PHOTO: Richard Meadows, president of Cunard Line-North America. Photo Credit: Rob Comeau for Cunard.

Carnival Corp. executive for almost three decades, Richard Meadows became president of Cunard Line-North America on Dec. 1. He also holds the title of president of Seabourn, as he has since 2011. We caught up with Meadows recently to discuss his new role at Cunard.

Congratulations on your new role at Cunard-North America.

I am really excited to be a part of the Cunard team. It has one of the youngest fleets in the world and is one of the oldest brands in cruising. We’re celebrating 175 years this year.

Cunard is a venerable British company, but do you think it needs to raise its profile in the U.S.? If so, how do you do that?

It is absolutely a household brand in the U.K. Its name and the ships are widely known, but in the U.S. there is more opportunity to increase awareness of the brand and ships.

Some people in the U.S. know of the Queen Mary 2 but may not associate it with the Cunard brand. So I absolutely think we have the opportunity to raise the profile of the brand. We’ve got a whole series of initiatives we’re in the process of working on to increase our awareness.

Such as?

One of the most important and critical ways is supporting the trade and working closer with our travel agent partners. We have the sales force in North America that represents both Princess and Cunard, and we’re going to continue to leverage that team and provide them with an incredible amount of support so they can better engage and continue to support the Cunard brand within the trade in North America.

We have a number of things that are quite powerful. Cunard Academy is a very well-established program with more than 30 courses, and OneSourceCruises.com is a platform with a host of marketing tools.

For me, personally, over the past several weeks I’ve taken time to listen to the trade and get their perspective of where Cunard is as a brand. Having been a travel agent when I started my career well over 30 years ago, I’m a major believer in the power of the trade. You will see me on the road. I will be at events to take time to listen directly to agents.

Cunard often refers to itself as a luxury brand, but do you think that’s a fair description? Or is there another segment, perhaps one of its own, that Cunard occupies?

Cunard is certainly a player in the luxury space as a luxury brand. We tend to refer to “luxury on a grand scale.” We were the innovator in the luxury suite categories starting on Queen Mary in the 1930s, and the concept has evolved into what is now the Princess and Queens Grills. They have a host of benefits that come with the accommodation, including single-seating dining, à la carte menus and a high level of luxury care. There’s really nothing like the whole Grill experience.

But look at the experience throughout the ship. It really does pay off in the positioning of “luxury on a grand scale.” If you take a moment and reflect on the power of the Cunard history through the world wars, immigration and the glamor of ocean-going travel in the trans-Atlantic era, all that nostalgia is very much alive today. People see the Cunard experience, and in particular the crossing, as iconic and in many ways a bucket list experience. It’s very, very relevant today, and that’s why we’re taking the time this year to celebrate our 175th anniversary.

Is Cunard the right size or is there a possibility of more ships in the fleet?

It seems to be the right number of ships to meet our guests’ needs. It’s always possible as our industry grows and changes, but we have no plans right now to add a ship.

Cunard and Seabourn are sort of together again under your leadership. Do you think it’s a natural fit to oversee those two brands?

There was a period when they were together and based in Miami. Consider what the two brands have in common — they have luxury in common and our guests are very discerning, very well educated, well traveled and accustomed to a high level of service. Those are the standards that both brands represent.

I want to be really clear that they are two separate brands and they are managed by two separate brand teams. I may have responsibility for two brands — Seabourn globally and Cunard in North America — but they have completely different setups. The Seabourn team in Seattle and Cunard in Santa Clarita, Calif., are fully separate organizations. The commonality is that I’m the lucky person who gets to work with both of them.