Favorite Insight Lecturers

[Sikwemu]

Went to see Seth Gopin rather reluctantly and ended up walking round ports looking at architecture

George McGhee, although a little waspish at times, is always good as he regularly changes his presentations...unlike some others that could be mentioned!

[ToadOfToadHall]

Mrs Toad went to see George McGavin and it was packed.

 

There was an Oxbridge lecturer who did a good talk on the differences between the English language in the US and the UK. I can't recall his name but he was very good. "If you could just knock me up in the morning" was a good example !

Edited August 31, 2015 by ToadOfToadHall

[busmech]

Enjoyed Roger Mcguinn in 2014 and Felicity Aston in 2011. But on the whole they are very good, wide variety of different people. I enjoy the many sea days on the 2 world cruise segments that i have done. get to see lots of speakers.

[Host Hattie]

Lord Robert Winston was a guest on one of our evening radio programmes and someone contacted the show to say how much they had enjoyed hearing him speak on Queen Elizabeth earlier this year.

[Bell Boy]

Maureen Ryan was on our TA in July, she did 2 talks, she was brilliant and very funny.

 

Susan

 

And she is still on there today Susan ........"Deck seven" !!!;)

[pepperrn]

And she is still on there today Susan ........"Deck seven" !!!;)

Yes, she is :)

 

On the days when I'm wishing I was on board QM2 (which is every day that I'm not on board QM2 of course) I can play a sound recording I made on my 'phone a couple of years back in one of the outside scenic lifts... " ...Deck Nine... " ... and straight away, in my mind, I'm stepping into the Commodore Club... :)

Edited September 2, 2015 by pepperrn

[jimmybean]

Yes, she is :)

 

On the days when I'm wishing I was on board QM2 (which is every day that I'm not on board QM2 of course) I can play a sound recording I made on my 'phone a couple of years back in one of the outside scenic lifts... " ...Deck Nine... " ... and straight away, in my mind, I'm stepping into the Commodore Club... :)

 

Really, I had no idea, Pepper!

 

On our last crossing Maureen was a speaker, but I missed her presentation. Later, however, I met her at the wine tasting. Lovely, lovely lady!

 

I could use a ride in the outside elevator and a visit to the Commodore and another opportunity to hear Maureen Ryan, which I would not waste!

 

Jimmybean

[Underwatr]

I'd need one of the main elevators since the scenic elevators don't go to my favorite deck.

 

"Deck... sixsssssss"

[chirk_on_tour]

During our Christmas QE tour to Amsterdam last year that never made it to Amsterdam, Martin Bell was our speaker. We missed his main talks but we happened to sit in on an extra talk he did about his poems in the Garden Lounge . I never knew he wrote poems. They were very funny. And even my 18 month year old daughter and three year old son sat still long enough for my wife and I to enjoy it. Which was nice!

[thenoflygal]

Seth Gopin. He is an architectural historian. Very engaging with original ideas and quite knowledgeable and approachable. His lectures were so packed every seat was taken and people were standing outside the theater to listen.

[Island Venturer]

We thoroughly enjoy Broadway Producer Steven Rivellino. His very informative and entertaining talks on The Business of Broadway... as well as features on Radio City Music Hall, Bob Fosse, Arthur Miller and Marilyn Monroe, and Edith Piaf. were nothing short of dynamic. His presentations were more like 'shows' than shipboard lectures. He was certainly the highlight of our most recent crossing...

[ClevelandOhio]

Seth Gopin's lectures are fabulous. Every time I have heard him speak he has caused me to have an epiphany about the world of art. I can't imagine what a great professor he must have been.

[Oahucruiser]

On the QM2 this past August we heard a couple of talks by Robert M. Gates, secretary of Defense under both Bush and Obama, among other top jobs he has had. Outstanding. SRO both times.

 

Also very much enjoyed Terry Waite and Roger McGuinn of The Byrds.

[3rdGenCunarder]

As others have said, Stephen Payne, Bill Miller top the list. Lynne Truss was wonderful--In one of her talks, she read replies to one of those awful "Christmas letters." So funny!

 

And many years ago on QE2, PD James. Such a charming woman, and very witty. I remember her talking about writing police detectives vs amateurs. One point she made was that you have to suspend belief a bit to accept that an amateur would constantly be finding dead bodies. "I think your Jessica Fletcher is a lovely woman, but if I saw her coming, I would run away!" I still marvel at how this sweet grandmotherly looking woman could write such vicious crimes!

[foster269]

Hello,on our last trip on QE,earlier this month, we had Lord Digby Jones.

I have mentioned this else where,he was very very good.

I attended two lectures and a question and answer session,the theatre was full on all three occasions.

On a lighter note,I have see actor John Lyons, who plays Sgt.George Toolan in the television programme, A Touch of Frost.He was very funny with a lot of insights and anecdotes into the programme.I realise this was probably a little lowbrow but i enjoyed it.

Rodger.

Edited September 25, 2015 by foster269

[Yoshikitty]

And she is still on there today Susan ........"Deck seven" !!!;)

 

Wow, never knew!

Where does that info come from?

[3rdGenCunarder]

Wow, never knew!

Where does that info come from?

 

From Maureen herself. (Although I knew already because I'd read it here) She's a wonderful speaker and a delightful person.

 

This is one of those odd bits of information that many people don't know. When Maureen did the last of her talks on the 175 crossing, she said how much she had loved working on Cunard, but she was happily retired. Then she said, "But I am still here, working 24/7." She paused and said "Deck five." This got lots of applause. The woman next to me didn't understand, so I told her. I think there were lots of similar conversations that morning.

[mandranuc]

Ted (Theodore) Scull - pleased to see he is on the first sector of the WC on QM2 in January 2016.

[commodoredave]

The late mystery author PD James.

Bill Miller, cruise ship historian.

Joshua Levine, WW2 historian.

[coyboy1971]

I just came off the Crystal Symphony where I attended five lectures on espionage, surveillance, and world affairs by the thoroughly captivating and entertaining speaker calling himself Nigel West. I see a few other CC'ers have also enjoyed his talks.

 

Turns out, the lecturer is actually called Rupert William Simon Allason, a military historian and journalist and former Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom and Member of Parliament (MP) from 1987 to 1997. He writes books and articles on the subject of espionage under the pen name Nigel West.

As a historian, Allason has concentrated on security and intelligence issues and his controversial books have frequently made headlines. He's quite a storyteller and if you look him up, you'll find he's no stranger to the courts.

It's funny, after a lecture where we referenced "open sources," I did look him up. It made the lectures all the more entertaining to know about the colorful past of the speaker.

Having known his true identify for the last couple of lectures, I was thoroughly entertained when a fellow guest asked "Nigel" to share more about his own past and how he came to be an expert on covert matters. He responded to the question with the answer, "Most certainly not," with a twinkle in his eye.

[amias]

We found Scott Bornstein, who talked about making your memory stronger, to be very interesting, as was Julian Woolford. Not sure if they fell under the 'Insight Speakers' but we were lucky to be on board QM2 with the gentlemen from the Greatest Generation Foundation. One or two of them spoke almost every day and their stories and reminiscences were by degrees funny, heroic, tragic and horrifying. All spoke compellingly and we were honored to have the opportunity to hear them.

[Bigmike911]

The speakers have always been very interesting. Some that I remember particularly well were Bill Miller, first heard narrating the travel down the Hudson River in a blinding snowstorm where we could see nothing he was describing. Later on several cruises Bill Miller spoke again. Stephen Payne the marine architect who designed the Queen Mary 2 was terrific. I enjoyed Steve Rivellino's musings, but the speaker I enjoyed the most was Dr. Ruth Westheimer. One an east bound crossing that continued to Hamburg and had several hundred Germans aboard, so she delivered her talks once in English and once in German. I went to both and learned several new words to enhance my German language skills.

[HelloKittysMum]

My favorite was Roger McGuinn from the rock group The Byrds. He gave several talks during the QV 2014 WV. As he talked about his music career, he would play his guitar and sing.

 

Brought back many great memories.

 

Don

I agree. He was on our QM2 Caribbean Christmas. Even though I was too young to remember the music from the time (but am obviously familiar with it) he was great.

 

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[Scotswoman]

Lecturers.....Cunard now catering for German speakers.

Just to let any German speaking Cunard fans know that on our recent cruise to the Norwegian fjords (with over 1200 Germans on board) we had truly excellent lectures in German from Dr. Fritz Pleitgen and Ulrich Deppendorf, who are well known from German press and television. Also the lady who spoke in German on Norwegian customs and everyday life was refreshingly excellent - we have got so tired of the "run of the mill excursion-selling talks" on some cruise ships that we usually don't bother going to those lectures any more. This was a real bonus for us on this cruise, even if we are completely bilingual and can also enjoy the lectures.

 

 

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