Cunard Line is determined to counter perceptions of being a heritage brand only with the introduction of new ship Queen Elizabeth.
The company is embracing social media, webcasts and blogs to help educate agents about the £350 million-plus vessel and Cunard’s key attributes of luxury cruising with an emphasis on fine food, service standards and accommodation.
President and managing director Peter Shanks, speaking ahead of the 2,092-passenger vessel being named by the Queen on Monday, said he was anxious to better explain to the trade and consumers Cunard’s unique selling points, such as the different categories of top grade Grills suites.
The addition of Queen Elizabeth, with 1,046 cabins and suites, means the company can promote a consistent offering across its three ships, claimed to be the youngest fleet in the world.
More than 1,000 agents will get a sneak preview of the ship tomorrow (Saturday) as part of the launch celebrations in Southampton. A group of Travel Weekly competition winners will attend the royal naming ceremony on Monday.
Shanks said as the ship arrived in its home port for the first time this morning: “I am often quoted as saying that we are not a museum because in the past Cunard has been seen as seen as a bit of a heritage brand. We are not.
“We have the strength and the history and the power of heritage but we’re now the youngest fleet in the world.
“With Queen Elizabeth coming into the fleet, really for the first time in our history it gives us a consistent offering to our guests and our travel agent partners,” he said.
He believes the introduction of three new ships in six years means Cunard is “much more on the map” for travel agents and customers.
“To me that’s the most important message of Queen Elizabeth coming into the brand,” said Shanks. “We now have that scale. Next year we will carry just shy of 240,000 guests, so it’s a considerable business.”
Shanks believes the high profile naming coupled with a range of special cruise offers will encourage consumers into travel agencies.
“There has been a major monthly focus for travel agents throughout October because the lift we will get through public relations with Her Majesty the Queen and all the events surrounding Queen Elizabeth will drive people into travel agents,” he said. “We are working with them to make sure they don’t miss out on the opportunity.”
Additionally, the company has produced six webisode training videos for agents via the Complete Cruise Solution sales arm outlining different aspects of the Cunard cruise experience.
“We are working on ways of telling travel agents not to be afraid of Cunard – it’s a fantastic product,” said Shanks.
“There are so many people who walk into a travel agent and say, what should I do? Well, why not Cunard? Now, apart from Alaska we do every deployment.”
New to the art deco-styled Queen Elizabeth is the Britannia Club, an 80-seat dedicated dining room for passengers booking the 39 premium balcony cabins on the ship which are graded just below Princess and Queens suites.
Other additions are Argentinian, Mexican and Asian evening dining options in the Lido area on deck 9 of Queen Elizabeth which also offers buffet breakfast and lunch.
The ship’s Games Deck offers paddle tennis, croquet and bowls under a canopy.
“Whether you want to do a transatlantic, a beautiful northern voyage out of Southampton, a Med fly voyage, a round the world voyage, the Caribbean, Hawaii, wherever you want to go now you will know that when you go on one of the three ships you are going to get a wonderful consistent offering,” said Shanks.
“The stable signature products we have such as the Queens Grill, Princess Grill at the top of the ship, the Britannia main dining room and some of the key rooms like the Queens Room, the Commodore Club, the library, wherever you go with Cunard you don’t have to worry because it is going to be as good as it gets on any of the three ships. That’s a first for us.”