Behind the scenes ship tour on Apex

[dreamboat43]

Please tell me about the behind-the-scene ship tour on Apex.  It is over $100 per person.  Is it worth it?  Do you really get to see interesting things on the tour?  

[LGW59]

2 minutes ago, dreamboat43 said:

Please tell me about the behind-the-scene ship tour on Apex.  It is over $100 per person.  Is it worth it?  Do you really get to see interesting things on the tour?  

I thought it was well worth it on Edge.  You will see the control room, some of the kitchens, laundry room, wine & food storage, the bridge

[garyl62]

I'll admit I can't tell you about this tour, but I will say I signed up for it for our upcoming March trip on the Apex because I've done it on both M and S class ships and I thought it was very good.  I'm looking forward to comparing the Edge class to those others.

 

[D. B.]

Worth doing Once.

How interesting depends on how good  the guide is and how much they Rush you (or Not)  and if they  take time to answer questions.

[Oceansaway17]

3 hours ago, dreamboat43 said:

Please tell me about the behind-the-scene ship tour on Apex.  It is over $100 per person.  Is it worth it?  Do you really get to see interesting things on the tour?  

yes worth it.  I have done a Quantum ship and Oasis ship on RCI.  Great fun to see how things work.

On the bridge an officer will come over to answer questions.  Like seeing the kitchens too

[Cap_D]

Travel agent vloggers EECC travel recorded a tour of Edge that is on YouTube.  It may spoil the tour, but shows a early era of behind the scenes that may not exist today.

 

The kitchen tour may be very quick considering they seem to be mostly opening institutional food, making casseroles, unwrapping bologna, and setting out leftovers for the day per recent reports and video.  Perhaps you will see that items are made from scratch. 

 

It would be interesting to hear what type of responses questions about the cutbacks receive considering they have millions of dollars of kitchen equipment that presumably is not used nearly as much as it should be or was designed poorly for a modern menu.

[SRQbeachgirl]

We are doing this tour on Reflection next week. Does anyone know if you have to wear close-toed shoes? I normally don't pack any on cruises but will need to be sure to take some if it's required.

[CaroleSS]

On 1/17/2023 at 9:04 PM, SRQbeachgirl said:

We are doing this tour on Reflection next week. Does anyone know if you have to wear close-toed shoes? I normally don't pack any on cruises but will need to be sure to take some if it's required.

I have this question as well......and, the notes for the tour specify that you must wear a mask. Is this still true?

[SRQbeachgirl]

3 hours ago, CaroleSS said:

I have this question as well......and, the notes for the tour specify that you must wear a mask. Is this still true?

 

Unfortunately we had to cancel at the last minute because my knee was not going to let me do a lot of walking. However, the information delivered to our room the night before we were scheduled for the tour did state that masks were required to be worn in all crew areas.

[time4u2go]

Do you get to see the actual engine room?

[Torfamm]

I thought it was well worth it.  It wasn’t rushed and there was plenty of opportunity to talk with officers and ask questions. I liked seeing the laundry, trash and recycling, galley and storage of food and drink as much as the engine control room and bridge.

[CaroleSS]

10 hours ago, SRQbeachgirl said:

 

Unfortunately we had to cancel at the last minute because my knee was not going to let me do a lot of walking. However, the information delivered to our room the night before we were scheduled for the tour did state that masks were required to be worn in all crew areas.

Did it mention closed toe shoes?

[D. B.]

16 hours ago, time4u2go said:

Do you get to see the actual engine room?

No just the Engine Control Room.

 Being a lifetime Gear Head I would Love to get inside a Cruise Ship Engine Room but even pre Covid the Noise Level and possible Hazards were just too much for the cruise lines Insurers to cover.

[Torfamm]

7 hours ago, CaroleSS said:

Did it mention closed toe shoes?

Closed toe shoes and long pants were both mentioned. 

[chrisjsch]

On 1/26/2023 at 9:33 PM, time4u2go said:

Do you get to see the actual engine 

Edited February 4, 2023 by chrisjsch

[soniam]

How do you sign up for this?

[thebutlerdidit]

10 hours ago, soniam said:

How do you sign up for this?

I signed up through the Cruise Planner. Onboard Activities may have it listed, or it may be listed under Excursions on Sea Days. 

[Crazy planning mom]

It is on the app under shore excursions under the Cruising tab.

[Gracie115]

Do these tours end with lunch in one of the specialty restaurants?  The only time we've done one of these was on Reflection back in 2016 and it ended with lunch at Murano's.

[Momperson3]

To person asking questions about close toed shoes.  While we didn’t do ship board tour on the Edge— a few years ago, we did one on Royal.  A person was sent back to put on close toe shoes & long pants.  More for safety & sanitary reasons.  

[MarKay525]

6 hours ago, Gracie115 said:

Do these tours end with lunch in one of the specialty restaurants?  The only time we've done one of these was on Reflection back in 2016 and it ended with lunch at Murano's.

Those are what are affectionately referred to as the good old days.

 

Lunch is not currently included.

[zestyzorra]

I just did this tour a few days ago. Long pants and close toed shoes were required but one woman (a suite guest, not sure if it mattered?) wore a dress and sandals while her husband wore shorts.  No one said anything to them.  Masks were not required.  The tour was very interesting and lasted about 2 hours. As to the accusation above about opening cans and institutional casseroles, that was harsh and untrue. I saw tons of fresh food and the kitchen staff making nearly everything themselves. In fact, the food on Apex was the best of any cruise I've ever had (and I ate in the MDRs/buffet and some specialty restaurants, no access to Blu or Luminae). All of the crew and officers were friendly and welcoming, and they were more than happy to answer questions. I never felt rushed. 

[Banjo]

Looking forward to doing it on my upcoming Edge Suez canal cruise in November. This cruise has a good number of sea days.

 

Talk about the good old days, about a decade ago I did one on the Emerald Princess. They gave you a bath robe. Really nice heavy one (the kind you get in Aqua and suites). Still have it and use it.

[zestyzorra]

On 2/5/2023 at 8:47 AM, Banjo said:

Looking forward to doing it on my upcoming Edge Suez canal cruise in November. This cruise has a good number of sea days.

 

Talk about the good old days, about a decade ago I did one on the Emerald Princess. They gave you a bath robe. Really nice heavy one (the kind you get in Aqua and suites). Still have it and use it.

They did give us a really nice lanyard and luggage tag, plus a rope to practice sailing knots and the French onion soup recipe from La Petite Chef 😅

[bpick518]

On 1/26/2023 at 5:24 PM, CaroleSS said:

I have this question as well......and, the notes for the tour specify that you must wear a mask. Is this still true?

CaroleSS, we did a Solstice tour in January and they did requires masks and security screening before going in the engine control room and the bridge. It was to protect the officers as if one of them gets sick, they don’t have that many skilled replacements:). They had extra masks for people that didn’t bring one. Very good tour, willing to answer any questions and actually went 30 minutes longer than planned!