Queen Elizabeth is currently in the middle of her highly acclaimed season sailing Alaska, giving guests one-of-a-kind opportunities to explore The Great Land from the ship and ashore.
Cunard has a range of activities and events to bring this otherworldly land to life. With National Park Rangers hosting all visits to Glacier Bay and Naturalists on every sailing to provide deck commentary, talks, and to man the Alaska Outpost, guests have plenty of chances to ask questions and learn more about the places they’re exploring.
For this year’s Alaskan voyages, Cunard again partnered with the Royal Canadian Society to provide their thought-provoking speakers on every sailing, alongside the exciting Cunard Insights programme, curated by the in-house Guest Experience Entertainment Booking team.
The team has such a personal connection to the programmes they put together, with Entertainment Booking Manager, Rachel Vasile being only one of those who started their career on ships:
Having worked on board and travelled to Alaska for the 2004 and 2005 seasons, it has been incredible to re-live my best moments and create a programme that brings the world alive for our guests on their personal Alaskan journeys.
Queen Elizabeth has already hosted a range of Cunard Insights speakers this season, with many more to come. So far, Cunard have had Ice Road Trucker Alex Debogorksi, impressive long-distance skier and explorer Preet Chandi MBE, mountaineer Kenton Cool, and award-winning broadcaster and adventurer Ben Fogle on board. With such an eclectic mix of personalities and backgrounds, guests have had a rare opportunity to learn more about what goes into a real Alaskan expedition within the breathtaking scenery they can admire from the comfort of the ship.
Read more below about some of the exciting speakers Cunard’s Guest Experience team has booked for the remainder of Queen Elizabeth’s time in Alaska…
Doug Allan – Doug Allan is a freelance wildlife and documentary cameraman who films both topside and underwater. During his time as a research diver on the British Antarctic Survey station in the South Orkeys, Doug was awarded the Fuchs Medal and the Polar Medal, which also offered Doug the chance to winter with Emperor Penguins, and to turn over with a movie camera rather than just stills. His TV credits include: Blue Planet, Planet Earth, Life, Human Planet, Frozen Planet, Expedition Iceberg, and Forces of Nature.
Alan Chambers MBE – Polar adventurer Alan Chambers MBE led the first successful British unsupported expedition from Canada to the Geographic North Pole. Over 70 days they walked 672 nautical miles in temperatures as low as -65°C, dragging a sledge the weight of a baby elephant. Alan has subsequently led over a dozen North Pole expeditions with top business leaders and chief executives. He helps them to explore and reflect on their own leadership capabilities.
Adrian Hayes – Adrian Hayes is a British record-breaking adventurer, author, keynote speaker, business coach, documentary presenter and sustainability campaigner. An Arabic and Nepalese-speaking former British Army Gurkha Officer, who spent two years as part of the Special Forces, he has conquered Everest, K2, the North and South Poles, the length of Greenland by kite-ski and the Arabian Desert by camel amidst a lifetime of adventure, and two Guinness World Records.
Apa Sherpa – Apa Sherpa was born with the name Lhakpa Tenzing Sherpa, in Thame, a village in the Everest region of Nepal. He was renamed “Apa” which means “much loved“ at three months old after surviving an avalanche. Apa always wanted to be a doctor but after his father’s death at the age of 12, Apa dropped out of school to support his family and started working as a porter for mountaineering groups. He went on to hold the world record for climbing and summiting Everest the most times until 2018. Today Apa is retired and is focused on giving back to his homeland. In Apa’s famous words, “Without an education, we have no choice.”
Caroline Hamilton – Caroline Hamilton is a record-breaking polar explorer and a successful businesswoman. She is part of the first all-women team to ski to both the North and South Poles. Hauling sledges more than her own bodyweight, she travelled 500 miles to the North Pole in 2002 and 700 miles to the South Pole in 2000. Caroline and her team-mate Ann Daniels set two world records as the first female British explorers to have trekked to the geographic North and South Poles as part of all-women expeditions.