New Adventure: Cruise Ship Lecturer

Retired, want to see the world? I had never considered being a cruise ship lecturer – but that is what happened!

I recently went on a world cruise. This was a new experience. We had taken Caribbean cruises when the kids were young, but our professional lives were too busy take time for long vacations. Now that we had retired it was time see the world and relax a bit.

We boarded the cruise line on January 2^nd of 2020 and expected that we would travel from Los Angeles to London over the next 119 days. The itinerary was amazing and included exotic places like: Bora Bora, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, India, Egypt, and Spain. All told, the adventure planned 90+ stops in 57 countries…I was planning for a unique trip of a lifetime.

One of the first things you do on a long cruise is to get to know your fellow passengers and crew. Some of the officers showed interest in my background as an ancient history professor. They asked if I had ever considered giving lectures on a cruise. Our family moto is to “just say yes” so I asked how you might apply for such a position. They introduced me to the cruise director (who manages on-board enrichment) and two of the guest enrichment presenters.

One of the lecturers shared that he and his wife spend 4 months per year on a ship giving lectures and they love it. Another couple said that they have been on a ship for 16 of the last 24 months! How amazing – they get free airfare, free food, free drinks, free entertainment – and all you have to do is give a 45-minute lecture a few times per week – count me in!

I learned that decisions were made by the cruise line corporate offices and that they often use an outside clearing house to vet potential speakers. So, I signed up with the clearing house and prepared a list of possible presentation topics.

The head of enrichment at the cruise line sent me an email and said they would be willing to give me a try and that I needed to prepare five lectures on Egyptian history topics. They needed the lectures ready to go in 4 weeks. Fortunately, I keep all my classroom lectures on dropbox and I was able to access old lectures online.

I spent the next few days turning classroom lectures into presentations for a general audience. During this time, the Corona virus became an issue and many passengers decided to leave the ship and return to their homes. As the virus continued to spread our itinerary moved up and I was asked to be ready in just over a week. The timing was not an issue and I gave my first presentation on March 19^th.

The first presentation was on the Mystery of King Tut and I had a blast! My floor-mates came out and danced to warm up the audience and everyone seemed to have a good time. Those who attended let me know that the talk was informative and engaging…I was hooked!

You never know what doors will open in life, and I am always up for a new adventure. Perhaps my next career will be a cruise ship lecturer…..(Excerpt of the lecture is below)