Cruise Ship Jobs - Cunard Line

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Cunard Line has a long history stretching back to the era of great ocean liners at a time when the only way to cross the Atlantic was by ship. Now days with all the Trans-Atlantic traffic gone to the airlines, Cunard Line has to adapt to the new economic realities in order to survive. Changing owners a few times, Cunard was finally acquired by Carnival Corporation and merged with Seabourn Cruises (three of the Cunard's ships were transferred to Seabourn). Like any other cruise line Carnival Corporation has purchased (Holland America Line, Seabourn Cruises, Costa Cruises, Princess Cruises etc.), Cunard Line was left to operate as a separate brand (one of the eleven Carnival Corporation brands), preserving the image Cunard has built for more than 175 years of operation.

The line was founded in 1840 by Samuel Cunard, a businessman from Halifax, Nova Scotia. Cunard applied for and received a contract from the British government to carry the Royal Mail from Britain to North America on a fleet of steam ships that would maintain a weekly service. The first route was from Liverpool to Boston via Halifax, but the western terminus was soon moved to New York. In the late 1920's Cunard Line lay down plans for a pair of ships that would be capable of maintaining the weekly service between Southampton and New York. Construction was delayed by the Great Depression, but the British government issued loan guarantees on the condition that Cunard Line merge with its rival, White Star Line. Cunard-White Star Line launched the ships Queen Mary in 1935 and Queen Elizabeth in 1939. Queen Mary won the speed record for the North Atlantic from the French ship Normandie and kept it for the next 16 years.

In 1960, the British government agreed to lend Cunard Line money for the construction of a new liner on the condition that the ship could be requisitioned for national service in an emergency. In 1967, Cunard Line launched Queen Elizabeth 2, named for the earlier ship, Queen Elizabeth. QE2, as she became known, made her maiden voyage in 1969, as a two-class ship for crossings and a one-class ship for cruises.

In 1998, Cunard Line was acquired by Carnival Corporation & plc for US$500 million, which merged the management of Cunard with Seabourn Cruises, their other luxury brand. In January 2004, Queen Mary 2- the largest, longest, highest, and most expensive cruise ship ever at the time was christened by Queen Elizabeth II and made her maiden voyage attended by worldwide media coverage. In May, Queen Mary 2 took over the North Atlantic liner service between Southampton and New York and became the flagship of Cunard Line. In that month QE2 was repositioned to make cruises out of Southampton for the British market. Also in 2004 Cunard Line, as one of the Carnival family fleet of cruise lines, was moved under the Princess/P&O Cruises umbrella, where its operations are now overseen by an almost entirely new staff (both onboard and on shore). In 2007 Cunard acquired another large size cruise ship - Queen Victoria. QV was originali ordered by Carnival Corporation as a Vista class cruise ship for another of the Carnival owned brands - Holland America Line. A second Vista class cruise ship - Queen Elizabeth joined the Cunard fleet in 2010. The legendary QE2 (Queen Elizabeth 2) was sold in 2008 and is turned into a floating hotel in Dubai, UAE.

Cruise ships and itineraries:

Queen Elizabeth: Bermuda registered, built 2010, 92,000 gross tons, 2,092 passengers, 930 crew members. Itineraries: Western Europe/Northern Europe out of Southampton (London), Mediterranean/Canary Islands/Aegean out of Southampton (London), UK; Transatlantic/Caribbean out of Southampton (London), UK.
Queen Victoria: Bermuda registered, built 2007, 90,000 gross tons, 2,014 passengers, 900 crew members. Itineraries: Western Europe/Northern Europe out of Southampton (London), Mediterranean/Adriatic out of Southampton (London), UK, Venice and Civitivecchia (Italy), Barcelona, Spain; Hawaii out of Los Angeles, CA; Mexican Riviera out of Los Angeles, CA; Panama Canal out of New York, NY, Fort Lauderdale, FL and Los Angeles, CA; Transatlantic out of Fort Lauderdale, FL, Los Angeles, CA and Southampton (London), UK; World Cruise out of Southampton (London), UK.
Queen Mary II: Bermuda registered, built 2003, 148,528 gross tons, 2,620 passengers, 1,253 crew members. Itineraries: Transatlantic out of Southampton (London), UK; New York, NY; Hamburg, Germany; Eastern/Southern Caribbean out of New York, NY and Southampton (London), UK; Canada/New England out of New York, NY, Trans-Atlantic, Western/Northern Europe/Norwegian Fjords out of Southampton (London), UK and Hamburg, Germany, Mediterranean out of  Southampton (London), UK; World Cruise out of New York, NY.