Former CIA officer John Kiriakou joins Seabourn Conversations

The intelligence veteran, author and whistleblower will discuss espionage, interrogation and the realities of modern spycraft during a 12-night Atlantic crossing aboard Seabourn Ovation in 2027.

Former CIA counterterrorism officer John Kiriakou will join Seabourn’s enrichment program as a guest speaker during a 12-night voyage from Bridgetown, Barbados, to Lisbon, departing on March 27, 2027.

Kiriakou spent 15 years with the Central Intelligence Agency, working as an analyst and operations officer. His assignments included service in the CIA’s Counterterrorism Center and participation in the 2002 operation in Pakistan that captured suspected al-Qaeda facilitator Abu Zubaydah.

He later became a senior investigator for the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee and worked as a journalist, commentator and author. His books include the memoirs The Reluctant Spy: My Secret Life in the CIA’s War on Terror and Doing Time Like a Spy: How the CIA Taught Me to Survive and Thrive in Prison.

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Kiriakou became internationally known in December 2007 when, during a televised interview, he became the first former CIA officer to publicly confirm that the agency had used waterboarding on detainees. He described the technique as torture and argued that its use represented official policy rather than the actions of a few rogue officers.

His subsequent prosecution remains one of the most contentious episodes in the debate over US intelligence, government secrecy and whistleblower protection. Kiriakou was not charged for revealing the existence of waterboarding itself. In 2012, he pleaded guilty to one count of violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act by disclosing the identity of a covert CIA officer to a journalist. The name was not published.

He was sentenced to 30 months in prison and served almost two years before his release in 2015. Supporters regard him as a whistleblower punished for exposing wrongdoing, while the US government maintained that his prosecution concerned the unauthorised disclosure of classified information.

Kiriakou has since become a prominent campaigner on intelligence accountability, torture, prison reform and the treatment of national-security whistleblowers. His honours include the Joe A. Callaway Award for Civic Courage, the Sam Adams Award for Integrity in Intelligence and the PEN Center USA First Amendment Award. The Government Accountability Project provides a detailed account of his career and case.

During the Seabourn sailing, Kiriakou is expected to draw on his intelligence experience to examine espionage, counterterrorism, global security and the changing nature of intelligence gathering. His appearances will form part of Seabourn Conversations, the cruise line’s onboard enrichment program featuring authors, diplomats, academics, explorers and other specialists.

The program will include presentations, a question-and-answer session and book signing. Kiriakou will also host tables during the voyage, giving guests an opportunity to discuss his career and contemporary geopolitical issues in a less formal setting.

The March 27 to April 8, 2027 voyage will operate aboard Seabourn Ovation, sailing from Bridgetown to Lisbon. The itinerary is confirmed on Seabourn’s Conversations program, although guest participation and onboard programs remain subject to change.