I really like Crystal but…

[Whipsnade]

For those who don’t care for movies on a ship I suggest they don’t attend. Problem solved. There are many, like us who enjoy watching films on a big screen in a theatre setting. Each to his own as Keith often says. 
The current selection of films is repeated segment after segment for months on end and they are frequently films that couldn’t make the cut on Netflix. The oldies are always good. I have watched Casablanca a hundred times and always look forward to seeing it again. 
In regard to speakers who touch on politics I disagree with some others. I cannot recall a public affairs speaker who ever gave any inkling or bias in any way regarding divisive politics. I do find fascinating stories about behind the scenes events that these folks have witnessed and always look forward to them. 

[Keith1010]

4 hours ago, Whipsnade said:

In regard to speakers who touch on politics I disagree with some others. I cannot recall a public affairs speaker who ever gave any inkling or bias in any way regarding divisive politics. I do find fascinating stories about behind the scenes events that these folks have witnessed and always look forward to them. 

Oh we had some for sure who were way over the top.  I am hesitant to mention them and thankfully they have not returned but yes there have been some and in each case some people left the room. The keywords are "over the top".

 

Now if you can make it balanced you can overcome that. I am reminded that one one of the world cruise segments we had Mary Matilin and James Carville and between them they provided a nice balance and of course as husband and wife with some good sense of humor made it work well.

Or if you can touch on issues without insulting people with opposite views you can make that work as well.

 

I do love the behind the scenes views and have found that they can be done very well without doing the thing of criticizing the other political party.  

 

Like most things if you have the right speakers and they are provided with  some advice it can work very well.

 

With the wrong speakers who go after those with other views it can be really bad.

As I said, I've seen both kinds.

 

Keith

[FlyerTalker]

On 9/27/2024 at 10:38 PM, Keith1010 said:

I hear you about streaming but not everyone streams and what will it be like if many more are streaming on the internet.

 

Absolutely correct.  I'm spoiled at home by having 1Gig fiber into the house, and a fully wired Ethernet network in the walls. But I know that electrons moving through the air are no match for copper or fiber.  So I'm realistic on a ship.

 

Too many though think that "the Internet" should just be the same everywhere they go.

[travelberlin]

Unfortunately I have lost the interest on the guest speakers. The subjects somehow repeat if the guest speakers are the same. But my main problem is that they do not visualize what they are saying. In most of the cases they just talk with very little visualization. I am hard of hearing (by the way many of Crystal clients have also this problem) and my main language is not English so I do not understand what they are saying. I have been on ships where the guest speakers are excellent on preparing their speeches. Not just like a dry lecture. First, a good visualized table of contents and then,  to each point of the table of contents a summary of main statements. This mixed with videos or other interesting visuals. Nowadays there are so many possibilities to make presentations attractive and easy to follow even for the hearing impaired. I guess the Cruise Directors could look a little closer to the presentations and see if they are easy to follow and well visualized.
 

Ivi

[Whipsnade]

Unfortunately those who select speakers at most of the cruise lines including Crystal are currently steering clear of anyone remotely connected to public affairs/politics which is unfortunate. Instead we are left with speakers who have written novels about bones and ancient would be “experts” on aging and destination lecturers who have yet to visit upcoming ports, long retired dentists who have been EVERYWHERE and ship experts who began their sailing days on the Normandie.  I’ll take Carville or Matalin any day and if I don’t like what they say  I won’t come or I can always leave the room and never hold the ship company responsible. 

[Cruise-y]

I expect intellectually challenging lectures and I attend anything historic or scientific. I appreciate destination lectures too. I’ve enjoyed most of the ones on Crystal. 

 

 I like cultural talks but I am so tired of repeat lectures about gossipy encounters with long-dead movie stars. I don’t cruise that much - I might take a multi-week Crystal cruise once a year or so - so for me to experience those repeats is pretty sad programming. 
 

My 2 cents

[Texas Tillie]

I totally disagree with several points posted by several people above (no names included). All this proves is you can't please all the people all the time. Be sure to make your opinions known to the cruise director. It might change things in the future or nothing may change as your opinion might not be widely held. We can always discuss beets on the menu!!

 

Patty

[Whipsnade]

Nothing really changes. CDs have little influence over entertainment. Not no influence but little influence. 
I agree re long dead movie stars and salacious tales told by cousins of former butlers. 
In days of yore we had biographers of people like Maggie Thatcher etc. surely there are plenty of them to entertain us all. 

[ryndam]

Get to know the lecturers “off stage”. In the pool. In the Cove. In the Avenue. In Palm Court. In Marketplace. In the gym. In the spa. Walking Deck 7. Their “off-stage” stories, tales, observations are way more unrehearsed and way more interesting than their “official” on-stage presentations.

 

Most, not necessarily all, lecturers encourage conversation with guests. We’ve got to know many guest entertainers and lecturers during deck walks and pool time. And many, not necessarily all, are very accepting of constructive observations of their presentations. They generally all want to be invited back!

 

Rob

Edited 18 hours ago by ryndam
Typo

[Stickman1990]

7 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

Absolutely correct.  I'm spoiled at home by having 1Gig fiber into the house, and a fully wired Ethernet network in the walls. But I know that electrons moving through the air are no match for copper or fiber.  So I'm realistic on a ship.

 

Too many though think that "the Internet" should just be the same everywhere they go.

However as we both know it is possible to provide a very effective internet service with reasonable speed and excellent reliability - Explora Journey's provides that (consistent greater than 100mb download speeds using StarLink) but few if any other cruise lines have managed to achieve it 

 

Sure you’re not going to get the same throughput as a cabled connection on WiFi but nor are you going to get that on an iPad or iPhone, and similar technologies, as they only connect wirelessly for which speeds and throughput are currently limited to well below fibre speeds but do you really need or ever utilize a 1 gb connection even at home  

 

My point is that on a modern ship with modern network infrastructure and appropriate satellite coverage it is possible to have a good and reliable internet service 

 

I look forward to Crystal one day improving their internet service, but I suspect that won’t happen until the new ships arrive 

[Cruise-y]

40 minutes ago, ryndam said:

Get to know the lecturers “off stage”. In the pool. In the Cove. In the Avenue. In Palm Court. In Marketplace. In the gym. In the spa. Walking Deck 7. Their “off-stage” stories, tales, observations are way more unrehearsed and way more interesting than their “official” on-stage presentations.

 

Most, not necessarily all, lecturers encourage conversation with guests. We’ve got to know many guest entertainers and lecturers during deck walks and pool time. And many, not necessarily all, are very accepting of constructive observations of their presentations. They generally all want to be invited back!

 

Rob

This is all true. And because so many regular cruisers are friends with the lecturers, of course they want them to be invited back to repeat. 

[ryndam]

22 minutes ago, Stickman1990 said:

I look forward to Crystal one day improving their internet service, but I suspect that won’t happen until the new ships arrive 

I concur with your observations. As I noted during our last “live from” posts, we relied on our 5G connections whilst in ports, rather than the inconsistent satellite connections whilst onboard or at sea.

 

Rob

Edited 17 hours ago by ryndam