More "Dumbing Down" of Cunard ??

[Transatlantic Tom]

As if being called a "guest" wasn't bad enough....

 

...NOW Cunard marketing emails are offering "transatlantic crossings from NY to LONDON" (or vice versa); cruises to/from London TOO !!

 

Unless QM2, QV & QE have secretly begun sailings to/from Tilbury, the Isle of Dogs or The Embankment - I wish that Cunard would stop this silliness. :D

 

Southampton, Southampton, Southampton !!!

[Bell Boy]

Well that's your ( Cunard) 'North American Brand' for you.

[Jim Avery]

We have an upcoming on Viking Ocean's new Viking Sun that ends in London.......Well, Greenwich.......Still closer than S'oton.:cool:

[rsquare]

Cruise lines have been doing this for years. Most western Med cruises feature a stop in Florence, though the ship will dock over an hour away in Livorno.

[bluemarble]

Yes, I've started seeing this for several months now, both in mailers and e-mail from Cunard. Here is a excerpt from an e-mail I received early April for a last-minute deal on QM2's May 31 crossing to "London".

 

 

Earlier emails I have all seem to refer to Southampton for other crossings as do the hard-copy and on-line brochures I have in my collection. So, I'm not sure if this is a deliberate change for marketing purposes or just sloppiness.

 

Regards,

John

[kohl57]

Well to be both correct and consistent, Cunard should be advertising QM2 crossings from or to Southampton to/from Brooklyn so I guess "New York to London" is consistent if not correct. And 50% of anything nowadays is a pretty good percentage at that.

[jburton59]

Except Brooklyn is part of the City of New York.

 

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[Scrapnana]

When I told people I was leaving from Southampton, many had no idea where that was or even what country it was in. Perhaps that is why they are putting "London" because most Americans at least have a clue where that is. Of course, anyone who books a cruise to London will be extremely surprised when they are deposited in Southampton.:eek:

[DreamflightPat]

We have an upcoming on Viking Ocean's new Viking Sun that ends in London.......Well, Greenwich.......Still closer than S'oton.:cool:

 

Jim, Greenwich is in London. South East London.

[kentchris]

OP's outrage is somewhat overdone IMO. For example a well known cruise criticism web site has a cruise finder where one can search by departure port, including

 

London (Canary Wharf)

London (Dover)

London (Greenwich)

London (Harwich)

etc etc.

[Lilydes]

We have an upcoming on Viking Ocean's new Viking Sun that ends in London.......Well, Greenwich.......Still closer than S'oton.:cool:

 

Greenwich is part of London and a few minutes on the train or light Railway gets you right into the middle of it! A bit different from "Rome" or "Florence"

[david,Mississauga]

If Cunard is selling the crossings as "to London" then we should not have to pay the $50 (Canadian) to Cunard for the coach transfer from Southampton.:) Of course Brooklyn is part of New York but Southampton is not part of London.

 

About 30 years ago P&O had a deal for Canadian passengers for cruises on the Canberra clearly marked as to and from London - with an explanation. They gave us first class return tickets for the London Waterloo - Southampton boat train and even a coach transfer to and from a London hotel. Now that was truth in advertising. Cunard: take note.

[majortom10]

If Cunard is selling the crossings as "to London" then we should not have to pay the $50 (Canadian) to Cunard for the coach transfer from Southampton.:) Of course Brooklyn is part of New York but Southampton is not part of London.

 

About 30 years ago P&O had a deal for Canadian passengers for cruises on the Canberra clearly marked as to and from London - with an explanation. They gave us first class return tickets for the London Waterloo - Southampton boat train and even a coach transfer to and from a London hotel. Now that was truth in advertising. Cunard: take note.

 

If you think that is great advertising if the same cruise was advertised by P&O they have dumbed down so much that you wouldnt get first class rail tickets and coach transfer they might if you are lucky give you a train timetable.

[Jim Avery]

Greenwich is part of London and a few minutes on the train or light Railway gets you right into the middle of it! A bit different from "Rome" or "Florence"

Yes, I know. That was my point.

[bluemarble]

I spoke too soon about the Cunard brochures still referring to Southampton rather than London.

 

The version of the brochure titled "Oceans of Discovery January - May 2019" available for downloading on Cunard's US web site shows voyages to and from London. Where detailed day-by-day itineraries are provided, they list the port as "London (Southampton)". But the voyages themselves are introduced with titles such as "New York to London", "London to Cape Town", "Roundtrip London", etc. And the voyage route maps are labelled "London" at Southampton's location.

 

The similarly titled brochure on the UK web site still refers to voyages to and from Southampton, as does the brochure titled "Cunard March 2018 - December 2019" which is not yet available for downloading in the US, so I guess this change is only intended for those outside the UK, at least for now.

 

Regards,

John

Edited September 28, 2017 by bluemarble

[Transatlantic Tom]

Outrage ?? Hardly...

 

Apparently, the humor intended was missed. Oh well...

 

On a serious level, it is silly (I'll stick with that) for these marketing people to play games with geography or language - Southampton is not London, Le Havre is not Paris, etc. That's all.

 

Some potential traveller, not knowing British geography, could easily think they will be sailing to/from London.

 

It just seems dishonest or deceptive...and certainly inaccurate...to me.

 

Thanks for the replies all !!

[PRINCESSTHE BEST]

Princess Cruises always refer to London (Southampton) or London (Dover) on their website. Must be an American thing......

 

 

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[Host Hattie]

Same as Holland America, I suspect Scrapnana is correct.

[DYKWIA]

Looking to book a round London day trip pleasure cruise - London (Southampton) - London (Liverpool) - London (Belfast) - London (Glasgow) - London (Edinburgh) - London (Southampton) .

 

I blame Ryanair

[ToadOfToadHall]

Cunard could simply solve the problem of Southampton by changing the crossing to New York to Liverpool.

[Teddy123]

Cunard could simply solve the problem of Southampton by changing the crossing to New York to Liverpool.

But they'd probably still call it London for our transatlantic cousins!

[balf]

I think QE and QV could use Tilbury. Wouldn’t be a very pleasant experience though.

 

DAVID

[Calliope]

As if being called a "guest" wasn't bad enough....

 

...NOW Cunard marketing emails are offering "transatlantic crossings from NY to LONDON" (or vice versa); cruises to/from London TOO !!

 

Unless QM2, QV & QE have secretly begun sailings to/from Tilbury, the Isle of Dogs or The Embankment - I wish that Cunard would stop this silliness. :D

 

Southampton, Southampton, Southampton !!!

 

Well, Tom, I have to agree with you. It is sad, but what do you expect from the marketing department when they have to appeal to geographically challenged people? After all the president just seemed to learn that Puerto Rico is an island surrounded by big water and salt water at that!

[Jules.]

Cunard could simply solve the problem of Southampton by changing the crossing to New York to Liverpool.

Now that would be great !!!

[balf]

Now that would be great !!!

 

Then all the folk from “down South” would have to travel north to board. Wouldn’t do at all.

 

DAVID (20 minutes from Liverpool dock side)