Naturalist??

[Coral]

I doubt that any department has that authority. The only restrictions I've seen are in the cities of Juneau and Ketchikan - we can't talk until clear of the main housing areas. College Fjord would be a good comparison to Tracy Arm and Endicott, and there are no restrictions there.

 

I was surprised also and that was the first I had heard of it (on my July cruise). Last year was the first that people had commented on it and I heard it from a few people who were on different cruise lines also last year.

[Chenega]

I was surprised also and that was the first I had heard of it (on my July cruise). Last year was the first that people had commented on it and I heard it from a few people who were on different cruise lines also last year.

 

That area is part of the Tongass National Forest which is under the supervision of the U.S. Forest Service. No Alaskan authority/state authority would have the right to make that decision.

 

Sometimes things are simply invented. On my first cruise as a naturalist, the captain had me announce to passengers that we had to turn around in Tracy Arm due to ice conditions. In reality, the assigned pilot had an early evening appointment in Juneau so we had to leave early. :cool:

[Yukon]

In a week long trip, I ended up offering two 40 minute presentations but always had to clear out of the room quickly when bingo was scheduled right after me.

 

To say the least, I was disillusioned at the line's committment to teaching passengers something about Alaska. There's a golden opportunity up here since there's so much to see and experience but many lines don't give it a priority.

 

Things are changing - give it another try. I'm back on RCI in September so don't know about them yet, but today Celebrity and Princess are very different from the "old RCI" in the degree of respect that naturalists and Desination Speakers get.

[Chenega]

Things are changing - give it another try. I'm back on RCI in September so don't know about them yet, but today Celebrity and Princess are very different from the "old RCI" in the degree of respect that naturalists and Desination Speakers get.

 

That's hopeful information since my last experience with RCI was extremely disappointing in terms of how little I was allowed to do.

[runner5]

If you are on the RCI in September, that must mean RCI does have naturalist, correct? That would mean RCI gave me wrong info. I hope we have a naturalist on our ship July 30.

[Yukon]

If you are on the RCI in September, that must mean RCI does have naturalist, correct? That would mean RCI gave me wrong info. I hope we have a naturalist on our ship July 30.

 

On the 14-day repositioning they have both a naturalist (don't know who) and a Destination Speaker (me).

[wolfie11]

That's hopeful information since my last experience with RCI was extremely disappointing in terms of how little I was allowed to do.

I was on Radiance in 2007 and was very disappointed with what I was allowed to do. I did two talks that were not very well publicized in a small room with a crappy powerpoint projector that made the colors weird. I never even met the cruise director. On the other hand, since no one knew who I was, I could pretty much act like a regular passenger and hang out with my friend (also a naturalist).

[Yukon]

I was on Radiance in 2007 and was very disappointed with what I was allowed to do. I did two talks that were not very well publicized in a small room with a crappy powerpoint projector that made the colors weird. I never even met the cruise director. On the other hand, since no one knew who I was, I could pretty much act like a regular passenger and hang out with my friend (also a naturalist).

 

Celebrity promoted me heavily last month, Princess right now barely acknowledge my existence but gives me the run of the ship including the bridge.

[Chenega]

Celebrity promoted me heavily last month, Princess right now barely acknowledge my existence but gives me the run of the ship including the bridge.

 

My wife and I got our best "treatment" even on our very first stint as naturalists on the Radisson (now Regent) Seven Seas Mariner. The cruise director and his staff made us feel a part of the crew from the start when we were introduced at the opening get-together. Had a talk every day and did lots of mingling with passengers. We were also encouraged to go on an excursion while in port and our expenses were covered.

 

Our first trip on the RCI Radiance was also great. We began narrating immediately upon departure from Vancouver and the Captain gave us an open invitation to visit the bridge and/or provide further narration or presentations on a daily basis.

 

The next three trips with RCI were nowhere near as good. By the last trip when I was told not to do a glacier narration, I figured it was time to quit.

 

Celebrity seems to take pride in their on-board lecturers. In fact, when I first started they requested a videotape of a short presentation. I guess the importance of an on-board naturalist still varies with each company.

[TiogaCruiser]

Hearing about how good the Naturalists can be is making me think I may want to try just ONE cruise on another line. I love HAL, but on our 2 trips, we had a Native Guide aboard for the week (and she was great) and none the second trip.

[Budget Queen]

That area is part of the Tongass National Forest which is under the supervision of the U.S. Forest Service. No Alaskan authority/state authority would have the right to make that decision.

 

Sometimes things are simply invented. On my first cruise as a naturalist, the captain had me announce to passengers that we had to turn around in Tracy Arm due to ice conditions. In reality, the assigned pilot had an early evening appointment in Juneau so we had to leave early. :cool:

 

This is the whole bottom line- these transits time out, and the ship capt.s talk a good "talk", which isn't always reality based. :)

[Tobintemp]

 

The next three trips with RCI were nowhere near as good. By the last trip when I was told not to do a glacier narration, I figured it was time to quit.

 

 

I can understand that in a way. I think the narration leading up to the glaicer is fine, but wished it ended once you are at the glacier so you can hear the glaciers calving. The speaker on the bridge that we had at Hubbard Glacier just went on and on, and it was so loud. Sometimes just the quiet is nice! The rangers we have had come on in Glacier Bay seem to have a nice balance of providing information and some peaceful viewing.

[Ontario Cruiser]

Another excellent naturalist is Milos Radakovich. The naturalists give presentations about the history of the areas you will be visiting and the features to be seen there. Some of their programs are about glaciers or volcanoes or whales, bears, otters, eagles, and other wildlife. or additional relevant topics such as what to look for in the night sky.

 

Their presentations are typically listed in the ship's schedule of daily activities.

 

On sea days they would set up a spotting scope and hang out on deck with us, answering our questions and pointing out wildlife that we might have missed otherwise.

 

Know that when a naturalist is the destination speaker, you get a totally different experience from ships where a shopping guide is called a "destination speaker" but whose emphasis is primarily merely trying to steer you to visit certain stores at the various ports of call.

Milos was awesome. He wandered around theship and spotted birds whales etc out to us and he spent lots of time in the Cosmos lounge.We were with him on the Millie (Celebrity)in early May and I believe he is there all this season.

Ontario Cruiser

[bmcc]

does cruiseline publish which naturalist is on board?

[Chenega]

I can understand that in a way. I think the narration leading up to the glaicer is fine, but wished it ended once you are at the glacier so you can hear the glaciers calving. The speaker on the bridge that we had at Hubbard Glacier just went on and on, and it was so loud. Sometimes just the quiet is nice! The rangers we have had come on in Glacier Bay seem to have a nice balance of providing information and some peaceful viewing.

 

Oh. once you get to the glacier, you let it do the talking. Love the sound of ice cracking and the hoped-for crash of what the natives call "white thunder".

[Coral]

[quote name='Yukon']Celebrity promoted me heavily last month, Princess right now barely acknowledge my existence but gives me the run of the ship including the bridge.[/QUOTE]

With Princess -- I think it depends on the Cruise Director. I had 2 weeks (B2B) on the same ship but with a different CD. First week, the naturalist and Libby Riddles were not heavily promoted at all. The following week, they both were (one week small note about Libby being on the ship, next week she had a huge photo and write up on the daily patter). I asked Libby why and she responded that different CDs promote things differently.