Behind the Scenes
Backstage tours let you discover what it takes to make a cruise ship work.
Backstage tours let you discover what it takes to make a cruise ship work.
For cruisers fascinated by how ships function as small cities traveling across the oceans, behind-the-scenes tours can be a fascinating look into either the large scale of a mega ship (Royal Caribbean’s Harmony of the Seas, for example, goes through 60,000 eggs per week! Cunard’s Queen Mary
2 serves 11 tons of food per day!) or the feats that are accomplished with very little (Scenic Cruises’ Scenic Spirit serves four-course dinners for 68 passengers out of a galley the size of a small broom closet).
Here are a few of the most in-depth tours of large ships, which tend to be organized with the most extensive areas to show. Some grant you a broad look behind the scenes, and others focus just on the culinary operations, but whichever you choose, be sure to wear comfortable shoes — while you’ll never leave the ship, you’ll still cover a lot of ground.
Princess Cruises
Unlike some lines, Princess hasn’t removed the bridge from their “backstage” peek. They call theirs “The Ultimate Ship Tour.” It costs $ 150 per person and is offered once or twice per sailing fleet- wide on sea days. This tour includes the engine room, the funnel, the print and photo shops, the incinerator room, the galley ( where each passenger receives a chef’s jacket), and the theater, where cast and production staff members show off the dressing rooms and discuss lighting, sound, and scenery. The last site visited is the bridge, where visitors get to meet with the captain and learn about the navigational systems. Best of all, the tour includes a photo opp with the captain at the wheel and a framed photo signed by the captain himself.
Holland America Line
This sister line offers a similar hour- and- a- half tour for $ 150 per person, but just on the Vista-, Signature-, and Pinnacle- class ships and only for 15 passengers. The Holland America version often includes the engine room, the bridge (where you can sit in the captain’s chair), the theater and its backstage spaces (where you can chat with a couple of the onboard entertainers), the laundry rooms, the food storage areas, the galleys (where you are introduced to the executive chef), and the waste management areas. At the end, you’ll sip mimosas or champagne and munch on canapés in the lounge and leave with a gift bag full of treats, including an apron, a photo from the bridge part of the tour, a mug, and a book.
MSC Cruises
This mainstream line’s behind- the- scenes tour is approximately two- and- a- half hours, is limited to 40 guests, and costs a low $ 49.90 per person. The tour will take you literally backstage — to the theater’s dressing rooms and technical areas — plus to the laundry facilities, to the MSC Yacht Club (which is otherwise off- limits to guests who haven’t booked cabins in the space), to the storage areas, and to the galley of one of the ship’s many restaurants. The engine room and bridge are off limits, but the tour ends with a tasting on Deck 8 and a complimentary gift. (Insider tip: the gift is often an MSC apron.)
Royal Caribbean
Royal Caribbean offers an “All Access Tour” fleet-wide, though the cost ranges from $ 49 to $ 119 per person depending on the ship. Regardless of the vessel, the tour takes in interesting spaces from the bow to the stern. It includes the main galley as well as the provisioning and hot and cold storage areas, the laundry facilities, and the main crew corridor (known in the industry as I-95). This tour also offers access to the engine control room, and to the bridge with an explanation of the navigational tools.
Cunard Line
Cunard offers ship tours that take you behind the scenes of the food operations on board. On the Queen Mary 2, and across the fleet, you’ll pay $ 120 per person for the three- and- a- half- hour tour, and it’s only offered once per sailing. The tour, which is actually led by the executive chef himself, shows you where all 150 of the chefs who work on board prepare the meals and how everything from room service to afternoon tea service is prepared.
Oceania Cruises
On this line’s two purpose- built ships, the 1,250- guest Marina and Riviera, you can also book a special food- lovers tour for only $ 39 per person that lets you peek behind the curtain and see the galley of each of the ship’s restaurants, plus the bakery and the hot and cold provisioning areas. On this 90- minute tour, limited to just 16 people, you also get a Q& A session with one of the chefs and a glass of Champagne to sip during the experience. But if you want to book this in- depth experience, you have to choose your sailing wisely: They’re only offered on sailings of 14 days or longer with a sea day, and as of mid-June 2018 there will be only six more of those.