Who Will replace Alatair Greener Now he has left Cunard.

[transatlantic fan]

Does anyone know who will be replacing Alastair as Cruse Director now he has left the company?

[highcbob]

As of yesterday (April 19th) I think the delightful Amanda Reid replaced Alastair on QE. I am not sure whom is the general replacement for Alastair though.

[Nippy Sweetie]

Just an idle thought but do Cunard ships still have "gentleman hosts"? I remember them on QE2. What a difficult role they appeared to have but they all seemed to carry it out well. We used to wonder about their job descriptions and had fun imagining the gentlemen hosts` staff meetings. What would they discuss? etc.............

[Mid-Atlantic Ridge]

As of yesterday (April 19th) I think the delightful Amanda Reid replaced Alastair on QE. I am not sure whom is the general replacement for Alastair though.

Well they could do the decent thing and reintroduce Warren Smith. He didn't have a big ego that I could detect anyway nor take himself too seriously. Mind you the ships aren't run for my benefit alone so I hold out little hope.

 

M-AR

[phillipahain]

Got off QE yesterday and we were told Amanda is the permanant replacement for Alistair

[zider]

HE was Entertainment Director for Cunard Line, so its not just a case of finding someone to fill his shoes onboard the Queen Elizabeth its a case of finding a new Entertainment Director for Cunard Lines 3 ships.

[ovccruiser]

HE was Entertainment Director for Cunard Line, so its not just a case of finding someone to fill his shoes onboard the Queen Elizabeth its a case of finding a new Entertainment Director for Cunard Lines 3 ships.

 

Quite correct, he certainly did much more than just one ship as is shown on his blogg on the Cunard site, he certainly will be a tough act to follow. Parden the pun:D

[3rdGenCunarder]

Just an idle thought but do Cunard ships still have "gentleman hosts"? I remember them on QE2. What a difficult role they appeared to have but they all seemed to carry it out well. We used to wonder about their job descriptions and had fun imagining the gentlemen hosts` staff meetings. What would they discuss? etc.............

 

Some of them were good, but some were idiots. One was the "leader" for a shore excusrion on QE2. Tours met in the theatre, and he had no idea where the apprpriate staircase was to get down to the gangway. (Helloooo? alphabetical order, not that hard to figure out)

 

Try to find the movie "Out to Sea," in which Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau play gentlemen hosts. The cruise director in the movie is a hoot, too.

[pnhmrk]

Warren Smith

 

I liked Warren :) He was good without being too pushy. Amanda Reid is OK. She comes across as pleasant but rather thin - as if all there is of her is what you can see. I'm told she's not like that with her staff though.

[Devon Bloke]

We met Alastair on our first Cunard voyage - QM2 TA.

 

He was a thoroughly nice bloke. He was approachable, pleasant, funny, patient, charming and highly professional.

 

His manner of delivery in public speaking and when on TV or video was always good - he had a style that made you want to listen to him.

 

He was a good ambassador for Cunard

 

According to his farewell entry on his blog (http://wearecunard.com/category/alastair-greener/) he is hoping to go into broadcasting.

 

I think he'll do well in it! We wish him all the best for the future.

 

Cheers and thanks

[bluemarble]

I just noticed the blog on http://wearecunard.com is now titled "Peter's Blog" with a portrait of a gentleman I don't happen to recognize who introduces himself as "an Entertainment Director for Cunard Line".

 

Can someone knowledgeable about Cunard's Entertainment Directors help identify this gentleman who appears to be taking over Alastair's responsibilities with regard to the "wearecunard" blog?

 

Edit:

 

The blog has been changed to say "Welcome to Peter's Blog. As President and Managing Director of Cunard Line ...". Of course the gentleman in question is Peter Shanks.

[bobby1119]

I just noticed the blog on http://wearecunard.com is now titled "Peter's Blog" with a portrait of a gentleman I don't happen to recognize who introduces himself as "an Entertainment Director for Cunard Line".

 

Can someone knowledgeable about Cunard's Entertainment Directors help identify this gentleman who appears to be taking over Alastair's responsibilities with regard to the "wearecunard" blog?

 

The photo is of Peter Shanks, current President/Managing Director.

[fg_hb]

I just noticed the blog on http://wearecunard.com is now titled "Peter's Blog" with a portrait of a gentleman I don't happen to recognize who introduces himself as "an Entertainment Director for Cunard Line".

 

Can someone knowledgeable about Cunard's Entertainment Directors help identify this gentleman who appears to be taking over Alastair's responsibilities with regard to the "wearecunard" blog?

 

"Peter's Blog" referres to Peter Shanks, President and Managing Director of Cunard. I don't know if this an interrim solution or if Mr. Shanks will do this job for a long time.

 

Frank

[phillipahain]

It will be highly interesting to see if Peter Shanks actually takes on board the mounting critism of Cunard and actually does something to address the issues raised

 

Sadly there was a side to Alistair that was not as others have posted

[bluemarble]

The photo is of Peter Shanks, current President/Managing Director.

 

"Peter's Blog" referres to Peter Shanks, President and Managing Director of Cunard. I don't know if this an interrim solution or if Mr. Shanks will do this job for a long time.

 

Frank

 

Thanks for setting me straight. It threw me off when the new "Peter's Blog" originally stated "I'm an Entertainment Director for Cunard Line". Now that it has been corrected to state "President and Managing Director of Cunard Line", that certainly clears up that little bit of confusion.

[northernsailor]

Nice to see it's already being written in a true American format already.. '79 degrees in Southampton..' clearly not Celsius.. :/

 

Why they even bothered stamping Southampton on the stern of the ships I don't know - they do everything they can to make out NYC is the hub of all things Cunard!

 

Still, it's better than John Heald's blog.. (for now)

 

Chris

[guernseyguy]

Nice to see it's already being written in a true American format already.. '79 degrees in Southampton..' clearly not Celsius.. :/

 

Sorry dear, but some of us older Brits (who may be more of the target market....) still work in 'old money' when it comes to temperature....so F is fine with me!

[guernseyguy]

It could have been Thomas.....truly never a dull moment!

[northernsailor]

Sorry dear, but some of us older Brits (who may be more of the target market....) still work in 'old money' when it comes to temperature....so F is fine with me!

 

I very much doubt that's the stance Cunard are taking though.. come on! ;)

 

Chris

[guernseyguy]

I very much doubt that's the stance Cunard are taking though.. come on! ;)

 

Chris

 

If it works with the target market both sides of the pond - what's not to like! (I suspect we may sometimes over analyse these things!;))

 

In any case, he's already split an infinitive ("to really encourage feedback" - though in fairness 'really to encourage' is clumsy) and called past passengers ships ('loyal and valued Cunarders')........

[northernsailor]

If it works with the target market both sides of the pond - what's not to like! (I suspect we may sometimes over analyse these things!;))

 

In any case, he's already split an infinitive ("to really encourage feedback" - though in fairness 'really to encourage' is clumsy) and called past passengers ships ('loyal and valued Cunarders')........

 

Unfortunately, we'll never know how much of the blog was actually written by Mr Greener or by the marketing dept in Southampton (NYC?) (ie, they get a draft and make the blog post) - there is a distinct difference in Peter's entry though and that video seemed really false - especially the interview. Not the best post to start with!

 

I wish they'd restrict the number of last posts on the front page. It's currently set to the software's default of 10 which is okay if they are short posts but it takes ages for the entire first page of the blog to load currently (via mobile internet especially)

 

Anyway.. will give it time, it was great to read beforehand.

 

Chris

[Salacia]

Partial quote

 

....called past passengers ships........

 

Oh dear:eek: maybe it was a typo (hitting p instead of t)? :D

[guernseyguy]

Unfortunately, we'll never know how much of the blog was actually written by Mr Greener or by the marketing dept in Southampton (NYC?)

 

It tended to have quite a strong, consistent 'Voice' - so either the whole thing was ghosted by the same person, or Alastair did indeed write most of it - Mr Shanks has big shoes to fill....and plenty of detractors waiting in the wings ready to pounce!

[northernsailor]

It tended to have quite a strong, consistent 'Voice' - so either the whole thing was ghosted by the same person, or Alastair did indeed write most of it - Mr Shanks has big shoes to fill....and plenty of detractors waiting in the wings ready to pounce!

 

I agree, it felt the same 'voice' throughout. Unfortunately Mr Shanks has taken over when there doesn't appear to be anything of excitement due to happen in the next 8 months with Cunard. By that I mean, no new ship, meeting of the Queens or a World Cruise to blog about.

 

I am sure they will find some pressworthy stories but Mr Greener got to cover a lot of 'big events'. I know the 'Star of the Month' is interesting to some people, but ... I am not sure I want to read about 3 of them -every- month.

 

Chris

[Husband & wife who cru]

Well they could do the decent thing and reintroduce Warren Smith. He didn't have a big ego that I could detect anyway nor take himself too seriously. Mind you the ships aren't run for my benefit alone so I hold out little hope.

 

We do our own thing when on a ship and never paid that much attention to Alistair. What I did see was OK, not bad nor outstanding, but was not a Director we followed with any interest.

 

Now Mr. Shanks is an interesting choice. He comes across as having trouble gaining his footing in the position he was appointed to. I was throughly impressed with former Director Carol Marlow who came across as having a strong hand on the reins of Cunard.

 

Perhaps the blog is a way to build up his name with the company. He is less than effective in public speaking so my guess would be he is signing his name to something someone else is writing. Now if I wanted to go back to work again....