Correct me if lm wrong but, Cunard used to mention, and promote in their brochures, and recent ones at that about the British Officers.
Now l for one always had Cunard as one step away from the rest of the cruise companies. Now with the dumbing down of the dress codes, the lack of afternoon tea on embarkation Im really glad l sailed with Cunard when l did. I doubt very much if l would care for the product of the present day.
I believe its a thing called progress or is it change, Something the old fogies from the Glory days dont like
I think it's a case of hyping up their product.... Depending on what you determine an 'Officer' as, then the ratio changes dramatically.
Within the Merchant Navy, Officers are only truly those with a certificate of competency as issued by a Governing Body - ie. MCA for the UK, USCG etc. That means only Deck & Engine Officers can 'correctly' hold the rank of officer, however I've seen this argument go wild so to speak, so I'll leave it at that!
In the Deck Department on QE2 & QM2 , I have sailed with Indian, South African, Canadian, American, Norwegian, Irish, French and Bulgarian. In the Engine Room I have sailed with those Nationalities plus there have been Junior Filipino Engineer Officers since the early 00's. All have been very good at their jobs with the exception of one or two as found in any industry.
If you count the Hotel Department as Officers, then you would be lucky to get 25% as Brits, just how it goes I'm afraid.
It is just a marketing thing, as 99% of cruisers wouldn't know or care who is in the uniform - just a fact of life. This proved by the fact that in the 10 years I was with the company, all of these nationalities were on the Bridge (and on the same ship as yourself!) , but hardly anyone noticed until now!