Australian pop sensation Delta Goodrem has helped Cunard welcome back the Queen Elizabeth into Australia.
Filmed on the iconic ship, the new commercial celebrates the brand’s return to Sydney after the pandemic with Delta Goodrem belting out ‘Waltzing Matilda’ as she proudly sails past some of Sydney’s most iconic sites.
The commercial will see plenty of eyes due to its timing with the beginning of the Australian Open, sending a strong statement about the strength of cruise in Australia.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iLxbVtWmP0U
Ms Goodrem said: I’ve performed in many locations around the world but performing on the bow of Queen Elizabeth as she sailed through Sydney Harbour was one of my highlights! As we neared the Opera House and Harbour Bridge, performing Waltzing Matilda was truly a magical moment.”
Cunard VP, of Commercial for North America and Australasia, Matt Gleaves said: “We wanted to show our Australian audience how special Australia is for Cunard, particularly after our long 2.5-year absence
“It would be remiss of us to not take advantage of one of the world’s most breath-taking harbours to be centre stage of our new campaign. Adding superstar Delta Goodrem’s performance into the mix makes this commercial one of the most iconic our brand has ever produced.”
Cunard has plenty of intriguing itineraries laid out for the season ahead, including the Great Australian Culinary Journey that leaves Sydney on January 28 and the Gardening Journey that sails out of Melbourne on February 4.
it will be interesting to see what happens with the third trip around New Zealand this year by Cunard’s ‘Queen Elizabeth’.
On the first, which departed Melbourne on 22 December, Fiordland was given a miss – because of issues with biosecurity in New Zealand which at the date of this post (and as reported in the New York Times a couple of days ago) have now got in the way of six other cruise companies since December.
On the second, which departed Sydney on 7 January, Carnival/Cunard gave both Fiordland and Port Chalmers (ie Dunedin) a miss in order to schedule a day at sea off Mount Maunganui (Tauranga) to enable hull cleaning. Then, with the cleaning not completed, the Queen Elizabeth was ‘allowed’ to enter Mount Maunganui as scheduled but was later not allowed to enter the Bay of Islands.
So, will the third, to depart Melbourne on 14 February and still scheduled to visit Fiordland, Port Chalmers, Lyttelton, Wellington, Tauranga, Auckland and Bay of Islands, be able to visit any of these places?
And (1) how much advance warning will intending passengers get of changes before departure and en route and (2) bearing in mind that on-board credits and future cruise credits do not costs the company, what tangible compensations will be afforded to passengers who will never again cruise? Transferrable cruise credits? 100 USD per destination missed?
An unfortunate coincidence with the Goodrem publicity campaign!