I have talked to many frequent cruisers who say the Behind the Scenes Tours are one of their highlights. Comparing the different ships and their facilities is as entertaining as the shows those same ships produce. Tours were suspended during covid and just recently reinstated so we took advantage of the opportunity while on our last cruise. It was the first tour offered on the Jade in three years.
You can purchase Behind The Scenes Tours while on board and the price can vary. They are offered by most cruise lines on most of the their ships so not unique to Norwegian, however we were offered this tour as a perk with our rewards program with NCL.
The tour was lead by the Cruise Next manager with a security officer accompanying him. We were given backstage access to the Theatre, a tour of the laundry facilities and a walk through the immense kitchen that serves both main dining rooms. At each location a member of the crew answered questions from our group. We were allowed to take pictures of these locations, just not of the crew’s private areas.
Sarah, the production manager started us off in the theatre. We learned that the production cast was on board for 6 month contracts. There were two couples also on board as guests for the same 6 month contract; the illusionists and the aerialists. Both couples had their own shows as well as participating in the main production show. Other entertainers were flown into and out of ports as booked. We were able to walk backstage and into the dressing rooms (no pictures allowed in there) where we met with the costume designer. She walked us through the process of designing and maintaining the elaborate costumes used in the production shows.
The most burning question was if they ever had to cancel a show due to turbulent weather, which Sarah informed us was very rare. They would more often just modify the staging such as lowering heels, and removing choreography that used stairs and rails.
From there we walked down a couple of decks to the Laundry Services. Here the crew wash, dry and fold the linens and other items used around the ship as well as look after the uniforms and personal clothes of the crew and the laundry requests from passengers. The laundry is staffed 24 hours to keep up with all of the demand. Most of the ironing and folding of the hotel service linens are done by machines but the crew still worked diligently on sorting and loading all of the dirty items.
With so much going on the question was how do they keep track of whose clothes belong where. Each item of clothing sent down by passengers is labeled with the room number. The labels are small and inserted inside the clothes. I had fun finding them long after the cruise was over.
Lastly we walked the length of the ship using the same passageway the crew uses only to reemerge in the Main Galley. An Executive Sous Chef took time to explain the different food prep areas as well as the coolers and fridges. There are different areas for preparing sauces, appetizers, main courses and even room service orders. The back wall contained photos of uniformed crew members of different positions so that crew can ensure they are properly dressed. There were also photos of the plating of different meals so that each one is consistent when served.
The chef did confirm when asked that all leftovers are discarded with nothing saved or reused. It was a reminder to discourage waste in all of the dining venues.
After a number of years of cruising it was nice to be able to peak behind the curtain so to speak to see the inner workings of a large ship such as the Jade. It makes me appreciate the amount of work that goes into ensuring that all passengers have a memorable experience.