It's Official: Cunard Re-flags Ships in Bermuda, Launches Weddings at Sea

[Pringles]

I might be optimistic, but I don't think the change of registration will make any real difference to how things are now. Prices are in dollars, staff are foreign nationals rather than gloomy Brits. The shows had a British flavour which I liked.

 

Perhaps it is me but I do think about crew pay on these trips and try and tip like an american as much as possible. The last cruise I went on I detected that the East European restaurant staff were not on good terms with some of their colleagues from the Phillipines . The latter being vastly more experienced and professional but from the wrong port as far as their salaries were concerned.

 

As someone who spends their working life in an industry where the customer is always wrong I hope the service and experience with Cunard stays the same.

[cruise44]

Cunard liners drop British flag

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-15378560

 

Luxury cruise company Cunard has announced its ships will stop sailing under the British flag.

 

The company said it was being done to allow weddings to be held on board as ships registered in the UK cannot conduct marriages.

 

The company's three ships Queen Mary 2, Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth will instead fly the flag of Bermuda.

 

The port of Hamilton will also replace the name of Southampton on the stern from next spring.

[Leucothea]

Daily Telegraph:

 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/cruises/8838472/Cunard-to-register-ships-in-Bermuda.html

 

And others:

 

http://maritimematters.com/2011/10/queens-of-bermuda-as-cunard-line-switches-registry/

 

http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/captain-greybeard/2011/09/flag-change-would-allow-cunard.html

[Salacia]

Cunard liners drop British flag

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-15378560

 

Luxury cruise company Cunard has announced its ships will stop sailing under the British flag.

 

The company said it was being done to allow weddings to be held on board as ships registered in the UK cannot conduct marriages.

 

The company's three ships Queen Mary 2, Queen Victoria and Queen Elizabeth will instead fly the flag of Bermuda.

 

The port of Hamilton will also replace the name of Southampton on the stern from next spring.

 

Hello cruise44. Thanks for that link, but it was dated 19 October. Much has changed since then, and obviously rather rapidly. It is suprising that re-flagging of Cunard ships has not caught the attention of the press in the United States, especially since QM2s failed inspection report earlier this year made headlines.

 

There is a previous thread regarding the re-flagging, if interested.

 

Regards,

Salacia

[Leucothea]

It is suprising that re-flagging of Cunard ships has not caught the attention of the press in the United States, especially since QM2s failed inspection report earlier this year made headlines.

 

 

Yes, surprising and noteworthy, or not so surprising That's the US media...I suppose they assume the US public is not particularly interested in Cunard's re-flagging.

 

 

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[Classiccruiser777]

Sorry to hear that, it was about the only thing left that was British on Cunard.

 

From my experience most of the passengers have been, and probably will continue to be British which, for me, is a big plus.

[Leucothea]

From my experience most of the passengers have been, and probably will continue to be British which, for me, is a big plus.

 

 

On which ships? I've found that on QM2 there is quite a mixture or Brits, Americans, Germans, French and others. There have been more Brits over the past few years who are first time Cunard travelers, however, I think.

 

 

"It is a mistake to try to look too far ahead. The chain of destiny can only be grasped one link at a time." Sir Winston Churchill

 

"When good men do nothing, they get nothing good done." Dr. Glen Clifton

[Ryancoke]

From the glass half full perpective: how far off the beaten path is Bermuda on the TA? Might be nice to drop in there ONCE in a while.

[Topsham]

From the glass half full perpective: how far off the beaten path is Bermuda on the TA? Might be nice to drop in there ONCE in a while.[/quot

 

 

In the good old days plenty of Cunard transatlantic sailngs included a call at Bermuda. Not the large Queens but certainly GEORGIC, BRITANNIC, MEDIA, PARTHIA, CARONIA etc.

 

From 1967 to 1971 Cunard's FRANCONIA was on the NY/Bermuda run. My first trip to the UK in 1968 was FRANCONIA to New York, QUEEN ELIZABETH to Southampton and then a month later return by the same route.

 

Stephen

[guernseyguy]

Now The Guardian has taken it up....though funnily enough they don't mention the EU angle.....

[Topsham]

Quick re-write the history books.....

 

From the Guardian....

 

 

Cunard in 1947 took over White Star Line, owner of the Mauretania and Lusitania.

[shinyshoes]

Quick re-write the history books.....

 

From the Guardian....

 

 

Cunard in 1947 took over White Star Line, owner of the Mauretania and Lusitania.

 

The Guardian is so well known for its lack of proof reading and typos that it is frequently referred to as The Gruniad. But at least the brouhaha about the reflagging has directed attention away from the usual topics of Smoking, Tipping and Dressing. Every cloud....

Shiny

[Whitemarsh]

But at least the brouhaha about the reflagging has directed attention away from the usual topics of Smoking, Tipping and Dressing. Every cloud....

Shiny

 

Ha ha ha. Very true.

[guernseyguy]

The Guardian is so well known for its lack of proof reading and typos that it is frequently referred to as The Gruniad. But at least the brouhaha about the reflagging has directed attention away from the usual topics of Smoking, Tipping and Dressing. Every cloud....

Shiny

 

Not only that they called Sam Cunard a 'Canadian' - he was dead before Canada was born.....

[bobby1119]

Now that the dastardly deed is done, I wonder if Mr. Shanks will be obliged to schedule a ceremonious call for Queen Mary 2 at her home port of Hamilton.

 

...That is, if he hasn't been duly sacked by then for the PR mess he has created...

 

Bermuda is wonderful, and I enjoyed several visits there aboard QE2 in the past and, most recently, aboard Celebrity Summit.

[Jim Avery]

For the poster that asked about the lack of media interest in the US, US ships were all reflagged decades ago. Hard to find a merchant ship flying the Stars & Stripes anywhere. Interesting that Carnival is a US company, headquartered in Miami, owns dozens of major passenger ships, and no one in the US pays any attention to the flag at the stern.

[zider]

Found a strange piece of information on marine traffic. Looks like that the Queen Elizabeth was Flaged in Belize before Bermuda for a while.

 

Ex Names History

 

Vessel's NameFlagCall SignLast ReportedQUEEN ELIZABETHBermudaZCEF22011-10-28 20:34QUEEN ELIPBelizeZCEF22011-10-25 02:22QUEEN ELIZABETHUnited KingdomZCEF22011-10-24 12:33QUEEN ELIPUnited KingdomGBWT2011-09-12 08:59VUVDFVUnited KingdomGBKQL[2011-08-28 13:37QUEEN ELIPUnited KingdomGBTT2011-07-03 09:17

[guernseyguy]

For the poster that asked about the lack of media interest in the US, US ships were all reflagged decades ago. Hard to find a merchant ship flying the Stars & Stripes anywhere. Interesting that Carnival is a US company, headquartered in Miami, owns dozens of major passenger ships, and no one in the US pays any attention to the flag at the stern.

 

The other difference is there aren't any cruise lines in the US that draped themselves in the Stars & Stripes the way Cunard did with the Union Flag...

[Underwatr]

Found a strange piece of information on marine traffic. Looks like that the Queen Elizabeth was Flaged in Belize before Bermuda for a while.

 

Ex Names History

 

Vessel's NameFlagCall SignLast ReportedQUEEN ELIZABETHBermudaZCEF22011-10-28 20:34QUEEN ELIPBelizeZCEF22011-10-25 02:22QUEEN ELIZABETHUnited KingdomZCEF22011-10-24 12:33QUEEN ELIPUnited KingdomGBWT2011-09-12 08:59VUVDFVUnited KingdomGBKQL[2011-08-28 13:37QUEEN ELIPUnited KingdomGBTT2011-07-03 09:17

I'm guessing someone mistyped the abbreviation for Bermuda and it was caught later.

[oceanic9]

The other difference is there aren't any cruise lines in the US that draped themselves in the Stars & Stripes the way Cunard did with the Union Flag...

The handling of this situation by Cunard/Carnival/P&O is incredibly odd. Mr Shanks comes across as hoping all this just goes away as opposed to addressing Cunard's client issues and concerns. Now I read where Cunard's Facebook page has deleted comments from their page and has been accused of blocking others from posting.

 

Seems very odd and a dated approach to this situation. Makes you wonder who on earth is in charge of all this and what their credentials are.

[Salacia]

The handling of this situation by Cunard/Carnival/P&O is incredibly odd. Mr Shanks comes across as hoping all this just goes away as opposed to addressing Cunard's client issues and concerns. Now I read where Cunard's Facebook page has deleted comments from their page and has been accused of blocking others from posting.

 

Seems very odd and a dated approach to this situation. Makes you wonder who on earth is in charge of all this and what their credentials are.

 

Oceanic, I agree it is very odd indeed. In addition, that Carnival (CCL) did not disclose material facts to CCL stockholders regarding plans to re-flag Cunard ships is also very curious. The deed is done, but it is not forgotten by more than a few. -S.

[guernseyguy]

The handling of this situation by Cunard/Carnival/P&O is incredibly odd. Mr Shanks comes across as hoping all this just goes away as opposed to addressing Cunard's client issues and concerns. Now I read where Cunard's Facebook page has deleted comments from their page and has been accused of blocking others from posting.

 

Seems very odd and a dated approach to this situation. Makes you wonder who on earth is in charge of all this and what their credentials are.

 

I agree the PR has been handed badly - but I think whoever runs Cunard's Facebook page has done a better job than the We Are Cunard blog- the former has much negative comment - the latter only one, mildly critical. Either completely different people read the two, or only one has been deleting comments. Which, as you quite rightly observe is completely counterproductive.

[Whitemarsh]

But really, is it the end of the world?

 

There is only one poster on here that I recall who, as a result of this decision, has vowed never to sail on Cunard again. Everyone else is disappointed (in varying degrees) but is still planing to sail on Cunard again.

[MaineTraveler]

I was taken a bit aback by the older gentleman on the Cunard facebook page who referred to "The disgraceful name on the stern of the Queen Elizabeth". That seems a rather inappropriate way to speak of the monarch.

[guernseyguy]

But really, is it the end of the world?

 

There is only one poster on here that I recall who, as a result of this decision, has vowed never to sail on Cunard again. Everyone else is disappointed (in varying degrees) but is still planing to sail on Cunard again.

 

No, and I'm sure it's unrelated...but I've just had a flyer for a QM2 TA for £499.....that's the lowest I've seen! If they are having to price at this level no wonder they are keeping a tight control on crew costs....