By
David Mott |
This article was first published in the Spring/Summer 2016 issue of International Cruise & Ferry Review. All information was correct at the time of printing, but may since have changed.
Carnival UK has taken a twin-track approach to top management since autumn 2014, when David Noyes was appointed CEO to work in tandem with long-serving chairman, David Dingle. Previously, Dingle had carried out both jobs for 15 months when unexpected changes at the top of both the P&O Cruises and Cunard subsidiaries thrust him into this dual hands-on role.
Noyes says the current set-up is a new commercial leadership structure “which is working very well indeed and gives the chairman time to deal with industry bodies like the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) as well as governmental organisations in Brussels and Westminster. In that role he also acts for parent, Carnival Corporation.”
In many ways this double-headed arrangement reflects well the nature of cruise companies which, at one and the same time, are both an important and growing part of the holiday business as well as being major shipping companies in their own right. Noyes says, as an aside, his experience of the cruise business since he joined Carnival in 2011 is just about 10% of Dingle’s, whose long career dates back to the 1970s. What he does not say is that his experience in travel goes back well over 20 years, much of it with British Airways (BA) on both the commercial and operations sides of the business.
Just how much does the chairman become involved in the day-to-day business of P&O and Cunard? “He will come in when the situation demands,” says Noyes. “I often use him as a sounding board and ask him to get involved in our ‘state of the business’ reviews.” And how does the CEO apportion his time with each of the two companies? “Again, it depends on events,” he explains. “When Britannia was launched last March it was probably 80% P&O, but when we moved on to Cunard’s 175th anniversary this would have been reversed.”
Noyes categorises P&O, an almost wholly UK business, as the British cruise line of choice. But the smaller Cunard’s passengers are split 50% UK and 50% other nationalities, notably the US. “This means we have to embrace multiple markets,” he says, adding: “Both businesses are doing well.” Of course, the addition of Britannia’s 4,300 berths to the overall P&O fleet is likely to affect the performance of that brand. “All our ships have been sailing at expected occupancy and in her first nine months to the end of December we expect her to have added 18% to carryings. She has been well received in the reviews and has already won three awards in her limited first season.”
At Cunard the major refit of the Queen Mary 2 at Blohm+Voss in Germany in summer 2016 will add 30 Britannia Club staterooms as well as 15 single cabins, specifically to cater for passengers from more than one generation in the same family holidaying together. They will also be introduced elsewhere in the fleet, says Noyes.
In the Caribbean Barbados has been the traditional P&O base port. But now St Lucia is being added as a second base to facilitate an extended range of seven- and 14-night cruises in the area. It will be possible to call at both ports on a single cruise. “There will also be an increase in Greek island cruises which are proving very popular. The increasing presence of refugees from Syria and elsewhere in the area is not proving a problem,” says Noyes. The 104-night world cruise on Aurora will echo the British routes to the East taken during the years of empire. Arcadia will go west to east in 2017, taking in the Polynesian Islands.
Cunard vessels will be calling at another five ports this year including Gaspé and Saguenay, in Canada, as well as Genoa and Guadeloupe. “We are including more overnight calls in major ports as well as sailings as late as midnight in others. We are talking about places like Quebec, Boston, Kusadasi (the port for Ephesus), Dubrovnik and Reykjavik. There will also be an overnight stop in Venice to enable passengers to attend an opera event in Verona.”
But an undoubted highlight in 2017 will be a transit of the Amazon River by Cunard’s 90,000gt Queen Victoria during a round-the-world cruise. She is almost certainly the largest cruise ship to undertake such a transit and will have a pilot onboard for the whole time. In that year the three Cunard ships will call at 80 ports in 42 countries.
The partnership with Blue Note for Jazz at Sea on Queen Mary 2 trips across the Atlantic went well and this year the line has secured the services of American pianist, Herbie Hancock. At P&O there will be a third season of Strictly Come Dancing cruises when the cast of this highly successful BBC programme sail on ships for four cruises and stage a mini version of the dancing competition involving passengers. It has become a popular feature of the P&O programme, says Noyes. It is also now a tradition that the captain is one of the judges.
Battlechefs is a television programme due to start this spring and P&O will also be staging this with two chefs in competition with each other. There will also be a partnership with UK television celebrities Ant and Dec due to start in the spring.
Given that cruise lines are always planning to expand their fleets, is there anything specific Noyes can disclose about potential new tonnage? “I am always asked that and my answer is that I have a new ship already in Britannia,” is his response. He has a point, as it is generally estimated that the ‘new’ factor in marketing a ship normally lasts a year to 18 months and last year’s addition will not be a year old until March. At the moment the UK companies do not appear likely to be favoured with new tonnage, which is ordered centrally in Miami for Carnival Corporation’s 10 subsidiary lines. But given a year or two that may change.
Shortly after our interview widespread rumours emerged that, yet again, Cunard might become more distanced from P&O to enable potential passengers to differentiate more easily between what are two very different brands, which have become closer and then further apart a number of times in recent years. Confirming this, Carnival said that last year the launch of Britannia and then Cunard’s 175th anniversary enabled emphasis on both companies for marketing purposes. This year there will be a third opportunity when Queen Mary 2 returns from her major refit in the summer.