First time non-Caribbean cruisers… after 11 of them!!

[MissP22]

On 10/16/2023 at 9:28 AM, phabric said:

I found the port talks on the ships - 

 

- Caribbean all about shopping in Island stores, nothing about the Islands

 

- Europe talks on the different ports, sometimes it might be 2 ports together 

Years ago they actually give out useful information about the different ports but today it seems to be one big advertising event to sell their tours.

[Szt]

11 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

Years ago they actually give out useful information about the different ports but today it seems to be one big advertising event to sell their tours.

On our last cruise on the Adriatic (NCL) they actually had a historian on the crew who gave daily talks about the history of the area. It was fascinating and made each port so much more enjoyable. I wish I could have convinced my kids to attend the talks. They spent most of the cruise bored or on their phones. 

[MissP22]

1 minute ago, Szt said:

On our last cruise on the Adriatic (NCL) they actually had a historian on the crew who gave daily talks about the history of the area. It was fascinating and made each port so much more enjoyable. I wish I could have convinced my kids to attend the talks. They spent most of the cruise bored or on their phones. 

I've heard that HAL also has a decent lecture program. 

[DCThunder]

32 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

I've heard that HAL also has a decent lecture program. 

On the HAL Cape Horn-Chilean fjords cruise I did, the cruise director did the port talks which were much more than where to go to shop.  He was from Argentina and did a talk on South American futbol which was very lively and entertaining. They also had two astronomers on their way home from doing research at the Chilean observatory who did talks on the cosmos and other astronomical subjects.  One of them also led several stargazing sessions on the aft deck when the outside lights were dimmed.  It was very well attended.  Lastly the captain did several talks about the ship, weather, and the life at sea.  All were well done and well attended.

[Incognito1]

16 minutes ago, DCThunder said:

One of them also led several stargazing sessions on the aft deck when the outside lights were dimmed. 

We were on one cruise where about 50 people showed up for the event, and the crew member knew absolutely nothing about the stars.  Fortunately, there was an astronomy nerd passenger and she took over.  It was great!  I think the crew members get "stuck" with events rather than choosing things they're interested in.

[DCThunder]

1 hour ago, Incognito1 said:

We were on one cruise where about 50 people showed up for the event, and the crew member knew absolutely nothing about the stars.  Fortunately, there was an astronomy nerd passenger and she took over.  It was great!  I think the crew members get "stuck" with events rather than choosing things they're interested in.

In this instance it was a university professor who printed out and distributed sky maps and then used a strong laser pointer to show everyone what they were looking at.  As we were in the Southern Hemisphere, we were seeing unfamiliar stars and constellations from what we see in the US or Europe.  It was one of the highlights of the entire cruise.

[Ombud]

Hi @Kmkub. It's me wandering over from our roll call. Did my 1st TA on Enchanted Princess last September and a few differences that I noticed:

1. Language lessons at 10 am daily in Take 5, well except when we've been assigned it for the M&G. Last year it was Portuguese as we were going to Azores. Think it'll be Spanish this time as we are going to Canaries

2. Take 5 became a Sports Bar instead of a jazz bar each night. Jazz moved to Wheelhouse. Anticipate the same. Focus in this order: football, basketball, then futbol (fifa)

3. Ship ran a slot pull, buy in $25 + points. Forgot how many. I did the roll call slot pull

4. 18 night rotating menu (at least the vegan one had 18 different menus .... no idea about other one). Other cruises repeated every 7 nights

5. Two $10 wine tasting events, only 1 as an elite perk

6. Just 1 wine tasters lunch at Sabatinis

7. Complimentary hard ice cream & multiple toppings in Marketplace Pastry Shoppe. Still has soft serve but I prefer hard ice cream. 

8. My last longer cruise (16 nights) had a lecturer who was a roadie during 1970s-2000s. Found his talks about working with iconic bands fascinating

Those are the ones that stand out 

 

See you in a little over a month!!

 

 

Edited October 19, 2023 by Ombud

[Kmkub]

11 minutes ago, Ombud said:

Hi @Kmkub. It's me wandering over from our roll call. Did my 1st TA on Enchanted Princess last September and a few differences that I noticed:

1. Language lessons at 10 am daily in Take 5, well except when we've been assigned it for the M&G. Last year it was Portuguese as we were going to Azores. Think it'll be Spanish this time as we are going to Canaries

2. Take 5 became a Sports Bar instead of a jazz bar each night. Jazz moved to Wheelhouse. Anticipate the same. Focus in this order: football, basketball, then futbol (fifa)

3. Ship ran a slot pull, buy in $25 + points. Forgot how many. I did the roll call slot pull

4. 18 night rotating menu (at least the vegan one had 18 different menus .... no idea about other one). Other cruises repeated every 7 nights

5. Two $10 wine tasting events, only 1 as an elite perk

6. Just 1 wine tasters lunch at Sabatinis

7. Complimentary hard ice cream & multiple toppings in Marketplace Pastry Shoppe. Still has soft serve but I prefer hard ice cream. 

8. My last longer cruise (16 nights) had a lecturer who was a roadie during 1970s-2000s. Found his talks about working with iconic bands fascinating

Those are the ones that stand out 

 

See you in a little over a month!!

 

 

Your post made my night. Off to read it to Nerd. TY SO Much. Can’t wait to meet you.

 

What about early morning Tuesday games; known as MNF in the states? 

Edited October 19, 2023 by Kmkub

[Ombud]

33 minutes ago, Kmkub said:

Your post made my night. Off to read it to Nerd. TY SO Much. Can’t wait to meet you.

 

What about early morning Tuesday games; known as MNF in the states? 

Monday Night Football should be on all the big screens in Take 5, MUTS, and stateroom TV. There will actually be 2 TV sports channels, 1 for USA games & 1 primarily for European.  Like Abu Dhabi Formula 1 Nov 24-26 on 1 channel with NFL & NBA on the other. Wonder which ncaa games they'll show. 

 

CORRECTION: JAZZ MOVED TO CROWN GRILL BAR. 

 

Sorry ...

Edited October 19, 2023 by Ombud

[Kmkub]

22 minutes ago, Ombud said:

Monday Night Football should be on all the big screens in Take 5, MUTS, and stateroom TV. There will actually be 2 TV sports channels, 1 for USA games & 1 primarily for European.  Like Abu Dhabi Formula 1 Nov 24-26 on 1 channel with NFL & NBA on the other. Wonder which ncaa games they'll show. 

 

CORRECTION: JAZZ MOVED TO CROWN GRILL BAR. 

 

Sorry ...

I would not have guessed that!  We were thinking we would be loners willing to get up at 3:00 a.m. to watch football! 

 

Have you done this before? How many show up?

[Ombud]

I'll watch SNF, MNF, TNF in my room but I'll watch the evening ones in the bar. Unless there's a good performance going on. They're up. Also posting on roll call

 

Rock Opera Nov 24

5 Skies Nov 29

Spotlight Bar Dec 5

 

☆ the INCREDIBLE MIGHTY QUIN☆☆ (he's fantastic!)

 

Enrichment Lectures:

Europe & Spice Trade

Voyages of Captain James Cook

England's Infamous Captain Bligh

What Lies Beneath (the ocean floor)

Lecture on Paul Gaughan (historical & not by art staff)

Sir Francis Drake

Pirates of the Caribbean 

 

[DCThunder]

From what I understand, getting NFL games depends on where the ship is located as the ship needs to be able to "see" the satellites that are used for those games.  This is not the case in a lot of Europe.  On the Regal TA I did last November/early December, we only got NFL games when we were most of the way across the ocean and closer to North America.  I'm not expecting to see NFL games on my upcoming Med/TA cruise in November/December.  And one thing you'll never see onboard is any college football.  I'm sorry I'll be missing the Iron Bowl, and conference championships.

[Ombud]

Thanks @DCThunder I remember picking brackets for March Madness on a Panama Cruise (lost) but couldn't remember if I saw NCAA in Europe. I did see NFL on the 2nd sports channel late at night last TA but that was from Southampton -> Florida.  2 games being played in Frankfurt in November (total of 5 games across the pond).