Has anyone gone to lectures onboard?

[longduo]

I am curious about the lectures given on the ships. Are they well attended? Are they usually about the upcoming ports or just general interest topics?

 

If you have gone to some, what have been the best?

 

With so many activities available onboard I'm just wondering what to choose as there is no way to do everything.

[Wormy53]

The cruise that we went to the most on-board lectures was the Alaskan trip. They had a naturalist that spoke about conservation, fishing, salmon, bears, whales and other pertinent talks. We started out with not a lot of people, but towards the end of the cruise - people were there in numbers. He was very interesting and personable.

 

On several cruises they have the money, healthy eating, and wine testing. I have tried these - they're OK, but nothing to write home about! The 2nd wine tasting always has better choices. (Think Opus One) Of course they want to sell their wine. (Which is fine with us since we drink it with dinner every night.)

 

So I guess the answer is: it all depends on what cruise you are on. I understand that on Seaborn or Regent (can't remember for sure) they have special speakers throughout the cruise. Wish they had more of this.

[billet]

If you specify the cruise you are on you will probably get better feedback

[MercedMike]

The so called "port lectures" are notorious for being nothing but hour long commercials for the "recommended" shops -- i.e. those that have paid a fee to Princess. They are usually jammed, probably because they give away some "free" gimcracks.

 

Other lectures, such as the naturalist lectures on Alaska cruises, are usually very interesting, and normally fairly sparsely attended.

[billet]

There are destination lecturers who talk about the port and there are the Discover Shopping staff who provide a talk on the port based mainly around the shopping.

 

The destination lecturers can provide a very good history of the destination as well as good hints on places to go and sights to see. If they are good lecturers then they will have 100 or 200 coming to listen to their second and subsequent lectures after word gets around.

 

On the crown they had lecturer on astronomy, natural disasters, qi gon meditation, and negotiation techniques which had about 20 or so people in attendance.

[Suzy Q]

On our South America cruise, we had a guest lecturer. She was from Michigan State U. I thought she was great. Well attended and very well presented. She was, if fact, better than our onboard naturalist.

[katisdale]

We did the European Explorer (Rome to London) on the "old" Royal in 2005. We had excellent lectures on European history. Participation started slowly but by the day before we got to Normandy there was standing room only. He did an excellent job on D-Day.

[PescadoAmarillo]

The best lectures, and the most lectures tend to be on the longer cruises with the most sea days with the exception of Alaska and Panama Canal itineraries, which almost always have excellent history and nature lectures. We don't miss them. On the transpacific cruises we've been on, there are actually about 5 series of lectures. Last year there was a naturalist professor (I know I am murdering her title) who gave a lecture every sea day on the culture and history of the next island we would be visiting. There was also a former voice actor who arranged a group of passengers to put on a radio show. There were bridge lectures and a financial planner, etc.

 

If you're ever lucky enough to be on a cruise with John Maxtone-Graham, a maritime historian, you won't want to miss him!!! He lectured last April on our Celebrity Summit Panama Canal cruise, and the theater was almost packed every time.

 

We don't bother with the Discover Shopping port talks...they are commercials in disguise; but, if the cruise director puts one on, it can be good.

[Ethel5]

On the Alaskan and Hawaiian cruises, the lectures by the naturalists are very interesting, informative and well attended. The port lectures are nothing more than sales pitches.

[YoPhilly]

My husband and I often wish that Princess would book some interesting guest lecturers on the Caribbean sailings.

[MercedMike]

We did the European Explorer (Rome to London) on the "old" Royal in 2005. We had excellent lectures on European history. Participation started slowly but by the day before we got to Normandy there was standing room only. He did an excellent job on D-Day.

 

OTOH, when we were on Grand in the Med, the "historian" was very political with an axe to grind about the current US administration. He managed to make it seem that George W was personally responsible for the destruction of Pompeii. We attended half of one lecture and didn't waste time after that.:(

[kendon]

The BEST lecture, and it was free, was given by a junior officer on the subject of navigation. I've also been to others on various subjects such as pearls, digital cameras, and pre-port lectures given by the on board naturalist in Alaska. You always come away learning something you didn't know before. I run far away from shopping talks. I do my shopping at the local grocery stores for both myself and souveniers.

[Aussie Gal]

We had fantastic lectures and speakers when we did Antarctica on the Regal Princess last year. The Naturalists were all from Cambridge and their lectures were excellent.

 

We also had an historian speaking about the old explorers and it was standing room only most days when he was speaking. In order to procure a seat we had to arrive at least 30 minutes before he was due to start.

 

We have also done the Panama Canal and the Amazon on HAL and again we had wonderful speakers.

 

Jennie

[scampi]

We attended a series of lectures by Naturalist Pat Kramer on our Hawaiian cruise. The lectures were presented in the Princess theatre with excellent visuals & included the culture, history, of not only the islands, but also an excellent presentation on the History of Chocolate before we arrived in Ensenada. I also enjoyed the presentations on music and dance by Joyce Middlebrook that were given in the Universe Lounge. My favorites were something like "music that makes you laugh" and "The Phantom of the Opera." Again great use of the screen, audio equipment, etc.

[Tania]

On the Grand transatlantic to Rome in 2006, there were several lectures on the history of Islam, perhaps as many as 6. They were well attended: the Explorers Lounge had people sitting on the floor and the Princess theater was always full.

 

Time well spent.

[Julia’s Journey’s]

The best lectures, and the most lectures tend to be on the longer cruises with the most sea days with the exception of Alaska and Panama Canal itineraries, which almost always have excellent history and nature lectures. We don't miss them. On the transpacific cruises we've been on, there are actually about 5 series of lectures. Last year there was a naturalist professor (I know I am murdering her title) who gave a lecture every sea day on the culture and history of the next island we would be visiting. There was also a former voice actor who arranged a group of passengers to put on a radio show. There were bridge lectures and a financial planner, etc.

 

If you're ever lucky enough to be on a cruise with John Maxtone-Graham, a maritime historian, you won't want to miss him!!! He lectured last April on our Celebrity Summit Panama Canal cruise, and the theater was almost packed every time.

 

We don't bother with the Discover Shopping port talks...they are commercials in disguise; but, if the cruise director puts one on, it can be good.

 

Looking forward to the lectures on our upcoming cruise and hopefully the financial planner can help us plan for more cruises!!!:D :D

[longduo]

Thanks for the input. I was asking about guest lecturers not the ones where they just tell what stores to shop in at port. I think those are a waste unless you are really into shopping.

 

It sounds like there will be more interesting lectures on longer cruises with more days at sea. That makes sense as on a port-intensive itinerary no one would be on the ship to attend a lecture.

[gwdancer]

The shopping "lectures", if you want to use the term for this application, are a huge waste of time. Even if you were inclined to do some local shopping, all they do is hawk the wares of the chintzy jewelry stores that they contract with. I found the prevalence of the advertising for those tourist towns in the Caribbean to be offensive.

On the other hand, I really wish that they had some high quality, educational opportunities, discussing the history of the areas that we were visiting! I would happily pay extra for that, if they had good lecturers. Our Alaska cruise is in a mere two weeks -- I am really looking forward to the naturalist lectures!

[Gunman]

Have sailed twice with Princess, Sapphire from Sydney to Bangkok, and Pacific from Bangkok to South Africa. On both the guest lecturers were very good, describing the ports we were to visit and a bit about the customs. Not to be confused with the sales pitches for the jewelry shops in port. The latter cruise, a lecturer gave talks on the various religions of the countries we were visiting. Unfortunately these were scheduled at the same time as a lecture series on Mysteries of Scripture, which were excellent. All of the lectures my wife and I participated in were well attended. I am looking forward to the Sun Princess, Sep 23, from Seattle to Sydney, through Hawaii and Polynesia.

Pat and Betty Garland, in Florida

[losuds63]

I am curious about the lectures given on the ships. Are they well attended? Are they usually about the upcoming ports or just general interest topics?

 

If you have gone to some, what have been the best?

 

With so many activities available onboard I'm just wondering what to choose as there is no way to do everything.

 

 

 

Then gave a few hundred of my winnings and those Lectures came to an end

[Julia’s Journey’s]

The shopping "lectures", if you want to use the term for this application, are a huge waste of time. Even if you were inclined to do some local shopping, all they do is hawk the wares of the chintzy jewelry stores that they contract with. I found the prevalence of the advertising for those tourist towns in the Caribbean to be offensive.

 

On the other hand, I really wish that they had some high quality, educational opportunities, discussing the history of the areas that we were visiting! I would happily pay extra for that, if they had good lecturers. Our Alaska cruise is in a mere two weeks -- I am really looking forward to the naturalist lectures!

 

We really enjoyed the naturalist lectures on our Alaska cruise, they were very informative.

[Julia’s Journey’s]

Have sailed twice with Princess, Sapphire from Sydney to Bangkok, and Pacific from Bangkok to South Africa. On both the guest lecturers were very good, describing the ports we were to visit and a bit about the customs. Not to be confused with the sales pitches for the jewelry shops in port. The latter cruise, a lecturer gave talks on the various religions of the countries we were visiting. Unfortunately these were scheduled at the same time as a lecture series on Mysteries of Scripture, which were excellent. All of the lectures my wife and I participated in were well attended. I am looking forward to the Sun Princess, Sep 23, from Seattle to Sydney, through Hawaii and Polynesia.

Pat and Betty Garland, in Florida

 

Gunman - we are on the same cruise as you in September, come on over and join our rollcall

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=364161

[Julia’s Journey’s]

Gunman - we are on the same cruise as you in September, come on over and join our rollcall

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=364161

 

BTW how was your cruise to South Africa and which places did you visit, I was born in Cape Town.

[prarie cruiser]

I enjoy the port related lectures, especially the naturalist for Alaska and Panama Canal. They are always worth the time.

 

I also enjoy the navigation lecture,culinary demonstration, and others related to the functioning of the ship.

 

The Scholarship at Sea lectures are sometimes good but never five stars in my experience. However, I have learned a thing or two on ocassion from them.

 

One of the best lectures I attended was given by a retired Princess sea captain on the Sapphire Princess to Alaska.

[queensny]

Hi Julia,

I LOVE your "screamin' icon", (and I'd love to get one too!). Could you tell me how to get one and how you animated it?

Thanks,

Cate :D