Cunard/Princess Captain Shakeup

[QueensFan]

Hello! I usually post in the Cunard forum, but am coming over here to ask those of you who have recently disembarked a Princess cruise about something that is happening between the two lines.

 

As you may know, a few months ago, the business end of Cunard was merged with Princess. Since that time, there have been several changes that us Cunarders have not been happy about.

 

The latest of these is the rumour of two Cunard captains - Capt. McNaught of Queen Elizabeth 2 and Capt. Wright of Queen Mary 2 - have been transferred to Princess. We are trying to assemble the facts. We love these two captains, who have served with Cunard for many years. We are trying to find out what's happening from the other side of the story.

 

I was curious if anyone here has heard of Princess captains being transferred to Cunard. Obviously, when these men leave, someone has to replace them as masters of the two Queens. Has there been any "word on the Promenade" aboard any Princess ships?

 

Also, are most Princess captains British? We are worried that we could end up with a non-British captain in charge of a Queen, a break from 150 years of Cunard tradition.

 

 

Thank you for your help with this. All of us at the Cunard forum appreciate your help invesitgating the case! :)

 

_QueensFan

[wtevrfltsurbt]

"the business end of Cunard was merged with Princess."

Sorry! couldn't resist!:o

There is a thread called "A letter to the Captain" on the Princess boards and a fellow there seems to have the inside scoop on who will be where and when. You might give it a try and pose your question to him. His name is Andy Hogg and his screen name is APH out of Wales I believe.

Good luck!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hello! I usually post in the Cunard forum, but am coming over here to ask those of you who have recently disembarked a Princess cruise about something that is happening between the two lines.

 

As you may know, a few months ago, Since that time, there have been several changes that us Cunarders have not been happy about.

 

The latest of these is the rumour of two Cunard captains - Capt. McNaught of Queen Elizabeth 2 and Capt. Wright of Queen Mary 2 - have been transferred to Princess. We are trying to assemble the facts. We love these two captains, who have served with Cunard for many years. We are trying to find out what's happening from the other side of the story.

 

I was curious if anyone here has heard of Princess captains being transferred to Cunard. Obviously, when these men leave, someone has to replace them as masters of the two Queens. Has there been any "word on the Promenade" aboard any Princess ships?

 

Also, are most Princess captains British? We are worried that we could end up with a non-British captain in charge of a Queen, a break from 150 years of Cunard tradition.

 

 

Thank you for your help with this. All of us at the Cunard forum appreciate your help invesitgating the case! :)

 

_QueensFan

[crusdiva]

Hello! I usually post in the Cunard forum, but am coming over here to ask those of you who have recently disembarked a Princess cruise about something that is happening between the two lines.

 

As you may know, a few months ago, the business end of Cunard was merged with Princess. Since that time, there have been several changes that us Cunarders have not been happy about.

 

The latest of these is the rumour of two Cunard captains - Capt. McNaught of Queen Elizabeth 2 and Capt. Wright of Queen Mary 2 - have been transferred to Princess. We are trying to assemble the facts. We love these two captains, who have served with Cunard for many years. We are trying to find out what's happening from the other side of the story.

 

I was curious if anyone here has heard of Princess captains being transferred to Cunard. Obviously, when these men leave, someone has to replace them as masters of the two Queens. Has there been any "word on the Promenade" aboard any Princess ships?

 

Also, are most Princess captains British? We are worried that we could end up with a non-British captain in charge of a Queen, a break from 150 years of Cunard tradition.

 

 

Thank you for your help with this. All of us at the Cunard forum appreciate your help invesitgating the case! :)

 

_QueensFan

 

I can't comment on the Captains but I do know that one of Princess' best Maitre'ds (is that how it would be spelled?) Generoso Mazzone just returned from a stint on the QMII - so things are happening.

[LARGIN]

I can't comment on the Captains but I do know that one of Princess' best Maitre'ds (is that how it would be spelled?) Generoso Mazzone just returned from a stint on the QMII - so things are happening.

 

Generoso hopefully will remain on Princess. I was told he was on the QEII to straighten out some dining problems. I will find out in a few weeks when I am on the Coral. It will be my 4th cruise with him as maitre d'..

[crusdiva]

Generoso hopefully will remain on Princess. I was told he was on the QEII to straighten out some dining problems. I will find out in a few weeks when I am on the Coral. It will be my 4th cruise with him as maitre d'..

 

Yes, you're right...we can't seem to stop talking about him can we?

We just got e-mail from Godwin, one of Generoso's assistant Maitre'd and he tells us that Generoso returned in early April :D and will remain with the Coral for his normal 6 month stint. Which is wonderful for us, too because we'll be sailing the Coral to Alaska in September and we can't wait to see him again.

 

Sorry, didn't mean to hijack the thread :eek:

[ShipsAreTheBest]

QueensFan,

 

I'm not sure I can help with the rumor control, but a little history may be in order. Let's go back in time prior to Carnival taking over P&O and Princess (and for that matter, Cunard!).

 

Princess was founded in 1965 using the small Canandian coaster Princess Patricia (hence the name of the line). Of course, a Canadian captain and crew manned the vessel. In the late 60s, they chartered the Carla C (from Costa) and the Italia. Both were manned by Italians. In 1972, shortly after it was built, the Island Venture (renamed Island Princess) was chartered and had Norwegian registry and officers (but an Italian catering staff). Princess then came into its longest period of history in 1974 when it was bought by P&O (a great British shipping company that even eclipses Cunard in age). Island Princess hauled up the Red Duster and British officers were placed aboard (but keeping the Italians in the dining room and galley). P&O moved their British-registered Spirit of London over to become Sun Princess (keeping her British officers and Goanese staff). In 1975, Norwegian Sea Venture (twin to the Island) was added to become British (as Pacific Princess).

 

OK - that was Princess up until 1988. British registered ships with British officers. Under P&O ownership, the Princess ships flied the P&O houseflag along with Princess' houseflag. The officers wore the P&O officer uniforms (with the same cap badge, a fouled-anchor on the P&O houseflag background, with a crown on top and gold leaves to either side). The officers were interchanged between the Princess and P&O passenger division (when you read the biographies of the officers, you find many of them served in both P&O and Princess ships).

 

In 1988, P&O (through Princess) acquired Sitmar (an Italian firm, with Italian officers and crews and Liberian registered ships). To Princess' credit, they didn't toss the Italians off. Instead, they remained (most who haven't reached retirement age still are abord, I believe). The ships remained segregated. The original Princess ships were British affairs, while the former Sitmar ships were Italian (even though they flew the P&O houseflag and wore the uniforms). As new ships were added (Crown and Regal, which were supposed to be Sitmar, were built with Italian subsidies, and were for a time registered in Italy (later Liberia) and had Italian crews), some were British (officers) and some were Italian. In recent years (the last 10), Princess has begun to mix crews. Now ships sail with both British and Italians in the officer ranks. When I first sailed on Pacfic Princess (2000) she was all British (with Italian hotel officers). By 2002, the staff captain was Italian, as were some of the deck officers. The Grand Princess in 2003, when I sailed, had a British captain and chief engineer, but an Italian staff captain.

 

To my knowledge, P&O remains all British (officers). I know that some of the subs (like Ocean Village) have Italians as officers. Since the Carnival takeover and realignment of P&O, Princess and Cunard, I have wondered if they would begin to shift some of the officers around. If they were looking for homogeneous officer ranks, maybe P&O, Princess and Cunard go all British and Carnival and Costa go all Italian. Who knows?

 

Sorry for the long-winded post. I thought this might put some of this in perspective. It will be interesting to see what develops.

[johnmik1]

I have a friend who was our staff captain on Island in 2003 who has just recently gone to QMII as their staff captain.

[APH]

QueensFan - I have emailed my contact at P&O Princess with your query and hopefully I will get an answer inn the next few days. As a recently accepted Deck cadet, I look forward to possibly sailing with Captains McNaught and Wright, I have heard many wonderful things about them. I will post any information I receive shortly. :D

 

jonmik1 - who was the Staff Captain who has moved over to the QM2? Is it Edward Perrin? Many thanks!

[wtevrfltsurbt]

Do you know who wil be the Captain of the Island Princess in 2006?

Many thanks

QueensFan - I have emailed my contact at P&O Princess with your query and hopefully I will get an answer inn the next few days. As a recently accepted Deck cadet, I look forward to possibly sailing with Captains McNaught and Wright, I have heard many wonderful things about them. I will post any information I receive shortly. :D

 

jonmik1 - who was the Staff Captain who has moved over to the QM2? Is it Edward Perrin? Many thanks!

[APH]

Do you know who wil be the Captain of the Island Princess in 2006?

Many thanks

 

Barring any major suprise, the Senior Master will be Andrea Poggi, and the Relief Captain will be Tony Herriott. Dependin on when you sail, you will have one or the other (from Feb - June and Aug - Dec, it is scheduled to be Andrea Poggi). However, as this thread shows, things can change fairly rapidly, so dont quote me on this!!!!!! :p

[wtevrfltsurbt]

Thank you! It seems that Andrea Poggi will be our Captain then as we are sailing March 22, 2006. My very first cruise on Princess (a million years ago:o ) we had Italian Officers and crew and they were all so very kind. I have not yet had the pleasure of sailing Cunard so I look forward to that someday as well! Best wishes to you on your career, and I promise not to quote you:p

 

 

 

Barring any major suprise, the Senior Master will be Andrea Poggi, and the Relief Captain will be Tony Herriott. Dependin on when you sail, you will have one or the other (from Feb - June and Aug - Dec, it is scheduled to be Andrea Poggi). However, as this thread shows, things can change fairly rapidly, so dont quote me on this!!!!!! :p

[relevart]

When I was on the Royal in March in South America the captain was Captain Perkins who was just from Cunard. I don't believe he had sailed SA before as he kept 2 Chilean pilots aboard from the time they got on at the bottom of the world until we docked in Valparaiso. He seemed like a very nice person. He was British. Someone said that he was leaving the Royal Princess at the end of the voyage so maybe he was there just for training in South America.

[sparkle56]

APH, I would love to know who will be the captain on the Golden in February.

We always seem to have Capt. Giuseppe Romano and would love it if we had him again!

[johnmik1]

QueensFan - I have emailed my contact at P&O Princess with your query and hopefully I will get an answer inn the next few days. As a recently accepted Deck cadet, I look forward to possibly sailing with Captains McNaught and Wright, I have heard many wonderful things about them. I will post any information I receive shortly. :D

 

jonmik1 - who was the Staff Captain who has moved over to the QM2? Is it Edward Perrin? Many thanks!

Hi Andrew,It is indeed Ed Perrin! He is quite a guy.We are waiting for him to make Captain so we can sail with him again.

[APH]

Well, I've received the email back from my friend at the company. He cannot confirm when or where the Captain's will be positioned. I had the Officers list for May and it says that Captain Wright is currently on vacation and Captain McNaught resumed the command of QE2 on the 2nd....so I guess it's a case of keeping all eyes peeled!

 

Hope this was slightly helpful! :D

[Druke I]

On the Cunard board, on a thread with a similar title, a poster has posted a response from Princess, re the transfers, and explains that the "secondment" (a good British term) is to further the career development of senior staff.

 

Sounded like standard PR boilerplate.

[LARGIN]

Andy.. What ship is Fabio Amitrano on ?

[APH]

Largin, Captain Amitrano is currently on vacation.

[CrusinQueen]

I just returned from the 5/1 Golden Princess sailing and can confirm from a

very high source that there will be a changes made.

The senior most Brittish Captain from Princess, Bernard Warner, will be

moving over to Cunard for his next contract.

Yes Largin, it does have to something to do with movement/promotions

Since Cunard only has two ships, staff captains are approaching retirement

without ever having commanded a ship. The alternative was to move the

staff Captains around but the decision was to made otherwise.

Not sure I have any additional answers but please post any questions.

[LARGIN]

Crusinqueen.. Was Rui Periera your Maitre D' on your May cruise?

[CrusinQueen]

Largin.................

 

Yes, Rui was Maitre 'D on our sailing. Haven't seen him since the

Dawn but enjoyed sailing with him again.

[LARGIN]

Rui was our head waiter on the Coral last September.. Once he found out that we were friends of the Maitre D', he was at our table every night giving us special dishes that were not on the menu to try.. I have some great pics of him that I will send to the Golden..

[cruisin'fool2]

Well, I've received the email back from my friend at the company. He cannot confirm when or where the Captain's will be positioned. I had the Officers list for May and it says that Captain Wright is currently on vacation and Captain McNaught resumed the command of QE2 on the 2nd....so I guess it's a case of keeping all eyes peeled!

 

Hope this was slightly helpful! :D

 

Andy -- Any more information on this from your friend at the company?

 

Mike

[cruiserforlife]

Thank you! It seems that Andrea Poggi will be our Captain then as we are sailing March 22, 2006. My very first cruise on Princess (a million years ago:o ) we had Italian Officers and crew and they were all so very kind. I have not yet had the pleasure of sailing Cunard so I look forward to that someday as well! Best wishes to you on your career, and I promise not to quote you:p

 

Captain Poggi was at the helm on one of our cruises,I can't remember which one.Super nice guy.He parks a good boat!

[PRINSENDAM]

When I was on the Royal in March in South America the captain was Captain Perkins who was just from Cunard. I don't believe he had sailed SA before as he kept 2 Chilean pilots aboard from the time they got on at the bottom of the world until we docked in Valparaiso. He seemed like a very nice person. He was British. Someone said that he was leaving the Royal Princess at the end of the voyage so maybe he was there just for training in South America.

 

Carol,

 

The Magellan Straits and Chilean Fjords are all in a compulsory pilotage area. It is the rule, for every ships, regardless of size, to take two pilots, working 6 on, 6 off, for the passage.

 

I knew Captain Perkins from Cunard. Excellent chap.

 

Stephen