On Board Lectures

[JannieAnne]

Have been reading in a few posts that cruisers take advantage of attending the on board lectures providing information on the cruise ports. And we would love to do it but...

 

When do they manage to fit these in? We will only have one day at sea (between Naples and Santorini) then I think it will be a full on schedule - port all day then dinner, balls, entertainment .... I think I'll need a holiday to get over this one!!!

[FUN33]

Have been reading in a few posts that cruisers take advantage of attending the on board lectures providing information on the cruise ports. And we would love to do it but...

 

When do they manage to fit these in? We will only have one day at sea (between Naples and Santorini) then I think it will be a full on schedule - port all day then dinner, balls, entertainment .... I think I'll need a holiday to get over this one!!!

Sea days are the most common time for these talks. They are often on trans atlantic or other cruises that involve a lot of sea days.

 

I advise anyone to take advantage of these. I will frequently sit down in a lecture that I know nothing about. Often times I end up staying for the whole lecture and have learned many interesting facts on topics while on board. If you try it for 10 minutes, and have no interest, just get up & leave.

 

It is a wonderful opportunity to expand your horizons.

[parody]

Typically, the port lecturers you are asking about are rebroadcast throughout the day and night on your stateroom TV. Thus, it is not always necessary to attend them live.

 

You may also be aware that some lecturers are conducted as an activity is taking place. The two that I am familiar with are 1) a running talk on your TV and over the loudspeakers as one transits the Panama Canal and 2) a talk/guide as one approaches the port in Venice. I recall the port lecturer saying that it was the most beautiful port in the World to sail into--particularly as one travels in the Grand Canal by St. Mark's square.

[JannieAnne]

Oh my gosh, I can't wait!

[chasetf]

I find the talks about port to be mostly about shopping and to us it is a waste of time.

 

We do all of our research pre-cruise and use resourses such as the DK tour books if traveling to an area like Europe, where we want to really explore. We also like to prebook our tours, again reseaching online about the areas we will be visiting.

[BillB48]

They have not had a problem fitting them in...... they did not have any lectures at all on the last two cruises on RCI. I was very disappointed in that aspect of the cruise, which overall was excellent in every other respect. I'm not talking a 3 nighter to the Bahamas, this was on a TA and a Panama Canal cruise.

 

I too, have enjoyed these lectures and have found myself totally enjoying a lecture that I thought I had no interest in. I hope the absence of these lectures on those two cruises is just a anomaly and will not be the new standard. I did register my disappointment on the guest comment card.

[Spikesgirl]

When we did SE Asia, we had a two lecturers that alternated. One was a sipwreck specialist and worked as a consultant upon TITANIC and the other's was pirates - two things you really don't want to think about on a ship, but both were very gifted speakers.

 

We had a sea day between many of our ports (16 day cruise) and really enjoyed the lectures. There were also the shopping and regional lectures, but we caught those on TV instead. Just check your daily newsletter for a schedule.

[Krazy Kruizers]

There are 2 types of lectures.

 

Port lecturers talk maninly about the port -- some combine the shore excursions available as well as to what shops are recommended by your cruise line. We haven't attended these in years. The majority of the time they are just reading from the shore excursion booklet.

 

Then there is the lecturer on some cruises that will talk about - for example -- the Panama Canal if you are cruising there, Glacier Bay if you are cruising there, etc.