More Problems for QM2

[Cruachan]

Looks like QM2 has had some more power problems.

 

Australian new item here.

 

J

[BlueRiband]

Maybe it's best to just avoid sailing on her.

[transatlantic fan]

Looks like QM2 has had some more power problems.

 

Australian new item here.

 

J

They need to sort this out.:eek:

[moniquet]

Carnival seems to be having an "Annus horribilis". First Concordia, then Princess now QM2 and we are only into March:eek:

[Salacia]

I find it curious that what has become frequent power failures on QM2 has not received more media attention, but at least anyone reading these boards is aware of the situation.

 

BTW, a blogger on the QM2 World Voyage mentioned briefly the lastest loss of power which occurred on March 17 (ship's time) and lasted for about 15 minutes.

[T5LHR]

Just out of pure curiosity... But, if this problem were to continue and they decide to cancel something to take her out of service to do work... How is that handled?

[3rdGenCunarder]

Just out of pure curiosity... But, if this problem were to continue and they decide to cancel something to take her out of service to do work... How is that handled?

 

They have to find a shipyard that can take her and do the work. Once that's contracted for, they contact the passengers who will be affected to let them know that their cruise has been shortened or cancelled. There are many possibilities for "compensation."

 

If a whole cruise is cancelled, pax get their money back, and usually something more, like a percent or dollar amount discount off a booking made to replace the cruise. Or they might let people keep the booking and transfer it to another cruise.

 

If a cruise is shortened, there's usually a pro-rated refund (or OBC) for the days of the trip lost. Sometimes there's the option to cancel or change to a different cruise without loss of deposit or other penalty.

 

As you can imagine, there's a lot of money to be lost if a cruise is cancelled, so they really don't want to do that if there's a way to avoid it.

[Jimsgirl]

I find it curious that what has become frequent power failures on QM2 has not received more media attention, but at least anyone reading these boards is aware of the situation.

 

BTW, a blogger on the QM2 World Voyage mentioned briefly the lastest loss of power which occurred on March 17 (ship's time) and lasted for about 15 minutes.

 

It is odd but Cunard does seems to be adverse to explanations. On QV recently I was in a lecture in theatre, suddenly there was a small "bump' and then the a few mins later sound of "thrusters" absolutely roaring,

Later a table companion who had spent her life "messing around with boats" told us that she had photographed the sea bottom being churned up and then two tugs pulling the ship off what must have been a sand bar. Ship came free and proceeded as normal.

 

This happened close to port approaches.

 

Later when passengers asked, they were told "never happened just a rumour" but there were witnesses and photos .

 

Later on same cruise, around 2-2.30a.m I was lying awake and suddenly there was silence from the engines, I waited, then got up, put on pants and sweater, picked up my own "survival kit " from drawer and waited for an announcement. 30 mins later Engines noise "Coughed" and then picked up and everything went back to normal.

 

Because it happened at such an ungodly hour , I doubt if more than a handful of people were aware of it. I do hope no one suggests this was normal maintainance , not being stupid I do know that such acts are not done without prior warnings even if done in the middle of the night, there is always someone awake to be concerned, - as I was.

 

I am sure that once again Cunard will deny it happened.

[Leucothea]

It does seem odd that Carnival is experiencing these problems. I've heard of companies writing phony negative online reviews of their competitors. In this day and age one can wonder. It is probably unlikely in this case, but have there been examples of corporate sabotage from rival companies which have produced similar types of situations? In the world we live in since 9/11, who knows.

 

And as for companies giving out information; they just don't anymore. I've encountered the "rumour" explanation too; when, for example, everyone in the company from high up to all the customer service reps are telling you something (change in policy) is true, absolutely, defintely---and then when the top brass realize we were right (in explaining why they should not change it) and they were mistaken, they save face by calling the previous info a "rumour".

[moniquet]

In the case of one of the Princess ships they have just cancelled a couple of cruises on the crown due to propulsion problems so it's not just negative reviews.

 

I recently read on CC about perks with Carnival shares and was thinking of buying Hubby some for his birthday as they sounded a good deal. have had a rethink:)

[Salacia]

PARTIAL QUOTE

...

 

I recently read on CC about perks with Carnival shares and was thinking of buying Hubby some for his birthday as they sounded a good deal. have had a rethink:)

 

Moniquet, on the upside, if you buy now, you'll be paying a heck of a lot less than I paid for CCL stock last year! :eek::) -S

[DDBINK1]

I think it all goes back to building all these cruise ships and cutting corners and doing it all on the cheap to make the most money they can.

 

It seems in the past the Liners didn't break down and run aground as often but then again there were less of them and they did sink once in a while.

 

I wonder if the crew that run the engine room and electrical systems change out every 6 months like most of the crew and if this makes them more unfamiliar with the workings of the equipment?

[Scrapnana]

Although I have not had as many cruises as I would like, I don't remember every having a black out on any of them. I know the QM2 has had a number on her world cruise but is this a common problem?

[Classiccruiser777]

I wonder if the crew that run the engine room and electrical systems change out every 6 months like most of the crew and if this makes them more unfamiliar with the workings of the equipment?

Last August I spoke with Brian Watling, QM2's Chief Engineer, after seeing his picture in a book that was published right after QM2 was launched. He has been on board (other than on holiday) since the ship was launched.

 

I remember the many times that the QE2 had engineering problems. Ships are sophisticated and complex systems operating in a hostile environment so occasional problems are expected.

[Salacia]

Although I have not had as many cruises as I would like, I don't remember every having a black out on any of them. I know the QM2 has had a number on her world cruise but is this a common problem?

 

Yes.

 

Search this forum for first person accounts, going back months if not years. In additon, other sources support various accounts of QM2 being without power.

 

Just to add that I have been on 10 QM2 voyages, and have never experienced being dead in the water. But I give credence to those who have reported outages since there are too many incidents to ignore and more than one account to support each power failure. From my observation, some passengers are not troubled by these outages in the least, accept it as a normal occurrence that could happen on any ship, and require no further information from Cunard as to either the cause or the remedy. But I feel differently.

 

It seems to me that there are only two reasons why the power outages have not ceased: either Cunard does not know the cause - in which case they can't fix it until they know the cause, or they do know the cause, and are unwilling or unable to fix it. As always, this is just my opinion, and I welcome your opinion. -S.

[stowaway2k]

I hardly think that a couple of power outages lasting a very short time compare to Concordia, or even warrant any media coverage. It seems that these were barely even an inconvience for passengers, although certainly a cause of concern for the engineering crew.

[Cruachan]

...

Just to add that I have been on 10 QM2 voyages, and have never experienced being dead in the water...

 

Well, it's not something you could experience more than once !! :eek::D:D

 

J

[Cruachan]

I hardly think that a couple of power outages lasting a very short time compare to Concordia, or even warrant any media coverage. It seems that these were barely even an inconvience for passengers, although certainly a cause of concern for the engineering crew.

 

I completely agree, but nevertheless, this does seem to be something that is happening on QM2 on an almost weekly basis at the moment. Clearly something needs fixing.

 

Of course, if you take a broader view of the maritime world and look outside the rather blinkered focus on cruise ships that prevails in this forum, it rapidly becomes clear that this problem is rather more widespread than it appears. A quick trawl through the "casualties" on my own website will reveal that power outages seem to afflict just about everything larger than a sailing dinghy.

 

Fortunately for Cunard the QM2 outages all seem to have occurred either while the vessel was berthed (Quebec, Sep 10) or while she was in open waters (Barcelona Oct 10 et seq). You most assuredly don't want this kind of thing occurring while you are maneouvering in restricted waters and/or in heavy traffic.

 

J

[Salacia]

Well, it's not something you could experience more than once !! :eek::D:D

 

J

 

Actually...you can (not that I recommend it!).:eek: But sorry, I should have been more clear: I have never been a passenger on a ship that was without propulsion -or as the expression goes "dead in the water": Exception being those times when I simply stopped rowing! :)

[Salacia]

I hardly think that a couple of power outages lasting a very short time compare to Concordia, or even warrant any media coverage. It seems that these were barely even an inconvience for passengers, although certainly a cause of concern for the engineering crew.

 

With all due respect, it wasn't a "couple of power outages"; if it was only that, I would agree, but that is not the case if you are to believe what has been reported by passengers (again, by more than one passenger's report of each incident). I see no reason to compare Concordia to Cunard.

[Whitemarsh]

A friend of mine, currently onboard QM2, emailed me today with an update on their travels. They had this to say....

 

"We have lost power a few times but only for a few minutes. I think the longest was 5. You should have heard people complain. I really wanted to say take a trip on Costa next time."

[Ray66]

From an article on CC

 

According to a Cunard statement, "After experiencing brief power interruptions, when backup systems immediately kicked in, full power was swiftly restored to Queen Mary 2 on each occasion. Hotel services were restored to the ship within 15 minutes, there was virtually no impact on guests and the ship is continuing on her voyage as normal."

 

http://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/news/news.cfm?ID=4784#

[moniquet]

Must be a bit alarming for first time passengers and some of the elderly.

[SailorManBilly]

I'd rather Be on a ship that experiences a power outage, than on a plane that experiences one!

 

As a frequent traveler on Cunard, this problem doesn't bother me in the least, and wouldn't cause me concern if it happened whilst on board. I trust the QM2 crew to handle whatever comes up and I've seen the pride on the faces of the crew for their ship.

 

And I trust Cunard to put safety first and am quite certain they are going to be proactive in resolving these problems, without the help of the armchair quarterbacks and message board "experts" who think they know better than the actual engineers who run her.

 

Sometimes I feel that some people must be waiting by their computers with baited breath almost HOPING for the next event to happen that will let them jump on the criticism bandwagon.

[Jimsgirl]

I'd rather Be on a ship that experiences a power outage, than on a plane that experiences one!

 

As a frequent traveler on Cunard, this problem doesn't bother me in the least, and wouldn't cause me concern if it happened whilst on board. I trust the QM2 crew to handle whatever comes up and I've seen the pride on the faces of the crew for their ship.

 

And I trust Cunard to put safety first and am quite certain they are going to be proactive in resolving these problems, without the help of the armchair quarterbacks and message board "experts" who think they know better than the actual engineers who run her.

 

Sometimes I feel that some people must be waiting by their computers with baited breath almost HOPING for the next event to happen that will let them jump on the criticism bandwagon.

 

 

I was on board QV very recently when two events happened, in one everyone in the theatre listening to the lecture (including the speaker himself) could bear witness, and on deck my table companion took pictures but the on board "official " comment comment was "did not happen only a rumour". Are we all supposedly delusional? Then in the early hours of the morning later in the cruise, the engines stopped, for about 30 mins. Again is that a delusion?

 

I am not a message board "expert" but I was on board , I can assure you I witnessed both events - which Cunard say "did not happen"

 

Cunard as a company cannot not be trusted to tell the passengers the truth if they can get away with pretending nothing happened and have gullible people who were not there accept Cunard's statements without questioning the veracity .