Royal Caribbean lectures?
in [Cruise Ship]
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From: D Ball on 9 Mar 2010 15:32 On Mar 9, 11:32 am, Rusty <rustybwil...(a)gmail.com> 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 (Boards>Ports 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
From: John Sisker on 9 Mar 2010 15:43 "Rusty" <rustybwilson(a)gmail.com> wrote in message news:50b0f6c7-9814-47ee-90d4-1ba943d25461(a)u15g2000prd.googlegroups.com... > 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 Some very interesting replies to your question Rusty. It makes one wonder why some, including select agents, even bother to go on a cruise at all, for everything seems to be such a negative with them. While it is true that many stores and/or restaurants pay to get an ad or at least mentioned by the cruise lines, many other good (or even better) places don't. Yet, if you have never been to a particular port before, how would you really know? We have actually seen it work both ways, going with the cruise line recommendation and/or just taking pot luck on our own. However, we always take the cruise lines recommendations for restaurants - and for obvious reasons. At least to me, the one good tie-in to the cruise line by these vendors, is that now they have a somewhat higher caliber to maintain, for if the word gets out that they are ripping off passengers somehow, well, there is always another vender willing to pay, and who won't rip people off. Is this a guarantee that just because the cruise line mentions a shop, store, vendor, restaurant, or even a particular shore excursion, that this is by far the best deal? Of course not. No one can guarantee that. But just maybe they are a little more aware than the vendors that the cruise lines doesn't even mention. Let's face, with no advertising or mention by the cruise line, their business will suffer. John Sisker - SHIP-TO-SHORE CRUISE AGENCY� (714) 536-3850 or toll-free at (800) 724-6644 & (Agency ID: 714.536.3850) www.shiptoshorecruise.com / www.tinplatedesign.com > Facebook/Twitter/Blog/Flickr/MyPage
From: D Ball on 9 Mar 2010 15:52 On Mar 9, 2:32 pm, D Ball <dianakb...(a)gmail.com> wrote: > On Mar 9, 11:32 am, Rusty <rustybwil...(a)gmail.com> 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
From: Stu on 9 Mar 2010 17:32 X-No-Archive: yes On Tue, 09 Mar 2010 15:14:23 -0500, Tom K <tkanitra(a)optonline.net> wrote: >On 3/9/10 1:34 PM, Stu wrote: >> X-No-Archive: yes On Tue, 9 Mar 2010 09:32:36 -0800 (PST), Rusty >> <rustybwilson(a)gmail.com> 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 don't know about RC, but on both of our Carnival cruises they had a >> half hour long port chat, then questions. The handouts they gave us >> were a list of shops who have ripped off cruisers (and should be >> avoided), and a list of safe shops to buy from. The fellow who did the >> talk actually shopped in most stores, so he knew what he was talking >> about. > >You're kidding, right? You actually believed him? He actually shopped >in most store? So he knew what he was talking about? > >Buy any bridges lately? > No Tom that's your job. 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.
From: Stu on 9 Mar 2010 17:41
X-No-Archive: yes On Tue, 9 Mar 2010 12:43:14 -0800, "John Sisker" <jsisker(a)sprynet.com> wrote: >At least to me, the one good tie-in to the cruise line by these vendors, is >that now they have a somewhat higher caliber to maintain, for if the word >gets out that they are ripping off passengers somehow, well, there is always >another vender willing to pay, and who won't rip people off. Is this a >guarantee that just because the cruise line mentions a shop, store, vendor, >restaurant, or even a particular shore excursion, that this is by far the >best deal? Of course not. No one can guarantee that. But just maybe they are >a little more aware than the vendors that the cruise lines doesn't even >mention. Let's face, with no advertising or mention by the cruise line, >their business will suffer. That's basically what I said John, the ones on their list are expected by the cruise line to provide higher service. We went in two (on the not advised list) while on cruise that really didn't meet any standards, needlessly to say we spent no time there. The list even though are paid for ads seem to be a good thing. |