QM2 Delayed 4 Hours due to Faulty Bow Thruster Door (News, link)

From The Scotsman

April 11, 2004

11:41pm (UK)

Queen Mary 2 Delayed over Door Fault

By Tim Moynihan, PA News

Go to original

New luxury liner Queen Mary 2 will be four hours late into Southampton tomorrow, at the end of its second transatlantic cruise, it emerged tonight.

The ship had a problem with a door over a bow thruster – a kind of propeller – and was delayed in Lisbon while it was rectified, Cunard said.

Spokesman Eric Flounders stressed the ship had not broken down and added: “It really is relatively minor but we accept it causes inconvenience.

“We are taking care of onward travel arrangements for anyone who is affected.â€

The ship, originally due to arrive at 7am, is now expected at 11am.

The QM2, the world’s biggest cruise ship, was launched in Southampton in January by The Queen.

The ship was associated with tragedy last November when 15 people were killed when a gang plank collapsed as they were boarding the vessel in the St Nazaire shipyard in western France where it was built.

Well, she's home safe and sound (only 210 minutes late)BBC News

BUT, even the BBC can't refrain from referring to her as the 'Troubled Liner'..... 'having problems again'

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>BUT, even the BBC can't refrain from referring to her as the 'Troubled Liner'..... 'having problems again' <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

It's disheartening....sounds more like a dramatic organization than a news organization.

The "Sun" (more like The "Rain") managed to make a class struggle out of a broken door:

"...Mega-rich passengers who paid up to £25,000 for a berth were livid when told they would be getting home late. One, who asked not to be named, said: “I can’t believe I’ve paid all this money for a luxury trip and it won’t even arrive on time.

“It’s the sort of service I’d expect from the No 48 bus — not the world’s largest passenger cruise liner..."

I suppose those could be real quotes, but I doubt it.

Thanks Crouton for the fast post. I spent 15 minutes trying to search for the same story.

How quickly people are to rush to the conclusion that the QM2 is a "troubled ship". I'm not going to pass judgement until I board her this Friday and sail on her for her six day Maiden Transatlantic Voyage.

For the record, many of the greatest ocean liners met with adversity along the way, and still carved a niche for themselves along the way. There was a near mutiny on the Mauritania on her maiden voyage because the captain slowed her going through fog hours from New York, and she didn't get the Blue Ribbon on her maiden voyage. The Queen Mary is supposedly haunted, and if you read the reports - none of them were happy ghosts. I remember when the QE2 sailed her first year, a lot of people were quick to rush to judgement and say that she was a jinxed ship. Maybe it's just the price you pay when you advertise that you are the largest, longest, highest, most luxurious...

Any thoughts out there?

The original Queen Mary had to be extensively stiffened after her first season - much worse than the QE2's turbine problems, and the stern of the Normandie vibrated so badly it was widely rumoumored that she would have to be withdrawn from service - and the amount of time she spent in dock makes one wonder (CGT blamed Cunard for spreading the rumour). In comparison the QM2's technical problems have been trivial, and the service "problems", one suspects, a function of marketing over-hype, price, and some unfortunate pax. On the original QM people would have kept their traps shut, and in the middle of a depression, counted themselves lucky.

One thing did interest me in the Sun's otherwise dismal reporting (no news like bad news, or only bad news is 'news') and that was: <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> And it was unable to make up the time because one of the back-up engine turbines has not been working properly since the start of the trip. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Hmm....so much for 'liner'

I presume thats one(?) of the gas turbines beneath the funnel - anyone know whats up? Any way, I look forward to seeing her off St Peter Port, Guernsey tomorrow

Peter

So, if the QE2 and QM2 captains decide to race a bit on the tandem crossing, there is no doubt that QE2 will win? (Not that there would have been otherwise.)

In May 2002, QE2 was 11 hours late leaving NY and made up the time easily by hitting 29-30 knots the whole trip! A little creaky and some vibration, but great to see what a real ship can do!