QM2's luxurious 'nightmare'

By Steve Kingstone
BBC News, Rio de Janeiro

Was this a calamity cruise, marred by incompetence and corporate arrogance? Or did passengers overstate the hardship of spending eight continuous days aboard the world's most luxurious liner?

Even among paying customers opinion was sharply divided, as they emerged down the gangplank into the searing heat of Rio de Janeiro.

There was rebellion in the air as the ship approached Brazil

"It was horrendous," gasped Pauline Berwick from Lancashire. "We couldn't get off the ship, and the weather was dreadful. It was too rough to go out on deck."

Many passengers complained of a delay in being told about itinerary changes.

"Had they given us the opportunity to get off in Florida, I would rather have gone home," explained an emotional Penny Freemantle. "I would rather have gone home than have gone through this nightmare."

'Whingeing poms'

The "nightmare" entailed the cancellation of scheduled stops in St Kitts, Barbados and Salvador de Bahia in Brazil. This followed a close-encounter with a sea wall in Florida - a collision which damaged one of the QM2's propellers.

Around 300 to 500 passengers were in a mutinous mood - they were threatening to have a sit-in in Rio and chain themselves to their beds Ted Staunton passenger

But with a theatre, fitness centre and casino among the on-board attractions, some passengers felt their fellow travellers were being ungrateful.

"They were whingeing poms," said Australian Terry Southerwood. "And there were a few whingeing Americans too."

Quayside in Rio, one man showed off camcorder footage of the voyage. A revealing snippet showed angry passengers haranguing Commodore Ronald Warwick, the Master of the QM2.

Rebellion in the air

Bearded and besieged, the experienced Commodore Warwick did his best to apologise. Despite their many complaints, most departing passengers described him as "a very nice man".

As far as everything else went, the trip was delightful Jack Gulick passenger

But nonetheless, as the ship approached the Brazilian coast there was rebellion in the air.

"Around 300 to 500 passengers were in a mutinous mood," explained Canadian cruiser Ted Staunton. "They were threatening to have a sit-in in Rio and chain themselves to their beds."

In the end, the bed-post protest was averted when the ship's operator, Cunard Line, offered all departing passengers a full refund, including airfares home. That was an improvement on the initial offer of a 50% refund.

"If they'd been smart they would have offered full refunds in the first place and got a lot of good PR," rued Jack Gulick from Princeton, New Jersey. "But as far as everything else went, the trip was delightful."