Anyone here read the Article in TIME Mag about the QM2

[Jesse D O'Neill]

Anyone here read the Article in TIME Mag about the QM2? just wondering. they basically talked about how the ship was vulnerable to terrorist attack, though also how it could go to sea to escape terrorist attack, though im not sure how useful that if a terrorist is on board. also talked about was how the QM2 could be used as a troopship, aimed at younger people, and also of course all of her luxuries and her great size and speed, which is pretty big since she's larger and longer than my brother ship USS George Washington (Nimitz Class Carrier, i think is 1,098 ft long, im not quite sure, but it just falls short of 1,100 ft). ill check the ships site later for such info.

 

[Michael H. Standart]

Jesse, you can find information on the Nimitz Class aircraft carriers HERE A quick and dirty summation for CVN 68 to 70 is 1040 x 134 x 37 feet/317 x 40.8 x 11.3 meters with extreme demensions at 1088 x 257 x 37 feet/331.6 x 78.3 x 11.3 meters and a full load displacement at 88,896 tons. CVN's 71 and on are slightly larger.

 

[Steven Boardman]

From the information on this and other boards posted by those on the maiden voyage it seems to me that the QM2 is struggling to meet expectations. The stories of less than excellent food, poor service, deserting crew, etc. make it sound like a second rate ship. The fact that the only good food is in a "alternative" restaurant (a trend that I believe is simply the cruise lines' way of avoiding improving quality and service across the board) is pathetic and an insult to guests. Perhaps Cunard/Carnival has failed to create a ship that is a true liner. I expect that she will find herself confined the the Caribbean - where demand is sufficient to sustain such a vessel - within five years. I cancelled my reservation for a transatlantic crossing later this year. It was to have been my fifteenth - I will stick with the QE2. A great disappointment.

 

[Michael H. Standart]

Steven, in all fairness to Cunard, maiden voyages are not the sort of events where you'll always see a ship at her best. This is a time when things are most likely to go wrong as bugs are worked out, problems discovered, and crews get aquianted with a new ship. Seasoned travelers have tended to avoid these affairs for just this reason and they've been doing it for a long time.

I hope you'll reconsider canceling out and be willing to give the ship a try when they've had time to work out the bugs. The QE2 won't be making the North Atlantic run for much longer.

 

[Jeremy Lee]

>>The QE2 won't be making the North Atlantic run for much longer.<<

Wasn't last year the Farewell Transatlantic Season?

 

[Nicolas Roughol]

Indeed, now that QM2 entered service, she's the only liner to cross the Atlantic. QE2 has retired as a transatlantic liner and will only do cruises from now on.

 

[Jim Kalafus]

Steven- You are 100% correct. The majority of the passengers on this trip are repeat customers and, frankly, are appalled by what is going on. Everyone is aware of "teething" problems, but what is going on here goes well beyond that. There is an ugly scene unfolding, as I type this, at the purser's desk with people who are so disgusted by the general contempt shown onboard that they are flat out refusing to honor their mandatory gratuities (tipping her is involuntary and comes directly off of your credit card) and the general mood ranges between mildly disgruntled and psychotic. There is at least one group on board organising a lawsuit. I would hold off on QM2 for a while!

 

[Jesse D O'Neill]

somehow disgruntled passangers doesn't suprise. Carnival practically owns cunard, and is probably only using the QM2 as a showpiece to advertise themselves, and from my experience, Carnival is company more interested in profit than improving comfort and service. i believe however it is too early to call QM2 a failure, they (Carnival and Cunard) still have a chance to make the QM2 what they intend her to be, Dominance of the Atlantic Passanger Trade by Ship.

 

[Jeremy Lee]

Really, does Carnival have the experience in this line of luxury liner business?

Carnival always reminds me of the 'Fun Ships'

 

[Deborah Kogan]

Mr. Roughol: The QE2 will be doing a "tandem" transatlantic with the QM2 on April 25 or 26. Mr. Lee: Carnival owns Cunard, Windstar, Costa, Seabourn (a luxury line), Holland America (upscale), and Princess.

 

[Jesse D O'Neill]

Carnival owns Holland America too? well atleast Holland's ships haven't been affected much by Carnival ownership, still the best line working the seas and oceans Holland.

 

[Tarn Stephanos]

Jim
Im assuming those planning the lawsuit are landlubbers, not used to traveling ther high seas?

what do the long time Cunard regulars think of QM2?

Why would passengers sue? Unless they were beaten up by stewards or nearlly died, I cant fathom a good reason.

I can see anger over slow service and broken toilets, but would that warrent lawsuits?
But then again, If as a passenger I complained and all my complaints were ignored, I would be rather p**sed off....

Good grief!


Tarn Stephanos

 

[Steven Boardman]

Jim:

Thanks again for this information and your various responses. I am not surprised by the "uprising" - whatever its scope - as I think there is a real difference between the maiden voyage of the QM2 and that of other vessels. The oxymoron of "mandatory tipping" may be the least of it if the experience of Cunard's traditional repeat passengers is similar to what you have just gone through. They will simply not come back and perhaps migrate to the lines which retained a sense of service. While a lawsuit may not be justified (but Tarn, with all due respect, may be premature in suggesting there may be no good reason) the fact that there is the threat of legal action doesn't bode well for Mr. Arison, Carnival, and the (lost) legacy of Samuel Cunard. Travel safely.

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>>as I think there is a real difference between the maiden voyage of the QM2 and that of other vessels.<<

And that would be...what?

 

[Jesse D O'Neill]

since cunard is owned by Carnival it doesnt suprise that tipping is mandatory. not to say that i disagree w/ the theory of tipping, i do agree w/ it, but i believe the amount tipped should be a decision made by those recieving the service, and not preset to a percentage of the price or amount of people being served. i of course have a simple timple system, the servicer starts out at C, and depending on their service go down from C to B or A, or up from C to D or E.

 

[Jim Kalafus]

"and that would be ....what?"

Well, one of the principal differences is that this is the first major new liner built for Cunard since the QE2 back in the late 1960s. This was supposed to be milestone, and 'though you may have missed it, there has been saturation level print advertising in the upscale press for the last year touting this as THE nautical event of the millennium. Quite frankly I feel suckered, having fallen for the hype. Literally millions were spent on advertising the liner and they did not bother to hire enough staff to perform even the most basic of tasks efficiently for the maiden voyage. I've never been on a liner before that offered customers the option of carrying their own luggage ashore (referred to as "self help dismebarkation") and hope never to again.

Another difference is that the majority of the passengers, by Cunard's OWN DESIGN were repeat cruisers- tickets were made available to them at least a month before they were to the general public. As such Cunard should have known that they were dealing with a clientele who 'knew the ropes.' I spent 14 days interviewing passengers and did not find A SINGLE ONE who thought QM2 represented an improvement over the QE2. I would say that if a line invests close to a billion dollars building the longest and largest liner in the world and then peoples it with their bread and butter customers, it represents a departure from the norm.

The passenger list, in addition to select customers, was filled with titled Europeans. Various Lords, Ladies, Baronesses etc. were aboard (I have the exact number written down somewhere) in addition to doctors, a handful of American Old Money socialites, and best of all reporters travelling incognito. That is not typical of the maiden voyages of the last generation or so. Since many of them forsook their own dining room to eat in the very public Todd English restaurant. It might be seen as an indication that the upper levels of service on the ship need attention, too.

Did you know a movie was shot onboard for release later this summer? GMA broadcast live from onboard. 60 Minutes covered the voyage to an extent. Can't remember the last time another liner had that happen.

So, Cunard was in a position unique amongst cruise companies. Why they sent the ship to sea short staffed, sailed it through the Bay of Biscay in mid winter which left 60 percent of the passengers retching including one of only two 'name' entertainers on board, put a price tag, generally exhorbitant, on literally everything- including the champagne at the gala sailing from Southampton, and committed blunder after blunder after blunder in front of the press, their repeat customers and to a certain extent the general public is beyond me. If I heard one more time "Well, you're on the MAIDEN VOYAGE" as if the alleged historical implications somehow made up for the shortcomings I would have throttled someone.

This was a different maiden voyage, 'though not in an entirely desirable way. Cunard blew it.

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>>This was a different maiden voyage, 'though not in an entirely desirable way. Cunard blew it.<<

So it would seem, though maybe not quite for the reasons you think. Hyping the crack liners is nothing new, but it would seem that Cunard forgot that maiden voyages tend to be a study in the first of Murphy's infamous laws which holds that if anything can go wrong, it will! Hopefully, they'll be a little wiser with the next ship.

 

[Jim Kalafus]

"...maybe not quite for the reasons you think."

I am not saying this antagonistically, but I am not sure what you meant by that. I'd say that over hyping, understaffing and undertraining said staff, then irritating your core customer group (repeat QM2 voyagers) for 14 days pretty much defines 'blowing it.'

 

[Jesse D O'Neill]

Jim

sad to hear you had a bad voyage. though from what i have read in articles the QM2 was aimed at a different market than QE2.

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>>I'd say that over hyping, understaffing and undertraining said staff, then irritating your core customer group (repeat QM2 voyagers) for 14 days pretty much defines 'blowing it.'<<

So would I, and what I mean is that Cunard should have known better. They've been in business since 1840 and if there's any one line that should have known the pitfalls of maiden voyages, these are the guys. If they wanted to avoid all of that, they should have been more proactive about getting their act together and keeping it together, instead of waiting until the near end of the trip to mend some fences.

Word does get around and disgruntled customers don't keep secrets. They're going to have a lovely time picking up the pieces from this one.