I just saw a story on Headline news where the Queen Mary 2 is returning to port do to a problem with her hull. There wasn't many details other than the passengers are all fine.

An update on the news report mentioned that the ship hit something.

Just saw the local news report, all engines are off, they are waiting for the tow boats to arrive. They are 9 miles off of Pompano Beach and will be towed to Fort Lauderdale. I think they were on their way to South America. Will report more as the news comes in. This is a big story down here!
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Doris

Doris, thanks for the update from sunny Florida!

(CBS4 News) FT. LAUDERDALE The largest cruise ship in the world will have to wait a day to make a trip around South America to San Francisco, after discovering engine problems shortly after beginning that trip from Port Everglades.

The Queen Mary II left Port Everglades shortly after 1 PM Tuesday, bound for South America, and was just a few miles offshore and a spokesman for Cunard, owner of the ship, said the captain noticed a problem with one of the ship’s engines.

Cunard says the ship stopped offshore and performed engine checks for a few hours, but engineers decided the ship could not continue, so the decision was made to return the Queen Mary II to it’s berth at Port Everglades.

The cruise line says the ship will be in port at least overnight, and passengers will simply spend the night aboard ship.

A Cunard spokesperson says there were no other problems aboard the ship, and no apparent damage beyond the problem with the propulsion system.

Cunard is owned by Miami-based Carnival Cruise Lines.

[img]http://img.viacomlocalnetworks.com/images_sizedimage_017181027/lg[/img]

What a bummer for those passengers, right at the beginning of the cruise. Let's cross all fingers and toes that it doesn't happen on one of our cruises.

FYI, that ship has four pod drives. Two fixed and two movable.

Bill: I have a POD file - payable on death and I think Karen has POD coffee filters - similar???

Joanna...LOL...POD files!

I'm guessing the QM passengers will be compensated for their extra day, or they will make up the time somewhere during the cruise - not an awful situation...much better than being attacked by pirates off the coast of Africa!

Near but I think these are a little bit bigger

Bill: Gosh this is some serious stuff!!

These are Mermaidâ„¢ pods and I forget which of the RSSC ships have them. I do know one of the pod companies "pods" have had problems and a number of ships had to be dry docked over them....

With the electric motors outside the hull, if there are any problems it is dry dock time :( But they are more fuel efficient and do away with a rudder.

Oh well, the QM2 is too big and too class-oriented anyway. Thus, if it is stuck in Ft. L. instead of continuing on to the Amazon (in which it is also too big), who will shed a tear, other than the poor schmucks who booked passage on the enormous beast? Speaking of pods, has anyone seen the recent re-release of the classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers? Now, that is the real meaning of pods, no?? Cheers, Fred

There seems to be some conflicting information about whether it's simply an engine (propulsion) problem or whether the problem was caused when the ship hit something. Here's the AP story:

NA-GEN--US-Queen Mary 2,0200
Queen Mary 2 returns to port with motor problem
PORT EVERGLADES, Florida (AP) - More than 2,500 passengers were
stranded aboard the Queen Mary 2 on Tuesday after the ship had a
problem with one of its propulsion motors, Cunard Lines said.
The ship had a "problem with one of the ship's four propulsion
motors" while leaving Port Everglades, but no one was injured,
Cunard said.
The ship's crew reported hearing and feeling a shudder as the
ship was leaving the port, Coast Guard spokesman James Judge said.
Preliminary tests indicated the ship may have hit a submerged
object, Judge said.
The Queen Mary 2 will undergo an inspection by the Coast Guard
before it is allowed to return to port.
The ship, the world's largest and most expensive cruise ship,
had stopped in South Florida as part of a 38-day trip around South
America.
Queen Mary 2 will lose the title of world's largest passenger
ship when rival Royal Caribbean International launches the Freedom
of the Seas in May.
Cunard is owned by Miami-based Carnival Corp., the world's
largest cruise operator.

Freddie, one of the partners in my firm took his first cruise on this ship, in conjunction with some historical society land trip that followed. They loved it! Of course, all of us cannot convince others of the value of getting onboard raddisson for a great cruise experience, anymore than we can convince them that for Africa, you must experience it on land, especially with Ngaire's packages! But we will keep trying!

Freddie

Cruiser


posted January 17, 2006 08:50 PM
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Oh well, the QM2 is too big and too class-oriented anyway. Thus, if it is stuck in Ft. L. instead of continuing on to the Amazon (in which it is also too big), who will shed a tear, other than the poor schmucks who booked passage on the enormous beast? Speaking of pods, has anyone seen the recent re-release of the classic Invasion of the Body Snatchers? Now, that is the real meaning of pods, no?? Cheers, Fred

YOU ARE OUTSTANDING.....MUSH PLEASE

That thing is huge! So is The World, who docked in Key West when we were there.

I got an email from Cunard with some blurb about the QM2's first west coast appearance next month. That's where she's headed. They will do a sail by the QM in Long Beach.

The news today from Fort Lauderdale is that the divers are down now, and they hope to sail this evening as soon as the Coast Guard clears them. All the local news are reporting live from the port. They are having a great time running with this story.
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Doris

Doris, are they docked near other ships? Maybe I can stalk them ;)

We have friends on board and they reported that the ship hit a rock. The ship left port later than expected and the question from them was if because of the deep draft of the ship it hit the rock because they missed high tide.

Ardis

Karen, she is docked at berth #22, at the west side of the peninsula where Burt & Jack's used to be. At 3:00PM there was no sign of smoke from her diesels.

Bien sur! Who could ever forget that movie? :app: :app: :app: :app:
You are sooooo right Fred .. that is the real meaning of pods.. lol

Just announced on local TV; the QM2 struck a seawall in the turning basin at Port Everglades and damaged one of the azipods. She is hoping to sail tonight around midnight under power with only three pods. The Carribean portion of the cruise will be slightly curtailed.

Braking news,,, Cunard flys new captain out, current captain wants to "spend more time with his family"


Sorry I just had to say that. <img border="0" alt="[naughty]" title="" src="graemlins/naughty.gif" />

We just heard on the evening news that she will not sail until after midnight. They were interviewing passengers and they were not too happy!!!!
:mecry:
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Doris

Blackbird, was that "braking news" a joke? Not sure, as I have just got home from work a little while ago. Vacation before the WC?

Just saw this on AP. It turns out the ship hit the side of the channel and that's what damaged the pod. With all the sophisticated navigation equipment on that ship it will be interesting to find out how this could happen. The story doesn't say anything about a replacement captain. I would imagine the current captain would have to take responsibility for this. Tom.

BC-Queen Mary 2, 1st Ld-Writethru,250
Cunard: Queen Mary 2 motor hits channel, but ship can still sail
Eds: Minor edits to lede.
PORT EVERGLADES, Fla. (AP) - One of the Queen Mary 2's four
propulsion motors hit the side of a shipping channel, but the
world's largest ocean liner should be able to continue its voyage
to South America, Cunard Line said Wednesday.
The $800 million ship was being examined in Port Everglades, but
its departure was tentatively scheduled for Wednesday evening, the
Santa Clarita, Calif.-based company said. The vessel returned to
the Fort Lauderdale area port shortly after leaving Tuesday when
the crew reported hearing and feeling a shudder.
The damaged motor, known as a pod, will be taken out of service
until permanent repairs can be made. But the British-flagged ship's
three other pods will let it continue safely on a 38-day voyage,
although at a slightly reduced speed, the company said.
The slower speed shouldn't affect the trip, but the one-day
departure delay will change the schedule of the voyage's first leg,
the company said. Passengers will get details of compensation
before the ship leaves Florida.
The 2,543 passengers spent the night onboard the ship and took
tours of South Florida on Wednesday, the company said. The ship
left New York on Jan. 15 and was scheduled to arrive in Los Angeles
on Feb. 22.
Queen Mary 2 will lose the title of world's largest passenger
ship when rival Royal Caribbean International launches the Freedom
of the Seas in May.
Cunard is owned by Miami-based Carnival Corp., the world's
largest cruise operator.

Freddie, you crack me up!! :D

Tom...one does wonder...who wasn't watching the radar screen (a scene from Spaceballs comes to mind..)

All the talk about giant ships brings to mind a funny discussion we had with Captain Neil on the Diamond (I hope you all had the opportunity to meet him - he had some great stories!!)

He referred often to the Diamond as his yacht, and those 2500+ passenger monsters as the "Escalades of the Seas!"

:)

LOL it was a joke BUT in the Navy if a ship hits a dock the captain career is over.

OK I got the pic now :)

The prop they took off the Queen Mary in FtL

Loved Captain Neil, Rebecca! I think I totally humiliated myself in his eyes though. We ate dinner with him and I asked what the loud noise was at 6:30am under my room. He told me it was the anchor. I kiddingly told him that it bothered my sleep, so could he not drop it until after I wake up?

Well, he came over to me the next day and aked me if we wanted another room. I said no. I was mortified. Every time he saw me after that he asked if he was dropping the anchor softly enough for me. I must be one of his stories now...the lady who wanted the anchor not to be dropped.

That is too funny Andi -- but it's just how nice of a guy he is that he would offer to find you a new cabin. We were blown away by the way he said goodbye to each passenger by name during disembarkation.

If Radisson ever gets going on another ship, I sure hope they bring him back!!

Hope you guys are doing well -
Rebecca

Have fun on your next cruise with Arlene and Gil. Make sure they behave!!! Hope we travel with you folks again in 2007? We're doing ROAR and MUSH this year.

We thought he was wonderful. He treated the ship as his valued home and all of us on the ship as his personal guests.

I agree, Andi. Capt. Neil was very warm and charming! Our sailing with him was great, wasn't it?

Behave? :(

Denise, we certainly had a great time not behaving...Arlene, just follow in our footsteps...

According to friends on board, the passengers are revolting. GM2 finally left Thursday morning and all ports are being shortened. No Caribbean ports and Rio and Montevideo are shortened to hours instead of two days because the ship is moving so much more slowly on three pods. A lot has been made of the two Queens being in the same place on Feb. 22nd and the passengers feel they are being sacrificed for this event.

Ardis

Ardis, do you know the form that this revolt is taking?