Ernie

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Princess Cruises Debuts New “Ultimate Ship Tour” with Launch of Ruby Princess

Rare Behind-the-Scenes Access Will Give Passengers Exclusive Insider’s View of Ship Operations

SANTA CLARITA, Calif. (September 2, 2008) – Most cruise ship passengers are aware that behind the scenes of their relaxing cruise vacation there’s a bustle of activity to deliver an excellent experience, but few have gotten an up-close look at these inner workings. This will change in November with the debut of Ruby Princess as Princess Cruises introduces an industry first, The Ultimate Ship Tour, an exclusive opportunity to experience an array of “back of house” areas that are key to a ship’s daily operations.

This pioneering concept will give passengers the unique opportunity to explore beyond the public areas with visits to the ship’s engine control room, medical center, print shop, laundry, photo lab, bridge and other spaces for a rare insider’s view of many areas typically seen only by the ship’s crew. Participants will also receive a variety of themed mementos at many of the stops along the route.

“This tour is really the ultimate opportunity for some of our passengers to get a very unique view of the new Ruby Princess, and meet some of the ship’s senior officers in their working environment,” said Jan Swartz, Princess senior vice president. “I’m sure people will be amazed at what goes into running a city at sea, particularly since our onboard staff makes it appear so easy.”

The Ultimate Ship Tour lasts approximately three hours, and will be offered once or twice per cruise on a sea day. Space is limited for the tour, which will be available for $150 per person, and can be reserved onboard at the Passenger Services Desk. Following its debut aboard Ruby Princess, the program will be introduced aboard all Princess ships.

The innovative tour will feature:

Back Stage Area – Passengers start the tour with a glimpse behind the glitz in the Princess Theater, home to Princess’ sparkling stage productions. They’ll meet the cast and production staff, who will show them all that goes into making sure the show goes on night after night – including costumes and dressing areas, scenery and technical operations such as lighting and sound.

Galley and Food Production Areas – In the galley, guests will meet the executive chef, learn about the process of providing thousands of passengers meals each day, and see the inner workings of the ship’s kitchen areas while enjoying a glass of French champagne, caviar and canapés. In addition, passengers will get a peek into some of Ruby Princess’ vast food storage and production areas, each specially equipped and temperature-controlled for a specific type of food. Each guest will also be presented with an official chef’s jacket.

Engine Control Room – At the center of the vessel’s mechanical and electrical systems, the engine control room is where the ship’s technical team monitors everything from the operation of the ship’s propellers to the water supply in each stateroom. Participants will meet the chief technical offer and his staff who will explain the numerous functions overseen by the control room, including the vast amount of power generated to operate Ruby Princess.

Print Shop – Passengers will see where their daily Princess Patter, among other things, is produced. The ship’s printer will meet the group and demonstrate the printing equipment and explain which materials passengers see each day are printed right onboard Ruby Princess. To mark their visit, each passenger will receive their own set of personalized stationery printed on board.

Photo Laboratory – Princess was the first cruise line to go completely digital, and each ship operates a full photo lab with the latest in digital printing equipment. The group will meet the Ruby Princess photo staff and learn how they manage the thousands of pictures taken and printed each day. Participants might even see their own smiling faces print out during their visit.

Medical Center – The ship’s doctor will meet the group to show them the state-of-the-art medical facilities, including treatment rooms, laboratory facilities, intensive care unit, and digital x-ray system. Participants will learn how the ship’s doctors and nurses – all full-time maritime medicine specialists – keep both passengers and crew healthy and handle medical emergencies. They’ll also learn about the most common reasons passengers visit the medical center.

Main Laundry – Ruby Princess’ onboard laundries operate 24 hours a day to wash tons of passenger and crew linens, towels, and clothing – including more than 20,000 towels a day alone. Here visitors will meet the laundry master and will see this impressive operation in action. Participants will also receive a luxurious bath robe usually reserved for suite passengers.

Funnel – The group will then travel to the upper most deck of the ship to join the staff captain for the opportunity to peek inside the ship’s funnel area high atop Ruby Princess, where they will be treated to spectacular views of the ship and the surrounding ocean.

Bridge – The tour concludes at the ship’s command center, where passengers will meet the captain and his bridge team and learn about the state-of-the-art navigational equipment and safety systems aboard Ruby Princess. Passengers will also take in the dramatic front-of-ship views from the bridge’s wraparound windows, while they enjoy special refreshments and pose with the captain at the ship’s wheel for a complimentary photo. The framed photo and a tour completion certificate signed by the captain will later be delivered to each participant’s stateroom.

Ruby Princess, a sister ship to Emerald Princess and Crown Princess, will debut on November 8. Ship features include a dramatic piazza-style atrium featuring small-bite eateries and an ever-changing array of performing street entertainers, Princess' signature adults-only retreat called The Sanctuary, an Italian restaurant, a seafood and steak house, and "Movies Under the Stars," a giant outdoor movie screen. The 113,000-ton vessel will feature an inaugural season of Western Caribbean cruises roundtrip from Fort Lauderdale, followed by a program of Mediterranean voyages in summer 2009.

No way i spent 150 dollar fore a tour a/b a ship CRAZY.....

But once again a Genius plan.

A few years ago when I sailed on NORWEGIAN SEA's cruise through Panama Canal, they offered two or three bridge tours on different days. And these were FREE! I don't believe bridge tours are not offered because of "security reasons" - its really the Captain and other PRs. I don't recall seeing flyers PRIDE OF AMERICA offering bridge tours, but I remember being up on the bridge a couple times when a small group of guests came up as we did our Napali Coast run.

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Originally posted by lasuvidaboy:
I have no problem with this money making scheme. The fares for most cruises are quite low until you start adding in the extras and the good thing about these extras is you don't pay for it unless you want to. It is a little like the old days for US built cars-the option lists were a mile long and many people gladly filled in every possible box. The next thing the buyer knew was their economical Chevy was priced closer to a Buick.

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My problem with it is that cruise lines used to offer galley and bridge tours for free, and it cost them nothing. For many cruisers it was a unique offering that helped make the experience special ... different from land based resorts. Yes it was a small piece of the overall experience, but once you keep chipping away at all the small details, what do you have left?

As I mentioned before, many cruise companies (including Princess) adopted the policy of no bridge visits fleet wide due to security concerns. It's amazing how those security concerns disappear when you hand over the $$$.

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Originally posted by Grant:
Call me a fool, but I would very happily shell out the $$$ to go the engine control room. The other areas hold little interest for me; perhaps the bridge, but then I've managed to get up there on many occasions. For another $50, can I get onto the engine room floor!?

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The engine control room is not that exciting. It's a relatively small enclosed room that has a lot of control panels that look similar to the bridge. There are also a lot of monitors that show areas of the engine room and the exhaust coming out of the funnel. Certainly not worth $150 to me. Now if the tour actually included the real engine room, then I would dish out the $150.

I have sailed on many cruises that offered bridge, galley, and back stage tours for no cost. I don't plan on paying for it now. I'm just glad I got to experience it all for free when I did.

Engine control rooms have been out of bounds to all for years for safety and security reasons and rightly so as you can overide every system on the ship inc the bridge.

Pax may love it but frankly I would rather see the crew doing what they should be doing.

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Originally posted by mike sa:
Stupid.

Engine control rooms have been out of bounds to all for years for safety and security reasons and rightly so as you can overide every system on the ship inc the bridge.

Pax may love it but frankly I would rather see the crew doing what they should be doing.

Grant - evidentally for an extra $50 you can't get on the engine room floor but you do get to sleep with the cruise director..............!

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Wel if the cruise Director is a handsome wel build tal guy annytime

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It really is a pity that the lines are starting to chip away at what was once an included feature.

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They have to get their profits somewhere, and I don't see how it can be from the fares. Back when I took my first real Caribbean cruise in 1983, I considered anything up to $100 per person per night to be an acceptable price for a basic cabin. $100 in 1983 is like $220 now, but today I seldom pay more than $60 per night for a much better cabin.

[ 09-03-2008: Message edited by: JP ]

Jokes aside I am keen for bridge visits - My last bridge visit was for free and was only for a certain few people doing longer sectors of the world voyage on Aurora.

I remember Princess always did free backstage tours. That was interesting on the last day of the crusie to give you a break from packing. I would not pay for that.

The engine control room would probably not interest me as I have seen them all in the Navy. Photo lab or printing rooms is another no.

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Originally posted by Sutho:
great idea - what next a princess escort service on each ship??

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Excellent idea! Think of all the rowdy teens? Most adolescent angst is pent up sexual desire. They can be getting 'it' in a safe controlled environment and when done too tired to cause trouble.

The unnattractive can have fun they can't get for free. Couples who want group sex can do so with no strings attached.

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Originally posted by Frosty 4:
I can see that in the future there will be no meals included with your cruise fare-pay as you go-can you imagine what they will charge!!F4

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Originally posted by dmwnc1:
[....]

Cruises are slowly, and will eventually become, the same way; pay as you go.

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Originally posted by jmfleser:
But $150!!!! That's rediculous. There's no overhead for this. They could charge a nominal fee and get a lot of folks. But then maybe they don't want a lot of folks, just a few who will pay an exorbitant price.... and I though NCL nickle and dimed their passengers. Very disappointing.

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It comes across cruiselines are loosing their shame by charging these ridiculious prices for services. Cunard charges over USD100 for a two hour bus transfer from Southampton to London v.v. Shore excursions are getting really expensive.
Island cruises charges for bridge visits. They even put a charge on your account for using your key/cruise charge card!