Enrichment Lectures

I must admit that a cruise with four out of fifteen days at sea having no enrichment lectures is quite a surprise. I am referring to CPT roundtrip. I have called three times and been told no lectures. Any comments or explanations?

I must admit that a cruise with four out of fifteen days at sea having no enrichment lectures is quite a surprise. I am referring to CPT roundtrip. I have called three times and been told no lectures. Any comments or explanations?

I believe that logistics are causing the confusion here. There are always lecturers, even on the most humdrum Caribbean itineraries, but Oceania won't announce the who, what and when of them until the required personnel have been signed up.

-and of course, the cant publicize who they would "like" to see lecturing because that would wreak havoc with the negotiation process....

This is why patience is known as a virtue. Have faith.

I'm going by very vague memory here because I didn't note the details in my diary but on our February 2004 Panama Canal cruise we had dinner one night in Toscana with one of the lecturers and another passenger traveling alone. My recollection is that the lecturer said that Oceania was backing off on having them. It's possible that Oceania was more interested in paying them less (or giving them fewer benefits) and not necessarily plannning on doing without them. However, we never really saw lecturers disappear from cruises and later on there were more on board, depending on itinerary. That maybe have been a preliminary attempt that was abandoned.

I, too, would find it hard to believe that there would not be any on board when your cruise has several sea days. I also was thinking of commenting (before Jim&Stan did so) that they just may not have set contracts yet.

Mura

I believe that logistics are causing the confusion here. There are always lecturers, even on the most humdrum Caribbean itineraries, but Oceania won't announce the who, what and when of them until the required personnel have been signed up.

 

-and of course, the cant publicize who they would "like" to see lecturing because that would wreak havoc with the negotiation process....

 

This is why patience is known as a virtue. Have faith.

It appears newlondon is sailing in just eight days. That seems to be cutting the negotiation business pretty close.

They rarely publish the lecturers online or in the cruise planner but they always seem to have some

The only one advertised is Vern Lundquist for Aug 4th cruise & of course Jacques Pepin cruise

I think it's tough to find good lecturers. Vern Lundquist is absolutely one of the best, and a genuinely nice guy. I have had the experience, but from what I've heard, Jacques Pepin falls into that same category. But the rest? I'll be honest, and say while some have been pretty good, many have been really bad, and other than Vern, I don't remember any of them. We've walked out on several, especially if they're just reading their slide presentation -- word for word -- the same words we can read on the screen. Blah.

I'm hoping for better on the world cruise, but I'm not holding my breath.

I think it's tough to find good lecturers. .. We've walked out on several, especially if they're just reading their slide presentation -- word for word -- the same words we can read on the screen. Blah.

 

I'm hoping for better on the world cruise, but I'm not holding my breath.

On our recent Alaska cruise we has a slide reader which resulted in many walking out. Most of us can read and look for a bit more than pictures.:(

We've been lucky and have had terrific lecturers on all but one O cruise. Our last one had two very competent ones on board and they both did extra lectures when our itinerary fell apart. The best lecturer was of two onboard Regatta in Brazil, this gentleman presented high level information and his presentations were SRO.

On my recent cruise from BCN to Singapore we had very interesting lecturers. I think they were about the best I have had. And they were all different in approach and topics - politics, the history of religion and Buddha iconography, the Suez Canal, ports, etc. Still have to see the Bollywood films recommended by one!

As usual Mike Moore answered the question. There is a lecturer specializing in African society. Hopefully not a slide reader because her subjects sound interesting. Seems very late to announce but at least something to look forward to.

Agree on Vern Lundquist! Absolutely one of the best, we were fortunate and had dinner with him 2 years ago in Australia.

On my recent cruise from BCN to Singapore we had very interesting lecturers. I think they were about the best I have had. And they were all different in approach and topics - politics, the history of religion and Buddha iconography, the Suez Canal, ports, etc. Still have to see the Bollywood films recommended by one!

I think the question is... were you provided with the lecturers in advance or not until you were on the ship?

We have never know in advance with the exception of Mr Lindquist & we ended up cancelling that cruise

I think the question is... were you provided with the lecturers in advance or not until you were on the ship?

 

We have never know in advance with the exception of Mr Lindquist & we ended up cancelling that cruise

Nope. But we never asked either.

Frances

On Regatta SF to NY last Sept we had 2 excellent lecturers, Roger from UK, and Larry T, who did port lectures. Hope to see both of them again.

I agree about Larry, we also hope to meet him again. He packed the showroom on the Regatta last April.

On Regatta SF to NY last Sept we had 2 excellent lecturers, Roger from UK, and Larry T, who did port lectures. Hope to see both of them again.

We had Roger Cartright in June and he is the best. We had a few dinners with Roger and his wife, they are terrific people and they prepare compulsively for all of his presentations. We also had Mitchell Symons on board, he was most entertaining with his take on current events, pop culture and historical events.

Yes, they are both great. Seems that Roger has a wider selection of topics, while Larry seems to do mostly Caribbean & pc

On Insignia WC. Historian, writer,port lecturer, Troubador(sp?) writes and sings songs.Wrote a play on a battle; name escapes me He, the CD Andy and another lecturer read it. He has web site. In future on Marina. Dont miss him!

Terry Bishop?

Terry Bishop?

Terry Bishop is absolutely the best enrichment lecturer as well as entertainer. He packed the lounge for every single lecture and when he performed in Horizons one night it was standing room only. Don't miss him if you can help it! We were fortunate to have him for 21 days on Regatta - SFO to NYC with lots of sea days and lots of lectures!

Terry Bishop is absolutely the best enrichment lecturer as well as entertainer. He packed the lounge for every single lecture and when he performed in Horizons one night it was standing room only. Don't miss him if you can help it! We were fortunate to have him for 21 days on Regatta - SFO to NYC with lots of sea days and lots of lectures!

His "Shed" song makes you weep with laughter - at least, for the Bits and Aussies!

He is also good to look at.A Brit who lives in the South of Spain.

Don't get too high hopes about quality of lecturers. On our TA cruise this year (with obviously lots of sea days) there were two lecturers - only. We went to one lecture by the fellow whose subject interested us and - yuck! he put slides up (with text) and the proceeded to read the text to us. As though none of us could read. What a crashing bore. So that was the only lecture we attended.

On Regent, by contrast, we have usually had 4 or 5 lecturers on a TA cruise and with few exceptions (a notable one being a lady who changed her hat for each lecture and had some sort of self-improvement topic (!) ) they were all at least interesting. Some were extremely good.

Terry Bishop is a great lecturer, very fascinating and amusing with a true global perspective. Time flies when he is on stage, and the room is always packed. He's also a good entertainer with the funniest lyrics I've ever heard to some old classic melodies. A true Man of All Seasons. He was on Marina's recent Cape Town to Rio cruise and kept us enthralled during many, many sea days.