Thread: QM2 repairs advance notice of cruise cancellations

Press release...

Blohm + Voss will handle QM2 pod repairs
13/2/2006
The repair work for Queen Mary 2’s damaged propulsion pod will be carried out in two phases, both at Blohm + Voss in Hamburg. The liner will be drydocked in May to remove the pod, and the repaired pod will be installed during a second docking in November. The work necessitates the cancellation of two sailings, Cunard Line said.

After QM2 completes the April 29 transatlantic cruise, the liner will go out of service for six days for the pod removal. The voyage scheduled to depart on May 5, a 12-day Mediterranean sailing, will be changed into a six-day Northern Europe itinerary departing on May 11.

Passengers booked on the 12-day cruise who opt to sail on the new six-day voyage will receive a refund of up to 70% of their cruise fare, a 50% refund of their airfare and a $250 per person on-board credit. Those who wish to travel on a later 12-day Mediterranean voyage will have the option of re-booking on one of three published 12-day Med departures, and Cunard will protect their fare during those later peak season dates.

The installation of the repaired pod in November will take QM2 out of service for seven days, delaying the Nov. 11 transatlantic voyage by one week, to Nov. 18, and canceling the Nov. 18 Caribbean sailing. QM2 will sail as scheduled on Nov. 25 to the Western Caribbean.

Passengers booked on the rescheduled transatlantic sailing will receive a $50 per person on-board credit, and travel agents will receive a $50 bonus commission for handling the re-booking. Those booked on the canceled sailing will receive a $50 per person on-board credit when they rebook on a later Caribbean date.

QM2 has been operating on three Mermaid pods since the fourth pod was damaged when it came into contact with the side of the underwater channel at Port Everglades on Jan. 17.

(Reuters)

I am assuming that the pod mount will be sealed and the ship will be going around with 3 pods and a temporary steel patch over the mount on pod 4.

It also sounds like the pod cannot be replaced in good time, so a repair is being done instead. The time tween the removal and putting the pod back will be interesting to see if she can keep her port timings or if she will be dropping ports along the way, depending on how she behaves.

Either way, there is going to be a fair amount of compensation flying about, not helped by Cunard backing down early over the original compensation row.

Very interesting!
Carol