Future guest speakers

Peter

I recently completed one of the "Your View" surveys which asked about possible future entertainment and other activities on board. One of the questions related to guest speakers and included a long list of notable figures including Sebastian Coe, Sir Chris Hoy, Professor Brian Cox, Dame Maggie Smith, Sandi Toksvig and Claire Balding. Everyone on the list was pretty much a household name and I was surprised that you might be suggesting that such luminaries could be persuaded aboard a Cunard ship given that currently, you rarely have anyone of comparable note. Would you therefore advise whether there is any realistic prospect of such figures appearing on board in the near future or whether the list was merely indicative of the types of speaker Cunard is looking to attract. Thank you.

That is a great list of potential speakers - thank you. We will have a look at those - some are already on our radar. We want to further enhance our overall Insight Programme. Sir Jackie Steward recently gave two great lectures on Queen Mary 2 and was warmly received. Thanks. Peter

Cunard used to have notable speakers and celebrities very frequently on QE2, and on QM2 during her first few years. Often there were more than one on a crossing. For example, one QM2 crossing featured John Cleese as well as Angela Bassett. There were many others famous names on crossings who were lecturers, performers, or sometimes just travelers. I certainly saw quite a few.

Also, QE2 had wonderful themed crossings which were great fun. You could look up future crossings on QE2 and see which theme each one would have. One could choose for example, a space travel theme, an onboard mystery murder theme, a British theater theme, etc. There would invariably be a well known speaker with each.

The fact that the past few years there are now very few big names/celebrities on QM2 I suppose must be due to the economy. I feel QM2 has become more of a cruise ship like others and has lost much of her special appeal and star power. Cunard still has unique qualities, but fewer than not too long ago.

I beg to differ - if I may. We have seen John Cleese, Sir David Frost, Bill Bryson, Sir Jackie Stewart and our frined Archbishop Tutu to name a few. We also have real experts in their field who will be less well known. Point well made though and we are looking to further develop our Insight Programme. Best Regards. Peter

[quote name='Peter Shanks']That is a great list of potential speakers - thank you. We will have a look at those - [B]some are already on our radar[/B]. We want to further enhance our overall Insight Programme. Sir Jackie Steward recently gave two great lectures on Queen Mary 2 and was warmly received. Thanks. Peter[/quote]

Reading the original post, this list of suggested speakers was contained in a survey from your company, suggesting that they are already 'on your radar'. Is this a reasonable conclusion?

Sir Martin

Yes