The formal lecture programme matters less than people assume. The best guiding happens live on the outer decks, with someone explaining the history and biology of what you're looking at right now. A guide's own story often lands harder than a slide deck too, whether that's a ski crossing or a season on a crab boat. Heavy reliance on indoor programming is usually a sign of weaker interpretation, not a richer one.
The evening recap is the part that ties a day together. Short talks from the guides about what the ship saw that day, then the expedition leader's briefing on tomorrow. Homeward crossings get more celebratory, with a farewell cocktail with the captain and the photographer's recap.
If you're comparing operators on guiding, ask about interpretation rather than credentials. How many guides, how varied their backgrounds and specialities, and how much time they spend out on deck rather than in the lecture theatre. Bigger ships in the 130 to 180 range tend to carry more guides and a wider spread of specialities, which is one of the underrated arguments for that size.