Our Onboard Experts

A versatile musician and educator, Adrian Finnerty is a highly qualified and experienced teacher, lecturer, com...

Alan Mason NDT. F.Inst.G. Dip.Hort. M.CI. Hort. is one of Europe’s most experienced and best qualified ga...

Alexandra is a Chilean researcher in Cultural Anthropology, documentarian, and ethnoastronomer. For over 2...

Amanda Holden started work as a professional accompanist while teaching the piano at the Guildhall School in Lo...

Andrew traces his interest in geology and love of nature to summers spent in New England, where he hiked in the...

Andrés Hernández-Salazar began his musical studies in his native Venezuela and was awarded a Brit...

Andy Bunten has been an obsessive enthusiast about wildlife ever since he can remember.  Educated at ...

Anne Sebba is the author of eleven books including the best-selling biography That Woman, a life of Wa...

Anne-Marie Harrison was born and brought up in Paris but has subsequently lived in many different countries. Or...

Winner of five RHS gold medals, and many accolades, Anthea is a garden designer and teacher who has exhibited a...

Ben Howkins has spent a lifetime career in the wine industry. He has experienced massive changes in how the ins...

Brian has enjoyed a lifetime of artistic exploration and learning, pursuing parallel careers as a modern lingui...

Canon David Nason has recently retired from the role of Priest Vicar in Chichester Cathedral and that of Senior...

Caroline Holmes is a garden historian of places, people and plants, a speaker, author of 12 books, TV and radio...

Chris Bradley is a graduate of the University of Liverpool specialising in the Middle East and North Africa hav...

Christopher P Baker earned degrees in geography at University College London and Latin American Studies at Live...

Keith enjoyed a 33-year career in the Royal Navy, serving ashore in the Ministry of Defence, in the Fleet HQ, a...

Joined the Royal Navy in 1966 and retired in 2000 as a Commodore after a 34 year career.  During his caree...

Rupert Wallace retired from the Royal Navy in 2014 as a Commodore, after a career which included seeing action ...

Presenter, writer and live host, Dallas Campbell is on a mission to take science and technology out of the lab ...

Daniel is a travel writer, naturalist, photographer and tour lecturer who specialises in the exotic Indian Ocea...

David Coates first experienced Taiwan in 1972-3 studying Chinese at the Stanford Centre at Taiwan National Univ...

After graduating from Exeter University in 1986, David started working in television the traditional way as a r...

David went to Germany in 1968 for three months’ work experience in the wine cellars of H Sichel Söhn...

A filmmaker by trade, David has spent the last 25 years crisscrossing the globe to chase the eclipse experience...

David Mitchell was previously a Curator at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh; he is currently Deputy Chai...

David Pickard is one of the UK’s foremost and most respected arts practitioners. His 40-year career inclu...

David took an MA in Classics from St Andrews University. He subsequently taught Classics for eleven years in Ed...

Diarmuid Gavin is an award-winning garden designer and broadcaster known for his distinctive and contempor...

Dr Angie Smith has a BA in Art History and a PhD in Combined Historical Studies from the Warburg Institute (Lon...

Dr. Anna Garnett FSA has been the Curator of the Petrie Museum of Egyptian and Sudanese Archaeology, University...

Dr Bill Manley is a best-selling author and expert on the Ancient Egyptian language, currently working with a m...

Campbell Price is Curator of Egypt and Sudan at Manchester Museum, University of Manchester, one of the UK&rsqu...

Candace Weddle is an Assistant Professor of Art History at Anderson University, South Carolina. She holds a PhD...

Carrie Gibson received her PhD in History from Cambridge in 2011, focussing on the Hispanic Caribbean isla...

Dr Chris Naunton is an Egyptologist currently working on a freelance basis as a writer, broadcaster and public ...

Christopher Whitton is a Senior Lecturer in Classics at the University of Cambridge. Originally from Lanca...

David Price-Williams has a first degree from the University of Wales in Ancient Near Eastern languages with a s...

Dr John Stevens gained his PhD in History from UCL, before going on to teach British Imperial History, Indian H...

  Judith has lived and worked twice in Japan and spends considerable time annually in the Far East on rese...

Dr Kevin Fewster is a leading international figure in the fields of maritime museums and maritime heritage. He ...

Dr Peter Caddick–Adams has been Lecturer in Military and Security Studies at the UK Defence Academy since...

Sandy Primrose is a biologist who has a very varied career. This includes being an academic undertaking researc...

Dr Shirley Campbell is an anthropologist with considerable understanding of Pacific and Indian Ocean cultures w...

Dr Sophie Oosterwijk was born in Gouda and studied English at Leiden and Medieval Studies at York before obtain...

Dr Steve Kershaw is a tutor in Classics for Oxford University Department for Continuing Education, an accredite...

Elena Myasoedova was born and raised in the ancient city of Novgorod in Russia. She was educated in Moscow wher...

Elena Spiro has worked with Noble Caledonia for many years and is extremely knowledgeable, bringing so much to ...

Elizabeth Pierce grew up in Bismarck, North Dakota in the US. De-spite her landlocked origins, she first travel...

Ernest Rea is a celebrated British broadcaster who specialises in the history of religions and the way that fai...

Gareth is a passionate plantsman and lecturer based in Donegal. He is a graduate of the SRUC and the University...

Professor Gary Sheffield is one of the UK’s leading historians. He is Professor of War Studies at the Uni...

Ghislaine Howard is internationally recognised as a painter of powerful and expressive means, whose art charts ...

Guy de la Bédoyère [pronounced: Bed-why-air]  is a historian and archaeologist well-known fo...

Harry Mount studied Classics and Ancient History at Magdalen College, Oxford, where he obtained a First. H...

Helen Poole studied English, History and Archaeology at Bristol University before going on to postgraduate stud...

Helena Attlee is the author of The Land Where Lemons Grow, The Story of Italy and its Citrus Fruit,&n...

Henry Davis lectured in International & European Studies at the Birkbeck College (University of London) and...

We are delighted that Hilary Bradt will be joining us on board the MS Hebridean Sky for our November 2024 depar...

Hugh Ellwood Ph.L, BA (Hons) Arch. RIBA is based in Lytham St Annes in the North West.  He was educated in...

Ian Ridpath is an award-winning astronomy author and populariser with over 40 books to his name. He is the edit...

Imogen served for nearly twenty years in the British army, retiring in the rank of Major at the end of 1994. Sh...

James Naughtie is one of Britain’s best-known journalists and broadcasters. A special correspondent for B...

James Parry is a writer and consultant specialising in history, heritage, wildlife and the environment. Born an...

Jamie has directed many new opera productions, both at home and abroad. After training at RADA, he worked for K...

Janette Merilion is a well known horticultural lecturer and historian with a successful garden design business ...

Jeremy Paterson studied Classics and Ancient History at Oxford, where he was also President of the University A...

John Bly is an antiques dealer in a family business founded in 1891. From a background of sailors, horse t...

John Dew was Ambassador to Cuba and Colombia and has extensive experience in Latin America.  After studyin...

John Robson was born at Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham, U.K. in 1949. He has had two lifelong interests &nda...

Julia Korn, who was born in St Petersburg, Russia, has been Senior Researcher at the National Pushkin Museum in...

Kate Garnons Williams read Ancient History and Archaeology at the University of Bristol and wrote her MA thesis...

Kate is a naval and maritime historian, with a particular focus on the long eighteenth century and maritime exp...

Kathryn Robinson is an anthropologist of Asia and the Pacific, now Professor Emerita in the College of Asia and...

Dr Katie Campbell received an honours English degree from McGill University in Montreal.  After a career i...

Keith Grainger is a wine writer, broadcaster, educator and consultant winemaker. His latest book Wine ...

Keith Kirsten is one of South Africa’s best known gardeners and  a world-acclaimed horticulturalist....

Lesley has lived and gardened abroad in such diverse countries as Malaysia, Holland as well as North Carolina a...

Lloyd Esler is a teacher, historian and natural history enthusiast from Invercargill, the southernmost city in ...

Louise Schofield, recently appointed Visiting Professor of Archaeology at the American University of Rome, is a...

Lucia Gahlin is an Egyptologist based in the UK. She is an Honorary Research Associate at University College Lo...

Professor Ludmilla is a graduate with honours from Rostov State University and received her first doctorate the...

Lydia Bauman is a Polish born artist and art historian. Educated at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne (BA i...

Chip Chapman was sponsored through University by the British Army and fought in the 1982 Falklands war as a pla...

Patrick commanded the Desert Rats during the 1991 Gulf War.  His huge tank formation led the British and A...

After studying History at Cambridge University Peter Williams spent more than 30 years in the British Army (Col...

Major General Stephen Carr-Smith served throughout much of the Cold War in Europe and then with NATO. On leavin...

Martin Sixsmith is a writer, presenter and former television correspondent. He was the BBC’s Central and ...

Michael Buerk is one of Britain’s leading broadcast journalists and has won many – if not most - of...

Michael Hindley was born in Blackburn, UK and educated at London University (BA Hons in German and French), Lan...

Michael is an independent scholar, writer, painter and curator. He is married to the artist Ghislaine Howard wi...

Michael Jones is a Fellow of the Royal Historical Society and a Member of the British Commission for Military H...

Mike Nelhams first went to Tresco on a Studley Trust Scholarship as a student in 1976. He trained for three yea...

After a period spent composing music for films and theatre, Misha Donat worked for more than 25 years as a seni...

Neil Taylor is a leading expert on the former Communist world and travels there frequently as a visiting univer...

Nicholas Southey was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, and has lived most of his life in various parts of the...

Nigel Cox is a former British diplomat. He is a graduate of Trinity College Dublin. In 1976, just after the dea...

Nigel McGilchrist has lived and worked in the Mediterranean – Italy, Turkey and Greece – for nearly...

Nirvana left her native Croatia during the turbulent 1990s, with a degree in History of Western and Yugoslav ar...

Olga Stavrakis holds a Ph.D. in Anthropology and Archaeology from the University of Minnesota (USA). An immigra...

Olga Verstage is a versatile presenter, combining her skills as concert pianist, historian, art historian and c...

Paul Green has always been keen on all aspects of natural history, especially plants. He worked part-time as a ...

Dr Paul Roberts is Head of the Department of Antiquities at the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology, Oxford...

Peter is an Australian with a passion for terrestrial wildlife and also for the marine world; he is also a keen...

With his father in military service, Peter Ward grew up in different places throughout England, Germany and the...

Philip studied singing and piano at the Royal Academy of Music.  As a professional opera singer he made hi...

Andrew Wallace-Hadrill, OBE, FBA is an Emeritus Professor of Roman Studies in the Faculty of Classics at the Un...

Professor Carole Hillenbrand is Professor Emerita of Islamic History at Edinburgh University and is now Profess...

David Abulafia is Professor of Mediterranean History at the University of Cambridge, where he is also Papathoma...

Professor Johnson is the author and co-author of several books and a number of articles on US foreign policy, i...

Professor Ian Beckett retired as Professor of Military History at the University of Kent in 2015. Born at Whitc...

James Higham is a professor with 25 years of research and teaching experience at the University of Otago (New Z...

Malyn Newitt obtained a BA in Modern History at Oxford in 1961 and a PhD London 1967. He taught at the Universi...

Professor Marie Conte-Helm has lectured extensively on the history, arts, and culture of Asia, the Pacific, and...

Professor Mark Brandon MBE is a polar oceanographer based in the UK. He has spent his entire career working in ...

Martyn Rady is Masaryk Professor Emeritus of Central European History at the School of Slavonic and East Europe...

Michael Squire is Professor of Classical Art at King’s College London. After receiving a starred first in...

Professor Norman Hammond is Archaeology Correspondent of The Times, a Senior Fellow at the McDonald Institute f...

Professor Richard Butterwick-Pawlikowski graduated in History from Cambridge, before obtaining his doctorate fr...

Professor Robert Hillenbrand FBA has long-standing research interests in the Islamic art of North Africa a...

Roderick Beaton is a leading authority on the history and culture of Greece and the eastern Mediterranean from ...

Professor Rosalie David OBE FRSA is currently Emeritus Professor of Egyptology and Co-Director of the...

Barry Cunliffe studied Archaeology and Anthropology at Cambridge where he also gained his doctorate. He taught ...

Tim Blanning is Professor of Modern European History (Emeritus) at the University of Cambridge and is also a Li...

After teaching the History of Japanese Art at SOAS, University of London, for 30 years, Timon Screech left the ...

Professor William Vaughan studied Fine Art at the Ruskin School of Art, Oxford, and History of Art at the Court...

Ray Hale is a wildlife lecturer, author, photographer and naturalist who is passionate about reconnecting peopl...

David Snelson has a background steeped in the maritime world, serving in the Royal Navy for 37 years and the UK...

John Lippiett had a 36 year career in the Royal Navy, serving in a large number of ships from aircraft carriers...

Drawing on a lifetime at sea and twenty years’ experience heading world-class collections in two leading ...

Richard Coles is a writer, broadcaster and an Anglican priest. He co-presents Saturday Live on BBC Radio 4 and ...

Dick Wilkinson graduated from Cambridge, and after postgraduate study and research at universities in Paris, Lo...

Tim Stevens read Classics and English at Cambridge. In 1968 he joined BOAC as a graduate trainee and entered th...

Rosemary is a former nursery owner and daughter of the late George Hyde, who was a hybridist of azaleas and rho...

The Rt Revd Nick Baines has been the Bishop of Leeds since 2014. He was previously the Bishop of Bradford ...

Graham James became Bishop of Norwich in 1999, serving for almost 20 years in that role before retiring to his ...

Simon Doughty was commissioned into The Life Guards in 1976, retiring from the Army in 2009 in the rank of colo...

Simon Field, a former Chartered Accountant, is a Master of Wine who most recently bought French ...

Sir Nicholas Kenyon has been Managing Director of the Barbican Centre since 2007. He was Controller, BBC R...

Since a child Sir Roddy Llewellyn has been fascinated by plants and gardening. It all started when he was given...

Stephen was for 35 years a British diplomat. He lived and worked in Ethiopia, France, the United States, Portug...

Sir Tony Brenton is a distinguished British diplomat and commentator on public affairs issues. He served for ov...

Stuart Laing was Master of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge from  2008 to 2018, responsible for the Colle...

Based in the UK, Sue has travelled widely from the poles to the equator on all seven continents. Her main inter...

Suzanne is an independent researcher and historian specialising in Japanese History, Art & Culture, and fou...

Born in Constanta, Romania, Ticu began his career in the travel industry at a young age, guiding short tours in...

Tom Hardwick is an Egyptologist and curator who has worked for museums in the United Kingdom, Egypt, and United...

Peter Hudson had a 36-year career in the Royal Navy, serving in a large number of ships deployed across the glo...

Born and raised in Japan, with a year in the US as an exchange student, Yoko has always been interested in peop...