Roblightbody dot com
  • Home
    • What's New?
    • About Rob >
      • QE2 Talks & speaker
    • Contact
  • Rob's Blog
  • Gadgets
  • Ocean Liners
    • Queen Mary 2 >
      • QM2 News in service
      • QM2 News (When New)
      • QM2 News (Pre Float-out) >
        • My Travels
      • QM2 Reviews
      • QM2 A Ship of Superlative Comparisons
    • Queen Elizabeth 2 >
      • QE2 in Dubai (QE2 Today)
      • QE2 Forum (link)
      • My own QE2 Story >
        • My QE2 Photos
        • 2008 Stephen Payne QE2 Lecture
        • 2008 QE2 Last Thoughts
        • 2008 QE2 Clyde Farewell
        • 2008 August QE2 Cruise
        • 2007 December QE2 Cruise
        • 2007 September QE2 Clyde
        • 2005 August QE2 Queensferry
        • 2003 June QE2 Queensferry
        • 1987 QE2 April Bremerhaven >
          • QE2 April 1987 Exterior Photos
          • QE2 April 1987 Interior Photos
      • QE2 News >
        • QE2 Dubai News (2008 to 2015) >
          • Fears grow over bid to turn QE2 into a hotel in Dubai
        • QE2 News 2008
        • QE2 Sold to Dubai Articles (2007)
        • QE2 News 2007
        • QE2 News 2006
        • QE2 News 2002 to 2005
        • QE2 News 1998 to 2001
      • QE2's Name
      • QE2 1987 Rebirth
      • QE2 Reviews 1997 to 2007
      • Speed Queen
      • QE2 Storm Photos
      • QE2 1975 Guide
      • 1969 Shipshapes
      • QE2 Sydney 2006
      • QE2 Cutaways
      • QE2 in 1969
      • QE2 Fuel Economy
      • QE2 Facts
      • Bridgecam Snaps
      • QE2 1995 Freak Wave
      • QE2 Bridge View
    • SS France >
      • SS France Swan Song (2001)
      • 2006 Finalé >
        • Telegraph April 2006
        • Miami Herald
        • AP News May 2006
        • Justin Huggler Article
        • BBC News June 2006
        • July 2006 (MSNBC)
      • Scrapping Allowed (2007)
    • United States >
      • Maiden Voyage
      • NCL Buys SS United States
    • Queen Elizabeth
    • Queen Mary >
      • No rushing Churchill and his ship of state
      • RMS Queen Mary News >
        • 2007 Fate of rusting Queen Mary in the balance
        • 2006 Queen Marys Meet
        • 2004 As ship and work of art, the QM still an original
        • 2001 Is Queen Mary seaworthy?
        • 2000 Sir John Brown Dies
        • 1998 - Queen of Kitsch
    • Normandie
    • Lusitania & Mauritania
    • Aquitania >
      • Aquitania Emails
    • Other Liners >
      • Transvaal Castle
      • Saxonia
      • Ivernia
      • Caronia
  • Cars
    • Classic Mini >
      • My Classic Minis
      • History >
        • End of Mini >
          • FT Sep 2000
          • Glasgow Herald
          • BBC News
          • Autocar March 2000
        • Sexist Adverts
        • John Cooper Dies
      • Brochures
      • My Archive
      • The MPi Minis >
        • Official Launch Documents
        • Classic Mini Postcards
        • MPI Mini Colours and trim, 1997 onwards
        • 1998 - Examples of MPI changes from SPI
        • 1998 MPI Mini Price List
        • Extracts from the 1996 Brochure launching the 1997 model year Minis
      • SPI Mini ACR2 Fault Code Reader
    • First new MINI
    • Ford Puma
    • Mazda MX-5 Miata
    • Austin Princess
    • Favourite Cars
  • PS Waverley
  • Scotland
    • Jeely Piece Song
    • Flower of Scotland
    • Where's the Glasgow?
    • I Belong to Glasgow (link)
  • Chuckles
  • Cool Websites
Home > Ocean Liners > Queen Mary 2 (QM2) > QM2 News (After Float Out) > QM2, a sea of complaints

QM2 sets sail into a sea of complaints

February 01, 2004
QM2 sets sail into a sea of complaints
David Robertson

From Times Online - http://www.timesonline.co.uk/printFriendly/0,,1-523-984866,00.html   (now moved to -
http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/news/uk_news/article27702.ece)

THE maiden voyage of the Queen Mary 2, the world’s largest and most expensive cruise liner, was the chance to put its well-publicised difficulties behind it.

The floating palace had already been written off by some for its “Las Vegas casino” style and its pre-launch had been marred by the gangway collapse that killed 15 people in a French dockyard.

So when it docked in Fort Lauderdale last Monday, Cunard, its owner, was hoping for good feedback. It was not to be. The ship has developed a new problem: over-particular American passengers.

Voyage diaries and commentaries on American websites have slated the £550m vessel for slipping standards and shoddy service.

The passengers claim the staff were overworked, underpaid and inexperienced. One correspondent claimed there had been near mutiny with 250 disaffected staff jumping ship by the end of the transatlantic crossing. In fact, only a handful of the 1,200 crew have left, according to the company.

It was not just the staff that came in for criticism. Cruise regulars, such as Greg Straub from New York, were disappointed with their fellow passengers, who paid between £2,449 and £26,839 to join the historic voyage.

In an online diary, written from his cabin, Straub lamented the fact that there are just two evenings in which passengers were required to wear black tie. On its sister ship, Queen Elizabeth 2, there were four.

“I fear it will become a setting of proletarian squalor if the waiters are better dressed than the passengers,” notes Straub acidly. “Are Cunard running scared they cannot fill this ship with people who are willing to follow the traditional dress on a crossing?” Straub also claims to have heard “passengers complaining nightly about slow service”. Damning with faint praise, he said: “While the selection was ample and the portions appropriate, the service was unbelievably slow.”

Other passengers complained that the Veuve Clicquot bar was inadequately stocked with champagne glasses, forcing them to make do with freshly washed flutes.

This was nothing compared to the “scandal” of the Commodore Club which, according to one passenger from Atlanta, had been taken over by a gay touring party. He renamed it the “Commodorothy Club” and he and his friends avoided it.

Even the on-board entertainment was not good enough for some. One complained about an excited child ruining his enjoyment of the magic show and had expected more of a fanfare when the ship reached Barbados: “A brass band played a song then marched away,” he noted with disappointment.

The same passenger was also dissatisfied with the crew masseurs. He wrote: “My massage was rather lacklustre — all three of them have been. It seems that many of the ‘therapists’ were new hires and are timid about really kneading people, even if you ask.”

Cunard admits there were teething problems on the 14-day voyage. The hot water system failed at one point, two Filipino staff were sacked after fighting below decks and some passengers were delayed at the end of the voyage because the porters struggled to unload the luggage.

“It is worth bearing in mind that this was a first voyage,” said Eric Flounders, the Cunard spokesman. “Not only was the ship new and the crew new but a lot had not worked at sea before. There were occasional problems, but measured against other maiden voyages it went well.”

It was not helped by a storm in the Bay of Biscay that caused seasickness among the crew. Dame Shirley Bassey was forced to postpone a performance due to illness.

The inexperience of the crew was a common complaint. One Cunard regular said: “There were too many crew who needed more training and experience, and some were plainly in the wrong job. The stresses were evident but this is no excuse for bad attitude.”

A number of passengers said they had been told by crew that working conditions were very tough and staff were regularly working 16-hour, or longer, days.

Sections

Rob's Blog
​Gadget Reviews

Ships

PS Waverley
Queen Mary 2
Queen Elizabeth 2
RMS Queen Elizabeth
RMS Queen Mary
More Liners

Cars

Classic Mini
New MINI (2001)
Mazda Miata MX-5
Wedge Princess
Ford Puma
Other Favourites

Everything Else

Whats New
About Rob
Contact Rob
Chuckles
Cool Sites