The Adventures of a Cruise Ship Speaker: Life as an Art Historian at Sea
I kicked off 2026 with an exciting new sideline: travelling the world as a cruise ship speaker.
To say it’s been an adventure – a cultural adventure, even – would be an understatement. I’ve been lucky enough to set foot in Africa for the first time, hang out with the free-roaming monkeys on the British soil of Gibraltar, and explore the historic palaces and gardens of Sintra in Portugal.
My role on board the various ships as resident art historian is to talk about the art, architecture and cultural history of the destinations we visit. So that means Picasso in Spain, Monet in France, Van Gogh in Holland – you get the idea.
I’ve been snapping photographs and filming along the way, and I’m hoping to upload some vlogs soon – watch this space.
Their quality vary considerably, ranging from some of the world’s greatest historic sites to me rambling about H.P. Lovecraft after too much coffee in my cabin, but hopefully there’ll be something of interest for everyone.
Anyone who follows me on social media will already have seen plenty of photos from the journey, and I’ll be sharing more over the coming weeks.
I’ve got a busy summer ahead – a couple of books to finish, lots of the university research to get ahead with and, as always, spooky season is looming and Halloween is my busiest time of year – so I’ll be spending the next few months back on terra firma.
With any luck, however, I’ll be heading back out onto the high seas later in the year – I’m really hoping to squeeze in a few festive adventures around Christmas.
Until next time… nos da!
