QM2 Cancellation 23rd & 30th April

[chicagomelinda]

28 minutes ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

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. 

Exactly. Thanks for clarifying for us. 

[Mercruiser]

This article was kind of interesting:

 

(Red emphasis mine)

Source: https://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/23477247.cunard-abps-statements-second-queen-mary-2-voyage-cancelled/ 

ABP, the company which runs the port, says the ship won't be able to depart until "technical issues are rectified". 

A spokesperson said: "The QM2 will have an extended stay in port until its technical issues are rectified. "We are working with Cunard to establish a plan to continue our operations and support the safe sail of the ship."

 

If accurate, they will be making the repairs locally, versus moving to a shipyard at another port.

Edited April 24, 2023 by Mercruiser

[wftjm89]

I'm probably not supposed to share this but Queen Mary is expected to be out of service for around two months. The technical issue is quite serious and requires considerable work to sort out. Whether that work will be done in situ is unlikely; last I heard from friends at CUK is that she is likely to be towed to a drydock for repair. 

 

I say this merely in case persons who are currently expecting to sail in the coming weeks might be forewarned. I do not envy the small team of people at Carnival House who are employed to respond to these kind of emergencies!

[ballroom-cruisers]

8 minutes ago, wftjm89 said:

I'm probably not supposed to share this but Queen Mary is expected to be out of service for around two months. The technical issue is quite serious and requires considerable work to sort out. Whether that work will be done in situ is unlikely; last I heard from friends at CUK is that she is likely to be towed to a drydock for repair. 

 

I say this merely in case persons who are currently expecting to sail in the coming weeks might be forewarned. I do not envy the small team of people at Carnival House who are employed to respond to these kind of emergencies!

 

Since you have said this, I am sure there will be a lot of people concerned that this is definitive, and is not rumour and has a reliable source from the ship's company, or Cunard engineers, for that information. If this is indeed the case then people who are booked on any voyage that could be cancelled in the next month or more on QM2 will want to know as early as possible so that they can make arrangements to find alternative holidays.  So this needs to be confirmed or denied as soon as possible.

[Guest 4-2-N-8]

10 minutes ago, ballroom-cruisers said:

 

Since you have said this, I am sure there will be a lot of people concerned that this is definitive, and is not rumour and has a reliable source from the ship's company, or Cunard engineers, for that information. If this is indeed the case then people who are booked on any voyage that could be cancelled in the next month or more on QM2 will want to know as early as possible so that they can make arrangements to find alternative holidays.  So this needs to be confirmed or denied as soon as possible.

 

23 minutes ago, wftjm89 said:

I'm probably not supposed to share this but Queen Mary is expected to be out of service for around two months. The technical issue is quite serious and requires considerable work to sort out. Whether that work will be done in situ is unlikely; last I heard from friends at CUK is that she is likely to be towed to a drydock for repair. 

 

I say this merely in case persons who are currently expecting to sail in the coming weeks might be forewarned. I do not envy the small team of people at Carnival House who are employed to respond to these kind of emergencies!

You are really putting a dent in what might have been many successful hours, if not days more of speculation.

 

Ho hum.

[wftjm89]

4 minutes ago, ballroom-cruisers said:

 

Since you have said this, I am sure there will be a lot of people concerned that this is definitive, and is not rumour and has a reliable source from the ship's company, or Cunard engineers, for that information. If this is indeed the case then people who are booked on any voyage that could be cancelled in the next month or more on QM2 will want to know as early as possible so that they can make arrangements to find alternative holidays.  So this needs to be confirmed or denied as soon as possible.

I quite agree. I can offer no confirmation however I have just had dinner with one friend who works at Carnival House, and tomorrow am meeting a former colleague who is currently onboard. I would expect that once Cunard know the full extent of the issue, and a realistic timeframe for its resolution, they will of course be in touch with those affected. However, equally, I'm sure you will agree that their hands are somewhat tied until those realities are known (frustrating as that is for those who find their travel plans now potentially disrupted)

 

I am trying to be careful because I wouldn't want anything to fall back on friends. The issue has safety and environmental aspects, so I hope you might understand enough about ships to recognise that the issue is not as simple as 'replace part X and repair part Y' and much more 'strip out and replace the whole of system E'...

 

 

[Mercruiser]

This completely contradicts what Cunard is posting on F B Mess enger

 

 

I'm not picking sides on which version is more/less correct. I'm just documenting that a Cunard representative is saying M313D is not affected.

 

I have a horse in this race, in that I'm booked on the 5/26 NYC-Southampton. Fortunately, I have BA air tickets as a backup, that I booked before I booked the cruise. I never cancelled them.

 

Edited April 24, 2023 by Mercruiser

[wftjm89]

I will be seeing what I can find out from my former colleague tomorrow; they've been frustratingly tight-lipped with my attempts to fish for information.

[LouChamp]

Aloha. I hope no one minds but I have taken the liberty to invite chengkp75 

our resident cruise critic expert to, if he has the time and is willing to, provide his thoughts and comments. He is most valuable in so many areas and his expertise has always been appreciated.  All the best.

[ballroom-cruisers]

I am sure we all hope that the post with a statement coming direct from Cunard staff as posted by Mercruiser is reliable, where the chatter over dinner with a friend working at Carnival House may still be staff speculation as opposed to a full engineering assessment by the engineers involved.  After all if Cunard staff have 'confirmed', effectively 'in writing' that a particular voyage is definitively not going to be impacted by the current 'technical fault', and it turns out that it is affected, then Cunard would be liable for more than it bargained for.  So let's hope an official statement will be forthcoming before too long.

[Lakesregion]

6 hours ago, MylesS said:

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.

Pretty elitist attitude dude. Many people save a lifetime and do not have the extra juice to handle a poorly done Cunard experience.

[wftjm89]

2 minutes ago, ballroom-cruisers said:

I am sure we all hope that the post with a statement coming direct from Cunard staff as posted by Mercruiser is reliable, where the chatter over dinner with a friend working at Carnival House may still be staff speculation as opposed to a full engineering assessment by the engineers involved.  After all if Cunard staff have 'confirmed', effectively 'in writing' that a particular voyage is definitively not going to be impacted by the current 'technical fault', and it turns out that it is affected, then Cunard would be liable for more than it bargained for.  So let's hope an official statement will be forthcoming before too long.

 

Yes, indeed. I'm glad that you agree those who are more intimately involved in the issue and the engineering/safety aspects are more qualified. I regret to inform you that those who are on the frontlines in terms of responding to customers are not typically engineers 😅

 

I share your hopes. At the end of the day I don't want anyone's experience of cruising to have any brushes with negativity. I also know that I would always rather know in advance if I might need to adjust my expectations a little.

 

My sincere hope is that the official line from the guest relations team does indeed end up being close to reality. Ultimately, anyone booked needs to go by that, and that will change as and when it needs to, if the prognosis matches what I have been told.

 

TLDR: If you are booked on QM2 in the coming weeks, and haven't yet been told you *won't* be sailing, assume you are until Cunard contacts you. 

[Lakesregion]

51 minutes ago, wftjm89 said:

I'm probably not supposed to share this but Queen Mary is expected to be out of service for around two months. The technical issue is quite serious and requires considerable work to sort out. Whether that work will be done in situ is unlikely; last I heard from friends at CUK is that she is likely to be towed to a drydock for repair. 

 

I say this merely in case persons who are currently expecting to sail in the coming weeks might be forewarned. I do not envy the small team of people at Carnival House who are employed to respond to these kind of emergencies!

Such is what happens when those who don't know how to drive a stick shift car end up burning out the clutch by riding it for a full world cruise. Oh for the days of a staff filled with adults.

[Mercruiser]

8 minutes ago, wftjm89 said:

Yes, indeed. I'm glad that you agree those who are more intimately involved in the issue and the engineering/safety aspects are more qualified. I regret to inform you that those who are on the frontlines in terms of responding to customers are not typically engineers 😅

I am a licensed Professional Engineer and I have supervised a customer service organization (CSO). The CSO can and should only share what management tells them to share. Hopefully, management provides accurate information to the CSO.

 

Engineers, on the other hand, are famous for sharing things that management does not want shared. That's why management never want their customers talk to the engineers alone. 😉

[sandjango]

Lots of banging heard on QM2....

[tag1000]

2 hours 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.

Thanks so much for getting back to me.   Glad they did that.   It is the right thing to do!

[vjmatty]

48 minutes ago, Lakesregion said:

Pretty elitist attitude dude. Many people save a lifetime and do not have the extra juice to handle a poorly done Cunard experience.

 

I don't waste time on people who make those kinds of judgy statements about whether or not someone should or should not book a vacation based on having X, Y or Z ahead of time.  It's none of their business so just ignore those comments.

[mike231]

1 hour ago, Mercruiser said:

This completely contradicts what Cunard is posting on F B Mess enger

 

 

I'm not picking sides on which version is more/less correct. I'm just documenting that a Cunard representative is saying M313D is not affected.

 

I have a horse in this race, in that I'm booked on the 5/26 NYC-Southampton. Fortunately, I have BA air tickets as a backup, that I booked before I booked the cruise. I never cancelled them.

 

 

[mike231]

I am also on the 5/26 from NY but for 35 days returning end June. 
So very interested in updated info.

 

[LittleFish1976]

10 hours ago, lhsail said:

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. 

 

In my experience of claiming for a holiday which I had to cancel was that the insurance covers all aspects and elements of your trip which you were not able to attend or use due to a cancellation in your trip. For example, I claimed tickets to the National Theatre and Harry Potter world when I was unable to make a trip to London a few years ago as part of having to cancel a cruise, numerous flights and hotel accomodations in two continents.

 

Get receipts as you go, or email organisations for receipts and proof of non-use of tickets or facilities. You should be able to claim for your bus and Eurostar tickets.

[LittleFish1976]

11 hours 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. 

 

From what I can understand of your situation from your previous post, you have already left home and flown to the UK so your trip has commenced. You are mid-trip so your 'trip' itself hasn't been cancelled but interrupted. I can't see how you couldn't involve your travel insurance in that. You now have to make alternative arrangements for travel so surely you can claim for those? I know there's no compensation possible for disappointment and the feeling the money already spent has been wasted but surely there will be some compensation from your insurance for monies spent to cover the disruption and change of plans.

 

 

[stiej]

We are scheduled to be on the may 26 NYC to Southampton primarily as transportation as I don't fly. We are scheduled to be on the June 3 ncl British isles. If they do end up cancelling the may 26, would our insurance reimburse us if we can't make that ncl because of that trip being cancelled?

[chengkp75]

4 hours ago, LouChamp said:

Aloha. I hope no one minds but I have taken the liberty to invite chengkp75 

our resident cruise critic expert to, if he has the time and is willing to, provide his thoughts and comments. He is most valuable in so many areas and his expertise has always been appreciated.  All the best.

Not sure what you wish me to comment on, there is very little information.  If you are asking what I think the problem is ('cause I don't do customer service questions, not my engine room), if the mention of 22 knots on the way to Southampton, and a tug escort into harbor is correct, then I suspect they have had a failure of one of the two outboard azipods (not really azipods, Merlin propulsion pods).  QM2 has four pods, so three could still give a top speed of 22 knots easily.  Since the two inboard pods are "fixed" (they don't rotate to steer), loss of one steerable pod means the ship has no redundancy in steering (hence the tug escort in case the other steerable pod fails).  This is a typical regulatory response to a ship that has azipods, and only has one steerable one.  Redundancy in steering is required for entry into most ports, certainly NYC.  Also, with steering only on one side of the ship, holding course at sea becomes more difficult for the one pod, and speed and fuel consumption would suffer.

 

As to what has failed on the pod, given the wide variance of time frames mentioned above, I won't even start to speculate, but the Mermaid pods have had thrust bearing problems from their inception (huge lawsuit brought by Princess), and that requires a docking to repair.

[LittleFish1976]

10 minutes ago, chengkp75 said:

Not sure what you wish me to comment on, there is very little information.  If you are asking what I think the problem is ('cause I don't do customer service questions, not my engine room), if the mention of 22 knots on the way to Southampton, and a tug escort into harbor is correct, then I suspect they have had a failure of one of the two outboard azipods (not really azipods, Merlin propulsion pods).  QM2 has four pods, so three could still give a top speed of 22 knots easily.  Since the two inboard pods are "fixed" (they don't rotate to steer), loss of one steerable pod means the ship has no redundancy in steering (hence the tug escort in case the other steerable pod fails).  This is a typical regulatory response to a ship that has azipods, and only has one steerable one.  Redundancy in steering is required for entry into most ports, certainly NYC.  Also, with steering only on one side of the ship, holding course at sea becomes more difficult for the one pod, and speed and fuel consumption would suffer.

 

As to what has failed on the pod, given the wide variance of time frames mentioned above, I won't even start to speculate, but the Mermaid pods have had thrust bearing problems from their inception (huge lawsuit brought by Princess), and that requires a docking to repair.

 

Very interesting, thank you.

 

In an effort to understand what an azipod and mermaid pods are I started looking on the net and stumbled upon this article which others may also find interesting so I'm sharing it here.

 

https://www.oldsaltblog.com/2011/01/the-tale-of-the-mermaid-pods-carnival-awarded-24-million-in-lawsuit-with-rolls-royce/

[LouChamp]

Aloha Chengkp75…thank you for your input as always.