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Lecturers on NORWEGIAN SUN, Alaska??


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Hi everyone,

 

we consider an Alaska cruise for 2015, so there is still enough time left.

NCL has already announced the 2015 itineraries and the cruises between Vancouver and Seward are the most appealing ones for us, on SUN. :)

 

Does anyone know whether NCL has any lecturers on its Alaska cruises?

 

Hepl would be appreciated, thank you! :)

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What kind of lecturer are you looking for? NCL doesn't typically have them. They will, however, have demos and classes (like cooking demos, etc.) that you can attend. I also understand that if you sail to Glacier Bay someone from the National Park Service may board the ship and provide some commentary on what you're seeing.

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They did have someone from the National Park Service (I think) doing a narration while we were in Glacier Bay. Other than that, I personally don't recall whether there was a lecture series on that particular cruise, but I have attended lectures on other NCL itineraries.

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Hi everyone,

 

we consider an Alaska cruise for 2015, so there is still enough time left.

NCL has already announced the 2015 itineraries and the cruises between Vancouver and Seward are the most appealing ones for us, on SUN. :)

 

Does anyone know whether NCL has any lecturers on its Alaska cruises?

 

Hepl would be appreciated, thank you! :)

 

On the NCL Glacier Bay cruises, a U.S. Park Ranger boards the ship at the entrance to Glacier Bay, and provides commentary and narration throughout the day. They talk about the park, point out wildlife, explain about the glaciers and the environment they create. You can hear their commentary on the public decks and over one of the TV channels in the rooms.

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Unfortunately, on our cruise this last summer on the Sun, there were no guest lecturers (aside from the Glacier Bay rangers). Our Celebrity Millie cruise in 2012 had a terrific lecturer that gave several presentations throughout the week. (In addition to being available throughout the week for questions and conversations). We were hoping for the same on NCL. The cruise director on the Sun did give a short talk (15 minutes) about each port, but it was pretty basic. Even without the lecture series, we really enjoyed our B2B on the Sun.

 

 

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Just a bit of advice. As interesting as a lecture can be , be sure they don't take place when there is beautiful scenery to be seen out the windows and on deck. Their pictures are wonderful, but there is nothing like the real thing.:)

 

The ranger talks are broadcast everywhere so you won't miss anything, but the lectures are generally only in an enclosed room.

Edited by Tinknock50
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We did the Sun cruise to Alaska this past summer. It was wonderful. I do not recall any other lecture other than Glacier Bay day. The came on board around 6:30 in the morning and at 7:30 they were giving the talk in Observation Lounge. We really enjoyed it. They had one person on the bridge that was spotting animals and letting the Ranger in the lounge know about it.

 

Later in the afternoon, they did another talk but we did not attend it. If you choose this, get to the lounge early and get a window seat it is great. We saw many different birds, bears and seals.

 

Have fun

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Hi at all,

 

thank you so much for your helpful replies. :)

 

Unfortunately, on our cruise this last summer on the Sun, there were no guest lecturers (aside from the Glacier Bay rangers). Our Celebrity Millie cruise in 2012 had a terrific lecturer that gave several presentations throughout the week. (In addition to being available throughout the week for questions and conversations). We were hoping for the same on NCL. The cruise director on the Sun did give a short talk (15 minutes) about each port, but it was pretty basic. Even without the lecture series, we really enjoyed our B2B on the Sun.

 

OK, Celebrity we also consider for our Alaska cruise for 2015 (I strongly assume that MILLENNIUM will sail between Seward and Vancouver again in 2015). We loved SUMMIT in 2013 and sail on her again in 2014.

It sounds great that they had a wonderful lecturer.

 

You seem to have done both Northbound and Southbound voyages on NCL SUN.

The Southbound voyage did not include the Glacier bay - so there was no lecturer on board?

Great to read that you also had a woderful cruise without that. :)

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Hi at all,

 

thank you so much for your helpful replies. :)

 

 

 

OK, Celebrity we also consider for our Alaska cruise for 2015 (I strongly assume that MILLENNIUM will sail between Seward and Vancouver again in 2015). We loved SUMMIT in 2013 and sail on her again in 2014.

It sounds great that they had a wonderful lecturer.

 

You seem to have done both Northbound and Southbound voyages on NCL SUN.

The Southbound voyage did not include the Glacier bay - so there was no lecturer on board?

Great to read that you also had a woderful cruise without that. :)

 

We did not have a lecturer on board for the SB portion of our cruise. We did have a wonderful trip nonetheless and highly recommend both NB and SB- as the ship sails different routes. Though most of the ports visited are the same (except for Hoonah) we planned different activities each time (I.e. In Skagway NB we rented a car from Avis and drove to Emerald Lake and Carcross (highly recommended. SB we hiked Lower Dewey Lake and geocached around town).

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When we sailed on Celebrity Mercury in 2007, the historian/lecturer was on our roll call. He was very interesting and gave great lectures about the gold rush, etc.

 

We sailed HAL to AK in 2011 and they didn't have a lecturer and I know NCL doesn't either. However, HAL did have rangers on board for Glacier Bay. NCL would as well when they are in Glacier Bay.

 

However, I think we learned most of what any lecturers would cover on AK history so personally, I don't think I would choose a ship/cruise line based on whether or not there was a lecturer.

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Hi again,

 

Thank you for your helpful replies again! :)

No our decision will not depend on the fact whether there is a lecturer or not... I read even HAL does not have them... Only in glacier bay.

On the southbound Route on SUN the ship leaves Juneau at 01:15 pm. Is it enough time or too Short for a first-timer in Alaska?

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Check out Princess, they have lecturers. On the Star and Golden, they had lectures daily in the showroom with slides, then they brought on Libby Riddle (first women to win the Iditarod) to talk about dog sledding.

The ship speaker is quite informative, telling the best times and places to see wild life. Also, really recommend getting the Princess Alaskan book (even if you are not sailing them). Has a map of all the ship routes, different types of wildlife to see, info about all the ports, really, really neat book for $20.

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Hi again,

 

Thank you for your helpful replies again! :)

No our decision will not depend on the fact whether there is a lecturer or not... I read even HAL does not have them... Only in glacier bay.

On the southbound Route on SUN the ship leaves Juneau at 01:15 pm. Is it enough time or too Short for a first-timer in Alaska?

 

1:15 is not too short of a time depending on what you want to see. We love to hike and on the SB route (when the ship left at the same time) we got off the ship right away (literally the first pax off the ship) and hiked the Mt. Roberts trail to the top of the tram and then took the tram down. We had time leftover to explore the "main drag" as well. An added bonus: when you ride the tram down only, you only pay $10...but if you buy $10 worth of "stuff" in the gift shop, the ride down is free....and I really enjoy my moose pajama pants!)

 

OR

 

You could take the blue or white shuttle (I don't recommend the city bus-too many stops) to Mendenhall and back...but you won't have a ton of time to explore the area.

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Hi again,

 

thank you very much for you replies!! :)

As far as I understand, a lecturer is a nice feature, but not "absolutely necessary"..

The Princess book sounds interesting, they might be an potion for 2015, if they are not too expensive... but I wait for Celebrity, which would be our favourite.

But NCL also is very appealing for us. :)

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Hi again,

 

thank you very much for you replies!! :)

As far as I understand, a lecturer is a nice feature, but not "absolutely necessary"..

The Princess book sounds interesting, they might be an potion for 2015, if they are not too expensive... but I wait for Celebrity, which would be our favourite.

But NCL also is very appealing for us. :)

 

NCL, does usually have "lecturers" BUT, they are a BIG difference compared to a Naturalist. The "lecturers" I have seen on NCL, had very little first hand knowledge about Alaska, and many were education backgrounds. They repeated what they read in "books" etc. Didn't know any details about the areas, or had an knowledge about specifics that may be important to the hard core travelers. :)

 

HAL, Princess, Celebrity and Carnival, have some top naturalists. They can really enhance your experience, especially if you are interested in what is outside the ship during sailing.

 

For clarification ALL ships going to Glacier Bay HAVE to be escorted in with a group of 3/4 National Park Service rangers. They narrate during the day and usually have a program in the show lounge. Also have a table set up during the day with books, National Park stamps, questions answered.

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Hi everyone,

 

we consider an Alaska cruise for 2015, so there is still enough time left.

NCL has already announced the 2015 itineraries and the cruises between Vancouver and Seward are the most appealing ones for us, on SUN. :)

 

Does anyone know whether NCL has any lecturers on its Alaska cruises?

 

Hepl would be appreciated, thank you! :)

 

I booked that item the very moment I first saw it

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

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