Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines wins prestigious customer service award for putting ‘Customers at the Heart of Everything’

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines has been named the company that puts its ‘Customers at the Heart of Everything’ at the renowned CXAwards for customer service last night.

Not a travel industry award, Fred. Olsen was up against some big names in the same category, including the AA, Luton Airport, Ligentia, Aspen Healthcare and Mears Group.

Fred. Olsen was shortlisted for the award in September for its customer-focused approach, including its Virtual Cruising programme and Plain Sailing Guarantee, but was crowned winner following a live presentation to a panel of judges yesterday.

The judges praised the efforts Fred. Olsen had made to go ‘above and beyond’ to communicate with their guests at a time of much uncertainty for the travel industry as a whole.

Clare Ward, Director of Product and Customer Service at Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines, said:

“It is a huge honour to win this award. The fact that we have stood out for our exemplary customer service in what has been an incredibly challenging year for the travel and cruise industry just shows the efforts we have been taking to put our guests first.

“In the past seven months, we have transported our guests virtually to any number of destinations as part of our virtual cruise programme, bringing them the joys of sailing at a time when physical travel was not an option.

“We introduced our Plain Sailing Guarantee to make guest options clear and easy to understand for cancelled sailings, and just yesterday relaunched this with a greater focus for 2021.

“We have also received so many wonderful comments from our guests, thanking the team on how we have handled the refund process under challenging circumstances.

“But most of all, we put ourselves in their shoes, and we never stopped communicating.

“To win any award is always a very proud moment for our team here, but to win the ‘Customers at the Heart of Everything’ Award, going up against many other sectors and industries, is a really fantastic achievement for us all.”

The award comes after Fred. Olsen was named the ‘Best Cruise Line’ at the Group Leisure and Travel Awards 2020 – for the ninth year in a row – earlier this month.

For further information on Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines, visit www.fredolsencruises.com. Book online, call Reservations on 0800 0355 242 (Monday to Saturday 9am to 5pm), or contact your ABTA travel agent.