Thread: Cunard's Commodore Bernard Warner Retires

Hi all!

Today it has been announced that Cunard's Commodore Bernard Warner has now retired from Cunard. It was announced this morning only through Cunard's Facebook page ( https://www.facebook.com/cunard ) at approximately 9am (British Time) when they posted a photo (attached below) of Commodore Warner being filmed while docking QM2 in Southampton. The caption of the photo read "Commodore Warner docks Queen Mary 2 for his final time in Southampton this morning". On today's We Are Cunard blog post there was no mention of Commodore Bernard Warner's retirement, but Alastair Greener had announced that he would be leaving Cunard for a new chapter in his career. To find out more about Alastair's final blog post, click the link >> Cunard Blog: We Are Cunard: Alastair Greener » Time To Blog Farewell………

Then about 3 hours later Cunard posted another photo (which is also attached) of Bernard Warner walking out to the Mercedes awaiting him with numerous people greeting him onto their Facebook page. The caption accompanying the photo read "Commodore Warner leaving Queen Mary 2 this morning in Southampton" as he left Queen Mary 2 for the final time after serving as Commodore/Captain of the vessel for 5 years. Also pictures and a video of Commodore Bernard Warner's farewell are expected to follow soon on the blog i guess.

As of yet it hasn't been officially announced who Cunard's next Commodore will be, although Captain Paul Wright has taken over command of Queen Mary 2 as of today, so there's a possibility of him being Cunard's next Commodore . It is hoped that the next Commodore of Cunard's fleet will be announced either on their site, Facebook page, the blog or even all 3 this week.


Kind Regards,
Richy

Thanks for posting this news. I only sailed with Commodore Warner once, but really did seem to be a very nice man and a good Captain

It would be nice if Captain Wright took over as Commodore, but I believe he is due to retire soon as well.

You're welcome. Aw cool that must have been on the Queen Mary 2 I'm guessing! Yes he certainly does seem like a very nice man from what I've seen on documentaries and interviews I've heard with him. I suppose all these happenings are starting a new chapter in Cunard as new crew members hit the scenes and a new blog is started.

Yes I agree with you in that it would be nice if Captain Paul Wright took over as Commodore of the Cunard fleet. Yes I also heard he's suppose to be retiring in the coming months.

Originally Posted by RichCruising

You're welcome. Aw cool that must have been on the Queen Mary 2 I'm guessing! Yes he certainly does seem like a very nice man from what I've seen on documentaries and interviews I've heard with him. I suppose all these happenings are starting a new chapter in Cunard as new crew members hit the scenes and a new blog is started.

Yes I agree with you in that it would be nice if Captain Paul Wright took over as Commodore of the Cunard fleet. Yes I also heard he's suppose to be retiring in the coming months.

Yes I had done 3 short cruises on QM2 and had the please of meeting Commodore Warner once at a cocktail party.

What is the difference betwwen a Commodore and a Captain on Cunard ? Do any other lines have a Commodore ?

Oh wow cool that must have been nice then. I would have definitely liked to meet him at some point because he seemed like a nice man and would have been good to talk to him. When Queen Mary 2 was in Cobh, Cork in Ireland (I live in Cork, Ireland) there about 2 years ago, I heard him making an announcement over the intercom to the passengers regarding their departure, so that was quite good.

Tony I actually read the interview John Heald (Carnival Cruises Senior Cruise Director) did with Commodore Bernard Warner in August in 2009 and John asked the Commodore just that so here it is from John Heald's Blog :

"The word Commodore is used at Cunard Line instead of Captain. Can you tell us something about this tradition? Cunard Line has Captains just like every other shipping company.
The rank of Commodore means “the Senior Captain of the Fleet.” As Commodore one fulfills the same role as the Captain on board in that you are the Master of the ship."


If you or anyone else wants to read the full interview here's the link : An Interview with Cunard


Also just today Cunard actually officially announced their new Commodore as surprisingly enough (for me), Captain Christopher Rynd (photo of him attached below). You can read the full news article at this page :
Cunard News - Cunard

Oh! and one final thing Peter Shanks has now taken over the We Are Cunard blog only today and posted his first blog post of his own. It also has a slightly new look as well. He said this in his post today :

"Earlier this week we had a very moving day with the retirement of our Commodore, Bernie Warner. Bernie had been at sea for 46 years and spent the last six years as Commodore of the Cunard Fleet and Master of Queen Mary 2. A real gentleman, a family man and the most admirable leader. We filmed the events of the day and will post that as a video blog in the next few days."

Hope that helps

Yes thanks, it clears it up.

I wonder if he gets an extra stripe ? or perhaps it is that curl on his upper strip in the first photogtaph ?

Good Em actually that's a good question I don't really know to be honest but you could be right about that curl on his upper stripe. We'd probably have to find out from someone who works for Cunard and would know about that kind of stuff.

I think I should have called it a diamond.
I don't remember seeing anything like that on a Captain on any cruises I have been on.

I've had the pleasure of sailing with Commodore Warner many times. A very nice man but he inherited Commodore Warrick's style for the noon report. Meaning it rarely happened at noon, sometimes within a 20-minute time-frame and he rambled. You would think he was finished and he would start off again.
I did sail with Captain Rynd and his noon report is at noon and he gives you the details and signs off. I was sitting with Mrs. Rynd during a report and commented on how well he speaks and enunciates everything. That was also the voyage back in June 2007 when Capt. Rynd had to make the announcement about the sale of the QE2. It was a very sombre speech he made apparently. I was ashore when it happened and didn't know until I returned to my cabin and found the letter from Cunard.
I look forward to seeing the new Commodore and hopefully Mrs. Rynd in June aboard the QM2.
Linda