Holland America Line is again offering behind-the-scenes ship tours, providing an insider’s look at areas that are typically reserved for officers and crew.

These include the bridge, galley, engine control room, recycling center, main laundry and more, as well as meet the crew who make these areas run.

“We hear so often from guests who’d love to see the bridge or where our chefs prepare their meals. By bringing back this tour experience, we’re pulling back the curtain to these areas that are rarely visited,” said Carole Biencourt, Holland America Line’s vice president of onboard revenue.

“We’re giving guests a rare opportunity to see what makes our operation so unique. It’s a fascinating look at the inner workings of a cruise ship, and guests love meeting the crew members who work behind the scenes to create such a memorable experience,” added Biencourt.

The company said in a press release that the tours offer guests exclusive access to gain a deeper understanding of the systems and operations that enable the floating cities at sea to sail smoothly.

During the tour, several of the ship’s senior officers will meet with guests to offer expert insights. Guests who book the tour will receive a unique ship-specific lanyard, a souvenir photo collection and a commemorative certificate.

Tours will visit locations that showcase the breadth of operations on board, in addition to places such as the ship’s navigational bridge, galley and engine control room.

At each location, the tour will be met by a shipboard team member who will show the group around and give detailed information about the area and its contributions to the ship’s operation, the company added.

Guests could meet the captain or a bridge officer, chief or first engineer, environmental officer, provision master, executive chef, chief baker, entertainment cast member, bar manager and more.

Behind-the-scenes tours are available on select ships and are expected to be available fleetwide by the end of July. Behind-the-scenes tours are available for booking onboard at Guest Services and cost $179 per person, with an accessible option also available.

More than 140 people on a Royal Caribbean cruise suffered with the mystery illness, with passengers and crew experiencing vomiting, cramps and diarrhoea onboard Navigator of the Seas

A luxury cruise turned into a nightmare after a mystery illness impacted more than 140 people. A total of 134 passengers and seven crew members onboard the Royal Caribbean ship Navigator of the Seas reported grim symptoms including stomach cramps, diarrhoea and vomiting, according to the US-based Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

It is not clear what caused the outbreak on the cruise, which took passengers from Los Angeles in the US to Mexico and ended on July 11. The CDC said extra cleaning measures had been put in place by Royal Caribbean and those affected had been isolated.

“The health and safety of our guests, crew, and the communities we visit are our top priority,” a spokesperson for parent company Royal Caribbean Group told USA Today. “To maintain an environment that supports the highest levels of health and safety onboard our ships, we implement rigorous cleaning procedures, many of which far exceed public health guidelines.”

So far in 2025, 18 gastrointestinal illness outbreaks on cruise ships have reached a CDC threshold for public notification. There were 18 in the whole of 2024 and 14 in 2023.

Most cases are linked to norovirus, which can cause diarrhoea, vomiting, body aches including stomach pains, a headache and high temperature. It usually gets better in around two to three days.

This comes after an industry expert said small ship cruise lines may stop putting close-up images of polar bears in brochures because of new restrictions in Norway.

Akvile Marozaite, chief executive of UK-based global representative body Expedition Cruise Network, said limits on how close ships can get to the animals means the sector must change “how we communicate” with travellers.

Polar bears are a key draw for people embarking on sailings to Norwegian-ruled archipelago Svalbard, as they can be observed in their natural Arctic habit.

But concerns about interference from humans means the government has banned ships in the region from being closer than 500 metres from the animals.

Ms Marozaite said the sector is partly paying the price for “always talking about polar bears” in relation to Svalbard trips.

She told the PA news agency: “Of course they are something that people want to see, but expedition cruising to Svalbard is actually an incredible opportunity to experience a lot of other things about the destination.There is incredible human history, beautiful scenery, other species of wildlife.”

Ms Marozaite said cruise lines are continuing to show their guests polar bears, some by sailing closer to Greenland. The impact of Norway’s distance rule is “more to do with how we communicate”, she said.

“The communication around Arctic voyages is going to change. Companies hopefully will no longer be putting close-up images of polar bears on the brochure.

“That’s a good thing, because finally we will start talking about the destination the way it should be talked about.” But expedition leader and photographer Paul Goldstein criticised the new regulations.

He told The Independent’s travel podcast: “This is a classic example of what I term ‘conservation fascism’. I have led small ship charters in the region since 2004.

“Never once have I seen a single incident where tourists intimidate or affect the behaviour of polar bears.” He added that if a camera lens “the size of a Stinger missile” is required to see polar bears then most visitors will miss out.

Norway’s minister of climate and environment Andreas Bjelland Erikse previously said the rules are necessary as climate change is “leading to more difficult conditions for polar bears on Svalbard”.

He went on: “It is important for them to be able to search for food, hunt, rest and take care of their cubs without interference from humans.

“That is why we must keep a good distance.” The minimum distance will be reduced to 300 metres from July 1.

The Norwegian government said visitors to Svalbard have “a duty to retreat to a legal distance” if they encounter a polar bear that is too close. Ships are also banned from carrying more than 200 passengers in the region.