Cunard Announces Guest Speakers for 2015

Cunard have announced their roster of speakers for their Queen Mary 2, Queen Elizabeth and Queen Victoria ships for 2015; the brand’s 175th anniversary year.

Joining the Queen Victoria on a 15-night sail between Fort Lauderdale and Los Angeles in February, Academy Award winning actress Shirley Jones will be aboard for a book signing of her recent biography. Accompanied by her husband, actor Marty Ingels, Shirley will also appear at two Q&A sessions during the cruise.

A 7-night transatlantic crossing from New York to Southampton in May will see the BBC News presenter Nicholas Owen hold two talks. A former ITV Royal Correspondent, the first of these talks ‘Life with the Royals’ will offer his own behind the scenes insights, while the second talk, ‘What’s Wrong With the Media?’, will discuss the quality of today’s media and the role it plays.

Setting sail on the 30th of January from Dubai to Hong Kong, three times F1 Champion Sir Jackie Stewart will join the Queen Mary 2 on a 22-night sailing expedition where he will talk about his successful career as one of Britain’s greatest Grand Prix drivers, a show that will include video extracts of his best moments and be followed by a Q&A.

Professor of Science and Society at Imperial College London, Lord Robert Winston will join the Queen Elizabeth for part of her 14 night cruise from Southampton to Spain in June, presenting three talks which explore ‘How did Renaissance painters portray disease?’, ‘The burgeoning threat of technology’ and ‘The extinction of the human being’.

A 14-night September fly cruise from Rome to Venice will see ex Home Secretary David Blunkett MP hosting two talks, ‘Reflections on growing up without sight’ and ‘Life in the bear pit’, which will give behind the scenes insights into the ups and downs of the Blair and Brown years as well as explaining in detail how government really works.

Also joining the Queen Elizabeth on her 17-night October/November cruise to Venice and the Adriatic is writer, broadcaster and entertainer, Pam Ayres. One of the biggest selling female
comedians in the UK, Pam is also a regular on BBC Radio 4 and had the best-selling female autobiography of 2011.

Peter Snow will be joining the Queen Victoria’s 6-night 175th anniversary cruise from Southampton to Liverpool and back in May. The popular historian and radio and television presenter is a familiar face to UK viewers, having appeared on news, current affairs and history programmes for decades.

“With over 40-years’ experience, Cunard continues to attract the very best experts in their field when it comes to our inspiring speaker programme. We are delighted to unveil the first of our Insight speakers for 2015 – our 175th anniversary year”, said Angus Struthers, Marketing Director at Cunard.

Images sourced via Flickr Creative Commons. Credits: stereotyp-0815