Royal Caribbean lectures?

If you've sailed Royal Caribbean, can you tell me what, if anything,
they have in the way of Port Lectures? I'm looking for good, clear
information about the ports before we get there, and not just shopping
or tour sales info.

Thanks very much for any info you can share.

Rusty

On 3/9/2010 6:32 PM, Rusty wrote:
If you've sailed Royal Caribbean, can you tell me what, if anything,
they have in the way of Port Lectures? I'm looking for good, clear
information about the ports before we get there, and not just shopping
or tour sales info.

Thanks very much for any info you can share.

Rusty
I think the quality of the nonshopping port lectures really depends on
the particular sailing. RCI does have them and in our experience they
were OK, but not as good as those on Celebrity or HAL, but again, it all
depends on the person they happened to have hired on your particular
cruise.

On Mar 9, 11:32*am, Rusty wrote:
If you've sailed Royal Caribbean, can you tell me what, if anything,
they have in the way of Port Lectures? *I'm looking for good, clear
information about the ports before we get there, and not just shopping
or tour sales info.

Thanks very much for any info you can share.

Rusty

Rusty,

My experience isn't very current, as I quit going to those lectures
after popping in one or two when we first began cruising--they were,
indeed, mostly about the shopping. I think some port lecturers may
volunteer, or offer on questioning, a modest amount of practical
information and tips to folks who want to explore independently, e.g.,
transport options, currency exchange and ATM locations, Internet
cafes, etc. But overall, the port lectures aren't intended to be
either educational or support for independent travelers. The cruise
line (a) prefers you buy their shore excursions, and (b) is going to
offer only the most conservative independent touring advice on the
theory the majority of pax are ill-equipped to safely and comfortably
navigate an unfamiliar destination.

If you really want to learn about where you're going, I think you'll
be better satisfied by doing your own research and reading in advance.
All of the travel guides have terrific online sites, and your local
library will stock a good variety of current editions.

If you are interested in options for independent touring, as a
supplement to travel guides, this group has a lot of experienced
travelers--feel free to ask us about your ports and tell us what kinds
of activities you're interested in, any age or health considerations,
etc. Also, the port-specific discussion forums at Cruise Critic
(BoardsPorts of Call) are full of up-to-the-minute info and tips by
fellow cruisers. I also think the port guides published by the editors
on that site are very helpful for an overview. http://www.cruisecritic.com/ports/

If you are onboard and find yourself wanting to know something fairly
specific, you can try to catch the port lecturer and ask. Also, the
folks who are on the Cruise Director's staff (they host the games and
activities), the singers and dancers, etc., are generally terrific
resources, as they go into port for "off time," thus have done all of
the touristy things and beyond, as they've had to rely on ports for
buying the usual goods and services of life.

Diana Ball
Austin, TX

On Mar 9, 2:32*pm, D Ball wrote:
On Mar 9, 11:32*am, Rusty wrote:

If you've sailed Royal Caribbean, can you tell me what, if anything,
they have in the way of Port Lectures? *I'm looking for good, clear
information about the ports before we get there, and not just shopping
or tour sales info.

Thanks very much for any info you can share.

Rusty


I should qualify my remarks by adding, it also depends on where you
are going. (My knee jerk response was based on Caribbean and similar
"vacation" cruises because that's on the brain right now--we're
heading out for the Carib on Sunday!)

When we've cruised in Europe, and also in Alaska, the port lectures
were a step up with some historical and cultural info (including a few
dedicated educational lectures--I'm remembering a professorial type
who talked on St. Petersburg and Russian history) and a bit more in
the way of practical advice for DIY'ers. I particularly recall our
Celebrity sailing in the Med--there was a fellow titled "concierge"
who not only helped with onboard needs, but was always available to
provide traditional concierge services for folks headed into port,
i.e., making restaurant recs and reservations, helping pax locate an
attraction and learn admission hours & fees, etc. We had changed our
plans for Rome, and I wanted to get off the train from port to town
before it reached the terminus at the central station--the concierge
looked up the schedule online and printed it out for me.

Diana

On 3/9/2010 5:32 PM, Stu wrote:

We ran into him in four different shops while we were shopping, even
one that was not even on his list, nothing was said. He asked how we
enjoyed St.Martien was all, never asked if we had been to the other
shops. Hell, we even had a beer with him (he bought) at a little sit
down place just off the dock.

You actually think he was shopping with his own money there? Or was he
picking up his kickback for sending customers there? Nice that he paid
for your drink, although I think these folks get free food for sending
customers there, did you actually see him pay the check?

Also, it was the cruise line's list, not his. I am surprised he would go
to a store not on it -- I wonder if he could have gotten fired for that.

Bill

On 3/11/10 2:44 AM, in article ,
" wrote:

Nice Ray, and you expect people to book with you.

But he's right.
Ray is never right. He's a spammer, rude and a fraud.


I've always known that tour guides get a cut.

OP didn't ask about tour guides.



The only really good port lectures that I've been to have been on HAL.
They had both a port lecturer AND a shopping lecturer.

Same on almost all Celebrity and RCI cruises. OP asked: "I'm looking for
good, clear information about the ports before we get there, and not just
shoppingor tour sales info." Ray didn't address the first type of lecturers
at all.

Our last cruise was on Celebrity and I had been to most of the ports
before so I didn't go to any of the lectures, but I can tell you that
the maps that they handed out were useless unless you wanted to shop
at their 'preferred' shops. *There was nothing on them about any
points of interest whatsoever.


Rosalie, thanks for mentioning the useless port maps. I've complained
about them on comment cards for years, but random rants aren't
persuasive. Maybe the next time there is a group cruise, if everyone
in the group complained about the port maps, someone in corporate
would take notice! It would be such an easy and inexpensive job for
the line to produce a utile map.

Diana

On Thu, 11 Mar 2010 08:09:35 +0100, peter
wrote:

On 3/11/10 2:44 AM, in article ,
" wrote:

Nice Ray, and you expect people to book with you.

But he's right.
Ray is never right. He's a spammer, rude and a fraud.

Even a stopped clock is right twice a day, and I suppose that goes for
you too.

I've always known that tour guides get a cut.

OP didn't ask about tour guides.

But the tour guides for the excursions get a cut too, and the ship
gets a cut for the shop being listed as "approved". It's endemic in
the tourist industry.

The only really good port lectures that I've been to have been on HAL.
They had both a port lecturer AND a shopping lecturer.

Same on almost all Celebrity and RCI cruises. OP asked: "I'm looking for
good, clear information about the ports before we get there, and not just
shoppingor tour sales info." Ray didn't address the first type of lecturers
at all.

The reason that the lectures concentrate on shopping is because the
ship gets a cut. The only lines that I've been on that had actual
PORT information are HAL and NCL.

The lack of map information on Celebrity was QUITE annoying and leads
me to believe that the port lectures would also be deficient. I took
an island tour of St. Croix but Celebrity told me no information about
the places that we would stop on the tour so I did not know that there
was a National Park on the tour. I know about the one on St. John,
but didn't know about St. Croix. I asked the future cruises person
about it and she said it was because of liability. Absolute
balderdash. How can there be liability for noting the location of a
museum or church or the central square?

When we went to make out our comment cards (on Celebrity) we were told
that we could only have one per cabin, but Bob and I don't agree on
everything so he went an got another one so he could fill out his own.
When they called us up to ask if we had any other comments, I gave
them another complaint about the port maps. I am unhappy to read that
Diana Ball has been complaining about this for years. It would seem
such a simple thing to fix.

They're free. It's like complaining about the Yellow Pages carrying
advertising.


They're not free, they are included.

Diana

On 3/11/10 6:34 PM, in article
, "D Ball"
wrote:

They're free. It's like complaining about the Yellow Pages carrying
advertising.


They're not free, they are included.

Diana

No they're not, as they aren't part of the cruise contract. You're not
entitled to a map for each port. You're not entitled to any map at all.