A Busy Week for Cunard
Cunard - Cancelled Itineraries and Unbelievable Offers on Queen Mary 2
Last-Minute Changes Mean Mixed Fortunes for Passengers
Cunard back office must have been run off their feet this week - in particular the Customer Services, Complaints, Sales and PR Teams. With not one but three unexpected occurrences concerning Queen Mary 2, they have certainly had their work cut out.
Technical Issues Affect Queen Mary 2
For Cunard guests on voyage M310/A, the hebdomas horribilis (to paraphrase our late Queen’s annus horribilis) began last Sunday (23rd April 2023). It was embarkation day for Queen Mary 2 on her outward transatlantic crossing to New York. For some guests it was to be a trip of a lifetime or a bucket-list tick. For others it was the return trip home to the US, or the first leg of a two week classic ocean return voyage on the only traditional liner in the world. Guests were anticipating their first cocktail or glass of bubbles, planning their luncheon arrangements - would it be a pub lunch in the Golden Lion or a more formal affair in the Britannia Restaurant (or perhaps even Princess or Queen Grills for the very privileged)? Thoughts were turning to whether luggage would arrive promptly to allow time to unpack Gala Night finery and dress for dinner. Sadly none of these plans would come to fruition.
Instead, just hours before embarkation, guests were notified via email and text message that their cruise had been cancelled due to a technical problem that required immediate repair. The nature of the issue has not been disclosed at time of writing. The message read:
“Queen Mary 2 arrived into Southampton last night for assessment of a technical issue,” the email read. “Unfortunately, after further investigation, it has been confirmed that this work will take longer to resolve than anticipated and the ship is unable to sail until this is completed. We are sincerely sorry for the inconvenience this will cause.”
Confirming the situation, a Cunard spokesperson said “Due to a technical issue which needs to be resolved prior to sailing, voyage M310/A on Queen Mary 2 to New York can no longer go ahead and has been cancelled.”
“All guests will receive a full refund and a Future Cruise Credit of 20% of monies paid. This may be used on any future bookings prior to 23rd April 2025.”
“We apologise to all guests affected by this cancellation.”
Sadly, for many of the 2000 passengers, the messages were received too late to prevent an unnecessary journey to Southampton. Whilst such unforeseen circumstances cannot be anticipated, nor avoided, it is of no comfort to those bitterly-disappointed passengers whose holidays/vacations have been cancelled. Due to the unavoidable short notice, some guests didn’t receive the bad news until they arrived at Southampton Cruise Terminal. Although no consolation, some people had thankfully only travelled a relatively short distance. However, there were reports of others who had travelled from as far as France to join the ship, and others who were hoping to return home to the United States, with many left stranded in the city.
Whilst this was undeniably a traumatic experience for travellers whose plans were curtailed, let us spare a thought also for Cunard support and administrative staff and travel agent partners who suddenly found themselves in this maelstrom. The call centre was inundated, whilst customer care staff and portside teams were having to deal with understandably extremely emotional guests, whilst having the scantest of details themselves.
Second Queen Mary 2 Itinerary Cancelled
The second unforeseen event was a knock-on result of the original issue. With Queen Mary 2 incapacitated indefinitely, Cunard were left with no alternative but to cancel the next cruise itinerary, voyage M311/A from New York due to depart Sunday 30 April from New York to Hamburg via Southampton. A spokesperson from ABP who run the port is quoted as saying:
"The QM2 will have an extended stay in [Southampton] port until its technical issues are rectified.
"We are working with Cunard to establish a plan to continue our operations and support the safe sail of the ship."
In fact the ship had to be towed to an alternative berth on Thursday to accommodate the imminent return of P&O Cruises Britannia.
Both of these cancellations have, understandably, been the subject of some intense discussion across social media, and whilst there was some fury towards the brand, overwhelmingly it was sheer disappointment that was most discernible.
Cunard Announce Unexepected Coronation Cruise
Just three days on from when technical issues beleaguered Queen Mary 2, causing Cunard to cancel her planned transatlantic voyage, a press release dropped into media inboxes which caused a few raised eyebrows (mine included), and set fingers whizzing across keyboards.
So what was this breaking news? Cunard were announcing a last-minute five-night Coronation Celebration Voyage around the British Isles departing from Southampton next week on 2nd May. In addition to. Cunard’s signature Gala Night, the celebrations include a street-party style coronation lunch, a dinner inspired by King Charles’ favourite ingredients and a party to commemorate the occasion. The coronation will be screened live onboard on May 6. This announcement was big news in itself, given the facts I’ve mentioned above, but what made it the stuff of travel headlines was the unbelievable pricing, and the restricted sale window.
This limited-edition cruise was going on sale the very next day at 1 pm until noon on Monday 1st May, at prices that you could expect from a budget cruise line during Wave season. Inside cabins could be booked from just £199 per person (that’s £39.80 a night), balcony cabins from £299 per person and the most coveted of Cunard staterooms, the Princess and Queen’s Grills at just £499 and £599 respectively. To put this into context, a Queen’s Grill Suite is the stuff of dreams for a Cunard fan yet way out of budget for most of us; yet here was an opportunity to enjoy the ultimate Cunard experience for a mere £119.80 per night - that’s less than the cost of a modest pre-cruise chain hotel room.
It is fair to say that travel agents were caught ‘on the back foot’; there had simply been no lead in and limited time to prepare for the additional influx of enquiries. Although it wasn’t possible to register in advance on Cunard’s website, some travel agents were allowing pre-registration on line and by telephone. At 1 pm on Thursday bookings opened and phone lines and call centres were inundated. A leading cruise agent told me that when lines opened it was a positive feeding frenzy. Demand was inevitably going to be high, but it exceeded expectations with the cruise selling out within less than 24 hours (it was rumoured that it was even quicker - within 45 minutes). Larger agencies had teams booking blocks of cabins for their pre-registrations, and the Cunard booking systems were undoubtedly stretched.
Before you ask, yes of course I succumbed to the temptation myself, pre-registering on Thursday morning and authorising pre-payment. As of this morning (Saturday) just three days before potential embarkation, I still have had no confirmation whether my booking has been successful, but I am keeping everything crossed. The cruise has now disappeared off the website and I am left wondering whether I actually just dreamt it.