“Our 3,000-passenger ship is a little smaller than what the market has had to absorb recently – there aren’t many ships of Queen Anne’s tonnage launching now, which is really beneficial for our customers and travel agent partners.”
He is almost certainly alluding to Royal Caribbean International’s 7,600-passenger Icon of the Seas and Princess Cruises’ 4,300-passenger Sun Princess, both of which were launched outside the UK earlier this year.
“The fact Queen Anne is based in Southampton is huge, as it is attracting a really high proportion of British guests,” he adds. “2024 is a great window to be launching Queen Anne.”
Mahoney reveals that while Queen Anne has attracted interest from across the globe, “pockets of availability” still remain. However, speaking to TTG prior to Queen Anne’s maiden cruise, scheduled to depart on 3 May, Mahoney insists having a few available cabins is good for the line.
“My message to travel agents is that if you have guests who want to sail on Queen Anne, particularly during her maiden season, book now,” he warns.
Video: Take a behind-the-scenes tour of Queen Anne
Mahoney says it would be “a massive miss” if Queen Anne’s debut programme was sold out because it would risk dampening the hype surrounding the trade-facing events planned around the ship’s launch.
“Those who book Cunard for the first time will often have a slightly later booking profile than those who have booked Cunard before,” Mahoney notes.
“With the extra 40% fleet-wide capacity growth [with Queen Anne], we need to attract all kinds of guests. Since the turn of the year, 45% of the guests booking Queen Anne are new to Cunard.”
Queen Anne’s arrival in Southampton was delayed until Tuesday (30 April) for "final touches", resulting in the cancellation of a "test" event to which up to 400 agents had been invited.
Hundreds of agents will nonetheless experience Queen Anne this year as part of Cunard’s largest-ever ship visit programme. The line is also offering four fam trips from Southampton in 2024. Mahoney is keen to stress how important it is agents attend the various educational events they are invited to.
Addressing agents directly, Mahoney says: “If you get the opportunity to go, please do go. We do still see some dropouts from those who successfully secure a place. We invest a lot of time and money in those experiences to make sure they are really educational. We see great feedback from those who attend. The benefit is both mutual and large.”
Since early 2023, Cunard has started working with 20 new travel agencies, adding to Mahoney’s trade team’s workload. “With these partners, Queen Anne does over index, but all our ships are performing better than last year,” says Mahoney, adding: “Our brand awareness is increasing.”
When asked if the current sales team would expand in line with widening trade distribution, Mahoney says: “We’re in a period of consolidation – the next couple of months, as Queen Anne sets sail, are a chance to reflect on where the team is at. We’ll maybe look to grow the team in early 2025.”
Cunard clearly has some important decisions still to make if it wants to capitalise on its first ship launch in 14 years.
