Tag Archives: P&O

Carnival reshuffle ‘will help differentiate P&O and Cunard’

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The reshuffle of Carnival UK’s leadership team will help to create “better brand focus and differentiation” between sister brands P&O Cruises and Cunard.

Speaking at the Clia Cruise Forum in Tilbury, David Dingle, chairman of Carnival UK, said the changes would be particularly beneficial to Cunard in helping to drive international growth for the brand.

In August the line revealed Gerard Tempest, formerly chief commercial officer for Carnival UK, was to leave the company. In his place positions were created at the helm of P&O, with Paul Ludlow put in change, and Cunard, a position which is still being recruited for.

Dingle said all businesses should constantly be under review to ensure their efficiency and development.

He said: “In the UK we went through a period where we tried to create as much organisational synergy for our brands as possible because through that you have greater efficiency, particularly cost efficiency.

“You have to be careful to differentiate still. Going round full circle again (reviewing the business and changing the leadership team) we believe it’s time to drive the brands harder, particularly for Cunard.

“We want to grow the international sourcing of the brand so we have to have much greater brand focus so that’s why we want to have some really brand specific leadership.

“We continue to develop the P&O brand and we’ve revitalized it over the past months and now we want to move forward and capitalise on that and dare I say think about what the next P&O cruises new ship might look for, should we decide to order it.”

P&O Cruises’ Britannia to host Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway

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P&O Cruises is to host a special episode of Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway live from the top deck of its flagship Britannia in Barcelona – and will launch a competition in the New Year for agents to be on board.

Throughout the next series of ITV’s award-winning show, 200 viewers of Saturday Night Takeaway will have the chance to win 100 free cabins on a 14-night cruise from Southampton to the Mediterranean and back, which will include an overnight call in Barcelona where the special episode will be filmed live on board.

The sailing will leave Southampton on March 27, 2016 and call at Cadiz, Barcelona, Civitavecchia (Rome), Ajaccio, Corsica and Gibraltar before returning to Southampton on April 10.

Top TV duo Ant and Dec will be joined for the special show by celebrity guests, and will stage all their usual stunts, performances and competitions in front of the winning viewers, regular passengers and those agents who win a place on board.

The competition for agents to join the sailing and be part of the show will be run exclusively in Travel Weekly in early 2016.

P&O Cruises senior vice president of sales & marketing Paul Ludlow said: “We are delighted that Britain’s most popular Saturday night show will be broadcasting live from Britain’s biggest and newest cruise ship.

“P&O Cruises is an inherently British brand and with Saturday night entertainment being such a popular British tradition, we thought this would be a great partnership. And there is nothing more iconic for great family fun than Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway.

“This will be a spectacular event and our guests will be able to join in the fun on the evening as Ant and Dec present a memorable show from Britannia in Barcelona.”

Ludlow said the tie-up with Saturday Night Takeaway would really “open up the concept of cruise” to the masses and drive more new-to-cruise sales.

“Over the course of the series, we estimate that Saturday Night Takeaway, and the cruise giveaway and live show on board, will be seen by over 22 million people.

“They will get a glimpse of cruise and the product and it will start a conversation that people might not have had otherwise.

“We expect to see a return from so many million people seeing Britannia. We will be putting cruise into people’s conscious,” he said.

Ludlow said this was the first time P&O Cruises had entered into such a tie-up, but added: “People will have seen P&O as a brand really evolve over the last 18 months to two years.

“It really celebrates its Britishness and represents the best way for Brits to go off and do something quite adventurous but come back to somewhere that understands their tastes and that feels comfortable.”

Commenting on the opportunity for agents win a place on the sailing and the chance to be part of the live show and to meet Ant & Dec, Ludlow said:

“Inherently, most people are going to book a cruise through a travel agent and so we want to involve agents in this, so that they feel as excited as we are about it.

“We will run a competition exclusively in Travel Weekly for agents to win places – so watch this space in the New Year.”

Customers already booked on the 14-night sailing will be contacted and told about the live filming in Barcelona.

The impact on their cruise will be explained and they will be offered the chance to cancel with a full refund, or to carry on as normal. Ludlow said he “expected the majority to stick with us”.

Anyone interested in making a future booking on the sailing will be told what is happening on board before any money has changed hands.

Saturday Night Takeaway’s executive producer, Pete Ogden, said: “I am thrilled to be working with P&O Cruises to shoot a live episode of the series on board Britannia.

“It is a huge undertaking, but I am confident that we will work together to make it a spectacular event.”

P&O Cruises unveils itineraries to mark 180th anniversary

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By Phil Davies, Travel Weekly

P&O Cruises is to run two full world cruises in 2017 to mark its 180th anniversary.

Aurora’s 104-night eastern circumnavigation from Southampton echoes the trade routes of the British Empire, calling at 35 destinations in 21 countries and sailing almost 30,000 nautical miles.

Departing on January 9, 2017, the cruise features 23 new ports of call, overnight stays in Dubai, Singapore, Sydney and San Francisco, seven evening calls and transits of both the Panama and Suez canals.

Arcadia’s 114-night western circumnavigation from Southampton calls at 37 destinations in 21 countries, sailing more than 36,000 nautical miles.

The voyage, departing on January 2, 2017, includes 22 new ports, overnight stays in San Francisco, Auckland, Sydney, Hong Kong and Singapore and nine evening calls.

Prices lead in at £10,299 per person on a Select Price rate for Aurora’s world cruise, including onboard spending money of between £350 and £1,000, depending on cabin grade.

The sailings feature in a 2017 World Cruise Collection brochure which goes on general sale on September 9.

The programme also includes a 50-night Oriana cruise to the Caribbean and Amazon departing from the UK on January 3, 2017 and a 12-night Northern Lights itinerary including an overnight stay Alta and a late evening in Tromso. Prices start at £3,999pp and £899pp respectively.

The line’s marketing director, Christopher Edgington, said: “P&O Cruises has a reputation for offering original and appealing world cruise itineraries which we spend a lot of time planning, based on extensive research and trends.

“Our round the world cruises are not a once-in-a-lifetime dream but a truly affordable and realistic holiday for empty nesters looking for long haul adventure and ‘this is the life’ memories.”