The Planned Shatner Scene

It turns out that Star Trek writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman wrote a rather clever scene that would have allowed for an appearance from William Shatner. It sounds like it would have been a great scene but since Shatner doesn't "do cameos"; well it’s no surprise why it didn't happen.

Alex Kurtzman: We had a scene with Shatner, and that ended up going.
Roberto Orci: Right, we had a scene with Shatner.
Orci: We wrote it, it was in the script.
Kurtzman: The very last scene when Spock and Spock meet each other, finally. And elder Spock is convincing young Spock that he couldn't interfere, because it would have diverted [Kirk and Spock] away from their friendship. And that their friendship is the key to the whole sort of shebang.
Orci: He gave him a recorded message from Kirk.
Kurtzman: He [elder Spock] said, "Don't take my word for it." And he handed him [younger Spock] a little holographic device and it projected Shatner. It was basically a Happy Birthday wish knowing that Spock was going to go off to Romulus, and Kirk would probably be dead by the time...
Orci: It turned into a voiceover, at the end of the movie.
Kurtzman: So It was a nod too, but it ultimately felt like a cameo, in a way that wasn't.
Orci: I still liked it [Laughs].