QM2 Cancellation 23rd & 30th April

[Craigrlewis]

I think  that corporations such as cruise companies/airlines etc struggle to deal with these sort of events when they arise.

 

Too many front line employee positions have been eliminated to save costs etc and people pushed online/to call centres who then are often so far removed from the geographical event they cant resolve things.

When something like this happens it is impossible for them to rebook/re-accommodate everyone immediately and regrettably many have often before  commenced their initial journey.

 

Following covid many travel insurers and end providers (airlines/cruise companies) now vigorously “debate” which one of them should be picking up the costs when things go wrong.

 

I faced this when I got quarantined on my Alaska QE cruise. Initially Cunard refused to refund my car parking charge at Heathrow (due to delay in getting back) citing My travel insurer should pay.  They said Cunard should pay etc.etc.

 

I think IMHO its the modern world we are now in - just numbers to these corporations and when things go wrong its a long slog to rectify things.
 

You’d  like to think that Cunard have regular business continuity disaster planning  of how to react to such an event and the process and plans rehearsed but who knows…l.

[chicagomelinda]

10 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

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. 

According to your account, your insurance would cover. According to my reading of our policy, we are not covereed if the cruise is canceled (if we must cancel, we are covered.) The cruise is refunding your costs, and that would be made clear when you provided “proof” that the cruise was canceled. Thay won’t reimburse what has already been reimbursed. If yours does, let me know. Ours certainly won’t. 

[NE John]

12 minutes ago, Craigrlewis said:

You’d  like to think that Cunard have regular business continuity disaster planning  of how to react to such an event and the process and plans rehearsed but who knows…l.

I would believe that Cunard also has insurance to cover trip stoppages and interruptions like what’s happening now. 

As mentioned before, hopefully Carnival should not have to take on more debt to cover this terrible incident. 

[jsailox]

Hi, all.

I passed the ship today, she is beginning to look very sad and neglected.

Rust streaks from all the balconies and the paintwork is a musty white.

Some remaining passengers cheerful waved.

Inside information is that this is quite a serious mechanical breakdown so may take some time to fix.

Seriously sad.

 

[ballroom-cruisers]

There is a video on Y**Tube showing QM2 at her berth with a constant banging noise around the middle of today, so presumably repairs are well under way now. However it is surprising that Cunard haven't said what the fault is - after all now that everyone knows she is being repaired to fix a major technical fault, one would have thought keeping secret what is actually being repaired would be pointless?

[mike231]

3 minutes ago, ballroom-cruisers said:

There is a video on Y**Tube showing QM2 at her berth with a constant banging noise around the middle of today, so presumably repairs are well under way now. However it is surprising that Cunard haven't said what the fault is - after all now that everyone knows she is being repaired to fix a major technical fault, one would have thought keeping secret what is actually being repaired would be pointless?

I fully agree. There needs to be more information made available and if they are not sure of the extent of the repairs, say so. I am scheduled to depart NY May 26 for a 35 day cruise and would like frequent updates, in case I have to make a change.

[NE John]

22 minutes ago, ballroom-cruisers said:

There is a video on Y**Tube showing QM2 at her berth with a constant banging noise around the middle of today, so presumably repairs are well under way now. However it is surprising that Cunard haven't said what the fault is - after all now that everyone knows she is being repaired to fix a major technical fault, one would have thought keeping secret what is actually being repaired would be pointless?

Can you provide a link on UTube for the above?
All I found was a video of the original QM in Long Beach under repair also dated April 2023. 

[Joe33472]

5 minutes ago, NE John said:

Can you provide a link on UTube for the above?
All I found was a video of the original QM in Long Beach under repair also dated April 2023. 

 

I found this live feed of the port

 

 

 

A little bit ago it was showing the QM2, but looks like another ship is leaving, so that is the current video.

Edited April 24, 2023 by Joe33472

[TheOldBear]

50 minutes ago, jsailox said:

Hi, all.

I passed the ship today, she is beginning to look very sad and neglected.

Rust streaks from all the balconies and the paintwork is a musty white.

Some remaining passengers cheerful waved.

Inside information is that this is quite a serious mechanical breakdown so may take some time to fix.

Seriously sad.

 

 

I wonder if some of the departments are taking advantage of the unexpected 'availability' to fix or patch some nagging minor issues without paying passengers getting in their way.

An example is dealing with some of the more visible rust issues - particularly as encountered close up when stepping onto a balcony.

[jsailox]

This afternoon, happy guests waved from the Britannia Restaurant.

[Joe33472]

1 minute ago, jsailox said:

This afternoon, happy guests waved from the Britannia Restaurant.

 

Did you hear banging as described in another post or see any active maintenance?

[mike231]

20 minutes ago, Joe33472 said:

 

Did you hear banging as described in another post or see any active maintenance?

Here is the link for the repair and banging. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGPoyS-0FQo

 

[Guest 4-2-N-8]

Is it possible to increase speculation on the issue of the ship?

 

I am a patient one, but way too few comments here to make this a viable thread.

 

I need answers (or at least some guesses, educated or otherwise).

 

🦖

[amias]

Tag1000 (post 82) requested that we report back on what happened about the return cruise we had booked for later in May. Since Cunard couldn't get us over there, we would therefore have to cancel the return trip.  Happy to report that Cunard have waived cancellation fees for that crossing despite it being paid in full and past cancellation date. We are still in the dark about OBC and hotel fees which were including with our original booking.  Have been told to call back next week when the dust has settled a bit and hope for a positive answer.

[jsailox]

Chronic failure of the engine exhaust system in the funnel, so I am told from the bridge.

[Host Hattie]

12 minutes ago, 4-2-N-8 said:

Is it possible to increase speculation on the issue of the ship?

 

I am a patient one, but way too few comments here to make this a viable thread.

 

I need answers (or at least some guesses, educated or otherwise).

 

🦖

Nobody here will have any answers until Cunard tell us what the problem and when they expect it to fixed.

 

[Host Hattie]

3 minutes ago, amias said:

Tag1000 (post 82) requested that we report back on what happened about the return cruise we had booked for later in May. Since Cunard couldn't get us over there, we would therefore have to cancel the return trip.  Happy to report that Cunard have waived cancellation fees for that crossing despite it being paid in full and past cancellation date. We are still in the dark about OBC and hotel fees which were including with our original booking.  Have been told to call back next week when the dust has settled a bit and hope for a positive answer.

Thank you for the update. 

[Windsurfboy]

7 minutes ago, jsailox said:

Chronic failure of the engine exhaust system in the funnel, so I am told from the bridge.

 

As I got up for morning walk in Tenerife they were literally shoveling large black soot particles up on decks at back, filling multiple bin bags full of the stuff, even had to empty pools.

 

However  everything was fine for next three days. So hard to say what happened 

[Guest 4-2-N-8]

12 minutes ago, Host Hattie said:

Nobody here will have any answers until Cunard tell us what the problem and when they expect it to fixed.

 

I was being tongue in cheek. 🙂

[jsailox]

41 minutes ago, Joe33472 said:

 

Did you hear banging as described in another post or see any active maintenance?

No, all quiet, bar the chink of Champagne glasses..

When I was disembarked in Perth some years ago, we were exceptionally well looked after by Cunard.
Future Cruise Credit was well appreciated plus a large check from my Insurance Company.

At the end of the day QM2 is a slightly expensive passenger ferry that takes you between Southampton and New York.

So, if the ferry is cancelled and you get your money back plus a 20% discount on a slightly rash future booking, then frankly you are ok.

what happened to the dogs?

A friend of mine air shipped his hounds and they passed away.

 

[TheOldBear]

14 minutes ago, Windsurfboy said:

 

As I got up for morning walk in Tenerife they were literally shoveling large black soot particles up on decks at back, filling multiple bin bags full of the stuff, even had to empty pools.

 

However  everything was fine for next three days. So hard to say what happened 

I wonder if they needed to use the gas turbines more than expected after that incident.

[3rdGenCunarder]

4 hours ago, chicagomelinda said:

According to your account, your insurance would cover. According to my reading of our policy, we are not covereed if the cruise is canceled (if we must cancel, we are covered.) The cruise is refunding your costs, and that would be made clear when you provided “proof” that the cruise was canceled. Thay won’t reimburse what has already been reimbursed. If yours does, let me know. Ours certainly won’t. 

 

My insurance DID cover because we cancelled, not Cunard, so we got nothing back from Cunard. My point was that, although the overall trip was interrupted, neither cruise was interrupted, so we were reimbursed for "cancellation" of the cruises, which paid 100%, not "interruption," which would have paid more. 

[Mercruiser]

1 hour ago, mike231 said:

Here is the link for the repair and banging. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGPoyS-0FQo

 

Listening to this, there is no way to know the direction of the noise. It could very well be from a construction project at the port, off camera.

 

There is my speculation for now! 😁

[Ant@sea]

I can help but think back to 1992 when the QE2 hit a rock on her way back to New York during a New England cruise.  The Transatlantic crossing had to be cancelled and all passengers were put up in hotels at Cunards expense and flown to the U.K., again at Cunards expense. Back then, they realized that this was not a “cruise” but a crossing as a form of transportation and did right by all the passengers.  Unfortunately Carnival/Princess never seemed to grasp this concept. 

[Mercruiser]

1 hour ago, jsailox said:

Chronic failure of the engine exhaust system in the funnel, so I am told from the bridge.

If correct, I would expect to see the ship moved to a pier equipped with a crane. They would start extracting the failed exhaust components through the top of the funnel. That would be easy to see from the port. This would be the cruise ship counterpart of taking your car to the muffler shop to replace a leaking exhaust pipe.

 

Edited April 24, 2023 by Mercruiser