Carnival UK chief commercial officer Peter Shanks will take over Cunard as President and Managing Director.

Shanks will retain responsibility for Princess Cruises in the UK.

July 20, 2009

Dear Travel Agent Partner,

I’m writing to share with you that I have been asked, in a Carnival UK reorganisation, to become Managing Director of P&O Cruises, Cunard’s UK sister brand and Britain’s largest cruise line. As a result, I will no longer be leading the Cunard team. This takes effect from today.

It has been a pleasure to work with you over the past 5 years, and I wanted to write to you personally to place on record my thanks for your valued support of our great Cunard brand.

I know that Cunard, with its unique positioning and excellent service, will continue to go from strength to strength under the leadership of Peter Shanks, who is my successor. He is no stranger to Cunard, having worked closely with us over some 7 years.

The North American market is very important to Cunard, with our new Queen Elizabeth arriving in 2010, and the subsequent broadening of our deployment, to include a winter season for Queen Victoria on the west coast and Hawaii. Our current North American sales, marketing and customer service teams will, of course, continue as your key contacts and will, I know, support you in your much appreciated efforts to grow your Cunard business.

I do trust that we will meet again in this great industry of ours, but in the meantime I wish you health, happiness and success in these challenging times.

With kind regards,

Carol Marlow


Seems like a very sudden move; one wonders if sending her to P. & O. is a "punishment", or a challenge to change the direction/style of P.& O.?

P&O is more mass-market, and has unlimited growth potential. The fleet is far bigger than Cunard and so are the responsibilities.

P&O may not have the exclusive perception that Cunard does, but from a managing standpoint I would think it's far more appealing and challenging.
In addition, I think P&O needs some help. They have lost their direction and are trying to be all things to all people. Perhaps Marlow can provide that direction?

They always used to say there was three navies in the UK.

1 - The Royal Navy

2 - The Merchant Navy ( which included Cunard )

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Originally posted by Tom Burke:
Does anyone know what has happened to Nigel Esdale?

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P&O's website

...Nigel Esdale, previously Managing Director of P&O Cruises, takes up the new position of Commercial Director Carnival UK....

Full announcement:

Carnival UK has announced today a series of new Board appointments in response to the continuing growth of the P&O Cruises and Cunard brands.

Nigel Esdale, previously Managing Director of P&O Cruises, takes up the new position of Commercial Director Carnival UK, responsible for the commercial management of P&O Cruises, Cunard, Ocean Village and Princess Cruises UK. Nigel’s role will include yield management and planning, and additionally Giles Hawke, Sales & Customer Services Director, will report to him.

Carol Marlow, previously President and Managing Director of Cunard, becomes Managing Director P&O Cruises, responsible for the leadership and development of the P&O Cruises brand on board and ashore, and will be supported by the commercial and product groups within Carnival UK, and by Carnival Australia and general sales agents elsewhere.

Peter Shanks, previously Chief Commercial Officer of Carnival UK, becomes President and Managing Director Cunard as well as retaining his role as UK Director, Princess Cruises. Peter will be responsible for the leadership and brand development of Cunard on board and ashore, including the Cunard representative offices in Hamburg, Los Angeles and Sydney. He will be supported by the commercial and product groups within Carnival UK.

Nick Lighton, in addition to continuing as Managing Director Ocean Village, takes up the new position of Fleet Product & Services Director Carnival UK responsible for the Carnival UK Product Services group and the Product groups of P&O Cruises, Cunard and Ocean Village. Neal Martin, Product Services Director, will report to Nick who will also retain responsibility for the Air Department of Carnival UK.

Nigel, Carol, Peter and Nick report to David Dingle, Chief Executive Officer Carnival UK, and take up their new positions with immediate effect.

John Marden, previously Fleet Services Director, takes up the new position of Director of Corporate & International Affairs, with a wide-ranging set of responsibilities including port and infrastructure development, shore programmes, fleet management development in Carnival Australia, risk management, medical and public health management and industry representation.

David Strawford, previously Head of Technical Services, joins the Board as Marine & Technical Director responsible for all marine, technical, programming, security, environmental and safety matters.

John and David will take up their new positions on 3 August, each reporting to David Dingle.

Commenting on these new appointments, David Dingle said “Carnival UK is privileged to have a group of highly talented senior managers who are the most experienced in the British cruise industry and are able easily to adapt to new roles and challenges as our Company continues to grow. I greatly enjoy working with all of them and know that they will join me in driving forward our great brands in customer service, efficiency, effectiveness and profitability. It is a particular pleasure to welcome David Strawford to the Board, and a reward for his energy and commitment over the last 15 years.”

Her new position certainly cannot be seen as a demotion; I guess it is a lateral move as it is the same position at a different "brand" but you could also say it is a promotion for the reasons Ernie stated - namely that P&O is the biggest cruise brand in Britain. P&O is another company with an illustrious history and a very loyal following and coming from Cunard I guess she should be right at home there.

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Originally posted by PamM:
Will she even have to move offices?

Pam

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Originally posted by Cam J:

Yes she will Cunard offices are located in Velincia California, and P&O offices are located in either Miami or Britishn.
Over and Out,
Cam J

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Cunard is no longer headquartered in Valencia. Carnival UK controls Cunard and the head office, along with P&O, Ocean Village, and Princess UK is in Southampton.

Pretty much the only thing that is handled by Princess in Valencia for Cunard is North American sales, some marketing, and reservations. All the major decisions regarding Cunard are now dictated from the UK, as well as operations.

As for Marlow, she already works in the Carnival UK building, so there is the possibility she doesn't have to change her office. At most she will move down the hall or to a different floor.

Amulet.co.uk

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Originally posted by PamM:
Will she even have to move offices?

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To date I am very satisfied with P&O. The experience is excellent. They have excellennt lengthy itineraries to far more exotic and breathtaking itineraries than any other mass market line. The World Cruises are great to look forward to and one disappointment after the Carnival merger was seeing two opposing World Voyages disappear and one being replaced by a Grand Voyage of half the world. Also onboard credit for World Voyages has reduced dramatically since Carnival got its claws in it.

In my opinion P&O is doing great with their traditional market and ships. The Aurora, Oriana, Arcadia, and Artemis seem to be going well. Oceana fits in with the new philosiphy of new age cruise passengers and Ventura is still having its problems.

I hope this appointment does good for the company as I really like its style of cruising, the itineraries offered, the onbaord experience. It is all great. I prefer P&O over Princess any day but will not pass up an opportunity to cruise with Princess.

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Nigel Esdale, previously Managing Director of P&O Cruises, takes up the new position of Commercial Director Carnival UK, responsible for the commercial management of P&O Cruises, Cunard, Ocean Village and Princess Cruises UK.

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So a new post has been created for Nigel Esdale, and everybody else moves up one slot. Very nice!

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Originally posted by Tom Burke:

So a new post has been created for Nigel Esdale, and everybody else moves up one slot. Very nice!

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Well actually Tom, this is not a new post - as commercial director Nigel replaces Peter Shanks who was chief commercial officer and if the same organizational arrangement applies he would technically now be Peter's boss as well as Carol Marlow's. Note as well that Nigel holds the title of director where Peter did not (except in the Princess context).

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Originally posted by Linerrich:
the subsequent broadening of our deployment, to include a winter season for Queen Victoria on the west coast and Hawaii.

Rich

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Hang on, when did this happen and how the heck did I miss this !

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Originally posted by Kevin Griffin, London:
What may be different from the old arrangement however is this "Esdale, Marlow, Shanks and Lighton report to David Dingle, ceo Carnival UK" so it is no longer clear from this if Shanks and Marlow report to Esdale or not.

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Originally posted by Cam J:
Im not sure if you guys have seen it yet but this is Carnival UK HQ. Pretty NICE!

Amulet.co.uk

Over and Out,
Cam J

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Originally posted by dougnewman:
To me it sounds like they are not going to.

If they do then it is really a demotion for Peter Shanks as he would be reporting to his replacement.

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The statement, posted earlier by Joe, is quite clear.

Nigel, Carol, Peter and Nick report to David Dingle, Chief Executive Officer Carnival UK, and take up their new positions with immediate effect.

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Originally posted by greybeard:

The statement, posted earlier by Joe, is quite clear.

Nigel, Carol, Peter and Nick report to David Dingle, Chief Executive Officer Carnival UK, and take up their new positions with immediate effect.

How can this be read to suggest that Marlow and/or Shanks report to Esdale?

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Originally posted by greybeard:
How can this be read to suggest that Marlow and/or Shanks report to Esdale?

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But there does seem to be some confusion about the difference between Peter Shanks' old job of chief commercial officer (to which Carol Marlow and Nigel Esdale reported as managing directors of Cunard and P&O) and Nigel Esdale's new job of commercial director (to which Peter Shanks and Carol Marlow will not report as presidents of Cunard and P&O).

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Originally posted by Cunard Fan:
Isn't Peter Shanks the one who hated the QE2?

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That is very reassuring that she had been appointed to a cruise line that she has some familiarity with.

P&O seem to be making allot of poor choices in its direction that really needs to be reversed. The most recent poor choice by P&O is to abolish wine waiters which is clearly a cost cutting scheme orchestrated by pathetic bean counters in Carnival, which will only have the effect of giving us paying passengers poorer service. This is highly contradictory of Carnivals Mission Statement Our mission is to deliver exceptional vacation experiences through the world's best-known cruise brands that cater to a variety of different lifestyles and budgets, all at an outstanding value unrivaled on land or at sea.

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The most recent poor choice by P&O is to abolish wine waiters

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