Carol Marlow leaving

[Pennbank]

The managing directors of P&O Cruises and Cunard are to leave Carnival UK in September as part of a commercial restructure, Travel Weekly has learned.

 

Carol Marlow and Peter Shanks are the latest high-profile figures to depart from the company, following the recent announcement that sales and customer services director Giles Hawke would be leaving in November to move to another cruise line.

 

The new structure will see the creation of a marketing director role for each of the brands, with a new insight director covering both.

 

The new directors will report into Gerard Tempest, who joined Carnival UK as chief commercial officer six months ago. Carnival UK chief executive David Dingle will formally assume the titles of chief executive of P&O Cruises and Cunard following the changes.

 

Tempest said: “This is an exciting time for our brands and this new structure has been designed to deliver the many opportunities ahead of us.

 

“As a consequence, and after very careful consideration, the roles of P&O Cruises managing director and Cunard president & managing director will cease to exist and as a result Carol Marlow and Peter Shanks will both be leaving the business at the end of September.”

 

He added: “On behalf of everyone at P&O Cruises and Cunard, I would like to thank both Carol and Peter for their very significant contributions to the success of the business over many years and wish them every success in their future endeavours.”

 

Marlow joined P&O Princess Cruises in 1997 as managing director of Swan Hellenic. She held various roles with P&O Cruises and Princess Cruises before eventually becoming president and managing director of Cunard. In 2009, she returned to P&O Cruises as managing director.

 

She said: "I have enjoyed leading each of Carnival UK’s high profile, prestigious brands during my time with the company – Swan Hellenic, Princess Cruises, Cunard Line and P&O Cruises. I am proud of the teams I have worked with, and what we have achieved together. I wish them well for the future, and am looking forward to taking on new challenges after I leave at the end of September."

 

Shanks became president and managing director of Cunard on Marlow’s departure, having previously served as chief commercial officer for Carnival UK. He originally joined Cunard in 2002 as senior vice-president for Europe, and prior to that held a number of roles within the UK industry including commercial director of Thomas Cook.

 

He said: "I am immensely proud of what we have achieved in growing Cunard Line over the last 10 years into the success it is today. I will leave the business at the end of September and I am excited about pursuing future challenges."

 

Info Travel Weekly

Edited June 4, 2013 by Pennbank

[PRINCESSTHE BEST]

No surprise really. Treat your customers as you would like to be treated yourself what goes around comes around.:(

[davecttr]

I am not surprised, heads had to roll after the Vantage/Getaway fares debacle.

 

the new boss will have their work cut out to rebuild the customer confidence and loyalty that was destroyed in that idiot marketing scheme.

 

I hope they are also getting rid of the marketing geniuses who came up with the scheme.

[Lovemychoos]

I am not surprised, heads had to roll after the Vantage/Getaway fares debacle.

 

the new boss will have their work cut out to rebuild the customer confidence and loyalty that was destroyed in that idiot marketing scheme.

 

I hope they are also getting rid of the marketing geniuses who came up with the scheme.

 

 

I agree 100% - what a disaster - the vantage/getaway fares especially - commercial suicide with nil customer satisfaction :eek:

 

Purely from a personal point of view, they would have to have some very drastic re-thinks to get me back on P&O - our Nov cruise will be our last with them I'd reckon :(

 

Lou

[Cosmic Rays]

I agree totally with what has been said - I bet there is some relief actually for the pair of them with the idiotic business decisions that have been made below them in the last couple of years.

Both Companies need to LISTEN to their customers, not just read the feedback forms handed out on board and not many filled in I suspect, or the spiral of descent will continue following the fiasco we have all witnessed and probably been the victims of, particularly this year. The other problem is chasing too few customers for too many berths now available as we all know, and particularly to Norway and the Fjords............hence the enormous and continual cutting of fares that continues unabated it seems...........

[daiB]

I am not surprised, heads had to roll after the Vantage/Getaway fares debacle.

 

the new boss will have their work cut out to rebuild the customer confidence and loyalty that was destroyed in that idiot marketing scheme.

 

I hope they are also getting rid of the marketing geniuses who came up with the scheme.

 

Not a debacle for me, just seen the Getaway for my next cruise which is 9% down on what I paid when OBC and parking are taking into consideration.

 

For next year I have already got 20% to 25% off my cruises. So that looks like a result of the early booker.:D

 

Perhaps this may even more off for the early bookers next year.:cool:

 

Happy Days

 

 

Gan Canny

 

 

Dai

 

 

:cool:

 

 

ps Sorry for being too positive:cool:

[tom_uk]

I'm not so sure this is the result of the Vantage fares issue. Gerard Tempest was appointed early last September, taking up his post in December, and even at that time (early September) the announcement was that he would report to Dingle and Marlow and Shanks would report to him; and that always looked like a slap in the face to those two even then. Tempest has been in post for barely six months and he's wielded the hatchet.

 

Tempest is the Commercial Director, so his brief is commercial matters. My guess is that Dingle is being pressed by Miami for a better commercial performance, and Tempest is his means of achieving it. I think we can expect a generally tighter financial regimen from both lines. Don't go looking for any favours from either of them in future.

[littlesteelo]

I think this is a good thing. I thought P&O was heading in a good direction back when they announced Ventura with the whole family focused vision for it.

 

Since Marlow came in they have removed everything from the ship which made Ventura unique, and seem to be now stuck on the fence as to what they want P&O Cruises to be. They can't seem to decide whether they are modernising and moving forward, or 'sticking to their roots' (read: stuck in the past).

[Pennbank]

Not a debacle for me, just seen the Getaway for my next cruise which is 9% down on what I paid when OBC and parking are taking into consideration.

 

For next year I have already got 20% to 25% off my cruises. So that looks like a result of the early booker.:D

 

Perhaps this may even more off for the early bookers next year.:cool:

 

Happy Days

 

 

Gan Canny

 

 

Dai

 

 

:cool:

 

 

ps Sorry for being too positive:cool:

 

Not a debacle for me, just seen the Getaway for my next cruise which is 9% down on what I paid when OBC and parking are taking into consideration.

 

Are you saying that the getaway Fare is now 9% cheaper even though you have taken OBC and Parking in consideration. if so

Non Brainer.....:confused:

[daiB]

Not a debacle for me, just seen the Getaway for my next cruise which is 9% down on what I paid when OBC and parking are taking into consideration.

 

Are you saying that the getaway Fare is now 9% cheaper even though you have taken OBC and Parking in consideration. if so

Non Brainer.....:confused:

 

Yes if I could change now I would save 9% that is all. For next year I have saved much more than 9% by booking early. So waiting in this case would have been no advantage. Waiting for getaways does not always give you the best result.

 

 

 

Gan Canny

 

 

Dai

 

:cool:

[terrierjohn]

Yes if I could change now I would save 9% that is all. For next year I have saved much more than 9% by booking early. So waiting in this case would have been no advantage. Waiting for getaways does not always give you the best result.

Gan Canny

Dai:cool:

Dai, Your assumption is illogical since you have no idea what next years getaway fares will be for the cruises you have booked, they may well be lower than you paid.

And by your own admission your low prices have only been achieved by booking Peninsular cruises with extra reductions and B2B cruises with an extra 10% off.

There will be very few others who will have jumped through your hoops just to stick with P&O, most have already jumped ship to better cruise lines.

[daiB]

Dai, Your assumption is illogical since you have no idea what next years getaway fares will be for the cruises you have booked, they may well be lower than you paid.

And by your own admission your low prices have only been achieved by booking Peninsular cruises with extra reductions and B2B cruises with an extra 10% off.

There will be very few others who will have jumped through your hoops just to stick with P&O, most have already jumped ship to better cruise lines.

 

Well John of course I consider you to be wrong. I like what P&O offer and if I like them and know I am getting a good deal then that should be good enough for anybody. Apart from hearsay I see no evidence of the very few others jumping ship. If you mean the cheap offers, then they are jumping from every cruise line fore there are offers out there for all of them. The published figures do not agree with you either as the number of people still cruising goes up.

 

I know I have done well if you don't like it well that's your problem.

 

 

 

Gan Canny

 

 

 

Dai

 

 

:cool:

[NSWP]

Is Carol getting a send off? Are we all invited? Send over our First Class air tickets and we will front up, I will bring a couple of bottles of Aussie Jacobs Creek Shiraz. I was not impressed with her last year when she boarded Arcadia towards the end of the World Cruise, she would take no questions on the pros and cons of the cruise and just went on about the 150th Anniversary Regatta sail past at Southampton.

 

(We did the 49 days from Sydney to Southampton.)

Edited June 5, 2013 by NSWP

[gadabout60]

Dai

 

Is it not right thought that you are getting a bigger discount to book B2B cruises?

Most of couldn't do that for various reasons - e.g. time, cost so its not really a fair comparison though obviously good for you

[kevinyork]

Yes if I could change now I would save 9% that is all. For next year I have saved much more than 9% by booking early. So waiting in this case would have been no advantage. Waiting for getaways does not always give you the best result.

 

 

 

Gan Canny

 

 

Dai

 

:cool:

 

Dai, I do agree with John that you cannot know you have said more on next years cruises. Almost all cruises have cheaper deals nearer departure. However I do agree that if you are happy with the deal you got then thats fine for you.

[daiB]

Dai

 

Is it not right thought that you are getting a bigger discount to book B2B cruises?

Most of couldn't do that for various reasons - e.g. time, cost so its not really a fair comparison though obviously good for you

 

Without the b2b I got beteen 10 &15%. So the comparison is still to my favour. As to if it is valid, it is the only one I have.

 

The cruise were booked long before I looked at the this as a topic. As for the b2b there are many other advantages as well.

 

Gan Canny

 

 

Dai

[PRINCESSTHE BEST]

Is Carol getting a send off? Are we all invited? Send over our First Class air tickets and we will front up, I will bring a couple of bottles of Aussie Jacobs Creek Shiraz. I was not impressed with her last year when she boarded Arcadia towards the end of the World Cruise, she would take no questions on the pros and cons of the cruise and just went on about the 150th Anniversary Regatta sail past at Southampton.

 

(We did the 49 days from Sydney to Southampton.)

 

I was on that cruise too. I agree with you, many people wanted to ask her questions but she wasn't interested. Carnival aren't stupid, they can see from customer feedback that the UK operation is in turmoil. I've just returned from Alaska on the Grand Princess, not a hint of dissent or moaning. A fantastic holiday atmosphere and a great cruise. I suspect that's what Carnival want for their UK operation. Cancelling cruises willy nilly and leaving passengers out of pocket with hotels, annual leave from work that cannot be rearranged, is not the way to run a business. Micky Arison will not have been impressed.:mad:

[simonpjd]

Previous poster says 'Cancelling cruises willy nilly and leaving passengers out of pocket with hotels, annual leave from work that cannot be rearranged, is not the way to run a business. '

 

Can we have some evidence of these claims.

Which cruises have been cancelled leaving pax out of pocket please.

[daiB]

Previous poster says 'Cancelling cruises willy nilly and leaving passengers out of pocket with hotels, annual leave from work that cannot be rearranged, is not the way to run a business. '

 

Can we have some evidence of these claims.

Which cruises have been cancelled leaving pax out of pocket please.

 

Simon, don't start him off.

 

 

 

Gan Canny

 

 

Dai

 

:cool:

[PRINCESSTHE BEST]

No, I'm not going to enter into any arguments… I'm just going to sit back and watch Carnival sort it out. This was inevitable, but don't expect P&O to remain the 'oldies' cruise line, changes are on the way. There already ordered the rock climbing wall for Oriana!! :D

[davecttr]

Previous poster says 'Cancelling cruises willy nilly and leaving passengers out of pocket with hotels, annual leave from work that cannot be rearranged, is not the way to run a business. '

 

Can we have some evidence of these claims.

Which cruises have been cancelled leaving pax out of pocket please.

 

a number of this summers cruises were cancelled and replaced by a number of shorter cruises.

 

I agree that changing things once bookings have been made is not the way to run a business. Last year i complained that they had brought back smart-jacket required nights for this summers Oceana cruises after i had booked. That was a mess and they have since dropped the smarts again. what confusion, so confusing that, if you book an Oceana cruise online there is a page explaining that there are NO smarts evenings aboard. You even have to click a box to procede with the booking. This is of course trivial compared with people losing their holidays but indicative of sloppy work at P&O HQ.

[davecttr]

No, I'm not going to enter into any arguments… I'm just going to sit back and watch Carnival sort it out. This was inevitable, but don't expect P&O to remain the 'oldies' cruise line, changes are on the way. There already ordered the rock climbing wall for Oriana!! :D

 

About time too!

First they need to drop smart-jacket required nights. Reduce the number of formal nights to make them more special and not just boringly repetitive. Reduce the number of venues aboard where formal dress is required.

 

It appears to me that trying to be all things to all men within one cruise line just sows confusion.

 

Carnival have their 'posh' cruise lines, Seabourne and Cunard.

They have an american 'oldies' line, HAL

They have an american young, fun line Carnival

They have an american mainstrem line, Princess

 

In the UK they are attempting to combine the last three in P&O

 

Consider splitting the line into two with the family friendly ships going their own way.

[kevinyork]

It appears to me that trying to be all things to all men within one cruise line just sows confusion.

 

Carnival have their 'posh' cruise lines, Seabourne and Cunard.

They have an american 'oldies' line, HAL

They have an american young, fun line Carnival

They have an american mainstrem line, Princess

 

In the UK they are attempting to combine the last three in P&O

 

Consider splitting the line into two with the family friendly ships going their own way.

 

I do agree they try to cover all bases. With US cruise lines people have clear choices of lines dependent on the type of cruise they prefer. With P&O the ships vary quite a bit and it would be impossible for them to all appeal to the same passengers therefore some cross over to try another ship and it doesnt meet their expectations. With Ventura they started to aim for families, then Azura came along (which was virtually the same ship with the same kids clubs) but they marketed it as a couples cruise ship? Now they have made Ventura more like Azura. There appears to be no clear strategy, or at least one that I can interpret.

[tom_uk]

.....

I've just returned from Alaska on the Grand Princess, not a hint of dissent or moaning. A fantastic holiday atmosphere and a great cruise. I suspect that's what Carnival want for their UK operation.

 

Well, it could just be that Brits whinge. John Heald, Carnival's senior CD, pretty said as much a year or so ago. He'd just been CD on his first cruises in Europe for a long time, on Carnival Magic I think, and was faced with UK-based passengers as well as many american passengers. He said that the Brits were just complaining, complaining, complaining; the americans, who were on the same cruise on the same ship at the same time, were perfectly happy.

 

 

Cancelling cruises willy nilly and leaving passengers out of pocket with hotels, annual leave from work that cannot be rearranged, is not the way to run a business. Micky Arison will not have been impressed.

 

What you say is true. But to be fair these problems pale into insignificance when compared with the problems that CCL has brought upon itself in the US. The negative publicity from the Carnival Triumph problems in February and the earlier Carnival Splendor incident has been huge - a public relations disaster with big fiscal consequences, much more important than any problems with P&O and Cunard in the UK. That will have been occupying Mr Arison's attention much more that Carnival UK.

[littlesteelo]

About time too!

First they need to drop smart-jacket required nights. Reduce the number of formal nights to make them more special and not just boringly repetitive. Reduce the number of venues aboard where formal dress is required.

 

It appears to me that trying to be all things to all men within one cruise line just sows confusion.

 

Carnival have their 'posh' cruise lines, Seabourne and Cunard.

They have an american 'oldies' line, HAL

They have an american young, fun line Carnival

They have an american mainstrem line, Princess

 

In the UK they are attempting to combine the last three in P&O

 

Consider splitting the line into two with the family friendly ships going their own way.

 

I agree about dropping jacket nights, but not reducing the number of formal nights. I think 4 on a 14 night cruise is perfect.

 

I think P&O need to change to properly compete with Royal Caribbean out of the UK. The new ship needs to have something fun on it to attract the summer bookings.

 

If you look at Independence of the Seas for example, the ship is not a floating theme park, but has fun activities for all ages on it and still has the elegance of your regular cruise ship inside. It isn't just kids who like the rock wall and the FlowRiders.

 

I thought Ventura had the perfect atmosphere on board, with a great mix of all ages. The ship just lacked in facilities to keep people entertained during the day. People are moving away from being stuck indoors doing a quiz, or just being sat outside reading a book.

 

I know though that P&O will play it safe, and the 2015 ship will have nothing of the sort. And when Anthem of the Seas comes at the same time to Southampton in 2015, it will ruin all the fanfare for P&O just as IOTS did in 2008 with Ventura, and it will be their own fault for not moving with the times.