Tag Archives: P&O

Has P&O boss made an Olympian decision about his new cruise ship?

Posted on by
Reply

The publicity machine is cranking itself into gear for P&O’s new baby – the biggest cruise ship ever to be built for the British market.

As construction gathers pace in an Italian dry dock, the company has disclosed the team of senior officers who will command the ship.

The long-awaited announcement of the vessel’s name is expected to be made before the end of the month, and speculation is beginning to build.

The only certainty is that – in common with every other vessel in P&O’s fleet – it will end with an ‘a.’ Beyond that, predictions (or guesses) have veered from a revival of the much-loved Canberra to something new. My money was mischievously on Carolia – after managing director Carol Marlow – until it was announced she would be leaving the company.

Gerard Tempest, the chief commercial officer at parent company Carnival UK, told me in July that his boss, chief executive David Dingle, would have a big hand in selecting the name.

“David is a walking encyclopedia of shipping and of P&O,” said Tempest. “He knows exactly what has gone before and what the name for the new ship will mean in terms of the heritage of the business.

“Before we can make a final decision there’s the whole legal business of registering the name as a trademark and ensuring that we actually own the name.”

So it is interesting to see that within the past few weeks, Carnival UK has registered two trademarks with the UK’s Intellectual Property Office.

First to be filed, on June 12, was Olympia. It was followed on July 27 byBritannia.

If either of them is the chosen name, it will be an interesting selection. Britannia is, of course, the name of the Royal Yacht, now a tourist attraction in Leith, Scotland, rather than an active ship on Her Majesty’s service. Britannia was also the name of the first steamship built for Cunard’s Transatlantic mail service, in 1840.

Olympia has been used to name a previous P&O ship, albeit more than 100 years ago.

Both names have other historic echoes. Olympic and Britannic were sister ships to the Titanic, a name you may have heard of and which is guaranteed never to be revived.

Those crew names, by the way: Paul Brown and David Pembridge are to be captains.

Brown joined P&O in 1996 and was first promoted to captain in June 2007 on board Aurora. He then went on to be master on board Artemis, Oriana, Ventura and Azura.

Pembridge joined the company in 1976 and was first promoted to captain in October 2002 on board Pacific Princess. He then went on to be master on board Royal Princess, Sun Princess, Artemis, Oceana, Ocean Village 2, Oriana and Aurora.

Martin Allen and Hamish Sunter have been named as deputy captains, and Darljit Sharma and Keith de la Mare as executive pursers.

UK’s Top Cruise Company SPLIT UP!

Posted on by
Reply
CCS Logo

CCS Logo

Carnival UK announces new sales structure to create “unrivalled” agent partnerships and deliver a “new generation” of cruisers
Carnival UK has announced changes to the structure of the agent facing sales teams for its three major brands.

From early March 2013 there will be two separate sales teams, one supporting P&O Cruises and Cunard Line and the other supporting Princess Cruises.
This change recognises the importance of each brand’s market position and product differentiation. As each brand evolves, their subsequent distribution and marketing solutions vary and this structure will enable more dedicated resource to work with our agent partners to fulfil those needs.

The Complete Cruise Solution sales team has driven significant increases in cruise business through many agents in this country over a number of years. Now is the time to underpin that solid foundation, encourage a new generation of cruisers and build on that growth to further commercial success.

The introduction of two sales teams will increase the internal resource available to maintain the current high standards of travel agent support and encourage unrivalled business partnerships. It will drive business growth and extend the marketing to the benefit of each of our three cruise lines and their agent partners.

The award winning agent extranet, www.completecruisesolution.com, will continue to provide top-quality booking and training services for all three brands, and will continue to receive significant investment.

The new Princess Cruises sales team will report into the newly created head of sales position, which will in turn report to Princess Cruises UK director, Paul Ludlow.

The sales team for P&O Cruises and Cunard will report into the newly appointed head of sales, Chris Truscott, who will join the organisation from early in the new year. Truscott will report to Carnival UK sales and customer services director, Giles Hawke.

All three brands are committed to continued commercial collaboration to provide a consistency of approach and to creating new sales organisations capable of delivering exceptional account management for mutual benefit.