Is Cunard's website really bad?

[MandH]

Or is it just me? I've been trying to enter my details on Cunard's website for some days now, but all I get is a message that an "Unexpected error has occurred..." and inviting me to try again. Well itv sn't unexpected by me because I get it all the time. A supposedly world-class cruise line needs a world-class website and for me at least, Cunard doesn't have one. To add insult to injury, there's no contact email address on their website and calls in the UK cost a lot of money. I understand I need an e-ticket to board but at this rate I won't have one.

 

Anyone else with the same problem?

[Crcervelo]

Their website has been problematic for a couple of years now, it's controlled by a company in the UK and all the CA office can do is put in a work order/ request that there is a issue.

Best advice I can give you is try not using any Apple products to access the site, it likes Windows much better for some reason...... Good luck and enjoy your voyage!!!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Host Hattie]

Others have reported problems but it's been fine for me recently. Have you tried a different browser?

[andhow]

To add insult to injury, there's no contact email address on their website and calls in the UK cost a lot of money.

 

Anyone else with the same problem?

 

Use their switchboard number:

 

02380 655000

 

andhow

[MarkBearSF]

Cunard's website has always lagged behind their competitors.

 

However it's sunk from being not-so-great to an embarrassment. They appear to have simply deactivated pages and functions rather than fix them.

 

To be frank, to have such a lame, broken product when portraying themselves as providing luxury "white star service" truly diminishes their brand and is unforgivable.

 

But that's what it is.

[gentlemancruiser]

Best advice I can give you is try not using any Apple products to access the site, it likes Windows much better for some reason...... Good luck and enjoy your voyage!!!!

 

It's not Apple products causing the access problems, it is the web browser used. Internet Explorer and a few others do not work with the software used by Cunard. I've used Chrome from my Mac and had no issues. However when I used IE from my work PC I get call kinds a errors.

[Camgirl]

Or is it just me? I've been trying to enter my details on Cunard's website for some days now, but all I get is a message that an "Unexpected error has occurred..." and inviting me to try again. Well itv sn't unexpected by me because I get it all the time. A supposedly world-class cruise line needs a world-class website and for me at least, Cunard doesn't have one. To add insult to injury, there's no contact email address on their website and calls in the UK cost a lot of money. I understand I need an e-ticket to board but at this rate I won't have one.

 

Anyone else with the same problem?

 

Just to reassure you, I have never been asked for my e-ticket yet.

 

Also, If you can, try another computer. I have occasionally had problems on one instrument and not on others. And I use the same browser (IE) on each. I know there is no logic in that but it is worth trying. Alternatively, if you booked through a travel agent ask them to print it for you.

Edited August 25, 2016 by Camgirl

[Mbett1]

I could not get into Voyage Personaliser for a least 2 weeks and eventually rang Cunard. The lady was disinterested in my problem but said that the eticket was not necessary for boarding, a copy of the travel agent's booking form would suffice. She said that Cunard know that there is a problem and 'are working on it'

I use apple products with internet explorer.

As previous posters suggest - it really isn't good enough!

[seacruise9]

Hi,

 

Yes, I agree that Cunard has a poor website (at least in the U.S.). This is surprising because its sister line in the U.S., Princess, has the best cruise line website that I have seen.

 

Chuck

[TheArchitect]

On it yesterday, no problems at all and although a wee bit clunky didn't think the graphic format too bad. Was using Firefox on Windows 10 on two machines.

[ToadOfToadHall]

It's incredibly poor.

 

For example, I booked a cruise on their site on Monday and I had several problems:

 

a) When I entered my World Club number it said it does not exist. It does exist.

 

b) When I tried to enter a room number it said it did not exist. In fact, when I entered any cabin number, it said it did not exist.

 

Their problems are nothing to do with using a PC or a Apple, or Internet Explorer or Chrome or anything else. It's down the appalling back-end database handling, i.e. it's riddled with database coding errors.

 

And as someone who writes software for a living there is only reason why it does not work; software developers who don't care.

[rmrm]

Yes, I thought it was just me!! I have tried different browsers on my PC and iPad. Every single time I go to the VP I have to enter my info twice before it will let me log in. Also, we have an APO address which will not enter correctly. I have emailed my TA about it then called Cunard and emailed Cunard about the issue. Because of the error all of our documents were sent who knows where,(we never got them)which I am not comfortable with. Cunard has given me no response to my email. This is our first Cunard cruise next week and honestly I am nervous we won't get on the ship because our info doesn't match up. I suppose I will try calling them again. Honestly not a good first impression. [emoji849]

[MarkBearSF]

Besides providing a negative experience to customers, the site's severe limitations are costing Cunard money.

 

- The inability to pre-order bon-voyage gifts, excursions, spa treatments, and specialty dinner reservations on-line is a loss. Yes, especially for things like excursions and spa treatments, most passengers will likely do it aboard. But not all. And some things like expensive romantic extras may seem a lot more appealing as one is enraptured with planning the vacation than when one is in the middle of the cruise.

 

- The lack of information provided online results in an increased burden and expense for their call center staff to answer questions and extra delays and portside expense at check-in.

 

- I'm assuming that if we have issues on the passenger side, I suspect that on-line capability is also problematic for the travel agents who still book a large percentage of cruises (especially for more traditional cruisers). Making it difficult for people to sell your product is not a good idea.

 

- And fundamentally, a provider of a luxury product that promises a hassle-free experience from a company that respects their customers, and especially gives deference to those who have been leaders in the past and expect that respect, should not disregard them. A poor online experience requiring passengers to continually re-enter information can be especially vexing to this critical segment of their customer base.

 

Perhaps the general feeling in Cunard HQ is that their customers are old folks who aren't good at computers and don't really care about online capabilities. That is clearly wrong. (Although I'm aware that posting this in an online forum, I'm preaching to the choir.)

 

Now that I'm 60, I'm officially a senior. I was on the front lines of the PC revolution and an early internet techie. But looking around at others of my generation and beyond, I've seen that the majority of seniors are quite tech-savvy. Especially with web-based technology. Should Cunard invest in a state-of-the-art mobile app this year? Probably not; a QM2 emoji probably wouldn't get much traction as well. HOWEVER I'd bet that the majority of Cunard pax are heavy users of websites.

Edited August 25, 2016 by MarkBearSF

[Mbett1]

Totally agree✅

[Host Hattie]

Besides providing a negative experience to customers, the site's severe limitations are costing Cunard money.

 

- The inability to pre-order bon-voyage gifts, excursions, spa treatments, and specialty dinner reservations on-line is a loss. Yes, especially for things like excursions and spa treatments, most passengers will likely do it aboard. But not all. And some things like romantic extras may seem a lot more appealing as one is enraptured with planning the vacation than when one is in the middle of it.

 

 

You can do most of those things via the UK Voyage Personaliser. Are you saying you can't from the US version ?

Edited August 25, 2016 by Host Hattie

[MarkBearSF]

You can do those things via the UK Voyage Personaliser. Are you saying you can't from the US version ?

 

I just checked.

• Spa treatments - not available online, but can be ordered by phone.
  
• Special gifts - not available online, but can be ordered by phone.
  
• Restaurant reservations - not available online
  
• Excursions - I may very well have been off here. It's too early to see excursions for my upcoming trip and last year we did a crossing so there was no need for excursions.
  
• (other excursions) - there are many offerings like airport and city transfers and ship tours that are only available aboard. Especially for a liner, not having easy information and a variety of options available online in NY and Southampton is a really missed opportunity.
  

 

I seem to recall that there was more info on NY transfers provided a month or so pre-cruise but not whether it was bookable on-line.

 

I may be wrong on some of these and I honestly appreciate any corrections and further info.

 

Mark

Edited August 25, 2016 by MarkBearSF

[ToadOfToadHall]

- The inability to pre-order bon-voyage gifts, excursions, spa treatments, and specialty dinner reservations on-line is a loss.

 

All of those things can be done online from the UK website.

[MandH]

Just to say that I am in the UK, using an Apple Mac and have failed with both Safari and Firefox. I also hung on the phone for over 15 minutes listening to sales messages before I had to give up to catch a train. Our cruise is next week and I can't believe what I have read in these threads.

 

White Star cruise line? Lowest grade website.

 

Hope someone from Cunard reads this thread.

[MarkBearSF]

All of those things can be done online from the UK website.

 

All?

 

In any event, that almost makes it worse. That such capabilities are built into the system but they didn't provide resources to extend it to such a large portion of their customers in the US (certainly a primary market) is as insulting as it is foolhardy. Especially if this is longstanding functionality.

Edited August 25, 2016 by MarkBearSF

[spookyfudge]

Their website has been problematic for a couple of years now, it's controlled by a company in the UK and all the CA office can do is put in a work order/ request that there is a issue.

Best advice I can give you is try not using any Apple products to access the site, it likes Windows much better for some reason...... Good luck and enjoy your voyage!!!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Yes it is, tried booking on line, after 4 attempts, got frustrated and went with a cruise on HAL, very happy. No more cunard cruises for me.

 

Sent from my KFTHWI using Forums mobile app

[MarkBearSF]

Hope someone from Cunard reads this thread.

 

I believe Host Hattie has stated that Cunard does not monitor this forum. (At least officially. I would hope individuals in their employ may silently do so)

 

It makes an interesting contrast to a competitor in the large ship luxury market, Crystal Cruises. Note - this happened in 2010 and was when the line had different ownership and management than it does currently.

 

Having spent months reading comments raving about all aspects of Crystal's service, I had extremely high expectations. On our first evening on the Crystal Serenity, I had encountered a number of bumps. Nothing serious and largely due to the adjustments on the first night in the dining room. Nonetheless, before going to bed, I posted a mildly negative post on their CC forum expressing my disappointment.

 

The next evening there was a change in our dining servers. When we returned to our cabin after dinner, there was a bottle of wine with a personal note from the F&B manager asking me to contact him with any concerns. Followed up by a call the next day.

 

I connected with him the next day and expressed my gratitude for the wine and his response. Long story short - by monitoring social media, they took proactive action and turned a mildly irked passenger into a cheerleader.

 

It would be nice if Cunard acted similarly.

[Ray66]

All?

 

In any event, that almost makes it worse. That such capabilities are built into the system but they didn't provide resources to extend it to such a large portion of their customers in the US (certainly a primary market) is as insulting as it is foolhardy. Especially if this is longstanding functionality.

 

Not quite all. Through your Voyage Personaliser you can book excursions, spa treatments and speciality dinner reservations, but not "little luxuries". There is a list of the luxuries in the VP but you have to phone to reserve and pre-pay for them.

[MarkBearSF]

Thanks for the clarification, Ray66.

As I mentioned, not available in the US.

 

Mark

Edited August 26, 2016 by MarkBearSF

[Scottygirl1]

OK, so it's not just me! I've been trying to get onto the personaliser for days. My travel agent has told me that until all the information is completed 100% on there they can't issue any travel documents.

 

I've phoned my agent... emailed... thankfully I am not travelling soon :)

[Host Hattie]

I believe Host Hattie has stated that Cunard does not monitor this forum. (At least officially. I would hope individuals in their employ may silently do so)

 

 

I don't think I have, others have said that they do but I have no insider information.