Onboard Program also includes Mensun Bound,
Kenton Cool and Felicity Aston
VALENCIA, Calif., Oct. 20,
2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Cunard announces an exciting new
line-up for Alaska 2023's
InsightsTM enrichment program with one of the most
recognized personalities of outdoor adventure - Bear Grylls
OBE - headlining the season.
Grylls will be joining Queen
Elizabeth's maiden 2023 Alaska voyage, roundtrip out of
Vancouver on June 8, where he will share his experiences as
one of the youngest climbers of Mount Everest, bestselling author,
TV presenter and all-round adventurer. This will be Bear's first
appearance on a cruise ship and the first time he returns to
Alaska since his memorable visit
with President Barack Obama in
2015.
Guests aboard this 12-night voyage will experience the stunning
Glacier Bay National Park, Tracy Arm Fjord and Hubbard Glacier,
with port calls in Juneau,
Ketchikan, Sitka and more. Award-winning naturalist Dr.
Rachel Cartwright and a Cultural
Heritage Guide from Alaska Native Voices will also be featured on
this voyage as guests luxuriate on Queen
Elizabeth through the breath-taking landscape of
Alaska.
Cunard will offer six additional voyages in the region
throughout June, July and August, each showcasing a different
explorer as part of the Insights Program.
Guests will have the opportunity to hear from marine
archaeologist Mensun Bound, known for his recent discovery
of Shackleton's ship
Endurance; British mountaineer Kenton Cool, who has summited Mount Everest
15 times, including leading Sir Ranulph
Fiennes and Ben Fogle in
their respective expeditions; Ann
Daniels, one of Britain's leading Polar explorers and the
first woman in history to ski to the North and South Poles as part
of an all-women team; and Felicity Aston MBE, polar
scientist turned explorer, award-winning author, TV presenter and
world-record holder for being the first woman to ski alone across
the Antarctic.
"I've been a fan of Bear Grylls since Man vs Wild and I'm
thrilled that our guests will be able to see him live on
Queen Elizabeth next year," said
Matt Gleaves, VP of Commercial for
Cunard in North America and
Australasia. "Alaska is all about
exploration and our line-up of world-class pioneers will bring the
adventure onboard; it will be an experience not found anywhere
else."
The full line-up of onboard
Insights speakers in Alaska 2023
include:
Bear Grylls (June 8)
Bear Grylls is probably the most recognizable face of adventure on
the planet. The former 21 SAS soldier was one of the youngest
climbers of Mount Everest, despite breaking his back in a free-fall
accident only months earlier. Bear's TV shows include the legendary
Discovery show Man Vs Wild and the hit show Running Wild
with Bear Grylls, now in its seventh season on National
Geographic Channel. His Running Wild guests have included
President Obama (in Alaska),
Roger Federer, Julia Roberts, Prime Minister Modi of
India and most recent Hollywood stars Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher.
Bear is a family man, a bestselling author who has sold over 20
million books, the Honorary Colonel to the British Royal Marine
Commandos and the first-ever Chief Ambassador to 55 million young
Scouts worldwide.
Kenton
Cool (June 20 and
30)
Kenton Cool is an English
mountaineer and mountain guide. He is one of Britain's leading alpine and high-altitude
climbers and has summited Mount Everest 15 times, including leading
Sir Ranulph Fiennes' 2008 and 2009
expeditions and Ben Fogle's 2019
expedition.
He has completed over 20 notable expeditions in the Greater
Ranges and in 2013, became the first person to climb Nuptse,
Everest and Lhotse in a single push without returning to base camp.
He has also skied two 26,000-foot mountains and guided a successful
expedition to the summit of K2. He has also led expeditions through
Alaska including North America's highest peak, Mount
McKinley.
Pen Hadow (July 7)
Explorer and Adventurer Pen Hadow was catapulted to international
fame when he became the first and only person to complete one of
the last great polar challenges - solo, without re-supply, from
Canada to the North Pole. It took him three attempts over 15
years to achieve this single feat at the 'bleeding edge of
exploration'. Pen has a strong connection with Alaska in his adventures, including attempting
to sail to the North Pole from
Nome, Alaska.
Ann Daniels (July 17)
Ann Daniels is one of Britain's leading Polar explorers. In 2002 Ann
became a world record holder when she reached the North Pole despite unbelievable arctic
conditions and became the first woman in history to ski to the
North and South Poles as part of an all women team. This journey
has never been repeated.
In 2009, Ann took part in the first Catlin Arctic Survey over a
period of 100 days, 1000km crossing of the ice cap in temperatures
as low as -58ºF. The survey set off from Alaska, walking, skiing and on occasion
swimming stretches of open water to reach the North Geographic
Pole. Ann is described by The Daily Telegraph as one of the
top 20 Great British Adventurers of all time.
Felicity Aston
(July 27)
Felicity Aston MBE is a Polar Scientist turned Explorer. In 2012
she became the first woman to ski alone across the Antarctic, a
1744km/1084m journey that took her 59
days and entered her in the Guinness Book of World Records. She has
also created and led record-making ski expeditions to both the
North and South Geographic Poles with international teams of
pioneering women; skied frozen rivers and lakes in Siberia; driven 2,236 miles to the Pole of
Cold (the coldest inhabited place on Earth); flown across the U.S.
in an airship; and run the Marathon Des Sables footrace in the
Sahara. An award-winning author of three books, professional
speaker, and occasional TV presenter, in 2016 Felicity retraced the
route of the 1898 Klondike Gold Rush and spent time mining for gold
in Alaska and the Yukon to co-present a series for the BBC.
Mensun Bound (August 7)
Known as the "Indiana Jones of the Deep," Mensun Bound has
conducted wreck surveys and excavations all over the world in a
career that spans 40 years. During that time, he excavated one
of the oldest known shipwrecks (600 BC). In 2019 Bound stunned the
world with his discovery of Admiral von
Spee's flagship, Scharnhorst, which had been
lost in battle during WWI. That same year Bound was Director of
Exploration for the first search to find Shackleton's ship Endurance. In 2022
the search resumed and on March 5 the
Endurance was found and, as predicted by Bound, it was
upright, largely intact, proud of the seabed in an excellent state
of preservation.
For more information about Cunard, or to book a
voyage, contact your Travel Consultant, call Cunard Line at
1-800-728-6273 or visit www.cunard.com.
For Travel Advisors interested in further information, please
contact your Business Development Manager, visit
OneSourceCruises.com or call Cunard at 1-800-528-6273.
About Cunard
Cunard is a luxury British cruise line, renowned for creating
unforgettable experiences around the world. Cunard has been a
leading operator of passenger ships on the North Atlantic, since
1840, celebrating an incredible 182 years of operation. A pioneer
in transatlantic journeys for generations, Cunard is world class.
The Cunard experience is built on fine dining, hand-selected
entertainment and outstanding service. From five-star restaurants
and in-suite dining to inspiring guest speakers, the library and
film screenings, every detail has been meticulously crafted to make
the experience unforgettable. Destinations include Europe, the Caribbean, the Far East and Australia.
There are currently three Cunard ships, Queen Mary 2, Queen
Elizabeth and Queen Victoria
and a fourth ship, Queen Anne, will
be entering service in early 2024. This investment is part of the
company's ambitious plans for the future of Cunard globally and
will be the first time since 1999 that Cunard will have four ships
in simultaneous service. Cunard is based at Carnival House in
Southampton and has been owned
since 1998 by Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL;
NYSE:CUK).
Social
Media
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For additional information about Cunard, contact:
Jackie Chase, Cunard, 310-926-7686,
jchase@cunard.com
Cindy Adams, MGA Media Group,
cindy@mgamediagroup.com
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