Are there speakers onboard discussing areas visited?

[planada]

We have been Regent cruisers since Crystal folded. Our last 2 trips were wonderful except for the lack of onboard historians, speakers, ect about the areas visited. Is this something Azamara is proficiently providing? I realize we get a good overview from the excursions offered but really enjoy the speakers provided on sea days and leading up to a port. Viking does a good job of this,  BUT….. they are lacking in other areas that we enjoy too. 
Food, entertainment, amenities.

Please advise?

Edited March 10, 2023 by planada
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[uktog]

Azamara do provide speakers but my experiences are

* their presentations are very dated, not necessarily well delivered and having listened to two presentations about the area I live in not necessarily accurate.  They are not in the league of Viking at all
* the timing can be suspect - Azamara is port intensive so we ended up with the ridiculous situation in the Caribbean last year that the presentations were AFTER we had visited the ports ( luckily I know not to rely on them)

Having sailed last year on Viking I would say that

* food used to be better on Azamara but recent experience on Azamara says the two have come together more in terms of standard and presentation,

* the entertainment is different - you have more individual players on Viking between the classical due/trio, the small band and other lounge players plus the stage show.  Azamara does not have that flexibility but some of the cruise directors really can put on great combinations from their existing pool so its probably equal

*amenities, not sure what you mean but as they are older ships with much smaller cabins especially the bathrooms that might be an issue for you but offset that with the usually more engaged and involved officers its a different vibe

[travelberlin]

1 hour ago, planada said:

We have been Regent cruisers since Crystal folded. Our last 2 trips were wonderful except for the lack of onboard historians, speakers, ect about the areas visited. Is this something Azamara is proficiently providing? I realize we get a good overview from the excursions offered but really enjoy the speakers provided on sea days and leading up to a port. Viking does a good job of this,  BUT….. they are lacking in other areas that we enjoy too. 
Food, entertainment, amenities.

Please advise?

On my last cruise with the Pursuit on January 2023, we had two guest speakers. The one who was the „destination lecturer“ visualized well, was an economist and gave good general information about the countries we visited (something similar you can find in wikipedia or internet). No details about the ports of call (where we dock, what to do on your own, etc).

I have written a review about this cruise, where you can find information on your other questions if you wish. The review is here in cruise critic under Azamara Pursuit reviews.

Ivi

[gardenbunny]

We have done 2 World Cruises and they always have great presentations.  And when went to Antartica in Jan 2020 the speakers were excellent on a wide variety of topics related to that area.  We cruise Cunard and they also have excellent lecturers.

We board our first  Azamara and board March 19 for 15 day Japan Intensive.  With only 1 sea day I am not expecting there will be much time.

[lisiamc]

Some speakers are better than others. There is one we’ve had a few times who is very personable, but his presentations are… not the best. He tends to use materials from the local Chamber of Commerce or Tourist Board, or photos he took 40 years ago. We went to one presentation where he showed a photo of a statue of some minor dignitary that only locals would ever have heard of, and added “but the statue’s no longer there”.