Behind the Fun Tour

[shark&minnow]

C'mon you guys! That hat alone is worth the money, AND who else has a picture with the Captain on the bridge?

 

The only way they could make it better would be to allow you to polish the ship's bell.

 

I have done Behind the Fun on every ship I have sailed. I loved the kitchen kibitzing, the laundry lecture, the salvage spiel, the bridge background, the theater tutelage, the crew cabin composition, crew cafe chalk talk, and the engine control room expatiation.

 

The laundry was SO interesting! Really, that machine that dries and folds the towels had me mesmerized! Also I have worked in many commercial kitchens so I loved seeing the kitchen behind the scenes. All in all it was very impressive.

[Kermit426]

What are the minimum age requirements, my 12 yr old would love it? Has anyone done this on Magic recently, and if so, what was the price? Thanks.

 

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[coevan]

yes and $95 pp

[Pellaz]

C'mon you guys! That hat alone is worth the money, AND who else has a picture with the Captain on the bridge?

 

I like the BtF lanyard too. I actually use one for my gov't. ID badge at work. The stuff-sack/backpack (on the $95 tour version) is also handy as a beach bag but tends to wear out fast.

 

The only way they could make it better would be to allow you to polish the ship's bell.

 

Oh, there are several ways it could be improved. Smaller tour-groups, a portable powered mic and speakers for presenters in loud areas, etc. Sometimes it's hard to understand them, whether due to background noise or their accents. More consistency would be nice; on most $95 tours we've gotten a group photo on the prow by the ship's bell; on the Vista it was a group photo with the brewmaster in the Red Frog Pub.

 

Still, I've done one on every Carnival cruise so far and each one has been worth it. I've learned at least something new every time.

 

I loved the kitchen kibitzing, the laundry lecture, the salvage spiel, the bridge background, the theater tutelage, the crew cabin composition, crew cafe chalk talk, and the engine control room expatiation.

 

You forgot the storage-room soliloquy, the training center talk, and the steakhouse sermon*. :D

 

 

 

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* on ships so equipped

[Cyber Kat]

ha, my wife was fascinated by the sheet drying/folding machine. I could see her mentally calculating if we have room for one. (We don't but I let her daydream a bit).

 

 

 

I thought it was cool too but not enough to get one.

 

 

 

OP we paid 95 each a year and a half ago on Conquest and thought it was well worth it.

 

 

 

LOL that machine was the highlight of my tour I found it fascinating, and yet all I could think of was Stephen King’s short story about the Mangle. I also tried to think how I could get one for home.

 

We also thought it was worth it.

[Cyber Kat]

it won't, we booked on the third day. They told us if they have enough people they will do a second tour

 

 

It depends on how many people know about the tour. We have done it 3 times once there were open spots a few days in and on one other we got the last spots on embarkation day at around noon.

 

 

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[JimAOk1945]

We enjoyed this tour on the Conquest. Fascinating and well worth the price in my opinion.

[cpshaye]

We did it on the Sunshine in September. $95pp. Well worth it. Loved seeing the inside and outs of everything, the Bridge, speaking with/pictures with the Captain, etc.

[originalgeek]

LOL that machine was the highlight of my tour I found it fascinating, and yet all I could think of was Stephen King’s short story about the Mangle. I also tried to think how I could get one for home.

 

We also thought it was worth it.

 

 

Lol, I'll have to look up Mangle - It sounds familiar but I don't think I've read it. Was there a movie called "The Mangler"?

 

I was thinking I was surprised by how fascinated I was with the dryer/folder but then I realized I'll sit and watch "How It's Made" all day long so I guess it's not that surprising.

[sarmat1]

We did it on the Splendor in August and took both kids (9 and 12). It was fascinating for all 4 of us. I will say that that the presentation in the engine room was very technical and long, so if you're not into that stuff, that might drag out a bit. But you really do get to see all of the behind the scenes. For reasons presumably unrelated to the tour (and most likely from breakfast) my daughter got nauseous on the bridge (which is where our tour started). So we can now joke that she is one of the few people who can say that she puked in the Captain's garbage can on the bridge . . . :)

 

The tour was well worth the money. I look at it as an experience you can't possibly have anywhere else. While it said that it could last up to 4 hours, ours lasted closer to 3 hours, so I don't know if we skipped anything for any reason. We ended in the steakhouse where we oddly were all given carved soap from the chef :confused:. At first, everybody thought it was white chocolate, which would certainly seem more appropriate, but no, it was soap. Go figure . . .

[coevan]

The engine room is not on the tour, we asked and they said it is restricted on all cruise ships. you might have seen the engineering room which controls the ship's operations. We thought this room was fascinating

[sarmat1]

The engine room is not on the tour, we asked and they said it is restricted on all cruise ships. you might have seen the engineering room which controls the ship's operations. We thought this room was fascinating

 

Correct - engineering.

[NHNEV2003]

We did it this past Friday on the Conquest.

$95.00/PP was well worth it--it's very interesting to see the areas you normally don't get to see.

There were two tours that day.

We booked at Shore Excursions as soon as we boarded--Group 10--we were the second ones to sign up.

[Lew Port]

We have done the tour twice. As others have said, be prepared to walk and climb stairs. It gives you appreciation of all the work that goes on Behind the Fun. I highly recommend the tour. My better half booked this on the Paradise about 15 minutes after we boarded.

[jc822]

ha, my wife was fascinated by the sheet drying/folding machine. I could see her mentally calculating if we have room for one. (We don't but I let her daydream a bit).

 

I thought it was cool too but not enough to get one.

 

OP we paid 95 each a year and a half ago on Conquest and thought it was well worth it.

 

I did the BtF tour last month on the Paradise and wanted the folding machine too! I was willing to give up parking in the garage and let the folding machine live there, until our tour guide told us it cost $450,000. :)

[originalgeek]

I did the BtF tour last month on the Paradise and wanted the folding machine too! I was willing to give up parking in the garage and let the folding machine live there, until our tour guide told us it cost $450,000. :)

lol, nope - my sheets will be a wet, crumpled mess before I spend that kind of money...

[Pellaz]

We did it on the Splendor in August and took both kids (9 and 12). It was fascinating for all 4 of us. I will say that that the presentation in the engine room was very technical and long, so if you're not into that stuff, that might drag out a bit.

 

That depends a lot on the presenter. Some presentations in Engineering Control are short, others long, and a lot depends on the questions the group asks.

On my very first BtF Tour, the presenter was Chief Engineer Testa himself, and we had great questions for him. We ended up lingering long enough that we were very late getting to the bridge and kept the Captain waiting.....oops. :)

 

I WILL say that if anyone has a chance to do the tour on the Vista (and presumably the Horizon), do it. The Engineering Control Room on that ship was just marvelous, with modern hi-def wall displays and a big display table they could use to show us live underwater images of the azipods, etc. Just amazing; it was like being on the bridge of a starship.

 

For reasons presumably unrelated to the tour (and most likely from breakfast) my daughter got nauseous on the bridge (which is where our tour started). So we can now joke that she is one of the few people who can say that she puked in the Captain's garbage can on the bridge . . . :)

"Waiter, check please!" :D

We ended in the steakhouse where we oddly were all given carved soap from the chef :confused:. At first, everybody thought it was white chocolate, which would certainly seem more appropriate, but no, it was soap. Go figure . . .

Meanwhile, the white chocolate carvings come from the laundry room supervisor, of course. :D

[Traveler1010]

Is there an age requirement for the behind the fun tours?

 

 

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[Cyber Kat]

Lol, I'll have to look up Mangle - It sounds familiar but I don't think I've read it. Was there a movie called "The Mangler"?

 

 

 

I was thinking I was surprised by how fascinated I was with the dryer/folder but then I realized I'll sit and watch "How It's Made" all day long so I guess it's not that surprising.

 

 

My husband loves that show!

 

You’re correct - the story was called The Mangler from a 1978 collection called Nightshift. There is a laundry machine called a mangle and I guess that was the connection I made. It was about a rogue laundry machine [emoji33]

 

 

 

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[originalgeek]

Is there an age requirement for the behind the fun tours?

 

 

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There is - I THINK the minimum is 8 but you should check carnival site to be sure. I never had to worry about it as we didn't start cruising until our youngest was in her 20s and our grandchildren were in their teens.