CUNARD
The Royal Canadian Geographical Society and Cunard®: both proud custodians of storied pasts. The RCGS, founded in 1929 by Canadian geologist and explorer Charles Camsell along with 27 others who shared his vision to champion Canada’s immense geography. Cunard, founded in 1829 by Halifax-born entrepreneur Sir Samuel Cunard — whose statue now stands in the Atlantic city’s port — after winning the contract to bring mail from England to North America aboard the RMS Britannia®. That transatlantic service continues on Cunard’s flagship, RMS Queen Mary 2®.
From those beginnings crossing the vast waters that separate Europe and North America, Cunard has continued to pioneer on its journey to becoming one of the world’s premier luxury cruise lines. At various points, Cunard ships have been wooden-hulled, paddle steamers and iron-hulled and have served in wars, hosted prime ministers and feted royalty. In 1881, SS Servia became the first ship to introduce rooms ‘en suite.’ A year later, the Parthia Evening Post became the first known example of a ship’s newspaper. In 1893, Cunard became the first to introduce refrigeration at sea. The list goes on, with Cunard introducing, at different points, the first ships to have bridal suites, gymnasiums, health spas, on-board branches of Harrods, Planetariums and theatre boxes.
Both the RCGS and Cunard have come a long way, and today both share core principles, geography, and the desire to explore and understand Canada’s lands and cultures.
The Society will partner with Cunard through their Insights enrichment program on their Alaska voyages — out of Vancouver — and New England voyages — out of New York. Through this partnership, the Society aims not only to explore the beauty and rich culture of these regions, but to educate guests during their time aboard Queen Elizabeth®. RCGS Speakers will include explorers, naturalists, geographical experts, Indigenous advocates — and all of them adventurers.
“RCGS Speakers is an exciting onboard enrichment programme. I’ve personally had the pleasure of sailing aboard three of the Cunard ‘Queens,’ including Queen Victoria’s first transatlantic crossing, and without exaggeration, they are the most beautiful ships plying the ocean today. I look forward to rediscovering the Queens during the 2023 Alaska season, and am so excited for others to experience that legendary Cunard White-Star hospitality as we build this partnership over the coming years.”
—John Geiger, CEO of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society
Joseph Frey
Joseph has travelled to over 80 countries and all seven continents participating in numerous expeditions including NOAA’s Battle of the Atlantic marine archaeology survey of the German submarine U-576. Fascinated by polar sciences, Joseph has taken part in expeditions to the Antarctic, Greenland and across the Canadian High Arctic. Joseph is Vice-President, Board of Governors of The Royal Canadian Geographical Society, as well as Chair, College of Fellows.
Join Joseph Frey on this 12 night Alaska voyage, departing from Vancouver, that calls at Icy Strait Point, Sitka, Haines, Juneau, Ketchikan and Victoria. Be charmed by Ketchikan’s colorful totem poles, keep a watchful eye for humpback whales, and absorb the splendor of skyscraper-tall glaciers, as you cruise through Alaska’s icy fjords on Queen Elizabeth.
Jill Heinerth
Jill Heinerth is one of the world’s premier underwater explorers, and the first person to dive inside iceberg caves. An acclaimed polar explorer, cave diver, author, speaker, filmmaker and climate advocate, Jill is the first Explorer-in-Residence of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society. She leads expeditions into extreme environments to advance scientific and geographic knowledge. Her bestselling book INTO THE PLANET – My Life as a Cave Diver has drawn acclaim from The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, NPR, and O Magazine.
Join Jill Heinerth on this 10-night Alaska voyage that cruises through Glacier Bay National Park and alongside Hubbard Glacier, calling at Sitka, Skagway, Endicott Arm, Ketchikan and Victoria. Glaciers as tall as skyscrapers and towns sprung from gold rush fever provide a window into Alaska’s icy world.
John Geiger
John Geiger is CEO of The Royal Canadian Geographical Society and an internationally bestselling author of seven books, including Frozen In Time: The Fate of the Franklin Expedition, The Third Man Factor: Surviving the Impossible, and Chapel of Extreme Experience: A Short History of Stroboscopic Light and the Dream Machine. He has appeared on many television and radio programs, and has been featured in major documentary films including Arctic Ghost Ship on PBS Nova, and The Angel Effect on National Geographic Channel’s Explorer. John has received numerous honors and in 2021, he was awarded with the Order of Canada.
Join John Geiger on this 7-night Alaska voyage, departing from Vancouver, that calls in Sitka, Juneau, and Ketchikan. Savor the sight of towering glaciers, colorful totem poles, and frontier-style buildings developed during the gold rush.
George Kourounis
George Kourounis has a passion for the Earth’s extremes. He is an explorer, storm chaser, TV host, and Explorer-In-Residence for the Royal Canadian Geographical Society. He specializes in documenting forces of nature, extreme weather, in wild, remote places with his adventures spanning over 80 countries and all 7 continents. For 25 years he has chased tornadoes, driven into the eye of hurricanes like Katrina and Sandy and rappelled deep into the crater of an actively erupting volcano. Kourounis is best known for hosting 50 episodes of his own globe-trotting TV series Angry Planet.
Join George Kourounis on this 10 night Alaska voyage, calling at Sitka, Skagway, Juneau, Icy Strait Point and Ketchikan. Find yourself immersed in Alaska’s world of ice and water, where glaciers dominate the landscape and the echoes of gold rush fever still linger in the frontier-style buildings lining the streets.
David Gray
With three decades of experience as a journalist, CBC Radio host David Gray has filed stories from around the world, focusing on Europe and North America. Based in Calgary, David is an avid adventurer, diver, skier, and cyclist. David, a Fellow of the RCGS, has traveled by sea with the RCGS in the Eastern Arctic and Atlantic Canada (including a particularly memorable excursion to Sable Island). He also hosted a conversation with a prestigious panel of Indigenous leaders at the 2018 Fellows Dinner at the National Arts Center in Ottawa, and a more informal gathering of Western-based Fellows at McDougall Center in Calgary.
Join David Gray on this 10 night Alaska voyage, calling at Ketchikan, Sitka, Juneau, Skagway and Victoria.
Follow in the footsteps of gold prospectors and sail in the shadows of glaciers as you explore Alaska’s frontier-style towns and icy waterways on this roundtrip cruise from Vancouver.
Dr. Lynn Moorman
Dr. Lynn Moorman is a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society and professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Mount Royal University in Calgary, where she teaches physical geography, geomorphology, advanced digital mapping, and geospatial technologies. Her research interests lie at the intersection of physical geography, learning sciences, and applied geospatial and visualization technology, including virtual and augmented reality.
Join Dr. Lynn Moorman on this 11 night Alaska voyage, calling at Sitka, Haines, Juneau, Icy Strait Point, Ketchikan and Victoria. Be transported back through time in gold rush towns, and to the edge of the world as you know it, as you sail through fjords flanked by frozen rivers and icy glaciers that defy imagination.
Dr. Dave Williams
Dr. Dave Williams is an astronaut, aquanaut, pilot, emergency physician, scientist, and CEO. He has flown to space twice, once on the space shuttle Columbia and once on Endeavour, logging over thirteen million kilometers in space and over seventeen hours of spacewalks. He holds the Canadian spacewalking record and was the first Canadian to have lived and worked in space and on Aquarius, the world’s only undersea research habitat. He is the recipient of seven honorary degrees, the Order of Canada, the Order of Ontario and is a Fellow of the Royal Canadian Geographic Society.
Join Dr. Dave Williams on this 10 night Alaska voyage, calling at Ketchikan, Juneau, Skagway, Sitka, and Victoria. Towering glaciers as tall as buildings and towns where gold prospectors flocked in search of fortune will transport you into a world unlike any you’ve seen.
Joseph Frey
Joseph has travelled to over 80 countries and all seven continents participating in numerous expeditions including NOAA’s Battle of the Atlantic marine archaeology survey of the German submarine U-576. Fascinated by polar sciences, Joseph has taken part in expeditions to the Antarctic, Greenland and across the Canadian High Arctic. Joseph is Vice-President, Board of Governors of The Royal Canadian Geographical Society, as well as Chair, College of Fellows.
Join Joseph on this 14 night voyage through New England and Canada, calling at Halifax, N.S, Sept-Iles, Q.C., Saguenay, Q.C., Quebec, Q.C., Sydney, N.S., and Boston, M.A. Sailing roundtrip from New York, you’ll explore the cities of Halifax, Sept-Iles and Saguenay in Canada ahead of a three day stay in Quebec City. You’ll then call in Nova Scotia and Boston before returning home.
