Bumpy ride for new cruise bosses

It’s been a bumpy week for the new bosses of Cunard and P&O, with their biggest ships having something of a rough ride.
The Queen Mary 2, flagship of the Cunard fleet now under the management of Peter Shanks, broke her bow mooring lines during a sudden squall in Zeebrugge, Belgium, and suffered slight damage when the stern was blown into the quayside.
A Cunard spokesman said some passengers returning from excursions were slightly delayed before the gangway could be set up again, and engineers inspected the hull before the ship sailed from the port a little later than scheduled.
QM2 was on a four-day cruise, the sort of voyage popular among passengers who have not sailed before, wanting to see if cruising is for them. I hope they weren’t put off.
New P&O boss Carol Marlow will have been checking on the progress of Ventura, which was delayed by technical problems en route to Barcelona, and was able to spend only half a day in the Spanish port.
It was also reported that the ship went on to Ajaccio in Corsica instead of Cannes, although it is not clear whether this was because of the delays, or because heavy swells would have made it difficult for passengers to go ashore by tender to stroll along La Croisette.