Guests lecturers have been selected to complement the destinations and cultures that VtA will travel to throughout winter on MV Aegean Odyssey. Speakers will include a retired diplomat, a Shakespearean, a Master of Wine, an ornithologist and a diamond prospector.

More details on speakers:

• The former British Ambassador to Burma (1995-1999) and Vietnam (2003-2007) and the current President of the Britain-Burma Society, Robert A. E. Gordon will provide an insight into the country during the 20-day ‘Beyond Burma and the Malay Peninsula’, and will depart in January 2019.

• Theatre director, conductor and composer Dr David Crilly launched the Cambridge Shakespeare Festival 30 years ago, and will join sailings to India, Oman and Jordan. He will enable passengers appreciate Antony and Cleopatra anew and will speak on the 37-day ‘Passage to Ancient Egypt and India’, departing in December 2018.

• Master of Wine, Nancy Gilchrist is the former wine correspondent for The Boston Globe and UK Champagne Ambassador. As one of only 350 Masters of Wine in the world, she will be on her on the 33-day ‘South Africa, Namibia and the Skeleton Coast’, departing from March 2019.

• The ‘bird man’, expert ornithologist and research ecologist Peter Mawby will be sharing his enthusiasm for all things fauna and feathered during the 129-day ‘Grand Odyssey’ cruise, which departs in December 2018.

• Diamond prospector Professor Joe Cartwright’s work as a geologist has taken him around Africa, where he searched for oil as well as diamonds. Now Professor of Earth Sciences at Oxford, he will speak on the 63-day ‘Grand Indian Ocean and Southern Africa’ from February 2019.

With the new brochure including six new itineraries and five new ports, the 2018/2019 winter programme signals a return to year-round sailings. To mark the new programme, Voyages to Antiquity is offering various savings. For more information see www.voyagestoantiquity.com.