Cunard 2013 Speaker Program

Renowned for its award-winning Cunard Insights on board enrichment program, Cunard Line has announced that leading luminaries in their fields – author Bill Bryson, business guru Lord Digby Jones and eminent Professor of Science and Society Lord Robert Winston – are among the featured speakers aboard Queen Mary 2, Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth beginning this spring.

“The quality of our speaker programme on board our ships is something which sets Cunard apart,” said Peter Shanks, president of Cunard Line.  “We are delighted to welcome three such pre-eminent and internationally respected figures to our line-up for 2013 who will add an extra dimension to our passengers’ experience on board.”

Delving into a variety of compelling and relevant topics, Cunard Insights introduces guests to accomplished experts and visionaries who reflect the Line’s legacy of adventure and prestige while sailing a luxury cruise vacation.  Sail dates for these cutting-edge Cunard Insights speakers, as well as the voyage itineraries, are as follows:

•  Lord Digby Jones, Queen Victoria, Adriatic Explorer, 15 May, 17 days:  Southampton; Palermo for Sicily; Korcula, Croatia; Venice; Dubrovnik; Corfu; Messina for Sicily; Valencia, Spain; Southampton.  Fares start from $3,074 per person (including government fees and taxes), plus save $500 per person off airfare when booked by 31 March 2013.

•  Lord Robert Winston, Queen Elizabeth, Norwegian Fjords and North Cape Explorer, 26 May, 14 days: Southampton, Stavanger, Flaam, Alesund, Trondheim, Honningsvag for North Cape, Tromso, Geiranger, Bergen, Southampton.  Fares start from $2,616 per person (including government fees and taxes), plus save $500 per person off Airfare when booked by 31 March 2013.

•  Bill Bryson, Queen Mary 2, Autumn Colours, 15 October, 12 days: New York; Newport, Rhode Island; Boston; Bar Harbor, Maine; St John, New Brunswick; Halifax, Nova Scotia; Québéc (overnight stay); New York.  Fares start from $1,999 per person.

All fares quoted are per person, based on double occupancy.

Bryson, Lord Jones and Lord Winston complement the array of speakers lined up for Cunard’s current four-month World Voyages, who include:

•  Queen Mary 2 – journalist and war correspondent Martin Bell; ex-Formula 1 driver Sir Jackie Stewart; former Chief of the General Staff General Dannatt; and “Human Planet” BBC documentary producer Dale Templar
•  Queen Elizabeth – Roger McGuinn, lead singer of The Byrds; Royal commentator Jennie Bond; former ambassador and high commissioner Sir Alan Collins; and polar explorer Felicity Ashton
•  Queen Victoria – former politician and broadcaster Edwina Currie; author and “queen of cakes” Jane Asher; and cartoonist Gerald Scarfe

Lord Digby Jones

Born in Birmingham in 1955, Lord Digby Jones was introduced to the world of business through his family’s corner shop, where he lived for most of his early childhood.  After graduating in Law at University College London in 1977, he enjoyed a successful career in corporate law, becoming Vice President of KPMG. 

He was then Director General for the CBI from 2000 to 2006, during which time he was knighted for his services to business, as he travelled to over 70 different countries “banging the drum for Britain.”

Lord Digby was appointed Minister of State for Trade & Investment (2007 to 2008) and was made a Life Peer in the House of Lords, but famously did not join the party of Government.  He sits on numerous boards and holds several advisory positions, also giving much time to his nominated charities.

Lord Digby is known as the “Voice of Business” and his first book, “Fixing Britain – The Business of Reshaping our Nation,” was published in April 2011.

Lord Robert Winston

Lord Robert Winston first achieved prominence as an expert in human fertility.  Now the first Professor of Science and Society, as well as Emeritus Professor of Fertility Studies at Imperial College London, he runs a research program with a long-term mission of improving human transplantation.  He is also Chancellor of Sheffield Hallam University, Chairman of the Royal College of Music, and was voted “Peer of the Year” in 2008 by his fellow Parliamentarians for his expertise and work on the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill.

Lord Winston’s appointment at Imperial College focuses on the importance of improving communication and public engagement with science, with the aim of establishing a dedicated facility at the College where pupils and teachers can get hands-on experience in areas of science such as DNA analysis and robotics.

Bill Bryson

Internationally renowned writer and broadcaster Bill Bryson is the best-selling author of books such as “Notes from a Small Island” and “A Short History of Nearly Everything,” a science volume that won the Descartes prize.  His latest work is “At Home: A Short History of Private Life.”  His books have sold over 10 million copies worldwide.

Although American, Bill Bryson is an honorary OBE and a noted anglophile who is President of the Campaign to Protect Rural England, Chancellor of Durham University and a former commissioner of English Heritage.

These 2013 Cunard Insights speakers join Cunard’s legacy of welcoming world-famous guests and experts on board, including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Buzz Aldrin, James Taylor, Jean Chatzky, Tina Brown, Baz Luhrmann, Rona Barrett and E.L. Doctorow.

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