By Michael Coleman
Celebrated broadcasters, award-winning journalists, filmmakers and one of the nations most-respected business entrepreneurs will be sharing their insights with guests aboard select cruise ships in 2008.
In April, Gwen Ifill, host of Washington Week, PBS’ acclaimed political program, will lead a panel of respected journalists in a careful examination of the 2008 presidential campaign during an 11-night, Bermuda-bound journey aboard the ultra-luxurious, 490-guest, all-suite Regent Seven Seas Navigator
Ifill will discuss strategies and issues that will directly impact the presidential race with a panel of distinguished journalists including Dan Balz, National Political Correspondent, The Washington Post and Martha Raddatz, Chief White House Correspondent, ABC News. In addition, leading political analyst Charlie Cook of The Cook Political Report will provide front-line insight and information on the 2008 primaries, the campaign frontrunners and the possible outcome of the nation’s November presidential election.
The roundtrip Fort Lauderdale sailing visits Port Canaveral, FL; Savannah, GA; Charleston, SC; Hamilton and St. George’s, Bermuda and Nassau, Bahamas.Â
In November, award-winning historian Ric Burns will discuss his films, including the critically acclaimed documentary The History of New York, and distinguished producer Jac Venza will discuss the history of one of PBS’s longest running shows, Great Performances, during a fall Mediterranean cruise aboard the 700-guest, all-suite, all-balcony Regent Seven Seas Voyager.
The 16-night voyage departs from Civitavecchia, Italy (the port for Rome) with calls in Palermo, Sicily; Tunis, Tunisia; Cartagena and Malaga, Spain; Casablanca, Morocco and Funchal, Madeira before crossing the Atlantic to disembark in Fort Lauderdale.Â
Regent’s Public Television at Sea (PTV at Sea) cruises are offered in partnership with locally based PBS stations nationwide and Artful Travelers, which pairs the best of art, culture and entertainment to create extraordinary travel experiences. PTV at Sea guests will enjoy opportunities to meet and mingle with their favorite public broadcasting personalities at dinners, cocktail parties, shore excursions and other organized events during both voyages.
Meanwhile, distinguished sports leader and business entrepreneur Peter Ueberroth will be hosting an Alaska cruise from Juneau, May 24, aboard the 223-guest Empress of the North. Operated by Majestic America Line, one of the world’s leading river cruise lines and the largest river and coastal cruising company in America, the 7-night roundtrip cruise visits Alaska’s most colorful ports of call.
Stops include Juneau, the Gold Rush capital with its colorful boomtown frontier history and nearby Mendenhall Glacier; Sitka, once known as the capital of Russian America, accessible only by sea or air; Skagway, and its storied boardwalk; and Petersburg, a Scandinavian-influenced fishing village also called Little Norway.
Ueberroth served as the sixth commissioner of Major League Baseball, was president of the organization responsible for staging and operating the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, named 1984 Man of the Year by Time Magazine and authored the bestseller “Made in America.”