Has anyone been folowing this story?

Terrible so far for the folks onboard......

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Britain-Queen-Mary-2.html

anuary 22, 2006
Queen Mary 2 Passengers Threaten Sit - In
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 8:14 p.m. ET

LONDON (AP) -- Some passengers on the Queen Mary 2 are threatening a sit-in when the cruise ship reaches port in Brazil to protest a last-minute change in itinerary, the vessel's operator said Sunday.

The world's largest and most expensive ocean liner left New York on Jan. 15 and was scheduled to arrive in Los Angeles on Feb. 22. Carrying more than 2,500 passengers, it hit the side of a Florida shipping channel Jan. 18, damaging a motor and reducing its speed.

The cruise cut stops in Barbados, St. Kitts and Salvador, Brazil, to make up for lost time, said Eric Flounders, a Cunard Line spokesman.

Cunard offered 1,000 passengers who had been scheduled to disembark in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a 50 percent refund to make up for the missing stops, Flounders said.

Some were unhappy with the offer and met with the captain to discuss it, Flounders said. He said only a small number of passengers were protesting but did not know how many.

''Cunard takes the view that they are on board, they're enjoying all the facilities of the QM2, all the food, the entertainment and so on, so while we very much regret they're missing the ports, we feel the 50 percent compensates for that,'' he said.

One passenger, Alan Berg, told the British Broadcasting Corp. that many people on the ship were extremely unhappy and demanding full refunds.

''We have been lied to and misled,'' Berg, 63, of Manchester, England, said. ''We should have been allowed the option of getting off at Fort Lauderdale and not taking the cruise at all. It is not in fact a cruise now but a rather a voyage by sea to Rio. Many guests are on once-in-a-lifetime holidays and I have seen several in tears.''

Carol Marlow, president of Cunard Line, said it was not known until after the cruise ship left port in Florida how much speed it would lose and how many ports of call it would have to skip to reach Rio de Janeiro on time on Jan. 26. The $800 million cruise ship is now relying on three of its four propulsion motors, Marlow said.

Cunard is owned by Miami-based Carnival Corp., the world's largest cruise operato

I saw the story too. Sounds like some passengers are really angry over missing the three ports and they don't feel the 50% refund is proper compensation.

But I don't see what good refusing to get off the ship is going to accomplish. I'd imagine all of those passengers already have booked flights home from Rio.

I'm sure I'd be disappointed too but the fine print in all cruise contracts allows for these mishaps. I think they're just going to have to take what Cunard offers. Tom

PS: It probably would have been a good idea to have an open bar on the ship until they get to Rio.

50% refund actually doesn't sound that bad to me. If I was on the cruise, I'm sure I'd be disappointed about missing the ports - if people had booked independent excursions at the ports, it would have been a nice gesture if Cunard had made them whole on cancellations for those excursions and as Tom has mentioned, open bar would also probably have helped. But I'm not sure what else Cunard could do - a complete refund doesn't sound fair to me either. Unfortunately, these are some of the risks that we all take when we decide to take a cruise vacation. JMO.

Masaki

how many ports were supposed to be on the trip? they're dropping those three, but how many were there total for that leg of the trip to rio?

They should have been told about the change in itinerary in Ft. Lauderdale and given the choice to not continue.

When there are unforeseen emergencies, I agree that the cruise line should not take the heat..but, this change of itinerary was not unforeseen and they should have been upfront with the passengers.

I agree with the Captain, in part, that they are enjoying the amenities of the ship. Perhaps a 50% discount and some other non-cash remuneration for a future cruise?

A 50% refund would satisfy me but I think I'm in the minority. I usually think of the ship as my primary destination but most people choose a cruise for its itinerary of course.

We were on a Princess cruise that missed three of six ports once and they gave us the same refund. We were fine with that but the uproar on the ship was not something I'll soon forget. They had to step up security around the purser's desk.

I think I'm a little confused. Will the ship be continuing to Ca.? Are only the people disembarking in Rio getting the 50%, and nothing for those continuing on? Boy, 50% sounds good to me.
Esther

The way I read it, the people continuing on will get a pro-rated 6-day refund. I'm not sure how they plan to pro-rate it.

The percentage of upset might be in direct relation to size of cabin. If I was on Mariner or Voyager, with my balcony and all that good food, I'd be a lot happier than if I was in a tiny little room on a monster ship.

fyi, Cunard up compensation for pax of QE2 see
CC link:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=1497

Extremely generous offer. Talk about your public relations nightmare, though.

Masaki

Far beyond what they had to do.

HERE'S THE LATEST FROM THE BBC - More than fair now IMHO, but they should have done something better sooner!

Like Count said, more than fair IMO. Geez, on MINT, we missed one port because of an engine problem (we only had 3-4 in 7 days) and they gave us $200+ in cabin credit, and then gave us $500 per person toward a future cruise. I thought that was more than fair! Of course, on this cruise on the Queen Mary2, most of the ports were lost.

I agree, more earlier would have probably prevented the need for the offer to be this generous - but all's well that ends well. The passengers are happy(or happier) and the PR is going to be better. I wonder how this affects the passengers boarding in Rio though - they arrived a day late to Rio, correct? How is Cunard handling them? And will the ship be able to maintain its itineraries with one pod inoperative? The plot thickens!

Masaki