wife did not, so it was worth it. Meaning, are you doing this as a family? Does everyone really want to see this?

 

I was in a group, where the "wife" went on it with a younger kid. Both the wife and kid, had no interest. The kid complained. The wife acted disinterested, and in the crew bar, wondered when this will be done. So, long story short, 3 * $150.00 was $450.00. The "husband" could have just done it himself, and enjoyed it, while the kid could have been in the pool, and the "wife" could have been lounging. (She complained she had to get dress for the tour)

 

The tour is not a "fun" tour, but a tour of behind the scenes. It's great if you really want this, but don't do it, if you have no interest in how the laundry is washed, or how they bake so many pieces of bread, and the statistics of how many gallons of fuel the ship takes, what is the burn rate, and how the water filtration works.

[oatsxox]

and the statistics of how many gallons of fuel the ship takes, what is the burn rate, and how the water filtration works.

 

Well, I think I just found my husband's Christmas present....

[Gloworm2]

I find it interesting that RC charges more for the tour on Harmony than on other ships

 

 

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[Clarea]

I find it interesting that RC charges more for the tour on Harmony than on other ships

Some restaurants are also more expensive on Harmony than other ships.

[kalliekae]

My husband did this tour on the Oasis and thought it was great. He loved all the technical facts, but he did say that there were no small children on the tour. If I remember correctly, it's about 3 hours and there is a lot of walking and steps so little ones may get bored or tired. This might be something for the adults to do while the kids are busy with the kids club.

[DkswartzFamily]

We did it and loved it! Very informative!

 

 

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[2Long2NxtCrz]

We did it on Brilliance of the Seas and had a wonderful time. I feel like the staff was really happy to share their jobs with us and that they all loved what they did. It was definitely not a tour that small children would enjoy, though. There was a long discussion about all of the ecological policies they had and none of that would be interesting to a young child, though both husband and I loved it.

[jasper15]

Thinking about the All-Access Ship Tour..... we'll be on Oasis on June 18.

 

A couple of questions...

 

 

• Does the ship offer any discounts if you purchase on the ship vs cruise planner?
  
• Is this a must do? We've never done it before.
  

Kids are 7 and 9 and totally curious about things, so trying to decide if this is something to add.... any input or reviews/feedback are appreciated!

 

 

Thank you!

 

My husband and I did it on Anthem last year and it was absolutely fantastic. Money well spent! We paid full price but it was worth it. My friends all want to do it as they have seen the great photos I took from the Bridge. The captain came out and spoke to us and we were up on the bridge for a good 20 mins.

 

Can't recommend highly enough for people of all ages.

[hapster85]

I did it onboard the Anthem and, while it's not something I'd repeat often, thoroughly​ enjoyed it. If it were cheaper, I might consider doing it again, but at $150, it was a one-off for me.

[Margy23]

Well I did it. As far as is it worth it? I did it, my wife did not, so it was worth it. Meaning, are you doing this as a family? Does everyone really want to see this?

 

I was in a group, where the "wife" went on it with a younger kid. Both the wife and kid, had no interest. The kid complained. The wife acted disinterested, and in the crew bar, wondered when this will be done. So, long story short, 3 * $150.00 was $450.00. The "husband" could have just done it himself, and enjoyed it, while the kid could have been in the pool, and the "wife" could have been lounging. (She complained she had to get dress for the tour)

 

The tour is not a "fun" tour, but a tour of behind the scenes. It's great if you really want this, but don't do it, if you have no interest in how the laundry is washed, or how they bake so many pieces of bread, and the statistics of how many gallons of fuel the ship takes, what is the burn rate, and how the water filtration works.

 

I agree with your insights - my husband and I were both intrigued to learn the nuts and bolts of cruise ship professions and enjoyed the obvious pride many of the officers took in their work. We also liked the back-stage quality of some of the places we were able to visit and the challenges the officers face with multi-national crews.

 

Because of the price, we consider it a one-time event, and now we satisfy ourselves with the complimentary tours we are offered.

 

Margy

[GJustice]

Must do? No

Interesting if you're into that kind of thing? Definitely

Once you've done it, they'll all be pretty much the same, since the ships are "basically" the same, just varying sizes.

I did it on Liberty last year - saw the bridge, backstage theater, crew mess hall, galley (quick tour), fresh food storage rooms (huge), I95 crew quarters/service areas, power control room. I think that's all we saw. We were going to the laundry, but there was some maintenance or something going on and we had to bypass that.

Hope this helps.

[BillOh]

My husband and I did it on Anthem last year and it was absolutely fantastic. Money well spent! We paid full price but it was worth it. My friends all want to do it as they have seen the great photos I took from the Bridge. The captain came out and spoke to us and we were up on the bridge for a good 20 mins.

 

Can't recommend highly enough for people of all ages.

 

 

I did it on Oasis and thought about what a high tech marvel it is. Hard to believe Oasis is something like 8 years old now. I might do it on a newer ship just to see what has changed. This upcoming ICON class may be worth it as well from that standpoint. We are going with Oasis class virgins on Symphony in 2 years, maybe I'll do it again.

[UMDelt]

My wife and I went on the tour this past March on Empress. Despite going on many cruises throughout my life, I've never been on a ship bridge. (I'm a nautical nerd, so that's the only reason I signed up!) There was a rescue at sea earlier that day, so they cut out the bridge portion of the tour due to "security concerns." Okay, fine, I understand in today's world... but they didn't tell us until the tour was almost over, that the bridge would be off-limits. @#$#!!! Greatly tee'd me off, since they weren't up-front about it.

 

I'm sure this doesn't happen often, but definitely ask before the tour starts if you're going to see everything.

[dani negreanu]

I "splurged" the 150$ for DH to do this 3 hours tour on Allure, since he is a tech man. Figured might as well do it on the biggest ship (then) in the world. He thoroughly enjoyed all the technical aspects of this gigantic operation.

He doubts, though, if kids will appreciate the laundry and kitchen aspects, and the engine room is not shown, which, indeed, might held the interests of the young ones.

As a one-off, it was worth every cent :D

[johnjen]

Being a retired Navy communications type - and, highly interested in the technical aspects and the engineering side with surface warfare quals, I want to do it but have been procrastinating. I'd probably be holding the tour up though with my propulsion questions. I'm more apt in getting the details online better. But I want to go and do it eventually. Keep us informed and post pics when you get them, please. Is it worth the fee being charged? I'd say that it is. On my first cruise I managed to find my way into the engineering spaces thanks to one of the engineers I befriended on that first cruise. It was a very unofficial tour but we went into depth and detail and I was rewarded with a wealth of information. Good luck and have a great cruise.

[Hoopster95]

I "splurged" the 150$ for DH to do this 3 hours tour on Allure,

 

Those who have done the "$150 3 hour tour" which existed up to approx 1 year ago, this no longer exists.... it's less expensive and you see less. It is not the same as it used to be. Reports on cruise planners have been anywhere from $89 to $119, and it's only 2 hours skipping some major areas where you do not get to see anymore.

 

My HOTS tour was major disappointment compared to past tours. I feel that perhaps if you are not high in status (ie. lower than Diamond), and thus you've never had a Galley/Bridge tour before, then this in fact would be worth it for you to get your first idea.

[fridaythe13th]

We would love to do this IF it included the engine room. Now that would be interesting. We have done a galley and backstage tour which was very interesting but wouldn't pay to do that portion again.

[Gloworm2]

Sounds like it's best to wait until on the ship to inquire as to exactly which areas are included in the tour. Then make the decision to buy. I wish I had done it on Harmony. Will consider when on Oasis soon

 

 

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