QM2 Cancellation 23rd & 30th April

[Host Hattie]

2 hours ago, DarrenBG said:

According to the latest update on The Southampton VTS website - The Queen Mary 2 will be sailing for New York on the 27th April 2023, it certainly will not make it by the 30th April as planned but I wonder if the plan is for a couple of speedy round trip TA’s to return those passengers stranded here and then bring the east bound TA’s back to get back on schedule. Of course these things can change. Hope everyone gets sorted soon. 

I would think that destination will change before then. She might be moving from her current location on the 27th but but I don't think she'll be sailing to New York. 

Time will tell.

[ace2542]

On 4/23/2023 at 10:37 AM, EXB said:

I was due on this crossing and have had a text and an email saying it's cancelled.

 

Full refund and 20% FCC offered.

Yeah the email came on sunday morning. Utter joke. I don't care what anyone say that chief engineer must have knew friday night racing home what the crack was. 

[lissie]

20 minutes ago, chicagomelinda said:

Just to b clear, no phone numbers were provided by Cunard. Viking offers travelers an emergency number for day of travel emergencies. Cunatd did not and was impossible to reach.

 

Like another poster, we lose significant OBC $750 yhat we had for the cruise for booking on board last year. Further, our travel insurance will not cover anything since Cunatd has given us our money back. So, essentially, we’ve spent $5,000 to stay in a mediocre hotel near Heathrow, eat simple meals and fly home on Wednesday. Not exactly Princess Grill, which we were so looking forward to. 

Oh it never occurred to me that you'd be calling Cunard - I  meant calling airlines and hotels to make alternative arrangements - or a TA if you used one - I believe that's part of their job 

[ace2542]

6 minutes ago, lissie said:

Oh it never occurred to me that you'd be calling Cunard - I  meant calling airlines and hotels to make alternative arrangements - or a TA if you used one - I believe that's part of their job 

I called Cunard on the friday was assured everything was ok and they wouldn't take my mobile number to text though I don't have much access to email.

[TouchstoneFeste]

10 hours ago, Germancruiser said:

I am terribly sorry to read that the crossing is canceled. Not Cunard´s fault- but still I can imagine how dissapointed you all are. I was booked on both canceled voyages but had to jump ship, due to a family crisis- illness. All the best for you all.

Doubly sad for you, to add the family crisis to the loss of money you must have incurred. Hope you at least had insurance to cover that.

[TouchstoneFeste]

45 minutes ago, chicagomelinda said:

Just to b clear, no phone numbers were provided by Cunard. Viking offers travelers an emergency number for day of travel emergencies. Cunatd did not and was impossible to reach.

 

I received an email a week ago from our Cunard rep with an "en-route emergency number". Granted, this was in case *I* encountered an emergency like a delayed flight. Is this not normally provided? And did Viking's indicate it was to be used in case of *their* emergency? 

[Joe33472]

38 minutes ago, chicagomelinda said:

I encourage you to read your travel insurance policy carefully before getting too excited. Cunard refunded your money. I doubt any if us will see a penny. 

 

I’m wondering if the trip delay provisions of insurance policies provide a little bit of coverage?   I read my policy and it looks like “reasonable expenses” would be covered.  I would think that the airline tickets home and hotel costs are reasonable.  

[Victoria2]

49 minutes ago, chicagomelinda said:

I encourage you to read your travel insurance policy carefully before getting too excited. Cunard refunded your money. I doubt any if us will see a penny. 

Good advice. 👍 I would encourage everyone to read up on their travel insurance t&cs and for those who will be out of pocket, I am very sorry.

 

I have no idea what the arrangements would be in the US, but over here if I bought 'a package' [and our agent always puts a Cunard package in place for us if flying out to meet the ship is involved]  and we had flown out  to pick up our cruise and that subsequent cruise or a portion of it was cancelled, it would be on Cunard [or our agent to do a bit of 'kick assing' for us if needed] to get us to the next part of 'the package', or home.

 

Yes it's more expensive having the whole trip 'packaged' but far cheaper than going it alone and relying on inadequate or no insurance.

 

Isn't hindsight a pain in the rear!!😕

[chicagomelinda]

46 minutes ago, Joe33472 said:

 

I’m wondering if the trip delay provisions of insurance policies provide a little bit of coverage?   I read my policy and it looks like “reasonable expenses” would be covered.  I would think that the airline tickets home and hotel costs are reasonable.  

Trip delay provisions are not applicable. This was trip cancellation. Service was not rendered and funds are refunded. According to my reading of my travel insurance policy, we will not be covered. 

[EXB]

16 minutes ago, chicagomelinda said:

Trip delay provisions are not applicable. This was trip cancellation. Service was not rendered and funds are refunded. According to my reading of my travel insurance policy, we will not be covered. 

 

I don't know if this is a known US vs UK travel insurance difference in cover (I'm in the UK) so please disregard me if it is. I couldn't see from a thorough read of my policy where I might be able to claim for my train journey etc. to and from Southampton, but the insurance person I spoke to said she thought I should put in a claim under the "Disruption or Delay" section.

Edited April 24, 2023 by EXB

[North West Newbie]

18 minutes ago, chicagomelinda said:

Trip delay provisions are not applicable. This was trip cancellation. Service was not rendered and funds are refunded. According to my reading of my travel insurance policy, we will not be covered. 

 

2 minutes ago, EXB said:

 

I don't know if this is a known US vs UK travel insurance difference in cover (I'm in the UK) so please disregard me if it is. I couldn't see from a thorough read of my policy where I might be able to claim for my train journey etc. to and from Southampton, but the insurance person I spoke to said she thought I should put in a claim under the "Disruption or Delay" section.

 

Surely the “trip” commences the moment you leave your house.

[Joe33472]

1 minute ago, North West Newbie said:

 

 

Surely the “trip” commences the moment you leave your house.

 

This is what I was thinking.  My TA on the QM next year is part of a larger "trip" and if the cruise is cancelled I would think that would be considered a delay or disruption.  I was going to reach out to the insurance agent who sold me my policy to see what would be covered, but I'm sure he's bombarded today....   

[Splice the mainbrace]

4 hours ago, DarrenBG said:

According to the latest update on The Southampton VTS website - The Queen Mary 2 will be sailing for New York on the 27th April 2023, it certainly will not make it by the 30th April as planned but I wonder if the plan is for a couple of speedy round trip TA’s to return those passengers stranded here and then bring the east bound TA’s back to get back on schedule. Of course these things can change. Hope everyone gets sorted soon. 

I suspect that QM2 will just be moving dock berth location because other ships are due in that berth from early on the 28th April.

[shippmates]

Sorry for everyone that had a vacation disrupted by the cancellations.  The ship will not be traveling to NYC on the 27th.  When I called Cunard I was able to book a flight to Southampton to join the fjord and transatlantic segments on May 7.  I am disappointed to miss the first transatlantic  but am excited to complete the remaining segments.  

[0rlan]

11 hours ago, Germancruiser said:

Not Cunard´s fault...

I agree that technical or safety issues do come up unexpectedly which may affect sailings (I was due on the Navigator of the Seas in March 2019 for example!), BUT in this case Cunard were apparently aware of the issue several days before, and aware that it may lead to possible disruption of operation. The very least they could have done is give a 'heads up' and planned to have a customer contact number in operation for the Sunday. To send out a last minute cancellation and offer a paltry, derisive, mean, FCC along with 'sorry for the inconvenience' is not acceptable. An inconvenience is a light in your cabin not working or the batteries in the remote requiring changing... Cancelling a crossing IS NOT AN INCONVENIENCE!!! I'm out of pocket by several hundred pounds (kennel fees, fuel, road tolls etc.) and two weeks holiday leave that I will never get back! Not my fault...

[lhsail]

18 minutes ago, Joe33472 said:

 

This is what I was thinking.  My TA on the QM next year is part of a larger "trip" and if the cruise is cancelled I would think that would be considered a delay or disruption.  I was going to reach out to the insurance agent who sold me my policy to see what would be covered, but I'm sure he's bombarded today....   

I’ll guess I’ll find out. Our crossing next week was part of a bigger trip. We will recover enough in refunds to cover flights now to Paris and a few nights hotel, but I am out some bus and Eurostar tickets I cannot cancel for refund. The train tickets were unusually expensive due to the coronation and a holiday on the 8th. I’m not hopeful, but going to try. 
 

BTW, we are in your town frequently as our son and his wife live there. 

[MylesS]

16 hours ago, delondin said:

But the refund won’t be immediate. What if finances don’t allow for that. 

I feel for those who have had their voyages cancelled, but if you are going on holiday with such little financial backing as to not afford an emergency flight home, I don't think you're in a position to be going on holiday in the first place.

[Germancruiser]

Losing money is always a bad thing, I agree. But traveling with Cunard is never ever cheap- so I agree with MylesS- when you can afford such a trip one has sure  a little back up money on the side. 

I hope everyone affected can settle their journeys home or onward journeys. 

Good thing we have Cruise Critic, so we are always on the up of things. 

[Splice the mainbrace]

There have been reports from people on board before docking in Southampton that she was going at 22 knots to get into port early to try and sort out the technical issues. Also QM2 had tug assistance once it approached Southampton (see below) so I am guessing that it is more to do with the manoeuvring than forward propulsion. Southampton doesn't have a dry dock now so if any work of that nature needs to be done it would probably have to go a European dry dock, such as Rotterdam which would involve a longer time out. It depends if the problem is on board or external beneath the waterline such as the azipod manoeuvring units.

[chicagomelinda]

4 hours ago, lissie said:

Oh it never occurred to me that you'd be calling Cunard - I  meant calling airlines and hotels to make alternative arrangements - or a TA if you used one - I believe that's part of their job 

Apparently, Cunard put people up on the ship until their flights left. We didn’t contact our TA because it was 2 am or so her time when we were alerted. They sent her an email saying that international passengers could be accommodated on the ship, but by then we had paid for three nights at a cheap hotel. Oir cabin with meals (Princess Grill), would have been far better. But hay, ho. We’re fine, but not likely to sail QM2 again. 

[Guest 4-2-N-8]

13 minutes ago, chicagomelinda said:

Apparently, Cunard put people up on the ship until their flights left. We didn’t contact our TA because it was 2 am or so her time when we were alerted. They sent her an email saying that international passengers could be accommodated on the ship, but by then we had paid for three nights at a cheap hotel. Oir cabin with meals (Princess Grill), would have been far better. But hay, ho. We’re fine, but not likely to sail QM2 again. 

Cunard version of a StayCation.

[Guest 4-2-N-8]

17 minutes ago, Splice the mainbrace said:

There have been reports from people on board before docking in Southampton that she was going at 22 knots to get into port early to try and sort out the technical issues. Also QM2 had tug assistance once it approached Southampton (see below) so I am guessing that it is more to do with the manoeuvring than forward propulsion. Southampton doesn't have a dry dock now so if any work of that nature needs to be done it would probably have to go a European dry dock, such as Rotterdam which would involve a longer time out. It depends if the problem is on board or external beneath the waterline such as the azipod manoeuvring units.

If we don't soon get word of the issue, someone will need to start a new thread so we can speculate.

 

I'm becoming impatient with so little speculation to date.

[3rdGenCunarder]

3 hours ago, North West Newbie said:

 

 

Surely the “trip” commences the moment you leave your house.

 

The "trip" commences on the date you specified in your insurance. DH became ill in England before our first of two cruises. We had a few days in England, then a HAL cruise, then a day or two in England, and then QM2 home. Because the individual elements of the trip weren't interrupted, our insurance paid for the cancelled cruises (100%) but not interruption (150%). Interruption is worth more than cancellation because the extra covers the costs of re-working the interrupted trip. 

[3rdGenCunarder]

5 hours ago, Host Hattie said:

I would think that destination will change before then. She might be moving from her current location on the 27th but but I don't think she'll be sailing to New York. 

Time will tell.

 

I agree. She can't get to NY and back in time for the next scheduled departure out of Soton. I think that's Norway? Too much of a domino effect, and too may schedule details to change. 

[vjmatty]

17 hours ago, delondin said:

But the refund won’t be immediate. What if finances don’t allow for that. 

 

This is why it is helpful to keep track of which credit card you use to purchase the cruise....if you use the same card to cover the alternate route home and incidentals such as hotel stays, the refund from the cruise will go toward funding the new expenses and the delay of 30-60 days in paying off the card may help alleviate the wait for the refund.