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Many people are interested in genealogy, and North Americans in particular seem fascinated — if not obsessed — with investigating their ancestry. Where did their ancestors come from? And how did they arrive in the New World?
In November, passengers will be given the chance to cross the Atlantic from Southampton to New York City on the Cunard cruise line’s luxury liner the Queen Mary 2. Travelling with them on the specially named “A Journey of Genealogy” cruise will be four genealogists from Ancestry.com, the world’s largest for-profit genealogy company.
“We think this is going to be one of our more popular experiences,” says Josh Leibowitz, senior vice president of Cunard North America. “It’s so personal, and so meaningful for so many people. It was a natural fit for us,” Leibowitz told The Globe and Mail of the seven-day cruise, whose prices start at €1,640 per person.
Jon Lambert, director of client relations for Ancestry.com, says the company will not only be helping passengers flesh out their family trees, but will also provide extra services for selected customers.
“We’ll select six crew members and six actual travellers and, prior to the cruise, we’ll have all of them do DNA tests and submit a bit of background information about their family history,” Lambert says. “We’ll do some research and each day we’ll do a reveal; we always find something interesting.”
ancestor [(Änseste] Vorfahr(in)
ancestry [(Änsestri] Abstammung
cruise line [(kru:z lain] Kreuzfahrtgesellschaft
family tree [)fämli (tri:] Stammbaum
flesh sth. out [)fles (aut] etw. ausarbeiten
genealogy [)dzi:ni(äledzi] Ahnenforschung
natural fit: be a ~ for sb. [)näts&rel (fit] perfekt zu jmdm. passen
prior to [(praie tu] vor
reveal [ri(vi:&l] Enthüllung
senior vice president [)si:nie )vais (prezident] etwa: leitende(r) Direktor(in)
submit sth. [seb(mit] etw. liefern