Beyond the Podium - Solstice Cruises from Sydney

[magpies66]

I have read so much on these boards about the naturalist/Beyond the Podium talks during the Alaskan season aboard Solstice. Especially how good the speakers are.

Do they have the same sort of sessions for the South Pacific cruises departing Sydney?

 

 

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[Northern Aurora]

In 2014 we did a twelve night South Pacific cruise out of Sydney on the now departed Celebrity Century. That cruise had two Beyond the Podium speakers with one emphasizing natural history and the other on the history of the region.

[magpies66]

In 2014 we did a twelve night South Pacific cruise out of Sydney on the now departed Celebrity Century. That cruise had two Beyond the Podium speakers with one emphasizing natural history and the other on the history of the region.

 

 

Thank you. Were they any good?

 

 

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[chemmo]

Yes...We did the 12 night SP cruise and there were talks. We did go to one one of them (I think it was about How the islands were formed but I may be mixing up two cruises).

 

We also enjoyed a couple of culinary demonstrations as well including how to cook the perfect steak. There were also some more commercial presentations.

 

The difference I think you will find is there will be no live talks. For example, in Alaska when in a Ffiord area we have experienced the expert talking us through what we can see...in the South Pacific the talks were on the sea days.

 

Have a great cruise!

[magpies66]

Yes...We did the 12 night SP cruise and there were talks. We did go to one one of them (I think it was about How the islands were formed but I may be mixing up two cruises).

 

 

 

We also enjoyed a couple of culinary demonstrations as well including how to cook the perfect steak. There were also some more commercial presentations.

 

 

 

The difference I think you will find is there will be no live talks. For example, in Alaska when in a Ffiord area we have experienced the expert talking us through what we can see...in the South Pacific the talks were on the sea days.

 

 

 

Have a great cruise!

 

 

Thank you. I suppose you can't compare the wildlife and scenery of Alaska to anywhere else. There would be so much more to talk about. That cruise is on my bucket list[emoji2]

 

 

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[chemmo]

Thank you. I suppose you can't compare the wildlife and scenery of Alaska to anywhere else. There would be so much more to talk about. That cruise is on my bucket list[emoji2]

 

 

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You will really enjoy your SP cruise. It has a great balance between sightseeing, enjoying the sunshine and relaxing sea days. We also loved our time in Sydney. We loved our Alaska cruise which we combined with a tour of Washington State...we did however return needing a holiday!

[emilygrace]

We did an Australia/New Zealand cruise earlier this year on the Solstice and there was a lecturer that did narrate when we went through the Sounds (Doubtful, Dusky and Milford) at the southern end of NZ. It was similar to the live narration at the glaciers in Alaska.

[Going Coastal]

We have been with Celebrity on both Alaska and South Pacific routes and thought the naturalists on both were outstanding. Besides doing Beyond the Podium talks they would point out noteworthy sights as we sailed by. Off Cairns, Aus, there was an excellent talk about Great Barrier Reef as we passed above it and several night sessions

[Going Coastal]

On deck to hear about the Souther hemisphere skys while looking at them.

[TLCOhio]

We did an Australia/New Zealand cruise earlier this year on the Solstice and there was a lecturer that did narrate when we went through the Sounds (Doubtful, Dusky and Milford) at the southern end of NZ. It was similar to the live narration at the glaciers in Alaska.

 

Agree with above. As detailed below on my live/blog, our speaker, Milos, did an excellent job, was very entertaining and informative, etc. See a visual sample below. Don't be shy with these speakers. They are good about interacting with the passengers, answering added questions after their programs, etc.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Enjoyed a 14-day, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure, getting a big sampling for the wonders of "down under” before and after this cruise. Go to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

for more info and many pictures of these amazing sights in this great part of the world. Now at 160,392 views for this posting.

 

 

Here is one example for naturalist Milos doing his speaker series presentations, including great humor with nice substance on his details for factors on the world’s creatures, how the earth was formed and evolved, etc., during our Australia to New Zealand cruise on the Solstice.:

 

[harz99]

Anyone lucky enough to have Milos as speaker and naturalist really has got it good! We have been lucky enough to have him on our cruises twice.

 

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[TLCOhio]

Anyone lucky enough to have Milos as speaker and naturalist really has got it good! We have been lucky enough to have him on our cruises twice.

 

Appreciate this nice follow-up with the great comments for Milos. Below are a couple more visuals on him and the excellent job that he did on our Sydney to Auckland sailing. More on that cruise can be seen in the live/blog below.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Enjoyed a 14-day, Jan. 20-Feb. 3, 2014, Sydney to Auckland adventure, getting a big sampling for the wonders of "down under” before and after this cruise. Go to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1974139

for more info and many pictures of these amazing sights in this great part of the world. Now at 160,553 views for this posting.

 

 

Here are a couple of added visuals from our experiences with Milos. First, he is "performing" during our down-under cruise. Notice the "hat" he is wearing? He believes that a key part of "educational speaking" is getting the audience's attention and involvement. Second, you can him as he join our group for lunch, answering more questions, sharing his great knowledge, being funny, etc. His talks and the interaction with him added significantly to our experience on this wonderful cruise.: