Port Lecturer

[roberts2005]

Who is the Port Lectuter on the Marina. What type of services does he/she provide?

[ksps cruise fan]

Who is the Port Lectuter on the Marina. What type of services does he/she provide?

 

Are you asking about the port shopping specialist or about an individual who talks about topics related to the ports being visited? If it is the latter, this person varies by cruise and is not a staff member. He/she provides no services, only education.

[roberts2005]

I was referring to the latter. On HAL they would give talks, have desk time to answer questions and provide maps as well as train and bus schedules

[cruisecountess]

On O, the port lecturers vary from cruise to cruise. However, they only lecture; they do not have a designated desk nor do they hand out maps and bus or train schedules. O has local reps who come on board to do that. The lecturers, however, are visible on board the ship and are very approachable to ask questions of or have dinner with ~ just ask.

Harriet

[roberts2005]

On O, the port lecturers vary from cruise to cruise. However, they only lecture; they do not have a designated desk nor do they hand out maps and bus or train schedules. O has local reps who come on board to do that. The lecturers, however, are visible on board the ship and are very approachable to ask questions of or have dinner with ~ just ask.

Harriet

 

 

Thank you, dinner sounds like a great idea.

[Mura]

I think the term "port lecturer" may be a point of misunderstanding here.

 

There ARE lectures, given by Destinations, that cover the various ports. Destinations is not officially part of Oceania and their function is to sell the ship's tours. But our experience has been that they do give do-it-yourselfers information about the ports.

 

AND the talks are rebroadcast on the in-room TV -- on a loop, so if you tune in during the middle of the talk you can just wait a few minutes for it to start again.

 

Also, when you arrive in port, there is usually someone from the city who will give out maps, talk about what you can do on your own. But that is last minute and the line can be long.

 

It never hurts to do your own research in advance, even if you think you'll be using ship's tours or just walking around town on your own. If you want to set up a DIY tour, then the best source is the roll call for your cruise.

 

Mura

[Wendy The Wanderer]

...Destinations is not officially part of Oceania and their function is to sell the ship's tours. But our experience has been that they do give do-it-yourselfers information about the ports.

 

AND the talks are rebroadcast on the in-room TV -- on a loop, so if you tune in during the middle of the talk you can just wait a few minutes for it to start again.

 

 

Huh, that's surprising to me; considering that Regent is the sister company, would have thought that they would do things in a similar way. I know I've heard that they use the same tour operators. On Regent, Destinations personnel are certainly part of the Regent staff, not separate, and most of the destination talks are done by the CD or the Asst CD. Is Oceania really that different?

[Mura]

I may well be incorrect but my understanding was that Destinations (and the shops) are concessions. But Destinations definitely does provide port information although they would rather sell you a tour then tell you how to go around on your own.

 

Mura

[Wendy The Wanderer]

On Regent the shop is a concession, but not Destinations. I look forward to someone who can confirm or deny this for Oceania.

[cruisecountess]

When I referred to a port lecturer, I should have said guest lecturer. These are people who may speak about the history, flora / fauna, archeology, etc. Of upcoming ports. They are invited to be speakers on a particular cruise because of their knowledge of the area. Mura is correct ~ port lectures are given by someone from the Destinations Desk and, while they give a brief overview of the port of call, make no mistake ~ they are there to sell the ship's excursions. Feel free to arrange to dine with a guest lecturer, not a member of the destinations team. Sorry for the confusion.

Harriet

[pacheco18]

Guest lecturers vary from cruise to cruise depending on the ports and the expertise of the lecturer. You can attend the lectures live and they are also rebroadcast on O closed circuit TV (in case you'd rather sit at the pool when the lecture is taking place). The lecturers are very approachable.

 

Destinations Services describes all the ports on closed circuit TV AND advertises the various ship excursions to this ports as well. I believe DS is part of O, not a concession. I have never seen DS give any live presentations regarding the ports.

 

At every port, a crude map is left on a table near DS for you to pick up. As soon as the ship docks, a port representative comes on board, usually with good maps and other information, and is available to answer questions about sightseeing or getting around. Often there is just one rep so there could be a line and there are always a handful who hog the rep and ask endless questions because they have not done a stitch of research in advance. Sometimes there are multiple reps and things go more quickly. Most people just grab one of the good maps and take off.

[roberts2005]

As I stated in a previous post, Holland America provides a "Port Lecturer', This person is independent of the shore excursion department. They not only provide background information on each port, but assist the passengers with their DIY plans.

 

On. my past three HAL cruises two of the lecturers have been excelent, one no help at all.

 

From the replys to my original post I now understand that Oceania does not provide this service.

[wassup4565]

I understand the Port lecturers are people who are getting a free cruise in return for giving some talks about the history, geography and culture of the area. I think if you want some more details about their talk, they would probably be happy to tell you more. I don't think they are experts about the current-day ports, and don't see themselves that way.

 

Get your specific information about the ports on these CC boards or from Trip Advisor beforehand. Or get it from the ship info desk, and realize they could possibly be trying to encourage you toward certain vendors and activities.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

I understand the Port lecturers are people who are getting a free cruise in return for giving some talks about the history, geography and culture of the area. I think if you want some more details about their talk, they would probably be happy to tell you more. I don't think they are experts about the current-day ports, and don't see themselves that way.

 

Get your specific information about the ports on these CC boards or from Trip Advisor beforehand. Or get it from the ship info desk, and realize they could possibly be trying to encourage you toward certain vendors and activities.

 

Okay, so I'm still assuming that all this is similar to Regent. Yes, the lecturers are happy to talk about their specialty. Terry Breen, currently on Regent doing Alaska, is an example. She does lectures, and live port commentaries coming in or out of ports in Alaska (and she's been on Oceania in Alaska too.)

 

As for the ship's Destinations desk, why would be encourage you toward certain vendors?

[pacheco18]

Okay, so I'm still assuming that all this is similar to Regent. Yes, the lecturers are happy to talk about their specialty. Terry Breen, currently on Regent doing Alaska, is an example. She does lectures, and live port commentaries coming in or out of ports in Alaska (and she's been on Oceania in Alaska too.)

 

As for the ship's Destinations desk, why would be encourage you toward certain vendors?

 

Hi Wendy -- so glad you finally booked an O cruise. I know you were thinking about it. I think you will love it (altho it's not the PG LOLOL)

 

They direct you to their excursions -- that's clear -- and the prices are through the proverbial roof. Triple or quadruple for a big bus tour compared to what you can do on a private tour. I have never had anyone from Destinations direct me to a vendor (that's more mass market style -- this jewelry shop or that one -- laughable). It is not part of the in house TV presentation either.

[findacruise]

Wendy - we have had some very good guest lecturerers on Oceania. I particularily enjoyed the historical ones on our TA from Miamia to Barcelona last year that were done about an area prior to arriving there. I also enjoyed ones on our Baltic cruise, if I am remembering correclty (with the passage of time, my memory dims!) As a total group, I think the ones we had last year on our Regent Middle East cruise were probably the best. But, as is the case with many things, our personal likes and dislikes enter into our opinions about this, too. I hope you enjoy your 1st 'O' cruise. The larger ship has so much to do and we found it great for the TA. Joanna

[hondorner]

A lot of information has been offered, much of it misinformation or mixing of terms.

 

"Port lecturer" has been misused. Neither Oceania or Regent provide a "port" lecturer as such. They do hire Guest Lecturers, who do NOT lecture on specific ports, with shopping tips and such. Rather, they are academics who discuss history, civilizations, political science, archeaeology, anthropolgy, geography and such of the regions to be visited. Sometimes Guest lecturer discussions have nothing to do with the regions around the ports, and may be on current economics and such. They are usually highly educated professors, prominent busineesmen or scientists who have "credentials" to back up their lectures. Some of them are have an interesting presentation manner; some of them are dry and basically reading from their slides.

 

The Destinations department ARE Oceania employees (just like Regent, in fact they rotate back and forth between the cruise lines). As explained previously, they are primarily involved with the ship's excursions. However, they are sometimes familiar with local areas. I should quickly explain that many times, Oceania ships call at a specific port only a very few times per year; often only once, and new ports are constantly being added. Thus, the staff may have never had an opportunity to visit the port, or their experience may have been altered by local changes since their last visit. This is primarily how they are often "dinged" for lack of local knowledge. Most mass market lines (HAL, Princess, Celebrity, Royal Caribbean, Carnical, Costa, NCL, etc.) call on the same exact ports every 7 days, often for years at a time, and staff knows them inside-out. Compared to Oceania, they would be blind and lost if they were 50 miles away from what they know.

 

In nearly every port, Destinations makes pre-arrangements with a local represetative to come on board. They set up a table in the central lobby (near Destinations and Reception), hand out local maps, make suggestions for local walking tours, help locate local sights for indivdual passengers, and generally be as helpful as they can. They almost always can be understood in English. However, their helpfulness depends on their own knowledge, and Oceania has no control over them.

 

Next, one of the members of the Destinations department is delegated to prepare a TV program that bears on each of the ports to be visited. These concentrate on the ship's excursions, but also may contain a limited amount of shopping and dining information, depending on whether they have been there before. This same representative usually makes a live presentation in the theater lounge a day or so before port arrival. These talks are usually exactly the same as the TV program, and the TV broadcast may have actually been taped in the theater presentation.

 

Finally, each edition of the Currents, the ship's newspaper, will have an overview of the port, usually on the first page, and often an insert with more information, Because of the varied number of ports and the rarity of many of the visits, these overviews may just be information from a guidebook.

[ChatKat in Ca.]

The On board visitors that bring maps and information about the ports are usually from the local tourist board. They board usually when the ship gets clearance.

 

Destination Services has interest in selling excursions, no different than Regent used to do