Cunard the Trendsetter

[57eric]

I recall hearing something during the QA naming ceremony that implied that Cunard now fancied itself a trendsetter, but there were so many other headscratchers during that event that it didn't stand out much.  Well, now I have it in writing.  A Cunard survey I received has this question" "How much does Cunard set trends?", with a Likert scale from 1 to 7.  I assumed that one end of the scale would be "Not at all - Cunard maintains traditions".  I couldn't have been more wrong.  The two ends were "Follows others" and "Sets the trends".  It's hard to say which is more awful.  If this reflects how Cunard management plans to lead the brand, I'll be moving on.

[WantedOnVoyage]

That makes two of us.... nothing like a company that brags about its 180 years of blah, blah, blah and then thinks it (and we) are not "trendy" enough for them. Judging from recent reviews of QM2 in particular, Cunard "management" has their plate filled with more pressing tasks... like finding enough crew who can speak English.  I deliberately did not watch the naming ceremony of QA... I know my "trend barometer" is set too low for the bright young things running Cunard.... none of whom were even born I suspect when I first sailed with the line. 

[david63]

Sounds to me like a market research company who knows nothing about either cruising or Cunard creating a survey (and being paid a considerable sum to do so!)

[3rdGenCunarder]

On 6/9/2024 at 11:56 PM, WantedOnVoyage said:

That makes two of us.... nothing like a company that brags about its 180 years of blah, blah, blah and then thinks it (and we) are not "trendy" enough for them. Judging from recent reviews of QM2 in particular, Cunard "management" has their plate filled with more pressing tasks... like finding enough crew who can speak English.  I deliberately did not watch the naming ceremony of QA... I know my "trend barometer" is set too low for the bright young things running Cunard.... none of whom were even born I suspect when I first sailed with the line. 

 

On 6/10/2024 at 3:18 AM, david63 said:

Sounds to me like a market research company who knows nothing about either cruising or Cunard creating a survey (and being paid a considerable sum to do so!)

 

I agree with both of you. I was on that cruise and I decided not to stay ashore and stand in the holding pen when I realized my cabin had a comfy sofa and a nice TV. 

 

The general feeling about the ship from people I spoke to was that we were NOT the target audience for this ship--too old (not "trendy" enough"). I felt that Cunard is deliberately downplaying their history (not ONE maritime painting or model in Commodore Club????) because they don't want to seem dated or stuffy. The ship is pretty but she doesn't feel like a Cunard ship.

[Thaxted]

The problem with trying to be trendy, as opposed to being up to date (e.g., better wifi), is that you just end up looking like you're trying to be trendy. And by the time you realize how foolish you look, the trend you thought you'd ride will have long since faded and you'll have to catch up with yet another trend that will disappear as surely as did the last.  

[JT1101]

Queen Anne will either work or it won't. The other Queens still sail and while there were some dissatisfied reviews of some of them there were also reviews that were in love with our Art Deco Queens. My main worry is the head of Cunard is now someone whose entire experience is marketing. Simon Palethorpe on the other hand while having marketing also had a background in logistics and operations too. So in essence we have an inexperienced CEO too.

I am assuming that any disruptions will shake themselves out as everyone gains experience. As I am sailing QM2 in December I will get to see first hand and will report. 

[Mareblu]

On 6/10/2024 at 12:58 PM, 57eric said:

I recall hearing something during the QA naming ceremony that implied that Cunard now fancied itself a trendsetter, but there were so many other headscratchers during that event that it didn't stand out much.  Well, now I have it in writing.  A Cunard survey I received has this question" "How much does Cunard set trends?", with a Likert scale from 1 to 7.  I assumed that one end of the scale would be "Not at all - Cunard maintains traditions".  I couldn't have been more wrong.  The two ends were "Follows others" and "Sets the trends".  It's hard to say which is more awful.  If this reflects how Cunard management plans to lead the brand, I'll be moving on.

I agree with you.  I found those questions not only puzzling, because it was Cunard engaging in naval gazing, but also deeply disturbing.  I dislike the term "trendsetter".  It carries notions of a new shade of lipstick.

[Jim_P]

They're just generic brand questions on a survey made by a third party, that question has been in it for at least the last few years that I've done the survey. It's pretty much the same questions on surveys I've done on cruises on other lines.

[Victoria2]

6 minutes ago, Jim_P said:

They're just generic brand questions on a survey made by a third party, that question has been in it for at least the last few years that I've done the survey. It's pretty much the same questions on surveys I've done on cruises on other lines.

and  don't know what the fuss is about as there's an obvious answer to any question which offends...draw a thick, black line through the question.

Job done.

[Victoria2]

3 hours ago, JT1101 said:

Queen Anne will either work or it won't. The other Queens still sail and while there were some dissatisfied reviews of some of them there were also reviews that were in love with our Art Deco Queens. My main worry is the head of Cunard is now someone whose entire experience is marketing. Simon Palethorpe on the other hand while having marketing also had a background in logistics and operations too. So in essence we have an inexperienced CEO too.

I am assuming that any disruptions will shake themselves out as everyone gains experience. As I am sailing QM2 in December I will get to see first hand and will report. 

Queen Anne will 'work'. Once the snags are snagged she will function perfectly well as a cruise ship

 

She might not be the choice of Cunard regulars [and she's definitely third choice for us] but  those new to the market and those who like the 'new' Cunard will sail with her.

 

The sad thing for us is she might be summer home ported in Southampton for the seeable future and we are left with Mary or Anne, neither of which floats our boat but Anne will have to do,

[exlondoner]

On 6/10/2024 at 4:56 AM, WantedOnVoyage said:

That makes two of us.... nothing like a company that brags about its 180 years of blah, blah, blah and then thinks it (and we) are not "trendy" enough for them. Judging from recent reviews of QM2 in particular, Cunard "management" has their plate filled with more pressing tasks... like finding enough crew who can speak English.  I deliberately did not watch the naming ceremony of QA... I know my "trend barometer" is set too low for the bright young things running Cunard.... none of whom were even born I suspect when I first sailed with the line. 

I can’t think of anything more trendsetting than running the first transatlantic mail service. But you can’t please all the people. Charles Dickens hated the trendy modern steamships.

[exlondoner]

2 hours ago, Victoria2 said:

Queen Anne will 'work'. Once the snags are snagged she will function perfectly well as a cruise ship

 

She might not be the choice of Cunard regulars [and she's definitely third choice for us] but  those new to the market and those who like the 'new' Cunard will sail with her.

 

The sad thing for us is she might be summer home ported in Southampton for the seeable future and we are left with Mary or Anne, neither of which floats our boat but Anne will have to do,

I am not speaking (entirely) from self interest, but I would have thought, with all that excellent outdoor space, QA might be best suited to Med. fly cruises, if they could get the numbers up, leaving one or other or, even better, both of the Vistas to do Southampton voyages.

[King Amo]

I doubt they'd choose not to maximise capacity out of Southampton. The design choices for Queen Anne will have been made with half an eye on the future, but how it is used will be very much for the present. Naturally the gamble they take is with loyalty of their clientele, but I think it is a pretty safe bet that most will continue to feel like Queen Anne is a more appropriate choice for them than the other UK-based options. 

[exlondoner]

Just now, King Amo said:

I doubt they'd choose not to maximise capacity out of Southampton. The design choices for Queen Anne will have been made with half an eye on the future, but how it is used will be very much for the present. Naturally the gamble they take is with loyalty of their clientele, but I think it is a pretty safe bet that most will continue to feel like Queen Anne is a more appropriate choice for them than the other UK-based options. 

There is simply no way of knowing at present. Also, younger cruisers are more likely to want fly cruises, out of the necessity to maximise the benefits of their holiday allowance, and those are apparently the ones QA is aimed at, though I suddenly felt pretty young when I was aboard.

[exlondoner]

1 hour ago, King Amo said:

I doubt they'd choose not to maximise capacity out of Southampton. The design choices for Queen Anne will have been made with half an eye on the future, but how it is used will be very much for the present. Naturally the gamble they take is with loyalty of their clientele, but I think it is a pretty safe bet that most will continue to feel like Queen Anne is a more appropriate choice for them than the other UK-based options. 

Maximising capacity out of Soton would be the two Vistas.

[david63]

I'm not sure that any cruise line/cruise ship is a "trendsetter" as they all evolve to meet the expectations of the passenger demographic - whether those expectations are actual or perceived is another matter.

 

Almost every new cruise ship these days claims to have some unique feature to try and differentiate it from all of the other new, and old, ships - is that actually trendsetting or marketing?

 

What one ship/cruise line does today the others will follow at some point in the future if the passengers demographic sees it as a requirement, or with some things find it is not required/used any more - for example (horror of horrors to some Cunarders) the removal of libraries which are non existent on many new, mass market ships.

[King Amo]

1 minute ago, exlondoner said:

Maximising capacity out of Soton would be the two Vistas.

Naturally, but you would be giving up a lot of global reach and variety to do so - it's a question of balance. My point is that if you have a significant level of clientele who are British and getting on in years (to the point of not undertaking fly cruises), it would make sense to position your largest cruise ship here, rather than a smaller one. There may be elements of the ship that some don't like, but I'd wager that won't negatively impact on bookings as the alternatives are likely to be even less to their taste. As you saw from your experience on board, it doesn't appear to have put older people off even if the traditionalists like to have a bit of a whinge. 

[david63]

20 minutes ago, King Amo said:

if you have a significant level of clientele who are British and getting on in years (to the point of not undertaking fly cruises)

That may not necessarily be true. For many it is more difficult to get to/from Southampton than it is to get to/from their regional airport.

 

For example: for me Southampton is a 230 mile journey taking a minimum of four hours by driving (yes I know other options are available all of which take even longer), whereas Manchester Airport is 35 miles with a 45 minute journey

[Victoria2]

3 hours ago, exlondoner said:

There is simply no way of knowing at present. Also, younger cruisers are more likely to want fly cruises, out of the necessity to maximise the benefits of their holiday allowance, and those are apparently the ones QA is aimed at, though I suddenly felt pretty young when I was aboard.

and mobile!!!!🙂

 

I have to smile at the thought of relative youngsters being  the [perceived?] target  group on QA.

 

 

As my fellow CC member said, we felt as if we were the youngsters, and no offence to exlondoner but neither of us are spring chickens! 😄

[NE John]

Archery is a trendsetter. Maybe skeet shooting comes back as a retro-trendsetter.

I hope that Cunard doesn’t focus so much on becoming a trendsetter (that really means following what other lines are doing) while becoming a Celebrity lookalike. 

[david63]

53 minutes ago, NE John said:

Archery is a trendsetter

There is nothing new about archery on a cruise ship - that was taking place years ago when I first started cruising

[exlondoner]

15 minutes ago, david63 said:

There is nothing new about archery on a cruise ship - that was taking place years ago when I first started cruising

And even before that. There was lots of archery on Mary Rose. 😀

[exlondoner]

1 hour ago, Victoria2 said:

and mobile!!!!🙂

 

I have to smile at the thought of relative youngsters being  the [perceived?] target  group on QA.

 

 

As my fellow CC member said, we felt as if we were the youngsters, and no offence to exlondoner but neither of us are spring chickens! 😄

More improbably still, even my husband felt quite fit and youthful in comparison, which is truly bizarre. 😀

[NE John]

52 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

And even before that. There was lots of archery on Mary Rose. 😀

That was my new Cunard marketing term “retro-trendsender” 😏

[exlondoner]

1 minute ago, NE John said:

That was my new Cunard marketing term “retro-trendsender” 😏

A backward flying arrow?