Wildlife Lectures on NCL Star

[JerseyMom]

As I understand it, NCL does not have naturalists on board as do other lines (such as Princess) but they do have lectures on wildlife, glaciers, etc. Does anyone know how knowledgeable the lecturers are? Are the lecturers just staff members with "canned" speeches or someone with some background in the field? If you ask questions will you get a knowledgeable answer or the lecturer's best guess?

 

Thanks!

[bluedevil72]

If there were lecturers on board the Star I missed that announcement or didn't see it printed in the Freestyle Daily. They did have two park rangers come on board when we were cruising Glacier Bay.

[JerseyMom]

If there were lecturers on board the Star I missed that announcement or didn't see it printed in the Freestyle Daily. They did have two park rangers come on board when we were cruising Glacier Bay.

 

The lectures I saw were based on 2004 Freestyle Dailies - I hope this doesn't mean that they have been discontinued. :(

 

At least as of 2004 they had lectures on the wildlife of Alaska, native American culture in Alaska, and the glaciers.

[lucy2222]

We sailed on the last Alaskan cruise this past season on the Star and their were no lecturers at all. Except for the 2 that come on the ship during Glacier bay.

[JerseyMom]

We sailed on the last Alaskan cruise this past season on the Star and their were no lecturers at all. Except for the 2 that come on the ship during Glacier bay.

 

Oh, crud! I guess they have discontinued the lectures (unless it was just a one time thing for that particular cruise). Oh well, I guess I will just have to actually take the time to read up on all of that myself. Next time I will definitely book with a cruise line that has naturalists on board.

[Budget Queen]

There was a lecturer on my Star sailing 5-05, extremely poor- "know it all" speaker who didn't know squat about Alaska and gave plenty of wrong information- such as stating all the grey whales that would be seen. Actually had never been to Alaska. Did not know Alaska sailing areas. The one time I saw her out on deck, she claimed she "may" had seen orcas and had everyone scrambling when they clearly were a brief sighting of Dall's porpoises, that I had seen several minutes prior and were long gone.

 

So, yes my critical report on someone who should have known more than me. My opinion only.

[brunolvr]

As I understand it, NCL does not have naturalists on board as do other lines (such as Princess) but they do have lectures on wildlife, glaciers, etc. Does anyone know how knowledgeable the lecturers are? Are the lecturers just staff members with "canned" speeches or someone with some background in the field? If you ask questions will you get a knowledgeable answer or the lecturer's best guess?

 

Thanks!

JerseyMom, on our 6/5/2005 cruise on the NCL Star, there were 3 different "Destination Lectures" (and slide show) given by a John Loyd. They included "Guide to the Glaciers", "Gold Rush through Alaska", and "Mysterious World of Whales". They were interesting and well attended by passengers.

[JerseyMom]

Thanks, Budget Queen and Brunolvr! At least I now know I wasn't halucinating. Maybe we will get lucky and 1. actually have the lectures and 2. get someone who is knowledgeable.