“Whether you have kids on summer holidays or not, this month always feels like its ‘back to school’. I like September and I have to say it does feel nice to be back into a more normal family routine and to have most people back into the office.”
I’ve had a busy few months post Queen Anne’s launch. I caught up with some travel and enjoyed some time in Southampton, focusing on business as usual after the highs of the naming ceremony in Liverpool. That being said, I did manage to take two separate holidays with my family. One was a ‘staycation’ in the UK and the other on Queen Mary 2, for a Norwegian Fjords voyage. I travelled with my whole family including my parents and my mother-in-law. It was great to see how the ship worked so well for a multi-generational holiday and everyone was able to find their own favourite space and activity on the ship.
My daughter, me, and my mum on Queen Mary 2
We had great weather, and I personally enjoyed the sea days, where I could just relax incognito, people watch, and see how much our guests were enjoying the experience. My parents loved the library, the kids played padel non-stop and everyone loved the afternoon tea and the attention to every detail.
The actual itinerary was great, the Fjords are just so beautiful, and this trip was a real reminder of what a unique experience we offer. It would be impossible to see so much of this amazing landscape if we weren’t travelling by ship. We booked a few shore experiences, which were all well organised. A highlight was the four-hour round trip hike to the top of Pulpit Rock in Stavanger. The views were very much worth the sore knees!
Reflecting on the trip, when I asked everyone what they felt really made the holiday special, everyone said it was the crew and the service, and I know our guests all say the same, so a massive thank you for looking after us all!
The week before my holiday on Queen Mary 2 I visited the Cunard International team based in California, who look after our North American business and guests. It was a really good trip, my first time visiting them, and great to meet the team in real life after so many video calls!
North America is a big focus for us given Queen Elizabeth’s homeporting in Miami and Seattle and it was useful to see the strategies that our team there have in place, to grow the business and establish ourselves full-time in that market. We are also working on new propositions to support the US market and in my next blog I’ll hopefully be able to talk about exciting new entertainment shows and food and drink partnerships that we’ll be launching. Queen Elizabeth has just completed a successful season in Alaska and is now heading for her Australian farewell season, I’m sure she’ll receive a great welcome from our friends down under!
Last week I made a brief visit to Queen Victoria as she comes to the end of her fly-med season. Previously she sailed from Southampton and has been a ship with a very loyal following. This summer she has welcomed lots of newcomers and a more international guest base. From my visit and our NPS scores, it seems that the team onboard have done a great job in accommodating this, so I’m sure we have picked up some new, loyal Queen Victoria fans!
I loved spending time with our crew on board and also met with some of our guests, including a dinner with some guests from New Zealand who’d never been on a cruise before and had booked a four Queen cruise, where they take back-to-back Cunard voyages around the world. I commended them on their bravery, but they assured me they are now fully committed Cunarders and have already booked another voyage on Queen Elizabeth when she is in Australia!
Last but not least, Queen Anne. We’ve talked about her a lot this year and I’m happy to say that her NPS is improving every month due to the hard work of our teams onboard and that is fantastic to see. On-board sales are strong too, so that is a great indicator that guests are enjoying the ship and then either rebooking her, or booking again on their favourite Cunard Queen. We’ve also started to plan her return to Liverpool next year as part of our 185th Anniversary celebrations. Whilst Queen Mary 2 was in Liverpool a few weeks ago we welcomed some of the people who will help us to organise that event, and I’m sure it will be something special!
Closer to home, we’ve had some successful summer sales in all our markets. This is important as it’s another growth year for us next year. Our sales involve lots of teams from different departments coming together, so it’s very rewarding to see good results.
We’ve also started our work on Communicating the Cunard Difference and Grills, and in the UK we’ll run some advertising in the Telegraph which will showcase the real Cunard points of difference and Grills in particular. I’m excited to see this ahead of us reviewing the Grills guest proposition work. More of this to come in my next blog.
Finally, I know that across our teams both ship and shore you have been working hard on entries for the annual World of Cunard Competition! This year’s theme is all about ‘Sailing as four’ and I was lucky enough to see one of the entries for Queen Victoria last week. I’m looking forward to judging your entries. Good luck!
Thanks to everyone for a successful last quarter. I’m looking forward to seeing what we can achieve in the final sprint to the end of the year!
1 Comment
Well done Nori Takeuchi and for your class, you deserve recognition!!