Enrichment Lectures

[sawtooth]

When we did South America, Alaska and the Panama Canal there were wonderful lectures on the ports and various other interesting topics.

On our last cruise on the Royal (10 day Eastern Caribbean), there were no port lectures of any kind. Is Princess ding away with these?

We will be doing an Asia/Japan cruise and I Think it would be valuable and interesting to get information about ports, culture of the area.

[sawtooth]

anyone have an idea or opinion on this subject.

Do you like the lectures? Find the valuable? Or never even go?

[Pam in CA]

Caribbean and Mexican Riviera cruises generally don't have enrichment lecturers. Just port/shopping lecturers. Longer and more "exotic" itineraries usually have at least one enrichment lecturer, sometimes two. I honestly don't remember if there was one on my Diamond cruise a couple of years ago.

[sawtooth]

Thanks Pam. I think the lectures for the more exotic ports is really a plus.

They provide so much interesting information, not only on ports but other subjects as well. And, on a multi sea day cruise something else to look forward to besides Bingo.

[shepp]

A dear friend of mine, who shall be nameless, is a shipboard lecturer and has told me that Princess is cutting back on enrichment lectures. Not a money spinner, you know. The profit-center shopping "lectures" roll merrily on, however. "Buy this watch because it vibrates in sync with the vibratory rate of the Earth and will make you sleep better." Really. And nobody in the Princess Theater laughed.

Edited March 11, 2015 by shepp

[joybook]

When we were on the Golden (South America cruise) in Dec/Jan we were informed by the Port Lecturer (Hutch) at one of his sessions that there was a bit of a move on to get rid of them. We we asked to ensure that we gave him a positive review in an effort to keep these lectures going. Personally I think it would be a sad day if Princess did away with them. On each day of the cruise when a port lecture was given, the Princess Theatre was almost full. Surely that is some indication of the interest they generate. Yes I know many people probably go because they see it as an easy way to pass the time of day but still I maintain they are an important and helpful part of any cruise.

 

By the way the enrichment lecturer (Hal Tinberg) was by far the best I have ever heard.:)

[Pam in CA]

The best port enrichment lecturer was Joe May who sadly passed away suddenly last year. :( IMHO, the best enrichment lecturer is John Maxtone Graham. He was to have been our lecturer on the Royal T/A last September but canceled at the last minute. Hope he's OK! They had a substitute who was awful. Amateurish.

[Thrak]

The best port enrichment lecturer was Joe May who sadly passed away suddenly last year. :( IMHO, the best enrichment lecturer is John Maxtone Graham. He was to have been our lecturer on the Royal T/A last September but canceled at the last minute. Hope he's OK! They had a substitute who was awful. Amateurish.

 

I've seen posts where others have highly endorsed Mr. Graham. Hopefully he's still lecturing and Princess will have him on their cruises. I loathe the shopping "lectures" but enrichment lectures can be... well... enriching. :)

 

We are hoping for some good lecturers when we do the canal this fall and are also hoping for someone good when we do Alaska again next year.

[sawtooth]

We we're lucky enough to have Joe May as the speaker on our SA cruise. He was knowledgable and very entertaining.

Has anyone done a Japan or Asia or AustralAsia cruise lately? And were there any lectures on those cruises.

We will be doing these in 2016 and really hope there will be a lecture on the ports, especially since there is so much to learn. And yes, I do read and study the ports before we travel.

[Astro Flyer]

The best port enrichment lecturer was Joe May who sadly passed away suddenly last year. :( IMHO, the best enrichment lecturer is John Maxtone Graham. He was to have been our lecturer on the Royal T/A last September but canceled at the last minute. Hope he's OK! They had a substitute who was awful. Amateurish.

At this time last year we were fortunate to be sailing with Joe May on the Golden from Buenos Aires to LA. It was apparent to me that he enjoyed sharing his experiences & even told passengers to look for him when arriving in port if anyone had any questions for him. Joe was a better ambassador about what is good about a cruise & much more so than some of the crew.

 

JM-G will be 86 this year & have enjoyed his lectures on several long cruises. To me John's presentations are more of a "theatrical performance". :).

 

Our naturalist lecturers in Alaska have all been good & other guest speakers such as Libby Riddles (first woman to win the Iditarod race in 1985) were also enjoyable.

Edited March 11, 2015 by Astro Flyer

[jasbo49]

I really like the idea of enrichment lectures, classes, etc. I say the "idea" of them because I've rarely experienced the reality.

 

My parents cruised a lot during the 1980s, teaching bridge. At that time it was common, I think, to have a port lecture that wasn't focused on where to find the nearest Diamonds International. What a concept, huh?

 

But since we started cruising, I've been to exactly one session that was strictly informational with no intent to sell. That was a survival Spanish lesson on a Diamond Princess cruise to the Mexican Riviera in 2007. What a nice idea. It's the kind of thing that makes you want to take another Princess cruise even though it may not show up on the bottom line for that cruise.

 

I hope Princess isn't doing away with enrichment. It's an important aspect of cruising for people who want to experience new regions.

 

Jim

[dw64]

We were on the Sapphire Princess last Apr. L.A to Shanghai. 21 days. They had wonderful lectures, daily. Very informative. Very intersting. I sure hope Princess does not cut back on the type of lectures.

[Pam in CA]

JM-G will be 86 this year & have enjoyed his lectures on several long cruises. To me John's presentations are more of a "theatrical performance". :).

 

Our naturalist lecturers in Alaska have all been good & other guest speakers such as Libby Riddles (first woman to win the Iditarod race in 1985) were also enjoyable.

I think of John Maxtone-Graham as an old-fashioned raconteur, a story teller. FYI, he recently published another book about the USS United States.

 

I agree about Libby Riddles. She was great.

[elliair]

anyone have an idea or opinion on this subject.

Do you like the lectures? Find the valuable? Or never even go?

 

On our cruise to Hawaii, the lectures were quite informative. One lecturer was a forensic scientist and did a few lectures on DNA and King Tut. That was quite an eye opener. On other cruises like to Alaska there was a naturalist giving lectures. We enjoy them, I hope Princess continues with them.

[Shmoo here]

Caribbean and Mexican Riviera cruises generally don't have enrichment lecturers. Just port/shopping lecturers. Longer and more "exotic" itineraries usually have at least one enrichment lecturer, sometimes two. I honestly don't remember if there was one on my Diamond cruise a couple of years ago.

 

Where would a Wine Country Coastal (Pacific coastal) fall? Do you think there would be any sort of enrichment lectures?

[SJSULIBRARIAN]

The best port enrichment lecturer was Joe May who sadly passed away suddenly last year. :( IMHO, the best enrichment lecturer is John Maxtone Graham. He was to have been our lecturer on the Royal T/A last September but canceled at the last minute. Hope he's OK! They had a substitute who was awful. Amateurish.

 

So sorry to hear this about Joe May. We were on several cruises with him and thought he was the best. HAL has also done away with enrichment lectures on their Caribbean cruises which I bemoan on every evaluation but I am sure that won't change any minds.

[Astro Flyer]

So sorry to hear this about Joe May. We were on several cruises with him and thought he was the best.

Joe will be missed...

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2090474&highlight=joe+may

Edited March 12, 2015 by Astro Flyer

[Astro Flyer]

Where would a Wine Country Coastal (Pacific coastal) fall? Do you think there would be any sort of enrichment lectures?

My Wine Country Coastal was in May 2011 with only 1 sea day & they had Scholarship@Sea lectures about Seattle & Victoria. The afternoon in Seattle they had a USNP ranger lecture about the Klondike Gold Rush.

[GingerCandy]

anyone have an idea or opinion on this subject.

Do you like the lectures? Find the valuable? Or never even go?

 

We attend these lectures whenever available and wish they'd have them on all cruises, even in the Caribbean. There is plenty of history for each island/country to provide interesting lectures. We don't attend the shopping lectures and do no shop on cruises. I can shop at home, if necessary. How much jewelry can one person use. ;)

We like the lectures, and I also liked the Spanish lessons they gave on one cruise several years ago. Granted, they were slanted toward how one could speak Spanish with vendors on the islands, but it was educational and interesting, just the same. I hope Princess reinstates more lectures. On the Ocean Princess Christmas cruise this year, there were historical lectures on all ports of call. It was so nice to have that option.

[bacchusman]

Wow! Great to hear the interest in on-board lecturers. I am one of them and will fill you in on what little I know. In general, there are three types of lecturers: 1)port lecturers with which you all are familiar; 2)destination lecturers--folks who, on a Caribbean cruise, would speak on Caribbean topics, but not necessarily all the details on particular ports, and 3)special interest lecturers, folks who give a series of lectures on a particular theme. The latter could be a naturalist, an astronaut, a professor with a specific interest, a former diplomat, etc. I've done all of the above, but more frequently destination topics (Caribbean, South America, Mediterranean).

 

I will be on the Diamond Princess out of Singapore on April 15 and continuing for two weeks to Tokyo. In this case I will be a special interest speaker on topics related to the history and geography of wine. These will have nothing to do with wine tasting, but we'll look at things like the origins and early spread of winemaking and the kinds of evidence available to reach such conclusions. I'll also talk about wine in Roman times and the Wine Revolution of the last 50 years and what it's all about. You don't have to be a wine consumer to get something out of these.

 

Like the rest of you, I'm hopeful their will be a destination or port lecturer with us as well since the area from Singapore to Tokyo is all new turf (and agua!) for me.

 

Finally, my sense is that Princess has recently been seeking more speakers if the increase in postings for these positions I've seen lately is an indicator. Hope to meet some of you on board!!

[pppatpc2]

We were on the Diamond in Australia/NZ in January and they had a physics professor lecturing on the Big Bang and other physics topics. I wish I could remember his name, but he was wonderful. The first lecture was fairly well attended, but his following grew throughout the cruise. I want to say he gave 5 lectures in total. It was nice to stretch the brain considering I usually have a hard time remembering what day it is when I am cruising.

[BridgeMates]

The best port enrichment lecturer was Joe May who sadly passed away suddenly last year. :( IMHO, the best enrichment lecturer is John Maxtone Graham. He was to have been our lecturer on the Royal T/A last September but canceled at the last minute. Hope he's OK! They had a substitute who was awful. Amateurish.

 

Sad about Joe. He was the best.