Location & Themed Talks

 
Talks may be given according to the locations that the cruise is visiting or on a specific theme.


Location Talks

The talks are designed to provide background information and the history of many of the sites which customers can visit on the tour excursions relevant to the cruise location, examples are shown below. 


The Baltic
 
Russia
  • Hermitage - St Petersburg 
  • Peter & Paul’s Fortress - St Petersburg
  • Yusupov (Moika) Palace - St Petersburg 
  • Catherine’s Palace - Near St. Petersburg 
  • Peterhof Palace - Near St. Petersburg 
  • Kremlin - Moscow 
Denmark
  • Frederiksborg Castle – Denmark 
England
  • Buckingham Palace - London – England (Explains the connection between the British Royal family and the events of the Russian Tsar and his family’s murder). 

 
The Mediterranean 

 
Spain
  • Sagrada Familia - Barcelona - Spain
  • Cathedral - Santiago de Compostela 
  • Mosque-Cathedral - Cordoba
  • Almudaina Palace - Palma, Mallorca
  • Cathedral of the Holy Chalice - Valencia
Italy
  • Colosseum - Rome 
  • St Peters Basilica - Rome 
  • Roman Forum - Rome 
  • Pantheon – Rome
  • Pompeii 
  • Leaning Tower of Pisa 
  • Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore (Duomo) – Florence 
  • Doge’s Palace - Venice 
Greece
  • Acropolis – Athens 
  • Olympia 
  • Delphi
  • Palace of Knossos – Crete
  • Palace of the Grand Masters - Rhodes
  • Delos - Mykonos
Malta
  • Grandmasters Palace - Valletta

 
North Africa

 
Egypt
  • Pyramids 
  • Temples of the Nile 
  • Valley of the Kings – Luxor
  • Karnak Temple – Luxor 
  • Temple of Rameses the Great - Abu Simbel 
  • St Catherine’s Monastery - Sharm el Sheikh 
Morocco
  • Hassan II Mosque – Casablanca 

 
The Americas

​​​​North America 
  • Golden Gate Bridge - San Francisco 
  • Alcatraz - San Francisco
  • Hoover Dam - Nevada/Arizona
  • The Alamo - San Antonio, Texas 
  • Empire State Building - New York
  • The Statue of Liberty - New York
Central and South America
  • Cities & Civilisations of Mesoamerica
  • Cities of the Maya
  • Palenque - Mexico
  • Teotihuacan - Mexico
  • Chichen Itza – Mexico
  • Tikal - Guatemala
  • Panama Canal
  • Machu Picchu – Peru
  • Cusco and the Sacred Valley of the Incas - Peru
  • Chan Chan - Peru

 
Asia

 
China
  • Forbidden City - Beijing 
  • Summer Palace - Beijing 
  • Great Wall of China
  • Terracotta Warriors - Xi’an  
  • Potala Palace - Lhasa - Tibet
Cambodia
  • Temples of Angkor - Siem Reap 
Thailand
  • Grand Palace - Bangkok 
India
  • Taj Mahal - Agra 

 
Themed Talks

 
A series of themed talks can be given relating to history and architecture. The talks can fit in with the cruise destinations (a full list relevant to each country can be found on the appropriate area page) or they can be grouped to follow a specific theme. For details of each of the talks listed see the relevant pages set out in the Architectural History tab.

A selection can be taken from the titles listed to fit the number of talks required.

 
Iconic Buildings of the World  
 
In this series of talks Ron looks at some of the most famous and instantly recognisable building structures of the world. These include:
  • Acropolis – Athens - Greece
  • Buckingham Palace - London - England
  • Tower of London - England
  • Taj Mahal - Agra - India
  • Great Wall of China 
  • Chichen Itza - Mexico
  • Machu Picchu – Peru
  • Pyramids - Egypt
  • Colosseum - Rome - Italy
  • Leaning Tower of Pisa - Italy
  • Eiffel Tower - Paris - France
  • Petra - Jordan
  • Golden Gate Bridge - San Francisco - USA
 
Wonders of the World

Talks are selected from the new lists of World Wonders relating to Buildings, Sites and Civil Engineering Projects.
  • Great Pyramid of Giza - Egypt
  • Great Wall of China
  • Colosseum - Rome - Italy
  • Petra - Jordan 
  • Taj Mahal - Agra - India
  • Chichen Itza - Mexico
  • Machu Picchu - Peru
  • Empire State Building - USA
  • Hoover Dam - USA
  • Golden Gate Bridge - USA
  • Panama Canal - Panama
  • Channel Tunnel - England-France

 
Religious Buildings 
 
This looks at the religious buildings around the world; from ancient temples to the cathedrals of the Middle Ages together with modern mosques.
  • St Paul's Cathedral - London - England
  • Lincoln Cathedral - England
  • Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore (Duomo) – Florence - Italy
  • St Peters Basilica - Rome - Italy
  • Pantheon - Rome - Italy
  • Sagrada Familia - Barcelona - Spain
  • Santiago de Compostela - Spain
  • The Mosque-Cathedral of Cordoba - Spain
  • Acropolis – Athens - Greece
  • Cathedrals of St Petersbug - Russia
  • Blue Mosque – Istanbul - Turkey
  • Hagia Sophia – Istanbul - Turkey
  • Temples of the Nile - Egypt
  • Karnak Temple – Luxor - Egypt
  • Temple of Rameses the Great - Abu Simbel - Egypt
  • St Catherine’s Monastery - Sharm el Sheikh - Egypt
  • Hassan II Mosque – Casablanca - Morocco
  • Temples of Angkor - Siem Reap - Cambodia
  • Cathedral of the Holy Chalice - Valencia - Spain

 
Palaces of the World 
 
Explores some of the world’s most famous palaces.
  • Buckingham Palace - London - England
  • Palace of Westminster (Houses of Parliament) - London - England
  • Blenheim Palace - Oxfordshire - England
  • Doge’s Palace - Venice - Italy
  • Palace of Versailles - Paris - France
  • Alhambra Palace - Granada - Spain
  • Topkapi Palace - Istanbul - Turkey
  • Hermitage - St Petersburg - Russia
  • Catherine’s Palace - Near St. Petersburg - Russia
  • Peterhof Palace - Near St. Petersburg - Russia
  • Forbidden City - Beijing - China
  • Summer Palace - Beijing - China
  • Grand Palace - Bangkok - Thailand
  • Potala Palace - Lhasa - Tibet, China
  • Frederiksborg Castle - Denmark

 
Castles and Defences 
 
These talks look at architecture and buildings developed to provide a system of defence in various locations all over the world.
  • Windsor Castle – Windsor
  • Tower of London
  • Hadrian’s Wall - North of England
  • Peter & Paul’s Fortress - St Petersburg
  • Kremlin - Moscow 
  • Masada - Israel
  • Great Wall of China 

 
Engineering Achievements
 
These talks will look at some of the great engineering achievements produced throughout history.
  • Pyramids - Egypt
  • Panama Canal - Panama
  • Hoover Dam – United States
  • Channel Tunnel – England / France
  • Great Wall - China
  • Golden Gate Bridge - United States

 
Historic and Archaeological Sites 
 
In this series of talks, Ron looks at some of the cities and sites, which were, in their time of special significance and which today are major tourist attractions.
  • Pompeii - Italy
  • Herculaneum - Italy
  • Olympia  - Greece
  • Delphi  - Greece
  • Delos - Mykonos
  • Ephesus - Turkey
  • Carthage - Tunisia
  • Petra - Jordan
  • Cities of the Maya - Central America
  • Altun Ha - Belize
  • Tikel - Guatemala
  • Teotihuacan - Mexico
  • Palenque - Mexico
  • Chichen Itza - Mexico
  • Machu Picchu - Peru
  • Cusco and the Sacred Valley of the Incas - Peru
  • Chan Chan - Peru

 
Ancient Civilisations 
 
These talks look at the development of the ancient civilisations through their architecture and buildings.
  • Egyptian
  • Roman
  • Greek
  • Mesoamerican
  • Ottoman Turks
 
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