Thread: We got a letter yesterday

from Cunard. It was trying to persuade him to book on the forthcoming Christmas Cruise to the Caribbean. (We are already booked but we've booked through the US this year for the much cheaper prices). The letter offered us a further discount of £1 000 (just over USD 2 000) per cabin if we booked by 31 October 2007. As we're already getting that by booking through the States we haven't bothered with a new booking!

Gee, all I got was the Carol Marlowe letter about QE....(3?)

Attached herewith:

CUNARD TO BUILD 'QUEEN ELIZABETH'
New liner to enter service in 2010

Dear Cunarder,

I wanted to write and tell you personally that we have recently announced that we have ordered a new 92,000-ton liner, to be named ‘Queen Elizabeth’, scheduled to enter service in the autumn of 2010. We have signed an agreement with Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri for the construction of the new 2092–passenger ocean liner, which will be built at their Monfalcone yard at an all-in cost of approximately €500 million. The vessel will be the second largest Cunarder ever built.
As you know, we already own and operate the two most famous ocean liners in the world, Queen Elizabeth 2 and Queen Mary 2, and our third - Queen Victoria - is due to be named by HRH The Duchess of Cornwall, in the presence of HRH The Prince of Wales, in December of this year. The decision to order another ship for Cunard Line has been taken as a result of the strong booking response to our new Queen Victoria, and we are extremely pleased that Cunard will once again become a three-ship fleet so soon after the departure of the much-celebrated Queen Elizabeth 2 in November next year. Furthermore we were delighted that Her Majesty The Queen gave her blessing to our calling this new Cunarder ‘Queen Elizabeth’, after our first vessel of that name.
Queen Elizabeth will offer the very best of Cunard’s values and traditions, blended with every conceivable modern luxury that you, our guests, expect. Through her opulent public rooms and impeccable service, the new ship will reflect the grandeur which has been associated with Cunard ships since the introduction of the Mauretania in 1907; and from the outside, her black hull, gleaming white superstructure and distinctive red funnel will echo the classic characteristics of the company's distinctive liner heritage. Queen Elizabeth will fly the Red Ensign with her home-port Southampton, as is the case with the other ships in the Cunard fleet.
We will let you know design details, initial itineraries and details of how to book in due course.
I do hope that you are as excited as I am about our news!

With kind regards,

Carol Marlow
President & Managing Director
Cunard Line

I got that as an email (actually five or six emails from different people!). I think that the letter implies that the QE2 isn't filling this Christmas and they're willing to give some quite hefty discounts to fill the cabins.

Versus X-mas with the in-laws....? Hmmmmm, tempting....

Originally Posted by blazerboy

Versus X-mas with the in-laws....?

You are joking! They are coming as well! (Well Paul's in-laws - my parents)

Was casting no aspersions on your parents....and my in-laws are very nice too...just...well...they're in-laws, and it's not the same as the combination Norman Rockwell/insane asylum holidays with my family.

...but if I could get them all on a ship....then the holiday would have REAL possibilities..

Andrew

Originally Posted by pnhmrk

I got that as an email (actually five or six emails from different people!). I think that the letter implies that the QE2 isn't filling this Christmas and they're willing to give some quite hefty discounts to fill the cabins.

And as usual I have got nothing, despite having two email addresses registered with Cunard (and where is the 'I am a bit miffed' smilie-thing?).

Mary (Sir Martin's long suffering, exhausted, disloyal and deeply fed-up staff)

Originally Posted by blazerboy

...but if I could get them all on a ship....then the holiday would have REAL possibilities..

We had no problem at all in "persuading" them to come. In fact we had every effort in getting them not to come with us on honeymoon last year!

The big thing about going away for Christmas is that you miss the long hours of sitting in silence in a room looking at each other. These last few Christmases are the only ones for a good 20 years I've actually looked forward to!

Originally Posted by TheREALSirMartin

And as usual I have got nothing

Despite not Mary If you'd like I'll send you one so that you don't feel left out

(and where is the 'I am a bit miffed' smilie-thing?).

That do? It's supposed to be a drama queen, but it's all I could find.

I actually like my family Christmases...the bar is open most all day, and most food has some form of liquor in it....so I could even pretend to be on a cruise...and half believe it....

Andrew