Lectures about Ports of Call

[Mathguy42]

We are planning an eastern Mediterranean cruise for 2016. A big attraction is the Classical/ Historical sites we get to visit. I was just wondering if Celebrity offers an enrichment program on their Mediterranean cruises, for example historians or classical art experts who provide lectures about the next port of call? If anyone has any experience of this I'd appreciate hearing about your experiences, quality, level of exposure etc. Also usually, are those lectures scheduled for evenings, so that they don't clash with day excursions, as they do on some other lines? Thank you.

[cruise kitty]

Hi, we've always had great enrichment lectures, one of my favorites was Dr. Carl who did history lecture over the speakers as we went through the straits of Messina.

 

They also have had Smithsonian guest speakers, which are fantastic!

 

The lectures I've attended have been on sea days, but they replay the lectures on demand on your interactive TV in stateroom, so you can watch any time.

 

Keep in mind that these are not to be confused with the ship's "port shopping/excursion" sales pitches, where they try to push their excursions. I'd personally avoid those.

[mskaufman]

I have found that this varies very much on the lecturer. I have been on cruises where the lecturer simply pushed the ship's excursions. There have also been lecturers who while recommending the ship's excursions went into detail as to what the independent traveler should see and tips for getting around on your own. I don't remember what time of day these occurred but they were always rebroadcast on one of the ship's TV channels.

[Maligator]

Others' observations may vary, but what we experienced on Summit was more "where to shop" than "what to see." Millennium in Alaska was better, with Milos (the naturalist-in-residence) spending less time on souvenir shopping.

 

In the Med, I think it was the tour guides on the excursions that were really the most informative. Standing out were the guides in Naples/Pompeii and Ephesus, but in Rhodes, our guide was truly fantastic. Taking the Tour Guide Tiara, though, was in Mykonos/Delos, where our guide was an archaeology PhD who actually worked the site during his career.

[Azulann]

I agree with the lectures and the expert ship tour guides when in the Med.

One of the best lectures was on Greek Art.

these are not to be confused with talks about shopping in port of calls.;)

 

I wonder if Celebrity still hires lecturers from the Smithsonian?

Maybe the Celebrity Cruise poster can answer this question.:)

[judyzoo]

The Equinox had some excellent lectures about the ports during our Mediterranean cruise -- history, current sites; no shopping "tips" (unless one made the mistake of attending the wrong kind of talks). I don't recall exactly when the talks were given, but they didn't conflict with excursions on port days; and as was pointed out before, they also were shown on the in-cabin TVs.