CUNARD Line has seen massive demand from Australia for its new ship Queen Anne, Commercial Director Katrina McAlpine (pictured) has told Cruise Weekly.
Queen Anne sailed on her inaugural cruise three months ago (CW 04 Jun), and Australians have been a fixture on board since day one, McAlpine said.
“We’ve seen massive demand from here, we’ve seen a really big uptake on her inaugural world cruise, [and] the very first Queen Anne sailing, we had a really big portion of Australian guests,” the Cunard head enthused.
“There’s been incredible support from travel advisors down here, incredible passion and excitement around it, and lots of great comments and feedback that’s coming back from both new-to-Cunard and pasts guests as well.”
McAlpine said Cunard’s mission would now be to take some of the popular new experiences aboard Queen Anne and replicate them aboard the cruise line’s other ships.
“There’s a few dining experiences, like the Aji Wa Japanese restaurant, we’ve got an incredible Indian restaurant, and we’ve got an al fresco Mediterranean dining restaurant as well,” she explained.
Australians are heavily booking Europe, both aboard Queen Anne and Cunard’s other ships, while Alaska is also proving popular as ever Down Under.
“Europe is a key destination for Australia and New Zealand travellers, whether it’s cruise or land-based,” McAlpine said.
“Alaska has been incredible for us; [it is] probably our fastest-growing trade for us at the moment,” she added.
Cunard will also be closely monitoring the response to its Caribbean season, which is a new venture for the line.
“We’ve never actively promoted a Caribbean full season like that,” McAlpine explained.
“We’ve had some Caribbean sailings, but often they’re over Christmas for a long departure from Europe.
“We’re really excited to see how the market responds to those [new Caribbean cruises] as we sort of continue to promote and build the awareness.” MS