Go Back   Cruise Critic Message Board Forums > Cruise Lines "A - O" > Cunard Line > Q&A with Peter Shanks, President & Managing Director Cunard Line
 
Register here!
Forgot Your Password?




Notices

Q&A with Peter Shanks, President & Managing Director Cunard Line


Peter Shanks
President & Managing Director



Special Event: Peter Shanks was here answering your questions about Cunard Line. Check in to see what he had to say!

Our Community Guidelines are in effect, please be respectful of our special guest and your fellow community members.


Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old February 4th, 2013, 11:24 AM
silvaner silvaner is offline
Cool Cruiser
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: florida
Posts: 50
Default Website and Contacts Information (MERGED)

Mr. Shanks

I would like to know why the Cunard web site is so user unfriendly. Princess, a sister Carnival line, is very user friendly. You log into the Princess site with your user name and password and everything is available You only have to enter your identity once.

Your web site is the opposite. When searching for a cruise you have to enter your world club number, your full name and the same for your spouse before you start the search then before you get a price you have to enter both birthdays. That might be alright, if you only had to do it once. However, if you need to search an alternative voyage you have to enter it all again every time you search a voyage. Three or four web site versions ago Cunard did it the Princess way but no longer. It is so frustrating to use that it discourages looking for cruises.
Reply With Quote

Ad Sponsored By
  #2  
Old February 4th, 2013, 10:12 PM
babine babine is offline
Cool Cruiser
 
Join Date: Apr 2009
Posts: 57
Default Web Page Problems Continue

Thank you Mr. Shanks for your participation in this forum. Please can you shed any light on why the Cunard.com web site was released with so many technical issues, spelling/grammatical mistakes, and broken links? I lost a great deal of faith in Cunard as a result. As a frequent cruiser with Cunard, I was in the habit of checking the web site almost daily for fares, voyages and general information. I am hesitant to even bother any more, as it became far too frustrating to devote any time to this sloppy and error-filled site. Without any exaggeration, the Cunard.com web site became one of the worst travel-related web sites on the planet. Can you provide Cunard customers with your commitment to address the remaining issues associated with the web site? Thank you.
Reply With Quote

  #3  
Old February 6th, 2013, 02:46 AM
moynalla2450 moynalla2450 is offline
Cool Cruiser
 
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Brisbane Australia
Posts: 24
Thumbs down

I JUST SPOKE TO ONE OF OUR REPRESENTATIVE IN THE Sydney OFFICE & HAVE TO SAY THAT i FOUND HER TO BE VERY PATRONIZING & TALKING TO ME LIKE i WAS A 5 YEAR OLD CHILD, i FEEL THAT WHEN IN CUSTOMER SERVICE A LITTLE CAN GO ALONG WAY,BUT WHEN U TREAT SOME ONE LIKE A CHILD IT IS MOST AGGRAVATING & LEAVES A VERY BAD FEELING RE Cunard. aS i BOOKED DIRECT WITH CUNARD i DID EXPECT A BIT BETTER SERVICE, NEXT TIME i WILL GO WITH A TRAVEL AGENT, THEY ARE MUSH MORE AGREEABLE
__________________
Reply With Quote

  #4  
Old February 9th, 2013, 04:55 AM
Chunky2219's Avatar
Chunky2219 Chunky2219 is offline
Cool Cruiser
 
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Up North, UK
Posts: 572
Default Website and Contacts Information

Two linked questions for the price of one here.

Firstly, there has been a lot of debate and complaint about the new website. The old one was a triumph of style over content, but at least it was reasonably usable. The new version doesn't even aspire to be as good as the old, unsatisfactory version. Clunky navigation, no detailed T's & C's visible for online bookings and it falls over more often than a toddler learning to walk.

Can we have the old one back please, or maybe something even better?

Secondly, why is the only contact number online a UK 0843 line. This will cost 3-13p a minute from a landline and up to 43p a minute from a mobile, with no option to get it from pacakged minutes. It's a strange way to treat people who are calling to book an expensive product.

Can we have some geographic phone numbers please?
.
.
__________________
Nothing planned! Note to self - MUST FIX THAT SOON.
Reply With Quote

  #5  
Old February 18th, 2013, 04:51 AM
Peter Shanks's Avatar
Peter Shanks Peter Shanks is offline
President and Managing Director ~ Cunard Line
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 50
Default

We are making a lot of changes to our website - based on what our guests have asked us for and on research. Whilst we had some technical challenges last month - we are in a stable position now and you will continue to see enhancemets through the coming months. I am sorry if you experienced a challenge. On this string is a note about service in our Sydney office - that is very unusual and I am sorry about that. a down there in a couple of weeks so will discuss it with the team then. Peter
__________________
Peter Shanks
President and Managing Director
Cunard Line
Reply With Quote

  #6  
Old February 18th, 2013, 11:30 AM
silvaner silvaner is offline
Cool Cruiser
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: florida
Posts: 50
Default

Mr Shanks

Thank you for your partial replay. You did not explain why your site requires a customer to repeatedly input the loyalty number, name and birth date for each potential passenger even when checking availability or fares for different segments of the same voyage and other voyages in the same session.
Reply With Quote

  #7  
Old February 18th, 2013, 12:52 PM
Peter Shanks's Avatar
Peter Shanks Peter Shanks is offline
President and Managing Director ~ Cunard Line
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
Posts: 50
Default

That is one of the areas we need to and will improve for you. Peter
__________________
Peter Shanks
President and Managing Director
Cunard Line
Reply With Quote

  #8  
Old February 18th, 2013, 02:20 PM
seasidegal's Avatar
seasidegal seasidegal is offline
Cool Cruiser
 
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: By Water Views
Posts: 284
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter Shanks View Post
That is one of the areas we need to and will improve for you. Peter

Mr. Shanks:

Thank you for the above answer. The inputting of booking number, name and birth date -plus having to agree to the terms- every time when accessing the site is time consuming and aggravating. Simply inputting one's sign in and password should acess the information needed.

Looking forward to the improvement in this area.

Thank you.
__________________
“Look at that sea, girls--all silver and shadow and vision of things not seen. We couldn't enjoy its loveliness any more if we had millions of dollars and ropes of diamonds.”
― L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables
Reply With Quote

  #9  
Old February 18th, 2013, 03:40 PM
billyvegas's Avatar
billyvegas billyvegas is offline
Cool Cruiser
 
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: London
Posts: 96
Default

I think it is done that way so one of their "personal cruise consultants" can call you to try and finalize the deal!
Reply With Quote

  #10  
Old February 18th, 2013, 05:02 PM
petrakae's Avatar
petrakae petrakae is offline
Cool Cruiser
 
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Adelaide, Australia
Posts: 293
Default

I have had reason to contact the Australian office and can only express our complete satisfaction to the assistance given us. Cudos to them. Regarding the web-site, a few teething problems which I'm sure are being worked out. Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions.
__________________
Love to cruise. Live to cruise. Save to cruise
Reply With Quote

  #11  
Old February 18th, 2013, 05:22 PM
silvaner silvaner is offline
Cool Cruiser
 
Join Date: May 2007
Location: florida
Posts: 50
Smile

Mr Shanks

Thank you for your response.
Reply With Quote

Reply

Bookmarks


Ad Sponsored By
Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 06:57 PM.


© 1995 - 2013, The Independent Traveler, Inc. All rights reserved.
"A Community of People Who Love To Cruise"
All of the information contained within Cruise Critic is protected by copyright. You may, however, download a single copy only for your personal use.