Take a look at Simon’s latest video update to our Guests below, as well as his personal update to our people underneath.
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Good morning, afternoon, evening,
Is there finally a bit of light at the end of the tunnel? That’s certainly what Boris Johnson is promising in the UK, as he talks about relaxing some lockdown measures, perhaps as early as next week… we’ll see.
By way of Cunard news over the last week, the theme remains the same – an awful lot of hard work on the part of so many people to get our crew back home to their families. Queen Elizabeth (QE) has now gone well past the required 14 days of quarantine at anchor in the Bay of Manila. We’re just waiting for the crew members to get a Covid-19 test before they can disembark (this is a new requirement and is rather frustrating, no more so than for the crew onboard). Cases of illness onboard Queen Victoria (QV) have thankfully subsided and the crew members who were very ill seem to be starting a slow recovery. Some testing of QV crew for Covid-19 came through negative yesterday. That’s all cause for celebration!
Last Friday, there were a lot of great questions from the UK shoreside team regarding the consultation exercise that starts next Monday. I wanted to get back to everyone to answer a few outstanding questions. Much of this has subsequently been covered in follow up comms (and rest assured your questions influenced the discussions and helped make sure we reached clear outcomes, so thank you).
Over the weekend we (ELT) agreed to relax the requirement to take at least 10 days of annual leave before the end of June. By doing this we make sure we treat those on furlough, and those still working, in the same way. With good health in mind, I would still encourage everyone to take at least some leave during this period, particularly those who’ve been working phenomenally intensely during this crisis.
We also spoke on the call about the end date for the collective consultation period being 24 June as this date marks the end of the 45 days required by UK law for collective consultation. Again, in discussion with the ELT, it has been agreed to change this end date to 30 June to align it with the end date for the furlough scheme and keep everything simple.
I promised to check out the concession cruises question i.e. the return of monies already paid in the event of redundancy. It has now been discussed and we’ll definitely make sure the repayment is quick (within 14 days).
Cheerier things… the winner of the ‘pic of the week’ was Claire Culverwell (Claire was super quick, pipping a number of other clever clogs to the post). The answer: Dame Zandra Rhodes, at the Savoy, at our first Prince’s Trust Gala Dinner. I was lucky enough to be sitting next to Dame Zandra and she was a truly delightful story teller (stories as colourful as her hair) – it was a huge privilege. Claire, wine is on its way. Thank you to everyone who had a guess – it was a big entry and it’s encouraged me to keep going! So this week: why is this young fella sitting in that seat, name the bald guy (it’s not me, before anyone decides to be ‘funny’) and what was the significance of the day?
To everyone, thank you for your continued patience and understanding as we work our way through this time of great uncertainty.
Please look after yourselves and your loved ones and continue to stay safe and well.