Naturalist on Summit?

[jennbill]

Also posted on the Alaska board:

 

Does the Summit have a naturalist aboard for its Alaskan cruises?

[Shirley and Les]

Yep, on the June 17th northbound sailing, the naturalist was Dirk Younkerman. He also had a job with Captain Larry on the day we were in Juneau.

Les

[jennbill]

Hopefully, he'll be on our cruise on 9/09.

 

We're booked with Captain Larry and his new boat for our stop in Juneau and it would be awesome.

 

Thanks.

[flashdog_1]

Please tell me where you have to be to hear the naturalist. Does he speak when you are visiting the Hubbard Glacier only, or does he give talks/seminars? Or is the talk on the public address system throughout the ship?

[Shirley and Les]

Please tell me where you have to be to hear the naturalist. ...?

He gave four scheduled lectures that were announced in the daily activities sheet. From about 6:am on, he narrated the way into Skagway at the Bar at The Edge... on the 11th deck. Only the audience in attendance heard any of this. John, the cruise director, was always willing to find out the schedule and location of the naturalist's talks.

Hubbard Glacier was different. Three or four local pilots boarded the ship a few hours before the glacier and took turns narrating while we were at the glacier. They were on the ship PA system. Here is a tip. The audio quality of the TV sound, tuned to the ship information channel, was much better than ship PA quality. Particularly, since the PA speaker in our cabin wasn't working. As we departed the area, the guides indicated they were going to walk through the ship in native garb for picture taking. We watched the glacier activity from our balcony so we didn't see them.

[themirsk]

He is awesome! Watch for his seminars in the dailies....and don't miss any of them!

[flashdog_1]

Thanks everyone. does this mean one of them will not be narrating while we are at Hubbard glacier? We have an inside cabin so the speakers in the room will not help. I'm wondering if it will be broadcast to the buffet, or the bars etc.

[canderson]

Thanks everyone. does this mean one of them will not be narrating while we are at Hubbard glacier? We have an inside cabin so the speakers in the room will not help. I'm wondering if it will be broadcast to the buffet, or the bars etc.

Hubbard Glacier is mostly a visual experience. Chunks of ice calving off the size of a Volkswagon bus are the little pieces. Anything verbal will come in lectures before arrival.

 

We didn't have anything over the PA system (thankfully, Celebrity is noted for this) apart from a note that we'd be doing some turns during the visit and that everyone would have a great chance for viewing regardless of where they were on the ship. We were lucky enough to be in a corner FV cabin with about a 270 degree view anyway, so we were out on the aft deck where we wouldn't have heard much more even if there'd been something else to hear.

[Shirley and Les]

Thanks everyone. does this mean one of them will not be narrating while we are at Hubbard glacier? We have an inside cabin so the speakers in the room will not help. I'm wondering if it will be broadcast to the buffet, or the bars etc.

At the glacier, one of the four local pilots was narrating almost continuously. Their narration was on the speakers in the corridor outside our cabin so I have to assume it was available throughout the ship. We went to the dining room for breakfast at the end of the glacier viewing and did hear their narration from the dining room.

We too appreciate the announcement free policy of Celebrity. I suspect Celebrity paid dearly to have the four locals on board at the glacier and it was informational to listen to the comments of these guys.

Les

[canderson]

At the glacier, one of the four local pilots was narrating almost continuously.

??? I didn't realize that we'd taken on any pilots for the Hubbard spin (never saw a pilot boat). Were you there during a particularly "icy" time? How long ago was this?

[Shirley and Les]

??? I didn't realize that we'd taken on any pilots for the Hubbard spin (never saw a pilot boat). Were you there during a particularly "icy" time? How long ago was this?

We were on the June 17, 2005 northbound Summit cruise. There wasn't any significant amount of calved ice. We were scheduled to pick up the pilots at 5:00 am with a visit to the glacier between 8:00 am and 10:00. I have no idea what time the guides were actually picked up but we visited the glacier from 7:00 to 9:00 am. It was good timing for us with the balcony door open wide, TV on, showering, dressing, drinking coffee, watching the glacier, listening to the TV commentary unless overriden by the thunder. Our timing was great as we were ready to go to breakfast about 8:30 to 8:45 and got seated at the aft windows in the DR to watch as we departed the glacier.

We did watch the four Indian guides disembark onto a Coast Guard cutter about 10:30 to 11:00 am. By that time, their native garb was already stowed in duffle bags and they were in jeans. I guess denim might be the USA contribution to the world, sad isn't it! :eek:

Les

[Mysteryreader]

He was the naturalist last yr, and there was SRO at most of his lectures. We thought he was one of the best features of the whole cruise.

 

A question for those of you who went this yr: he gave on-site commentary from the Rendezvous Lounge during the passage through the Grenville Channel and as the ship sailed into Juneau about geology, whales, whatever. Now that the RL has been redesigned for CdS, were those moved elsewhere or eliminated?

 

M/R

[canderson]

... he gave on-site commentary from the Rendezvous Lounge during the passage through the Grenville Channel and as the ship sailed into Juneau about geology, whales, whatever.

That's the way we remember it being done, vs. over the PA.

[Shirley and Les]

...A question for those of you who went this yr: he gave on-site commentary from the Rendezvous Lounge during the passage through the Grenville Channel and as the ship sailed into Juneau about geology, whales, whatever. Now that the RL has been redesigned for CdS, were those moved elsewhere or eliminated?M/R

The naturalist still did the commentary sailing into port in the CdS longue. He used a hand mike and his comments were only heard in the longue. They had pulled up the CdS draperies so there was a great view.

As I stated in an earlier post, the GLACIER commentary by the local pilots was broadcast shipwide.

Les