New Cunard Website

[bluemarble]

2 minutes ago, Underwatr said:

I still don't see the new website in the US.

 

I had to clear my browsing data in Chrome and then the new site came up for me. The same in Internet Explorer. I rarely use Firefox, so when I tried that browser, the new site came up for me without any adjustments. Somehow, it looks like the behavior is controlled by the site cookies. As long as you have an old cookie for "www.cunard.com" and/or "cunard.com" you may continue to see the old US website. At least that's what I've experienced. Your mileage may vary.

[Underwatr]

Ok, that worked.

 

Yay?

[naturelovergirl]

8 hours ago, bluemarble said:

To follow up on my previous post about not being able to find information about the dress code on the new Cunard US website, I now see there is a "What to Pack" page under "The Experience". Just one little problem. It describes the two dress codes as "Formal attire" and "Gala evening attire". Here are excerpts from the "What to Pack" page on the new Cunard US website.

 

Evening style guide.

For those who want some help and guidance on what to pack, our style guide includes new ideas for your evening cruise wardrobe, including our Gala nights - and a little help on the finishing touches.

 

Formal attire.

Every night on board in most venues we ask that you wear formal attire. You can still feel free to dress to impress, yet with less formality than during our Gala celebrations.

 

Gala evening attire.

Two or three times during every seven nights on board, our Gala evenings (sometimes themed) encourage you to be at your most glamorous from when the clock strikes 6:00 pm.

 

 

The included images showing suggested attire are a subset of we have seen before, with the gentlemen not wearing ties under the "Formal attire" category. So, not really formal attire as I would define that term.

 

Fortunately, what appears to be planned for the new Cunard UK website does not have this issue. The "What to Pack" page there correctly describes the dress codes as "Smart attire" and "Gala evening attire".

 

As before, I have provided feedback on the new US website about this terminology which might tend to cause some confusion about the dress code. But having said that, this could be an intentional difference between the two sites, since we have had discussions here before about how the term "Smart attire" is not something that resonates particularly well with Americans.

I am so glad you at least found this BlueMarble on the US site... I still had not found anything about the dress code on the new US site... so I will see if I can get it this way...

I am personally prepared for my cruise- we love dressing up... but the new US site is not clear at all about the dress code, in my opinion, for people who have never cruised with Cunard before.

I think they need to make it clearer, and they definitely need to make it easier to find this info for potential cruisers looking at the site.

[bluemarble]

8 minutes ago, naturelovergirl said:

I am so glad you at least found this BlueMarble on the US site... I still had not found anything about the dress code on the new US site... so I will see if I can get it this way...

I am personally prepared for my cruise- we love dressing up... but the new US site is not clear at all about the dress code, in my opinion, for people who have never cruised with Cunard before.

I think they need to make it clearer, and they definitely need to make it easier to find this info for potential cruisers looking at the site.

 

Glad to help. In case you are having trouble finding the "What to Pack" page, here is an illustration showing where to find the link for it under "The experience" on the home page of the new US website.

 

[Ray66]

The new version is now showing on the UK website. It was still the old version this morning.

[Host Hattie]

I'm getting lots of error messages, hopefully it will improve soon !

[Underwatr]

19 hours ago, naturelovergirl said:

Formal attire.

Every night on board in most venues we ask that you wear formal attire. You can still feel free to dress to impress, yet with less formality than during our Gala celebrations.

 

Gala evening attire.

Two or three times during every seven nights on board, our Gala evenings (sometimes themed) encourage you to be at your most glamorous from when the clock strikes 6:00 pm

Wait, it splits the voyage into Formal nights and Gala nights?

 

That will confuse people.

[bluemarble]

2 minutes ago, Underwatr said:

Wait, it splits the voyage into Formal nights and Gala nights?

 

That will confuse people.

 

Yes, I thought that wording on the "What to Pack" page of the new US website would tend to confuse people too. At least the new UK website still refers to the non-Gala evenings as "Smart attire" rather than the "Formal attire" terminology that has been introduced on the new US website.

[sogne]

many of the sample excursions for many ports are priced at $999 on new UK site, just one of many simple errors

 the interactive map has QM2 going direct to Alesund from Hamburg overland, guest speakers information seems to have disappeared and on M921a  it states we are in |New York overnight when VP and booking confirmation shows otherwise , some of our other cruise ports also show overnight incorrectly

 

 

other than this I found it reasonably easy to navigate

[Ray66]

6 hours ago, Host Hattie said:

I'm getting lots of error messages, hopefully it will improve soon !

 

Same here. No matter what I look for I get 404 error, there appears to be a problem.

[naturelovergirl]

2 hours ago, sogne said:

many of the sample excursions for many ports are priced at $999 on new UK site 

Yes....

I saw this $999 on some sample excursions on the US site, as well

[Newlands]

Lots of error on the new UK site. You would have thought that somebody might have checked the whole thing before going live.

 

For example, it shows that on our forthcoming cruise in October on QE in QG, that Q4 passengers get an iPad - they don't. On QE it is restricted to Q1 and Q2.

 

Lots of error messages when you click on a subject.

 

The whole project is too rushed.

 

Stewart

[Ray66]

I just looked and it seems like they've put the old website back on. Which is probably just as well as they must have missed out on some bookings for the last day.

[bluemarble]

1 hour ago, Ray66 said:

I just looked and it seems like they've put the old website back on. Which is probably just as well as they must have missed out on some bookings for the last day.

 

Yeah, that's interesting. When I use a vpn connection to make it look like I am in the UK, I can still get to the new UK website using the URL "www.cunard.com" which automatically redirects me to "www.cunard.com/en-gb". But you're right, the URL "www.cunard.co.uk" is no longer automatically redirecting from the old UK site to the new site as it was yesterday and earlier today.

 

No such luck in the US where "www.cunard.com" is still redirecting to the new US site at "www.cunard.com/en-us". But I don't think we are having as many fundamental stability issues with the new site here as you were having in the UK. There are issues here with some of the content to be sure, but not as many reliability issues and errors here from the sounds of it anyway.

Edited January 11, 2019 by bluemarble

[Underwatr]

On 1/9/2019 at 3:52 PM, Underwatr said:

Wait, it splits the voyage into Formal nights and Gala nights?

 

That will confuse people.

I finally see the new site in the US on a different device without having had to clear cookies.

 

The Formal/Gala language above is accompanied by photos showing just what is meant by each. I'm thinking this language might be  deliberate (for the US market, at least) since the "formal" description and photos are in keeping with what many other lines have gone to for their dressy nights. If it helps drive home that the minimum dress code on Cunard is equivalent to other lines' Formal/Dressy/Gala dress code, maybe that's a positive step. At any rate the accompanying photos make the expectations clear, although I think the description of "relaxed evenings" for Kings Court and the other relaxed evening venues allows one to dress a little too casually: "...but we do ask that guests refrain from wearing torn or tattered clothing, pants, sandals or sleeveless t-shirts."

[bluemarble]

1 hour ago, Underwatr said:

... The Formal/Gala language above is accompanied by photos showing just what is meant by each. I'm thinking this language might be  deliberate (for the US market, at least) ...

 

Yeah, I tend to agree this was an intentional decision on Cunard's part to start calling the non-Gala evenings "Formal attire" on the "What to Pack" page of the US website but retain "Smart attire" on that page in the UK. As I mentioned in an earlier post above about this new dress code terminology on the US site, "Smart attire" doesn't really resonate in the US quite as well as it does in the UK. Along those lines, we may recall the thread from a year ago asking the question 'What in the heck are "Smart Jeans"?'

[sogne]

still getting new WS but at least QV appears  now in ship filter option

[naturelovergirl]

9 hours ago, bluemarble said:

 

Yeah, I tend to agree this was an intentional decision on Cunard's part to start calling the non-Gala evenings "Formal attire" on the "What to Pack" page of the US website but retain "Smart attire" on that page in the UK. As I mentioned in an earlier post above about this new dress code terminology on the US site, "Smart attire" doesn't really resonate in the US quite as well as it does in the UK. Along those lines, we may recall the thread from a year ago asking the question 'What in the heck are "Smart Jeans"?'

If it is indeed intentional to change the wording, then I am also in favor of this change for the sake of clarity.

I live in the states and absolutely see a change in the restaurants in formality... I went to a restaurant for my birthday that is a jacket required amazing restaurant. I saw many many men in designer jeans and a jacket. A few years ago, you would have not seen this at this restaurant... but it is that way now. 

So it is more clear to say formal than smart attire, I believe.

 

[Froxfield]

The new website is all I can get.  It seems to be all over the shop on itineraries.  Try the link on the home page to the 14 day Baltic Cruise to find it goes from Southampton to Hamburg and back before settling out to the Baltic!!!

[Ray66]

It's the opposite for me. I did get the new website the other day but now  I'm back to getting the old website and it seems to be working perfectly with all cruises and fares as normal.

[sogne]

48 minutes ago, Froxfield said:

The new website is all I can get.  It seems to be all over the shop on itineraries.  Try the link on the home page to the 14 day Baltic Cruise to find it goes from Southampton to Hamburg and back before settling out to the Baltic!!!

 

it also appears to be in Southampton the same day as Copenhagen

[bluemarble]

1 hour ago, Froxfield said:

The new website is all I can get.  It seems to be all over the shop on itineraries.  Try the link on the home page to the 14 day Baltic Cruise to find it goes from Southampton to Hamburg and back before settling out to the Baltic!!!

 

1 hour ago, sogne said:

it also appears to be in Southampton the same day as Copenhagen

 

Yikes, that's just lovely! The itinerary for voyage V910B (Baltic Highlights, 14 Nights) correctly shows "Day 1" as embarkation in Southampton on 28 April 2019. But then it shows "Day 5" in Southampton on 2 May 2019 followed by "Day 6" in Copenhagen also on 2 May 2019. As a result, the itinerary extends to disembarkation on "Day 16" of a 14-night voyage. Of course that doesn't add up, but having incorrectly inserted that "Day 5" in Southampton into the itinerary is the problem.

 

Edit to add: For what it's worth, that itinerary is also messed up on the new US website, but there it's showing "Day 5" in Copenhagen followed by "Day 6" in Southampton, both on May 2, 2019.

Edited January 11, 2019 by bluemarble

[si_boy]

Is it me or on the new UK website you cannot view the prices anywhere for the diferent stateroom grades after you have selected a cruise.

[Ray66]

I'm still seeing the old website and can get all prices. I've been doing quite a bit of searching today after not being able to when viewing the new website.

[bluemarble]

1 hour ago, si_boy said:

Is it me or on the new UK website you cannot view the prices anywhere for the diferent stateroom grades after you have selected a cruise.

 

That's correct. As far as I can tell, lists of fares for specific stateroom categories (such as the "BZ", "BY", "BV", and "BU" categories for QM2 sheltered balconies) do not appear anywhere on the new website. All you are shown initially after selecting a voyage are the lowest "from" fares for each general type of cabin ("Britannia Inside", "Britannia Oceanview", "Britannia Balcony", "Britannia Club", "Princess Grill", and "Queens Grill").

 

Then if you select a certain type of cabin, for example "Britannia Balcony" on a QM2 voyage, you will see each type of balcony listed ("Balcony", "Balcony (sheltered)", and "Balcony (obstructed))". Selecting each of those types in turn will show you the lowest "from" fares within that type of balcony.

 

But if you want to know all the fares within a certain type of cabin, for example "Balcony (sheltered)" on QM2, the only way I know of is to actually start a booking for that type of cabin. Then you need to select each specific section within the ship ("Aft", "Mid-Aft", "Mid", "Mid-Forward", and "Forward") to see how the fare varies by section.

 

In other words, to get the fare for a "BU" category sheltered balcony on a particular QM2 voyage, I think you need to start a booking and request a "Balcony (sheltered)" cabin in the "Mid" section of the ship. Then you will see that fare, but you won't actually see category "BU" mentioned.

 

Edited January 11, 2019 by bluemarble