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From: gmbeasley on 11 Mar 2010 20:51
On Thu, 11 Mar 2010 18:18:12 +0100, peter <peters25(a)stockton.com>
wrote:

>X-No-archive: yes On 3/11/10 5:36 PM, in article
>8b6ip5p47cib6l9j370ka3rvpl44t573le(a)4ax.com, "gmbeasley(a)mindspring.com"
><gmbeasley(a)mindspring.com> wrote:
>
>>>>
>>>> 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
>
>In general they don't. Maybe they do on Caribbean cruises to islands where
>all you can do is shop. On other cruises there are "enrichment lectures" by

There's LOTS to do at Caribbean islands. And I don't just mean
beaches. I don't shop very often and then only for local stuff - I
don't go to Diamonds International or any of those fancy stores. And
I don't do the beach stuff either. There are very few Caribbean
islands that I could not find a lot to do without shopping.

>(former) college professors. Typically, they talk about shopping for less
>than 30 seconds. They do talk about ports, people, history, customs,
>language, culture. You probably don't want to be enriched in any otherway
>than monetary.
>>
>> The lack of map information on Celebrity was QUITE annoying and leads
>> me to believe that the port lectures would also be deficient.
>
>Great logic.
>
Yes it is.

I asked Bob about the RCI port lectures and he didn't think they were
very good but it was 3 years ago so he didn't remember much about it.

>> 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.
>
>Read the excursion description.
>
The excursion description didn't say anything about a National Park.
This is what it said

>This Scenic Island Tour affords you the opportunity to see St. Croix in its natural beauty with its breathtaking views and many historical and cultural sights. Throughout the tour you will be educated of the cultural and heritage of St. Croix and experience panoramic views. Your guide will point out sites from the historical forts, churches and Old Danish government buildings, to Columbus Landing, this is the chance to experience historical landmarks of our pastime as a memory of your visit to our lovely island of St. Croix.

Nothing about one of the forts and an old church and some other
buildings in Christensted being National Park sites.

>> I know about the one on St. John,
>> but didn't know about St. Croix. I asked the future cruises person
>> about it
>
>You should have asked the excursion desk.
>
Well I asked the future excursions person after we had the tour why
they didn't have points of interest on the maps, just as a matter of
conversation. I had also complained to the excursion people an the
port information person with nothing but blank stares in return.

>>
>>Bob and I don't agree on
>> everything
>
>I really feel sorry for Bob.
>
So do I - he has a lot to put up with!!! And he's been doing it for
over 50 years

>> 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.
>>
The whole point of the Yellow Pages IS advertising. Without it there
would be no need for the Yellow Pages. If that is the point of the
maps, then they need to fix them - the point of maps should be to aid
you to find things.

From: Bill on 11 Mar 2010 21:58
On 3/11/2010 11:36 AM, gmbeasley(a)mindspring.com wrote:
>
> 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.

It's probably what most guests care about as well. Also, since they'd
just as soon that you take their tours, there is no need to find out
about stuff beforehand.

I've found that Cruise Critic has nice writeups for the ports that I
have checked in the past. Just print them out and take them with you.

As an example, here's one for Grenada (first one that came to mind):

http://www.cruisecritic.com/ports/newport.cfm?ID=18

Bill
From: John Sisker on 13 Mar 2010 11:58
"peter" <peters25(a)stockton.com> wrote in message
news:hn634u$318$1(a)news.eternal-september.org...
> 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.



Cruise lines such as Princess (of late) seem to really be emphasizing their
onboard ScholarShip(a)Sea Programs, one being on port lectures and history.
This way, if one is indeed interested, they can get all the details that
they want, while the cruise line can stick to the more generic presentation
to other passengers more interested in shops, stores and buying jewelry.

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: John Sisker on 15 Mar 2010 08:38
"Ray Goldenberg" <ray(a)lighthousetravel.com> wrote in message
news:4i6dp59qvbck05i1je5irgihku25hd4his(a)4ax.com...
> On Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:34:14 -0600, Stu <info(a)foodforu.ca> wrote:
>
>>The fellow who did the
>>talk actually shopped in most stores, so he knew what he was talking
>>about.
>
>
>
> Hi Everyone,
>
> Only the gullible or naive believe the above. The person is usually
> compensated by a company that is hired to promote certain stores so
> that is what he really knows.
>


Rather a pessimistic and sarcastic statement for one trying to promote the
benefits and pleasures of a cruise vacation. While there may indeed be some
truth to this rather distrustful view, there are better and more realistic
tin-ins to share with the traveling public. All one may come away with from
the above statement is, do the exact opposition to what the cruise line
recommends, and you'll be better off. With such a negative outlook and
distrust from what the cruise lines tell their passengers, why even cruise
at all?

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: John Sisker on 15 Mar 2010 09:01
"George Leppla" <george(a)cruisemaster.com> wrote in message
news:hn64dt0int(a)news1.newsguy.com...
>
>
> FWIW... the shops that any cruise line recommends are paying the cruise
> line to make that recommendation. They get a fee and a certain % of the
> sales. Did you ever notice that when you make a purchase, many of the
> shops will ask you what ship you are on... and sometimes even your cabin
> number.
>
> That isn't to say that the shops recommended aren't good, but the port
> talk is actually more of a paid advertisement. There are other
> shops/stores that may have as good or better deals... but they aren't in
> the program.
>
> George Leppla




By the way, cruise lines don't always keep on top of things as they should.
For example, we would rather eat than shop, so it is the restaurant
recommendations that we pay attention to. Likewise, and for the most part,
we would have no way of knowing one good, or safe, restaurant from another
ourselves, especially in Mexico. Yet, one of the restaurants Princess
recommended for our stop in Cabo San Lucas did not even open until noon, but
the ship itself sailed at 1:00 PM. That obviously did not work. However,
based on experience, and the fact that Deborah has been a professional chef,
we found another restaurant on our own, which can be a little scary in
Mexico, for you just never know. Yet, it actually turned out to be the
highlight of our time in Cabo San Lucas.

Likewise, we shared this information with the appropriate personnel on the
ship, who hopefully took note. Therefore, if this original restaurant is
really paying the cruise line for their recommendation as implied above, it
certainly isn't doing them any good. Likewise, and quite possibly, there is
more to this who's who list than the negative one has to pay for it
scenario.

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

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