Beyond the Podium Speaker Mary Amanda

[Banjo]

On my recent 18 day Honolulu to Sydney Solstice cruise and last years 10 day Vancouver to Honolulu Solstice cruise I greatly enjoyed lectures of Celebrity Cruise Historian Mary Amanda. Also her husband (name escapes me) also did outstanding lectures on nature subjects. On her last lecture I got the impression that this would be her last Beyond the Podium lecture by her emotional sadness after over a decade of presentations. Any news on her and her husband status with Celebrity?

 

Her and her husbands lectures were very well prepared with beautiful slides. Extremely knowledgeable on the subjects they presented. The presentations were so interesting the 50 minute lectures went by like a flash. Both were very accessible after lecture for questions and discussion. If Celebrity lets them go, they will be missed. 

[dkjretired]

9 minutes ago, Banjo said:

On my recent 18 day Honolulu to Sydney Solstice cruise and last years 10 day Vancouver to Honolulu Solstice cruise I greatly enjoyed lectures of Celebrity Cruise Historian Mary Amanda. Also her husband (name escapes me) also did outstanding lectures on nature subjects. On her last lecture I got the impression that this would be her last Beyond the Podium lecture by her emotional sadness after over a decade of presentations. Any news on her and her husband status with Celebrity?

 

Her and her husbands lectures were very well prepared with beautiful slides. Extremely knowledgeable on the subjects they presented. The presentations were so interesting the 50 minute lectures went by like a flash. Both were very accessible after lecture for questions and discussion. If Celebrity lets them go, they will be missed. 

 

Her husband is Brent Nixon, he does the nature talks in Alaska on the Solstice, we met them on the ship a few years ago.  You are correct in that the talks are well prepared and educational.  His talks on Alaska are great, we went to everyone of them.  He also does a play by play as you are heading up the Fjord on the Solstice.    Don't know if they are not coming back, perhaps it was just their last show this year.   You can check him out on Google.  

[ipeeinthepool]

According to her website there are new ships and new shows.  She will be on the Millennium in Asia from Januray 4 to May 2, 2020 and on the Reflection in Europe from July 4 to November 4, 2020.

 

It looks like Brett Nixon will stay on the Solstice next year not meeting up with Mary Amanda until the Reflection transatlantic sailing in October.

Edited October 25, 2019 by ipeeinthepool

[Banjo]

3 minutes ago, dkjretired said:

 

Her husband is Brent Nixon, he does the nature talks in Alaska on the Solstice, we met them on the ship a few years ago.  You are correct in that the talks are well prepared and educational.  His talks on Alaska are great, we went to everyone of them.  He also does a play by play as you are heading up the Fjord on the Solstice.    Don't know if they are not coming back, perhaps it was just their last show this year.   You can check him out on Google.  

 

Thanks I will do that.

 

I thought I heard Mary Amanda may be on the Reflection next summer doing Mediterranean area presentations. I will be on the Reflection this April doing a TA to Ireland. Hope her and husband on on it to get through all those sea days.

[Banjo]

4 minutes ago, ipeeinthepool said:

According to her website there are new ships and new shows.  She will be on the Millennium in Asia from Januray 4 to May 2, 2020 and on the Reflection in Europe from July4 to November 4, 2020

 

Thanks.

 

Darn, I will miss her and her husband on our April's Reflection trans-Atlantic.

[ipeeinthepool]

I'll bet Brett Nixon and Mary Amanda would rather be on the same ship,  I wonder if this is another example of Celebrity cost cutting the Guest speaker budget.

[dkjretired]

1 hour ago, ipeeinthepool said:

I'll bet Brett Nixon and Mary Amanda would rather be on the same ship,  I wonder if this is another example of Celebrity cost cutting the Guest speaker budget.

I believe they have been on separate ships in the past before LLP took over.

[ipeeinthepool]

19 minutes ago, dkjretired said:

I believe they have been on separate ships in the past before LLP took over.

 

Could be.  In fairness I wasn't thinking about LLP in particular, just across the board cost cutting.

[TeeRick]

1 hour ago, ipeeinthepool said:

I'll bet Brett Nixon and Mary Amanda would rather be on the same ship,  I wonder if this is another example of Celebrity cost cutting the Guest speaker budget.

Now I think that is a bit of a stretch but who knows?   Not absolutely everything is about cost cutting.  I think elimination of the Beyond The Podium feature on ships would be about cost cutting but I would be pretty disappointed if that happened.  This is likely more to do with scheduling or perhaps even more to do with personal situation of the speakers.

[ipeeinthepool]

7 minutes ago, TeeRick said:

Now I think that is a bit of a stretch but who knows?   Not absolutely everything is about cost cutting.  I think elimination of the Beyond The Podium feature on ships would be about cost cutting but I would be pretty disappointed if that happened.  This is likely more to do with scheduling or perhaps even more to do with personal situation of the speakers.

 

Maybe I'm just too cynical, but it makes perfect sense to me.  Brett Nixon and Mary Amanda are two very good speakers and based on their excellent reputations likely command premium fees.  Celebrity only has so much money allocated to the entertainment budget for each cruise, so can they "afford" two premium speakers on the same cruise?  Eliminate one of the speakers and replace her with other speakers that don't get much more than a free cruise.  How many speakers will cancel their booking if the only premium speaker is Brett Nixon?  Probably not many, so it would be an easy cut.

[dkjretired]

12 minutes ago, ipeeinthepool said:

 

Maybe I'm just too cynical, but it makes perfect sense to me.  Brett Nixon and Mary Amanda are two very good speakers and based on their excellent reputations likely command premium fees.  Celebrity only has so much money allocated to the entertainment budget for each cruise, so can they "afford" two premium speakers on the same cruise?  Eliminate one of the speakers and replace her with other speakers that don't get much more than a free cruise.  How many speakers will cancel their booking if the only premium speaker is Brett Nixon?  Probably not many, so it would be an easy cut.

 

Oh well, I wasn't being fair, seems all the cost cutting and nickel and dining has been during her administration.  

 

By the way, Brent was one of the best we've ever seen on ships and there are a lot of people who have gone to Alaska who feel the same way.  He would be a big loss to Celebrity. 

Edited October 25, 2019 by dkjretired

[ipeeinthepool]

2 minutes ago, dkjretired said:

By the way, Brent was one of the best we've ever seen on ships and there are a lot of people who have gone to Alaska who feel the same way.  He would be a big loss to Celebrity. 

 

I agree100%   According to his website it looks like he's taking the winter off from cruising and returning to the Solstice next summer.  I'm not sure if this is his normal schedule, but he is certainly a great addition to the Solstice Alaskan cruises.

[misha1]

One of the things I look forward to most on Solstice in Alaska (I have our 3rd booked next August) is Mr. Nixon's lectures.  I will move in from the stunning beauty of the Alaska scenery any day to listen to him speak.