Paul’s Blog: The chance to create memories

American showman and circus founder PT Barnum said “The noblest art is that of making others happy.” As I boarded Azura in Malta last month I saw so many happy families it struck me that whilst we always talk about being in the business of happiness, it’s not until you see and hear this in person that it rings true. We provide holidays on our ships for many hundreds of thousands of guests each year, week in, week out. The contact and service they receive from us pre, during and post cruise as well as the overall experience with us, is important. Each communication they receive, each call they make, each dish they are served, each show they watch, each drink or ice cream they are served, each destination they visit  – each one is important. Every single interaction with us creates the memories and these are what will encourage them to return. This is what we all need to continue to remember, especially during challenging peak season or when we have difficult or complex messaging to convey.

I was also pleased to meet new Maltese cadets who are being trained under the watchful eye of Captain Turnbull and to meet several of our local contacts and dignitaries. As a business one of our priorities is to have appropriate and ongoing operational and purposeful conversations with the key contacts in our ports, especially in our home ports and in our gold and platinum destinations. Again, this ensures that we put guest experience in its widest sense firmly at the top of our agenda and we are kept abreast of any new developments and regulations so we can prepare as necessary.

P&O Cruises is teaming up with Southampton Football Club

And talking of home ports, I hope you have all seen our exciting news earlier this week when we announced P&O Cruises multi-year deal with Southampton FC as official sleeve partner, official holiday partner and the primary partner for its charity Saint’s Foundation. P&O Cruises and Southampton Football Club share a common home and a loyal fan base and this partnership will champion the city and the pride we have in it, even further. Investing in the destinations we visit and in our home ports and the communities within them is the right thing to do.

Welcoming Stuart Allison

You will have seen the news that in the autumn we are to be joined by Stuart Allison as chief commercial officer for P&O Cruises. I am sure that Stuart’s many years of experience here and in Australia will bring new ideas and vision to our commercial expectations and performance. As I outlined in our last atrium session, I am delighted that our current performance for CUK is tracking positively against our targets within our three year plan. We also have record occupancy for P&O Cruises which proves that when we plan ahead we can manage greater numbers on board than previously thought. This is whilst still maintaining the personal and exceptional service provided by our teams on board and expected by our guests – a very big well done to all involved, it’s a great step forward.

As we come into August I do hope that many of you have taken advantage of our concessions programme and you have been able to enjoy time on board with friends and family. There really is no substitute for seeing our operation first hand and do feed back any positive experiences, new ideas or where you feel we have room for improvement.

Our Big Get-together celebration back in July

And looking ahead, after the success of our summer of togetherness event in Mayflower Park, I can reveal that we will be having a CUK Christmas party. We have not had one for so long that we felt it was time to celebrate our collective successes all together and raise a glass or two to the end of the year with friends and colleagues. More details will be available in the next few months but it will certainly be something to look forward to.

In the meantime, enjoy the summer, hopefully there will be more sunshine, and thank you for all your great work and collaboration. It is very visible and very much appreciated.

Take care

Paul