Joel Paul Moore

Joel’s dissertation examines the positioning within the contemporary cruise tourist industry of the cruise liners operated by Cunard, focusing specifically on the conveyance of nostalgia and identity, and on the production of enchantment and leisure space. His study is based on the extensive use of marketing and promotional materials from the 1990s onwards, corporate and industry publications, printed and online reviews, as well as detailed analyses of the ships themselves. In doing so, Joel argues that the Cunard Line has sought to establish itself as the authentic purveyor of the ‘golden age’ of the transatlantic crossing, a voyage emblematic of the perceived glamour and luxury of the early to mid-twentieth century. This, in turn, is part of the commercialisation of heritage and nostalgia as an aspirational and desirable commodity within a post-Fordist leisure economy.

By centring on Cunard, Joel’s dissertation aims to show the extent to which homogeneity and diversity are in conflict within the broader cruise industry, revealing how extant scholarship applying theories of McDonaldization and experiential brandscapes to the industry as a whole are both historicist and reductionist. Central to this, therefore, is the distinction and fragmentation of the cruise experience. By identifying the development of, and experimentation with, a distinct brand identity on board Cunard’s QE2 and subsequent ships, this study charts the re-enchantment of the Cunard brand. Overall, this has a profound impact on the construction and design of the ship’s exterior and interior, on the forms and meanings of on board leisure, and on the production of space and place afloat.