The first six cruises on Cunard’s new Queen Elizabeth are 75% sold, even though the vessel doesn’t launch until October 2010.
Incoming president and managing director Peter Shanks said the new ship has generated a huge amount of interest among Cunard regulars, and also helped the cruiseline achieve record bookings for its world cruises when they went on sale on July 1.
He said: “World cruisers know what they want and like to book well [in advance], but sales have also benefited from interest in Queen Elizabeth.”
The ship’s maiden world cruise is a 13-day voyage from Southampton on January 5 2011. It sold out in just 29 minutes.
Shanks said overall sales this year have been “better than expected”, with 2010 “looking OK”.
He said: “The Cunard brand is very resilient, which gives us a tremendous position in the market, especially when you add in the heritage.”
In a survey in July, Cunard was listed as the 41st most recognised superbrand ahead of Waitrose, Starbucks and Sainsburys. Among the over-55s, it was listed at number nine.
Captain Chris Wells has been named as master of Queen Elizabeth. He started his career with Cunard as second officer on Queen Elizabeth 2 in 1992, and took command of Queen Mary 2 last year.