Cruise passengers threaten mutiny

[cheshyrkat]

Well, the passengers were lucky, that's for sure. If it had been any other ship you can bet the passengers would have been SOL!

[mufi]

I don't believe they were lucky. No one twisted Cunard's hands behind their backs to get the settlement out of them. They could have offered nothing or just the original offer of 50%. This may well be good for all of us if it makes these cruise companies, not just Cunard, realise that they have to start treating their customers to nearer the standard expected on shore, and that it is no longer the 19th. but the 21st century.

 

To offer a guy $50 for virtually ruining his vacation shows what has happened in the past. It may well happen again, but hopefully the cruise companies will begin to realise that honesty is the best policy for big bussiness dealing with "the little man"

 

Cunard was less than honest and less than straight with their customers from the start here. And the question I keep asking myself is "weren't they (Cunard) insured?"

 

David.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

 

And the question I keep asking myself is "weren't they (Cunard) insured?"

 

David.

 

Even if they were insured, it is still you and I who will end up paying out for these passengers through our travel insurance premiums.

[cheshyrkat]

I don't believe they were lucky.

 

I think they were quite fortunate to have the final offer that Cunard came up with. They didn't have to do anything. To me, that's lucky! And I still believe that if it had been any other ship, the deal wouldn't have been so sweet.

[EscapeFromConnecticut]

"Greedy passengers"??

"Media frenzy"??

Nonsense. Carnival screwed up, and Carnival paid for the mistake. That's exactly as it ought to be.

I'm glad the passengers (actually, the CUSTOMERS) pursued their case, and that the media did its job so well and reported the facts. Carnival's bogus statements notwithstanding, the company's original compensation offer was CHEAP.

It's not the first time, folks. Carnival has VERY frequently messed up its customer relations after a mechanical snafu ... from the Holiday fiasco in New Orleans, to the Jubilee and Celebration misadventures, to the long, long string of fires and breakdowns on Tropicale.

Each time, Carnie's p.r. hucksters tried to weasel out of the truth. Dumb, dumb, dumb. Each time, the facts eventually came out ... and showed Carnival hadn't been playing straight with its customers.

Cheaping out when the chips are down is simply a LOUSY long-term strategy. In my case, I've frequently been tempted to try one of Carnival's lines -- either because of the itineraries or the amenities of their ships. But each time I get close, the corporate bean-counters pull another high-profile weasel deal like this one ... and I choose to stay away for another year. (You can believe I will NOT forget about what Carnie did to those poor Holiday passengers with the 'trip to nowhere.')

Blaming the passengers or the press for Carnival's misdeeds is simply misguided.

[Ldybrnwyn]

Maybe they have insurance

Maybe they will sue the azipod manufacturer

 

I don't think any azipod manufacturer would guarantee their product to function after being rammed into a channel wall with 150,000 tons of ship pushing behind it :rolleyes:

[guernseyguy]

Each time, the facts eventually came out ... and showed Carnival hadn't been playing straight with its customers.

 

Don,

 

In this case, which 'facts' has it been demonstrated that Carnival had not been playing straight with their customers over? So far it is several passenger statements that would appear to be at variance with the evidence....like 'announcement made half an hour after sailing, around mid-day', when the ship sailed six hours earlier.....

 

Peter

[Winchester]

OK kids, I think we have beat this issue to death.

 

NOW, the questions are: What is Cunard going to do about making repairs and getting back up to normal speed? When will this happen? What steps did they take in Rio to move things forward? Which segment or trip will be cancelled to get that done, or do they think they can do it without a drydock?

 

If they have to replace the pod, are pods that match available or does one have to be made just for QM2? Do I guess you don't just put one on a plane and bring to the ship in a day or two as it weighs as much as a plane?

 

Will those passengers coming on board get a deal too? Were they told of the problem officially and what was provided to them? Did they have a choice to drop the trip?

[highcbob]

I tend to have to agree with 'Winchester', I also think it's time to

move on and discuss how/when Cunard will repair the pod.

 

I thought I had read somewhere they were going to slowly do

repairs in each port but have not heard anything more on that.

 

Also wonder why Cunard does not post an update on their web-

site as to any future itinerary modifications etc. Once again they

seem to just prefer to keep their customers in the dark.

[mufi]

I don't think there was any liklyhood of them doing repairs in ports. It's obvious that repairs that need to be done to get the ship back on spec have to be done in dry dock. When where and how long is the question.

 

David.

[guernseyguy]

It's obvious that repairs that need to be done to get the ship back on spec have to be done in dry dock. When where and how long is the question. David.

 

My bet would be Hamburg where the last refit was done - after all its not that long ago she was there - and I guess that would mean missing the second and third transatlantics or the May Mediterranean explorer, or shortening the latter....time will tell.......

 

Peter

[EscapeFromConnecticut]

Don,

 

In this case, which 'facts' has it been demonstrated that Carnival had not been playing straight with their customers over? So far it is several passenger statements that would appear to be at variance with the evidence....like 'announcement made half an hour after sailing, around mid-day', when the ship sailed six hours earlier.....

 

Peter

 

The past tense was used deliberately -- to refer to the long line of Carnival mishaps in the past.

 

So far, this latest one isn't looking good for their reliability, though:

 

from Jan. 19 Sun-Sentinel, quoting Cunard President Carol Marlow:

 

"Despite the damage, Marlow said, the ship can still make its upcoming ports of call.

'Even with three [pods] we can still sail faster than most vessels,' she said."

 

Meanwhile, the accounts posted here sound disturbingly familiar to the complaints from Holiday, Celebration and Tropicale passengers during Carnival's many previous problems:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4640436.stm

 

After establishing a bad track record for dishonesty during crises, Carnival is now paying the price. Blame the corporation, not the messenger.

[guernseyguy]

Don,

 

As someone has wisely posted on another board:

 

.....experience tells me that MOST of the severely obnoxious, over-demanding and rude customers in a business are not the genuine top-of-the-line profit centers ... they simply believe they are.

 

The objection on this board is not that people have complained about missing ports....it is the way they have done it, as we've learned from two people onboard QM2. And as Winchester says...time to move on.....

 

Peter

[Winchester]

We have answers to a couple of the questions. From a cruise news source February 1, 2006:

--------------------

"What will it mean to have QM2 operating on three pods?

 

Cunard President Carol Marlow tells us the liner still sails faster than most ships do normally, and she anticipates little disruption. "She's not too much below her normal cruising speed, so for the most part, future itineraries won't be impacted," reports Marlow.

 

On the occasional times that there will be slight adjustments, Marlow assures that guests will be informed well before departure. "We've gone through the itineraries going forward over the next nine months. On transatlantics, we will make some slight changes to the arrival and departure times, but it won't affect the schedule. It will all be done in the same number of nights."

 

Eventually a drydock will take place, likely before the 2007 world cruise. "We have yet to work out exactly when that will be," says Marlow. "There will be good advance notice when and if it's necessary. It may not disrupt things at all, or it might make some minor disruptions."

[highcbob]

"Thanks" Winchester for a most important update.

I'm sure this will put many future QM2 passengers at ease.

 

Seems like Cunard is in no hurry to dry-dock her and are

appearing to be very optimistic.