Barry Vaudrin, Ocean Liner Historian & Lecturer
Since the early eighties, I have been somewhat of a Queen Mary historian.
How does one become a Queen Mary historian? Well, I have studied in depth the history, design and service of this great
ship for many years. I moved to California in 1985 specifically so that I was near the Queen Mary in Long Beach.
I was passionate about learning everything I could about this fantastic vessel. I gave hundreds of tours of the ship
in Long Beach, and I have become well known for bringing people on very adventurous and informative tours of the Queen
Mary.
When news was first released that Cunard Line was planning to construct
a Queen Mary 2, I was immediately on the phone with Stephen Payne and some of the ship designers at Carnival to offer my ideas.
I sent a 30 page overview of some conceptual design ideas for a Queen Mary 2. Interestingly enough the proposed profile
and some features that I suggested are indeed very similar to the final product. I was invited by the president
of Cunard Line by the late Pamela Conover to cruise on QM2's maiden voyage from Ft Lauderdale.
Back to the original Queen Mary and my expertise with this ship, I have many wonderful stories
and a great powerpoint presentation with loads of photos of the history of the Queen Mary from her first conception to her
arrival into Long Beach, California. When I worked about cruise ships as a Cruise Director and entertainer,
I often pulled out my ocean liner and Queen Mary lectures which were always very popular and well attended. I even
had an opportunity to work aboard the QE2 as Stage Manager in 1992, and I offered my liner and Queen Mary lectures to
passengers.
The lecture topics that I specialize in are as follows:
- History of the Queen Mary
- Titanic Tragedy
- SS United States - past, present & future
- History of the trans-Atlantic era & Ocean Liner travel
- History of Cruise Industry
- Peek into the life of a Cruise Director
- Tips on how to entertain with Magic Tricks
- Website development and marketing*
I have wonderful powerpoint graphics, photos and images to go with my presentations.
I enjoy a casual lecture environment and encourage open discussions and dialogue.
* It is helpful to conduct the Website development and marketing lecture
in a computer lab, with internet access, where guests can see first-hand how to build their own website from scratch
without having to be a web-master or learn complicated programing. I will show guests how to make their own website
for business or personal use, and before the end of their cruise and after only one session each guest will have
their own website published and in-place. There is of course a fee for this course for internet usage as well
as the use of our web builder program they will continue to use when they return home. Our web builder program
is easy to use and maintain.
