Cruise Connection
Regent hosts a public broadcasting theme cruise that’s top of its class.
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have plenty of activities to entertain and enlighten. But Regent Seven Seas Cruises takes it one step further by partnering with Seattle-based Artful Travelers and public broadcasting stations across the United States to provide a unique and enriching cruise experience centered around PBS and NPR personalities, programs, and creators.
In 2004, Artful Travelers organized its first PBS theme cruise on Regent with broadcasting legend Jim Lehrer aboard to give illustrated lectures and to lead discussions of current issues. Now, 15 years and 30 cruises later with some of Regent’s highest ratings and occupancy rates, the partnership is thriving. Three or four Spotlight on Public Broadcasting theme trips are scheduled each year. The PBS cruises are certainly entertaining, but they also provide a unique perspective on current events, history, culture, and the arts.
Our cruise ship was the 500-passenger Seven Seas
Navigator, sailing from New York with scheduled stops in New England, Canada, and Bermuda before returning to Manhattan. The comfort level on Regent ships is always very high. Although Navigator is the oldest and smallest ship in the Regent fleet, it includes all the facilities of the larger vessels. Particularly impressive were the library, the comfortable lounges (all beer, wines, and spirits are complimentary), and the main theater with the best sight lines we’ve seen at sea. There are several dining options with extensive menus that are identical, we were told, to Regent’s bigger ships. Even the generous, 300-square-foot rooms were impressive, with comfortable king-size beds, walk-in closets, and bathrooms with both a shower and bathtub (rare on cruise ships).
As usual on these public broadcasting theme cruises, the PBS/ NPR connection gave guests the opportunity to meet top journalists, filmmakers, producers, and directors. The president of Artful Travelers, Kevin Corcoran, introduced us to Sam Paul ( Live from the Met and Ode to Freedom, the Leonard Bernstein concert in Berlin), Justin Weinstein ( Being
Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey and An Honest Liar, about James “The Amazing” Randi), Alison Chernick ( Itzhak, a profile of violinist Itzhak Perlman) and Hari Sreenivasan, the host of PBS Newshour Weekend. All of these talented broadcasters and filmmakers gave hour-long, illustrated lectures about their work and led discussions about media in the 21st century. They also introduced their fulllength programs at separate showings, happily answering questions there and, in fact, anytime during the 10-day cruise. All of them were also available to join guests for meals in
Navigator’s main dining room. We loved our informal dinner discussions with Sam Paul and Hari Screenivasan.
With his connection to Leonard Bernstein, America’s first classical music superstar, Paul was able to help arrange a Boston tour of the traveling exhibit “Leonard Bernstein at 100.” Commemorating the 100th birthday (in August 2018) of the famed composer, conductor, and social activist, this remarkable display covers the broad spectrum of Bernstein’s outstanding career and showcases many personal artifacts.
On the same day, we visited the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum — itself the subject of several PBS programs. Designed by I.M. Pei and overlooking Boston and Dorchester Bay, the museum offers a retrospective of the president’s Massachusetts heritage, his spectacular rise to prominence, and untimely death in Dallas.
Regent always offers a variety of complimentary tours on its cruises so in Newport, Rhode Island, we chose a walking tour of its
WE LOVED OUR INFORMAL DINNER DISCUSSIONS WITH SAM PAUL AND HARI SREENIVASAN.
historic downtown. The town has done a remarkable job in preserving and restoring its colonial heritage.
The next day we docked in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with the world’s second-largest natural harbor (Sydney, Australia, is first). Navigator berthed close to the outstanding Immigration Museum at Pier 21, Canada’s Ellis Island. Many guests chose a tour to nearby Peggy’s Cove with its smashing surf and iconic lighthouse ... but others absorbed history with a visit to the Fairview Lawn cemetery, where over a hundred victims of the Titanic disaster are buried. That tour included a stop at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic, with its display of early sailing vessels — Halifax native Samuel Cunard made his mark with East Coast trade routes before becoming even more famous in England — and several artifacts from the Titanic.
Our final stop before returning to New York was Bermuda on a “Bermudaful Day,” as the locals like to call it. It was a delight seeing all the white-roofed houses of St. George’s Parish as well as the many beaches and historic buildings of this British colony. Most exciting was a tour of the Crystal Caves, natural limestone caverns discovered over a century ago by boys searching for their cricket ball. Excellent lighting and walkways over the underground pools made for a memorable, if spooky, attraction.
We were very impressed with the efforts of Regent Seven Seas Cruises and Artful Travelers to combine an exciting and stimulating public broadcasting theme with the exceptional service, cuisine, entertainment, and tours of an ultra-luxury line. Through 2019, Regent will feature five more Spotlight on Public Broadcasting cruises departing on February 17, May 14, September 18, October 22, and November 16 with visits to Chile, Peru, Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Dubai, Singapore, and the west coast of Canada and the United States. For more information, visit www. rssc.com.
NAVIGATOR BERTHED CLOSE TO THE OUTSTANDING IMMIGRATION MUSEUM AT PIER