Queen Mary 2 world voyage 2024….Red Sea?

[D&N]

I was going to post that it was a shame that advice wasn't sought on this forum before the Dubai to Southampton trip was cancelled.

However I note that it was asked on November 14th last year, The first two responses clearly warned that the deposit would be lost.

Perhaps future responses to such questions should be in bold and underlined; DO NOT CANCEL!!!

 

If it's your health/bereavement or other problem, fine go ahead and cancel if you can't make the trip. If it's something around the world you have no control over it's Cunard's problem. Sit tight don't do anything until they inform of their intentions. If their proposals are unreasonable you will have legal rights to obtain a refund.

[Pushpit]

18 minutes ago, D&N said:

I was going to post that it was a shame that advice wasn't sought on this forum before the Dubai to Southampton trip was cancelled.

However I note that it was asked on November 14th last year, The first two responses clearly warned that the deposit would be lost.

Perhaps future responses to such questions should be in bold and underlined; DO NOT CANCEL!!!

 

If it's your health/bereavement or other problem, fine go ahead and cancel if you can't make the trip. If it's something around the world you have no control over it's Cunard's problem. Sit tight don't do anything until they inform of their intentions. If their proposals are unreasonable you will have legal rights to obtain a refund.

To be fair to @Bmj276l, I think they were on an Early Saver, at T-90, and so were immediately due to put a significant sum of money down, when the geopolitical circumstances makes it look unwise. Now I agree with you that Cunard will be the most cautious player here, and thus unless there is a radical change in the next few weeks Cunard is likely to offer a refund / rebook option anyway. The other point is to also talk to your insurance company before cancelling, to see what their stance would be. 

 

It may be that the insurance company would say "given the circumstances we would rather refund the deposit than a potentially larger sum of money". Or they may say "we wouldn't cover you if you proceeded, so you must cancel".  

 

But yes, one advantages of this Board is to come up with hopefully helpful suggestions. I can nevertheless understand that the OP feels hard done by here.

[rafinmd]

While no cruise ship could leave Dubai on April 7 and arrive Southampton on April 28 I think it's within the realm of possibilities for QM2. According to sea-distances.org, the journey via Cape Horn is 10,768 Nautical Miles and 15 days,  hours at 28 knots, I think within the capabilities of this magnificent ship.  They could even buy a couple more days if they could cut the stay in Dubai by a day and be a day late in Southampton and do a 6-day crossing to New York.  They would need at least one stop for refueling and resupply, hopefully also giving passengers time to stretch their legs on land.  It would be a very different cruise than what was originally planned but with the variety of things offered on board I would actually love to be aboard for that if it did not require flying.

 

Roy

[new to cuising]

April 7 to April 28 is 21 days rather than 15 so should be well within her capabilities. Whilst her design max speed is 30 knots, it is now very rare for her to exceed 24knts. To do so requires use of the two turbines to create the additional power required. I was told by a well informed crew member on the 3 jan TA that the last time the turbines were run they had to be shut down through fear of them catching fire. Additionally the fact that they use high quality fuel, they are expensive assets these days .
One wonders whether they will or could be replaced by methane burning units, which would then mean QM2 might be able to circumvent the many restrictions being placed on cruise ships these days

[rog747]

With the greatest of respect to new to cruising and rafinmd regarding their posts above...

If the ''situation'' continues, then I rather doubt that Dubai could still be included as a Port stop because it may well still be in the Lloyds of London 'Breach risk area'', 

and thus voids Hull Insurance. 

Also I think you may have got your alternate routes mixed up - :)

The distance from Dubai to SOU via Cape Horn is over 19000 miles and at 25 knots, the voyage takes around 32 days...

Cunard would not make a ''dash'' for it sailing at 28-30 knots -

Can you imagine the fuel bill...!

FYI

(and I think this is the routing you got mistaken on) -
10678 nautical miles is from Dubai via Cape of Good Hope (ie: calling at Cape Town)
Vessel speed    25 knots
Time    17 days 19 hours

And yes, as I described in my earlier Post above on Page 4 re re-routing, then this is the way she would go, either from Colombo to Cape Town, or just possibly still from Dubai but don't hold your breath on that.

Best R.

[DeanUU]

34 minutes ago, rog747 said:

With the greatest of respect to new to cruising and rafinmd regarding their posts above...

If the ''situation'' continues, then I rather doubt that Dubai could still be included as a Port stop because it may well still be in the Lloyds of London 'Breach risk area'', 

and thus voids Hull Insurance. 

Also I think you may have got your alternate routes mixed up - 🙂

The distance from Dubai to SOU via Cape Horn is over 19000 miles and at 25 knots, the voyage takes around 32 days...

Cunard would not make a ''dash'' for it sailing at 28-30 knots -

Can you imagine the fuel bill...!

FYI

(and I think this is the routing you got mistaken on) -
10678 nautical miles is from Dubai via Cape of Good Hope (ie: calling at Cape Town)
Vessel speed    25 knots
Time    17 days 19 hours

And yes, as I described in my earlier Post above on Page 4 re re-routing, then this is the way she would go, either from Colombo to Cape Town, or just possibly still from Dubai but don't hold your breath on that.

Best R.

FWIW If you check the Cunard site you will note that the Dubai-Southampton specific cruise no longer appears for sale. Nor does Singapore - Dubai.

Singapore-Southampton remains available (still lists Dubai as a port stop, but that has never changed).

Not 100% conclusive but it makes sense for Cunard to remove those specific cruises if they know they won’t be sailing to Dubai and will have to process FCC’s unnecessarily. My money is on port stop at Colombo then head South West towards South Africa.

Edited January 20 by DeanUU

[rog747]

49 minutes ago, DeanUU said:

FWIW If you check the Cunard site you will note that the Dubai-Southampton specific cruise no longer appears for sale. Nor does Singapore - Dubai.

Singapore-Southampton remains available (still lists Dubai as a port stop, but that has never changed).

Not 100% conclusive but it makes sense for Cunard to remove those specific cruises if they know they won’t be sailing to Dubai and will have to process FCC’s unnecessarily. My money is on port stop at Colombo then head South West towards South Africa.

Yes indeed and many thanks, I had already mentioned that the DXB-SOU segment was off sale yesterday in an earlier post, and that the SIN-SOU was still on sale with availability. 

[DeanUU]

1 hour ago, rog747 said:

Yes indeed and many thanks, I had already mentioned that the DXB-SOU segment was off sale yesterday in an earlier post, and that the SIN-SOU was still on sale with availability. 

Fair enough, missed that post. I guess we can both take the missing segments as a data point indicating Dubai and Middle East as a region will be bypassed.

[sail1658]

14 hours ago, new to cuising said:

I was told by a well informed crew member on the 3 jan TA that the last time the turbines were run they had to be shut down through fear of them catching fire

 

This actually happened after a high speed run in a Force 11 storm from Quebec in an effort to reach New York on time. As Captain Oprey said "This has been a very interesting day!" Fire emergency alarm at 27.52

 

 

 

 

Edited January 20 by sail1658

[new to cuising]

8 hours ago, rog747 said:

With the greatest of respect to new to cruising and rafinmd regarding their posts above...

If the ''situation'' continues, then I rather doubt that Dubai could still be included as a Port stop because it may well still be in the Lloyds of London 'Breach risk area'', 

and thus voids Hull Insurance. 

Also I think you may have got your alternate routes mixed up - 🙂

No problem. 

The point I was trying to make was not necessarily distance, but top speed. I can't believe any revised route would use a speed of greater than 24knots. The prolonged use of the turbines for more than a few hours in an emergency situation would be considered far too expensive and potentially dangerous

[SaltyCroc]

8 hours ago, DeanUU said:

Fair enough, missed that post. I guess we can both take the missing segments as a data point indicating Dubai and Middle East as a region will be bypassed.

Hey Folks, Just to show you that the computers at Cunard are all 'at sea', so to speak, I have uploaded a message received yesterday from Cunard marketing.  We are scheduled for the Dubai to Southhampton to NYC leg of the cruise on the QM2 with boarding in on 7 April 2024.  It is very unlikely to proceed, but that didn't stop us from getting an automated email (see below) asking if we wished to bid for an upgraded room!  Clearly, there are a lot of rooms opening up, and some of the deals are pretty good.  Too bad the ship will not be stopping there in all likelihood.  I had a laugh over this.

 

 

[Thetis22]

12 hours ago, DeanUU said:

FWIW If you check the Cunard site you will note that the Dubai-Southampton specific cruise no longer appears for sale. Nor does Singapore - Dubai.

Singapore-Southampton remains available (still lists Dubai as a port stop, but that has never changed).

Not 100% conclusive but it makes sense for Cunard to remove those specific cruises if they know they won’t be sailing to Dubai and will have to process FCC’s unnecessarily. My money is on port stop at Colombo then head South West towards South Africa.

But Hong Kong to Southampton has also been taken down, so not sure Dubai is the reason

[tjunmin]

2 minutes ago, Thetis22 said:

But Hong Kong to Southampton has also been taken down, so not sure Dubai is the reason

I believe that Hong Kong to Southampton is not available because Hong Kong to Singapore is sold out.

[Thetis22]

2 minutes ago, tjunmin said:

I believe that Hong Kong to Southampton is not available because Hong Kong to Singapore is sold out.

Can we be sure that Singapore to Dubai and Dubai to Southampton aren't also sold out?

[tjunmin]

1 minute ago, Thetis22 said:

Can we be sure that Singapore to Dubai and Dubai to Southampton aren't also sold out?

There are cabins in almost all categories available from Singapore to Southampton, therefore, logically there should be availability from Singapore to Dubai, or Dubai to Southampton. The fact that those two segments are not available seem to indicate that they've been removed by Cunard.

[Thetis22]

6 minutes ago, tjunmin said:

There are cabins in almost all categories available from Singapore to Southampton, therefore, logically there should be availability from Singapore to Dubai, or Dubai to Southampton. The fact that those two segments are not available seem to indicate that they've been removed by Cunard.

Good point

[cruiseluvva]

And there were cabins from Dubai to Southampton a few days ago.

 

[rog747]

A couple of Cruise Lines have just announced (on 19th Jan) they have cancelled Red Sea Suez passages and their Dubai calls for March and April cruises. 

In addition MSC have cancelled their Grand Voyage Cruises back from South Africa to the Med and SOU via Suez (end of season repositioners to get the ships back to Europe; the report said 3 ships)

and will now sail them empty and without passengers, via 'the other way home'....ie: up from The Cape and past West Africa.

My sincere apologies but I cannot find my source links which appeared on my newsfeed on my phone re the other cruise lines who have now cancelled.

HAL's Zuiderdam is sailing a day ahead of Queen Victoria....
Singapore - Colombo, Sri Lanka, Mumbai (Bombay), Fujairah, Dubai, Abu Dhabi,  Muscat,  Salalah, Sharm el-Sheikh, Aqaba (for Petra), Suez Canal Transit, to the Med, the Azores and Fort Lauderdale -  Be interesting to see what they do.

Edited January 21 by rog747
add HAL info

[cruiseluvva]

5 minutes ago, rog747 said:

A couple of Cruise Lines have just announced (on 19th Jan) they have cancelled Red Sea Suez passages and their Dubai calls for March and April cruises. 

In addition MSC have cancelled their Grand Voyage Cruises back from South Africa to the Med and SOU via Suez (end of season repositioners to get the ships back to Europe; the report said 3 ships)

and will now sail them empty and without passengers, via 'the other way home'....ie: up from The Cape and past West Africa.

My sincere apologies but I cannot find my source links which appeared on my newsfeed on my phone re the other cruise lines who have now cancelled.

 

I’m fully expecting to hear any day that we will be rerouted via Cape Town. I’m absolutely happy with that, just hope we get to Penang. But if not, c’est la vie

Edited January 21 by cruiseluvva

[rog747]

12 minutes ago, cruiseluvva said:

 

Yes, indeed I would imagine the SE Asia ports of call will be OK for you (here's hoping LOL) 

If Cunard do plan to operate QM2 from Colombo CMB sailing back to SOU via Cape Town CPT (following the Queen Victoria by a day) then I would be really hopeful to be able to get a booking on her either from CMB or CPT.

I missed out on getting on the ship down to CPT last week.

Edited January 21 by rog747

[cruiseluvva]

3 minutes ago, rog747 said:

Yes, indeed I would imagine the SE Asia ports of call will be OK for you (here's hoping LOL) 

If Cunard do plan to operate QM2 from Colombo sailing back to SOU via CPT (following the Queen Victoria by a day) then I would be really hopeful to be able to get a booking on her either from CMB or CPT.
I missed out on getting on the ship down to CPT last week.

Keep fingers crossed for you 🤞

[watsonbeau]

It might have been on Cruisemapper 

 

https://www.cruisemapper.com/news/12847-cruise-operators-adjust-itineraries-red-sea-security-concerns

 

and in Reuters 

 

https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/royal-caribbean-msc-cancel-cruises-due-red-sea-attacks-2024-01-19/

 

 

Apologies if I’m not supposed to put links.

Edited January 21 by watsonbeau

[chengkp75]

On 1/19/2024 at 6:27 PM, new to cuising said:

One wonders whether they will or could be replaced by methane burning units, which would then mean QM2 might be able to circumvent the many restrictions being placed on cruise ships these days

Virtually no ship afloat today would be converted to using LNG, even for gas turbine engines.  This would require either large (for QM2, very large) cylindrical LNG storage tanks on deck, or a complete gutting and rebuilding of the engine spaces and the double bottom area of the ship to accommodate the cryogenic LNG tanks and their associated inerting and re-liquifaction equipment.  It just would not be economically feasible.

[Ocean_Liner_Traveller]

7 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

Virtually no ship afloat today would be converted to using LNG, even for gas turbine engines.  This would require either large (for QM2, very large) cylindrical LNG storage tanks on deck,...

Would the space behind the funnel and in front of Boardwalk Cafe be large enough to accommodate them? (Incidentally, I think there are already gas machine installations near the funnel.) Just curious.

[Guest SilverHengroen]

On 1/19/2024 at 11:27 PM, new to cuising said:

April 7 to April 28 is 21 days rather than 15 so should be well within her capabilities. Whilst her design max speed is 30 knots, it is now very rare for her to exceed 24knts. To do so requires use of the two turbines to create the additional power required. I was told by a well informed crew member on the 3 jan TA that the last time the turbines were run they had to be shut down through fear of them catching fire. Additionally the fact that they use high quality fuel, they are expensive assets these days .
One wonders whether they will or could be replaced by methane burning units, which would then mean QM2 might be able to circumvent the many restrictions being placed on cruise ships these days

Stephen Payne mentioned in one of his on board lectures that they were looking into burning bio-ethanol in the GTs - I don't know how the price compares to the usual fuel, but it would be nice if they could run the ship closer to its design speed again, including mixing more regular 6 day crossings into the schedule. I see they have a few 6 day crossings available this year in June and July? None for 2025 though annoyingly 😕