RAL72

We received the letter on Christmas Eve, and it was the first we'd heard about it, that's despite the letter being dated the 23rd. The 'earlier announcement' referred to in the letter was a broadcast to the ship made at roughly the same time as the letter was received. Cunard knew before we sailed, and didn't tell us.

It wasn't just one change of port. It was a port cancellation, and many days of severe vibration in the main dining room, all known by Cunard before the ship sailed. Also looking out of your balcony at an industrial dry dock is hardly what they advertise in their "fine line" adverts We'd have cancelled had we known, we had 3 other options we were juggling, this trip was just one option.

Thanks very much for clarifying, we were confused about that. They'd shown it as 'overnight' in some places which is what confused us.

It said 31st December - Funchal 1st January - Funchal

Currently on board the dry docked QV. I'm pretty angry at the way Cunard have handled this, and thats assuming that the dry docking all goes to plan and they do actually properly fix the propellor this time. The fact that we unknowingly boarded a ship that was in need of repair - which had already been booked in for this dry docking before we boarded. The enormous vibration in the restaurant when underway - which to me seems like an earthquake across most of deck 2, and the planned disruption to the itinerary in order to make sure the world cruise isn't impacted. To answer other comments in this topic - I would like to have been informed beforehand about the situation, and to decide to travel or not. We feel like we were lied to. I will happily accept port changes due to circumstances beyond Cunard's control such as the weather, however this was in their control and planned in before we boarded. I was really looking forward to visiting Lisbon, and it was to be a highlight for me. We also think we left Madeira far earlier than originally intended, which I presume was so that we could make it to Cadiz on time. The original itinerary had Madeira for both the 31st and 1st and an overnight stay, and a sea day on the 2nd to get to Cadiz on the 3rd. Can anyone comment if I’ve got this correct? The fact that its spun as a "once in a lifetime opportunity" is, I think, the worst bit ... I'm a bit of a self-confessed ship geek, but I'm not finding this remotely interesting/exciting. Being stuck on a ship for 7 hours today while waiting to be allowed off was just annoying. I came on an expensive luxury holiday, not an industrial dry dock site visit. Credit to the dry dock crew though. There wasn’t even a wobble as the ship came in and was positioned and then lowered, and also not even a flicker as the power etc was switched over. All very impressive in that regard. I see that not everyone on this topic feels the same, and thats fine. Some of the comments I've seen here and on Facebook seem to imply that I should just feel lucky to be aboard at all - as if we've been gifted this trip and not paid for it with our own hard earned money, a sentiment I just don't understand. To answer someone’s question - we finally got off and away in the bus today about 5.30. Others on the bus said they were glad to be off. We were on the first shuttle bus and glad to escape. It was dark as we walked into Cadiz to go exploring. A formal night while in a dry docked ship feels very odd indeed. We’ll get the full day and night here tomorrow, but we’ve to be aboard before 9am on Wednesday.