An update from Paul Ludlow

Last week the EuroMillions jackpot was £118,729,000.
I bought five tickets.
I didn’t win.

I may not have won but I certainly felt as though I had a fighting chance.  I dreamt of all the places I would go and things I would do. In my head I created my new life which largely consisted of travel, exploration and eating at the world’s best restaurants. (Don’t worry, I did also give away some too!)

Yesterday I was talking to a friend who said that he too would love to win the lottery, but after a few minutes he admitted he never bought a ticket. “But you’ve got to be in it to win it” I said – which he grudgingly realised.

That conversation made me think about our current situation.

All of us, ship and shoreside are, every day, effectively buying tickets for a better future.

Many people across many departments are working on so much – new protocols to protect the health and wellbeing of our Guests and crew; new technology systems; refunding our Guests and putting in place their FCCs (Future Cruise Credit); new itineraries, operational readiness; crew movements and so much more – and every single one of us is looking ahead to better times.

I know first-hand that it feels some days as if we are taking two steps forwards and one step backwards, but let’s all look at the bigger picture and remember, the general and continued direction of travel is, most certainly, forwards.

The delivery of Iona is looking promising and I am looking forward to news from the yard imminently. Once we have taken ownership of this stunning new addition to our fleet, it will certainly be another huge step towards our future.

One very positive step in the right direction was the meeting Donnacha and I had with the Minister for Transport, the Rt Hon Robert Courts, earlier this month. He is very new in his role and was keen to hear about the industry and its economic contribution to the UK. He also very much enjoyed seeing Britannia. Above all though, he was very appreciative of our collaboration with his colleagues in Government on the new framework of protocols.

Indeed, we have seen great and effective collaboration across the business, across our Carnival Corporation brands and throughout the industry on the framework of new protocols for when we return to service. That, combined with the mammoth task of operational readiness and returning our crew to the ships is again, very future focused.

In a meeting earlier this week it was said that “winter will be tough” – but I am absolutely sure that one day soon we will look back on all of this and realise that 2020 was our finest hour. It brought us closer together, it made us more focused and thus more effective and, above all, it set us up for a brighter future.

As I write this I hear the words of singer Helen Reddy on the news and (to paraphrase slightly) “we are strong, we are invincible, we are more determined to achieve our final goal and come back even stronger”. That seems particularly apt at the moment.

The sustained hard work of everyone over this period has not gone unnoticed and will certainly be worth it. Thank you too to everyone who completed the eNPS survey, it is great to hear first-hand how you are feeling. Please always drop me a line if you have any suggestions or ideas to improve our ways of working.

Together we are definitely all “in it to win it” and our numbers will come up and we definitely will win. Of that I’m sure. Possibly not this weekend but before too long.

Then those hopes of faraway places will no longer be just a dream for us or for our Guests. They will travel, they will eat in the best restaurants in the world, and they will explore the world’s most extraordinary and compelling destinations – all because of your sustained hard work and determination to be in it for the long term.

My sincere thanks to you all.

Paul Ludlow,
President P&O Cruises