New Cunard Website

[MelbTone]

On 4/19/2019 at 12:44 PM, bluemarble said:

Here's the latest problem I've run into on Cunard's new US website. For voyage M910, it initially quotes me a base fare of $1,559 per person for a sheltered balcony. But then, when I actually try to start a booking, this is what happens.

 

I get the same for cruise M104E. On-board booking agent on QE couldn't sort it for me - to her frustration and mine - and when I phoned the agent got nowhere. I booked next year's QE cruise a year ago with no problems. 

[bluemarble]

1 hour ago, MelbTone said:

 

I get the same for cruise M104E. On-board booking agent on QE couldn't sort it for me - to her frustration and mine - and when I phoned the agent got nowhere. I booked next year's QE cruise a year ago with no problems. 

 

I think what's going on with M104E (Fremantle to Melbourne in 2021) is a situation where that voyage is not yet for sale. This looks like the QM2 equivalent of what we have been discussing in the earlier "QV's Phantom Voyage" thread where several of QV's 2021 Australia/New Zealand voyages can't be booked yet.

 

I am seeming similar results for these other QM2 2021 Australia voyages: M104D, M104G, M104J, M104K, M104L, M105D, M105E,  M106, M106A, M106B, and M106C. None of these voyages can be booked yet from what I am seeing.

 

I can't explain why similar 2020 voyages could be booked this time last year while these 2021 voyages can't be booked yet this year.

Edited April 21, 2019 by bluemarble

[Host Hattie]

On 4/19/2019 at 1:19 PM, AnnieC said:

Do any of the kind people who have done so much work decoding the new site happen to have a link to the bar menus on board, please. If it makes any difference, my sole interest is wine by the glass on QV in the Commodore Club, but any bar menu would be a huge help.

There are some useful links in the Welcome sticky at the top of the board.

[AnnieC]

2 hours ago, Host Hattie said:

There are some useful links in the Welcome sticky at the top of the board.

Thank you very much indeed, Hattie. I've had a look and found what I wanted.😊

[MelbTone]

11 hours ago, bluemarble said:

I think what's going on with M104E (Fremantle to Melbourne in 2021) is a situation where that voyage is not yet for sale. This looks like the QM2 equivalent of what we have been discussing in the earlier "QV's Phantom Voyage" thread where several of QV's 2021 Australia/New Zealand voyages can't be booked yet.

 

My hunch was that they're holding off slicing and dicing the M103D Southampton-HK or M103E Southampton and back for now because they'd rather sell these if possible - makes perfect commercial sense to do so. That said, instead of "I am afraid that we have encountered an unknown error", why not display a sensible message like "This cruise is not yet open for booking and its availability is not guaranteed" or "This cruise is not yet open for booking: click here to register your interest and we will update you in due course"?  

[Underwatr]

Have you tried making a booking on an online TA site (you know - a site that works)? That would tell you whether it's just an anomaly of the new site. 

[MelbTone]

1 hour ago, Underwatr said:

Have you tried making a booking on an online TA site (you know - a site that works)? That would tell you whether it's just an anomaly of the new site. 

 

Only one TA is currently advertising it (with prices) but clicking to book just leads to a details collection form. Jumping the gun, I think.

[Wordzz]

Just come across a slightly  expensive trip to Hamburg on Queen Victoria...

 

Voyage V101 '14-night Canary Islands Celebration' leaving Southampton on 23 December 2020 is priced from £2,499 pp. (Britannia  Inside).

 

Add on two nights and disembark in Hamburg instead of Southampton  - voyage V101A -  and the price changes just a little - from £750,000 pp. Admittedly that's for a Britannia Club fare, but it still seems a little steep. At least it was consistent - making a dummy booking for two people showed a price from £1,500,000. Hamburg is a lovely city, but that seems quite a lot to me! 

[sogne]

P & O recently launched a new website based  on the HAL and Cunard site. If anything it was worse St Petersburg appeared in Norway, Western Europe and Med destinations which also included an Icelandic port. Possibly a cure for sea sickness as the maps for many cruises went completely overland. Today the old site, not perfect, but ok appears to be back  including webcams. Any chance of Cunard following suit?

[majortom10]

4 hours ago, sogne said:

P & O recently launched a new website based  on the HAL and Cunard site. If anything it was worse St Petersburg appeared in Norway, Western Europe and Med destinations which also included an Icelandic port. Possibly a cure for sea sickness as the maps for many cruises went completely overland. Today the old site, not perfect, but ok appears to be back  including webcams. Any chance of Cunard following suit?

No and P&O will not be returning to the old websit either as they stated on their Facebook page this morning-         Although there is a handover process when introducing a new website, our new website is still online and is what we are planning to use moving forward.

[BklynBoy8]

In recent days talking to friends, we are still very disappointed that Cunard does not have a dedicated World Cruise Club tab.

 

We miss the voyage log of the past that you could easily refer to all the sailings from day 1 that we did on all the Cunard vessels. It was very informative with dates, days sailing, type of cruise and etc.... Never thought that would be removed from the new website.

 

I would think they would even enhance it on the new site with FAQ's, special request submissions and on board bookings (ex Dining Room Table Location Preferences etc..).

 

In this world technology, I would think Cunard would want to offer more available services to their passengers as part of the WC....

[NavyPanda]

I think I may actually have something good to write about the new website!

 

I think that there has been an improvement in the cabin selection ability. Previously, after you selected a cabin grade, you were given a choice of 8 different staterooms and the ability to type in a number to see if it was available or not. Now the deck plan comes up with the ability to select Forward/Aft/Mid-Forward/Mid-Aft and the Deck Number. The cabins available to be chosen are now highlighted and you can now click on the one you like. The ability to type in a Cabin number also remains. It certainly makes seeing what is available a lot easier. 

 

However... the distinction between the cabins in the same overall category like BA/BB, is not so obvious. The price is still based on the lowest price in that category i.e. Balcony / Balcony (obstructed) / Inside etc. however there is a warning when you select by location / deck that staterooms in that area are 'additional'. Perhaps the distinctions between BA and BC are only for nerds like myself, and normal people are simply interested in the difference in cost to 'upgrade' to a different location.

 

This doesn't really affect me in any case. I'm a fully signed up member of the Early Saver Club and book through a travel agent for a small discount anyway.

 

If Cunard were being really smart, they'd insert a Discount Code box into the booking process and publish a 5% discount code where people who know where to find discount codes, would go looking for them. This would mean that they wouldn't pay the 8% or so commission they give to agents (so saving 3%) and the customer either pays the same price as they would through the agent or slightly less.

[Underwatr]

18 hours ago, NavyPanda said:

This would mean that they wouldn't pay the 8% or so commission they give to agents

 

"They" being Cunard, not the people who know where to find discount codes, I presume.

 

This is the big issue with the new website for Cunard, that it implicitly pushes potential passengers away from a direct online booking and toward a travel agent, either online or brick-and-mortar, and Cunard's costs increase as a result.

 

Perhaps my 112 shares of CCL stock would get me some leverage at Shareholder Relations and I can find out the damage to the bottom line. 🙂

[bluemarble]

It looks like Cunard was playing around with how the voyage search results are displayed on the US website earlier today. About an hour ago I got search results that looked like this. The itinerary map was smaller to fit more results per page with a button added for "View full map".

 

But now the search results are back to the way they have always been on their new website. Maybe I stumbled upon a preview of things to come? Now if they would just add to the overall content and fix some of the bugs/peculiar behavior on the new website, that would be much appreciated.

Edited May 16, 2019 by bluemarble

[sogne]

Guest  Speaker details are available on the website upto Dec 19  go to, from home page click "The Experience " and guest speaker link appears in drop down menu, clicking that link leads to details of some speakers with full list as PDF at bottom of page.

[Underwatr]

I had a start last night when I noticed that the December Caribbean itinerary appeared not to return to New York... 

 

[bluemarble]

1 hour ago, sogne said:

Guest  Speaker details are available on the website upto Dec 19  go to, from home page click "The Experience " and guest speaker link appears in drop down menu, clicking that link leads to details of some speakers with full list as PDF at bottom of page.

 

Excellent! You would never know it from the US website though. There is no "Guest Speakers" link under "The Experience" on the US website yet like there is on the UK website. But that link provided on the UK site (and which Host Hattie added to the "Enrichment Lectures" sticky) does work in the US. So that's a welcome improvement.

 

By the way, it looks like the new format for the voyage search results that I mentioned yesterday is back today so perhaps that's a permanent change to the site now.

[bluemarble]

7 minutes ago, Underwatr said:

I had a start last night when I noticed that the December Caribbean itinerary appeared not to return to New York... 

 

 

Oops! That's a good one. There are slightly different itinerary maps on the website today (sized a little differently as part of the change in the voyage search results format), but apparently resizing the maps is all they have done. The 19-night voyage M001A (New York round trip plus crossing to Southampton) is still showing that same glitch today on its itinerary map.

[bluemarble]

On 1/12/2019 at 9:01 AM, bluemarble said:

... I don't see a step to enter our Cunard World Club numbers at the beginning of the booking process in the US like there used to be on the old site, in order to see past passenger discounts. There is a place to enter Cunard World Club numbers later during checkout, but by then we've already seen and selected the fare. So, I wonder how past passenger discounts are going to work in the future when they are offered in the US. ...

 

I've found the answer to this question of mine about how past passenger discounts work on the new US website.

 

Cunard has started a "2020 Alaska" promotion in the US that offers a 5% discount for past passengers. When you start a booking for one of those cruises on the US website there is no indication of this discount during the initial phases of the booking process (since there is no place to indicate you are a past passenger during those steps like there used to be on the old site). It is only during the final check out process after you have filled in all of the passenger information (including your Cunard World Club number) that the site determines you are a past passenger. Only when you have reached the final "Pay now" page, where you are asked to enter your credit card number to pay for the cruise, does the site show you a final fare that has been reduced by 5% for the past passenger discount.

 

Kind of a last-minute surprise, I'd say. At least the US website does eventually apply the past passenger discount if it applies to the cruise, so I guess we should be thankful for that.

[bluemarble]

I've noticed some new website behavior in the US the past few days. From the US, if I click on a link for the Cunard UK website (a URL that starts with "cunard.com/en-gb") or just try to go directly to that website's home page, this is what I get.

 

 

 

If I click "Continue to Cunard's United Kingdom website", it does take me to the Cunard UK website. Well sort of. I can't see any UK pricing. All voyage pricing is still shown in US dollars. And I couldn't actually book a voyage from their (not that I'd want to). But I can navigate around the UK site and search the UK FAQ or read about special offers in the UK for example.

 

This creates a new browser cookie for "www.cunard.com" called "preferredCountry" whose content is "en-gb", so subsequent attempts to access the Cunard UK website work without being prompted again about continuing to the UK website.

 

For those of you in the UK, the reverse does not appear to work to get to the US website. At least when I set up a vpn connection to make it look like I am in the UK and then attempt to go to the US website at "cunard.com/en-us", it still automatically redirects me back to the UK website at "cunard.com/en-gb".

Edited September 16, 2019 by bluemarble

[bluemarble]

OK, here's the latest bit of Cunard website wackiness I've noticed. This seems to have started about a week ago. When I start a booking on a Windows desktop, I can opt to "change your room" as usual. Everything works fine in terms of being able to select a different deck and/or section of the ship. I am then presented with this screen which is supposed to allow me to select a specific cabin.

 

 

The only problem is that the "Finish" button does not work. By that I mean it's not an active button any more. The mouse pointer does not change when I hover over it and clicking on it does nothing. In other words, there is no way to actually select a specific cabin since there is no way to "finish" the cabin selection process.

 

Oddly enough, this problem does not occur when I use the browser on my phone (Android with Chrome). I can select different cabins on that platform and the "Finish" button works fine there (as long as I don't configure the "Desktop site" option within the Chrome settings). But I can't get this to work on a couple different Windows desktops using several different browsers, so I don't think it's just me.

 

I know, I shouldn't be surprised about anything having to do with the new website at this point, but this is functionality that used to work. I'm not all that bothered about it since I don't intend to actually make a booking on the Cunard website. I have submitted "Feedback" about this issue nonetheless.

[plod1]

I had the same issue when trying to book (for real!) the other day.  'Finish' button would not work until I discovered that if I disabled my cookie blocker, Privacy Badger, the 'finish' button started working and the booking was accepted.  Not sure who now knows, but re-enabling Privacy Badger shows a total of 17 different cookies tracking my activity on the www.cunard.com/en-gb site. 

-- 

plod

1 hour ago, bluemarble said:

OK, here's the latest bit of Cunard website wackiness I've noticed. This seems to have started about a week ago. When I start a booking on a Windows desktop, I can opt to "change your room" as usual. Everything works fine in terms of being able to select a different deck and/or section of the ship. I am then presented with this screen which is supposed to allow me to select a specific cabin.

 

 

The only problem is that the "Finish" button does not work. By that I mean it's not an active button any more. The mouse pointer does not change when I hover over it and clicking on it does nothing. In other words, there is no way to actually select a specific cabin since there is no way to "finish" the cabin selection process.

 

Oddly enough, this problem does not occur when I use the browser on my phone (Android with Chrome). I can select different cabins on that platform and the "Finish" button works fine there (as long as I don't configure the "Desktop site" option within the Chrome settings). But I can't get this to work on a couple different Windows desktops using several different browsers, so I don't think it's just me.

 

I know, I shouldn't be surprised about anything having to do with the new website at this point, but this is functionality that used to work. I'm not all that bothered about it since I don't intend to actually make a booking on the Cunard website. I have submitted "Feedback" about this issue nonetheless.

 

[bluemarble]

26 minutes ago, plod1 said:

I had the same issue when trying to book (for real!) the other day.  'Finish' button would not work until I discovered that if I disabled my cookie blocker, Privacy Badger, the 'finish' button started working and the booking was accepted.  Not sure who now knows, but re-enabling Privacy Badger shows a total of 17 different cookies tracking my activity on the www.cunard.com/en-gb site. 

-- 

plod

 

Thanks for the reply. No cookie blocker in my case and I have made sure to clear all cookies and other site date related to Cunard before running my tests.

 

Here's some interesting additional results I just stumbled upon. I am able to get that "Finish" button to work for me on my Windows desktop for a few cabin types on a few voyages that are close to sailing. It might have something to do with how many decks or sections of the ship are showing availability for a given type of cabin.

 

For example, on voyage M935B, Westbound Transatlantic Crossing, Nov 3-10, 2019, the only sheltered balcony cabins available are on deck 4 aft. If I start a booking for a sheltered balcony on that voyage and ask to change my cabin, it allows me to select from any of the four available cabins on deck 4 aft and the "Finish" button works.

 

On the other hand, if I try to book a standard inside cabin on that same voyage, there are multiple decks and sections showing availability for inside cabins. In that case, if I attempt to change my cabin, the "Finish" button does not work.

 

And I can't seem to get the "Finish" button to work on sailings further into the future that are showing a lot of cabin availability on various decks and sections.

 

Seems like a rather peculiar bug, but that's my latest theory as to what's going on with my attempts to select cabins on my windows desktop.

 

[bluemarble]

After some more experimenting with this issue where the "Finish" button is not working for me to change cabins, I think I've figured out that this problem relates specifically to which section of the ship I try to chose a cabin. What I am seeing is that the "Finish" button works for me whenever I try to choose a cabin in the "Aft" section of the ship. But the "Finish" button doesn't work when I try to choose a cabin in the "Mid-Aft", "Mid", "Mid-Forward", or "Forward" sections of the ship. Again, this issue occurs for me on a Windows desktop but not on my Android phone (although I can make it occur on my phone if I configure Chrome to use "Desktop site" mode).

[Underwatr]

What browser on the Windows machine? Have you tried a different browser? It may not be practical for you, but I'm just curious.