| dd/mm/yy |
Ship |
2009 |
Incident |
| 4.12.09 | Queen Victoria | From a passenger: Have just been informed by Cunard that the upcoming Winter Wonderland cruise next week will not be calling at Copenhagen, due to risks of on shore riots during the World Climate Change Conference. We shall be calling at Amsterdam instead. | Itinerary change |
| 4.12.09 | Queen Victoria | The Sunday Mail reports on a lawsuit in which a couple was awarded £60,000 as a result of disappointment on a cruise -- the metal floor underneath them began to flex loudly in high seas, creating an unbearable racket that kept them awake. The couple sailed from Southampton on the ship's 15-week maiden voyage in January 2009 and hit heavy seas in the Bay of Biscay when the floor began to flex loudly. They were offered an alternative cabin for the New York to Los Angeles leg then upgraded to a 'penthouse suite', complete with a butler. But they 'could not unpack' and relax as they didn't know when the couple who booked the suite would be joining the cruise, the court heard. They returned to their original cabin only to face the noise once more and were offered a mid-range suite which they rejected as it ' didn't feel right'. By now, the experience had left them feeling like 'gipsies' so they disembarked in Honolulu, Hawaii and spent six weeks in a luxury hotel before returning home on the Queen Elizabeth II. They were refunded £48,240 of the £59,052, cruise cost and pursued a damages case. A judge at Bradford county court awarded them £22,000, of which £15,000 was for 'distress and disappointment'. The cruise line said the award was likely to encourage speculative court action and the correct level was between £2,000 and £3,000. Judgment was reserved. | Law suit |
| 2.10.09 | Queen Victoria | The Halifax Chronicle reports the captain abruptly ended a press conference when asked, “How environmentally friendly is this vessel?" The newspaper article says he literally went off the deep end.“I’m not even going to go there. No," he snapped. He muttered a few more words and walked off in a huff. A few metres away he turned and said with disdain, “You should know better than that!" In a flash he was gone. No explanation. No apology to the other media people taken off guard by the response and obviously somewhat embarrassed. The obvious question: what information did he not want to give? | Environmental |
| 16.9.09 | Queen Victoria | The Gibraltar Chronicle reports some passengers were not amused yesterday when they found they had not docked as expected. Instead, the Independence of the Seas had docked. One Yorkshireman aboard called the Chronicle from his mobile and pointed to the fact that some elderly and disabled passengers were not able to come on shore aboard the tenders, especially with choppy seas. A spokesman for MH Bland, the agents, however, said that the ship had been given the option to dock alongside an inside section of the quay but had decided against this. | Changed berthing |
| 22.7.09 | Queen Mary 2 | Cruising
Talk reports the ship broke mooring lines during gale force winds,
which were said to reach
force 10, at Zeebrugge yesterday.
Three tugs were nearby and helped her in berthing again.
The ship was reported as having some damage to her stern and was about
four
hours late in sailing, due to the damage, while a survey was carried
out. |
Breaks mooring lines |
| dd/mm/yy |
Ship |
2008 |
Incident |
| 11.11.08 |
QE2 | The ship ran aground as she came into her home port to make
her final call. It touched the bottom at the Brambles sandbank near
Calshot, Southampton, with three tugs attached to her stern. A
spokesman for Solent Coastguard said they were alerted to the
70,000-tonne ship being aground at the entrance of Southampton Water at
5.26am today. Five tugs were sent out to assist her getting off the
sandbank, he added, and she was pulled off just before 6.10am. The ship
leaves Southampton for its final voyage later today. |
Aground |
| 29.10.08 |
Queen Mary 2 | The
Mirror reports a crewman was arrested last night after strangling
his girlfriend in his cabin. Police said the victim, 32, was his boss
and had ended the relationship. "He was drunk and didn't like what he
heard," they said. The liner, in Hamburg, Germany, for repairs, is now
a crime scene. A post-mortem will be held on the victim, who is from
the Philippines, today while her suspected Filipino killer, 38, appears
in court. The USA
Today subsequently reported that "Media reports that a crew member
died are false, Cunard spokesman Brian O'Connor tells USA TODAY. But
"Cunard can confirm that there was a domestic incident between two crew
members." O'Connor says the the crew member detained by German police
has since been released. |
Crew on Crew murder?? |
| 26.9.08 |
QE2 | High winds (30 - 35 kms/hour) caused the ship to skip its
port call at St. John's, Newfoundland. The ship had been scheduled to
drop anchor at Foxtrap (Conception Bay South) and tender passengers
ashore. |
Missed port |
| 15.08.08 |
Queen Mary 2 | There are reports the ship lost all power at 1:30AM this
morning on its transatlantic run. She regained power about an
hour later but is running slower than normal at 18 knots. No
announcement has been made as yet regarding New York arrival, if
delayed or not. |
Loss of power |
| 14.5.08 |
Queen Victoria |
The ship, on its maiden call in Malta, hit the quay of the
Valletta Waterfront, denting the stern of the ship. The unofficial
reason for the incident is that the throttles of the 90,000 tonnes
luxury liner got stuck. In a statement later in the evening the Malta
Maritime Authority officially attributed the incident
to a mechanical failure in the ship. Carnival Corporation Chairman and
CEO, Micky Arison, was onboard the ship when the accident happened. The
ship remained in port for repairs and left the following day, having to
cancel its port call in Tunisia. Carnival Corporation is reported to be
considering a lawsuit against the port because a Maltese pilot was
steering the ship at the time; the local government claims the accident
was the result of a mechanical failure on the ship and is the fault of
the cruise line. Investigations continue. |
Collision with pier |
| dd/mm/yy |
Ship |
2007 |
Incident |
| 27.12.07 |
Queen Mary 2 | The Daily Mirror reports a man was thrown off a Christmas cruise in the Caribbean after he was involved in a fight; he had to leave his daughter of nine with his parents onboard. He also had to pay for his flight back from the British Virgin Islands. But he claimed he was only defending himself from a stranger's attack. He said: "I was the victim and for that I was thrown off the ship." Cunard said: "Two guests were disembarked. The circumstances are being investigated." | Passengers offloaded |
| 15.12.07 |
QE II |
A cross-channel ferry narrowly avoided a collision with the QE2. P&O Ferries Pride of Kent had to slam on the breaks when the cruise liner failed to give way at sea off the Dover coast and sailed into the passenger ferry's path. A subsequent investigation said the QE2 was required to give way; when it became apparent that no avoiding action was being taken by the QE2, Pride of Kent reduced speed and allowed the ship to pass 0.6 mile ahead. | Near-miss of collision |
| 8.9.07 |
QE II |
The ship set sail today following a 24 hour delay in
Dubrovnik caused by a mechanical fault. The ship was mid-way
through a two week cruise of the Mediterranean. The round trip
cruise from Southampton began August 31 and will disembark September
15. |
Mechanical problems -- Delayed in port |
| 1.5.07 |
Queen Mary 2 |
A woman secured over £3,000 compensation
after an anniversary cruise on the Queen Mary 2 turned into a
nightmare. In May 2006 she was on
board the ship with her husband to celebrate their wedding
anniversary, traveling from Southampton to Norway. Whilst
taking in the sights on her balcony one morning, a sheet of glass fell
down towards her from a deck above. The glass missed her by inches but
caused her to fall backwards to the ground, injuring her right wrist
and right side. She explains: "I'd never been on a cruise
before and I was frightened by what happened. Whilst having rooms
with
a private balcony on the first morning on board I decided to go outside
to take in the sights. Out there it all happened very
quickly and I
saw something like a blue sheet coming towards me from above. I
moved
back to try and avoid it because if I hadn’t the glass would have hit
me. See
here for more information. |
Personal injury suit |
| dd/mm/yy |
Ship |
2006 |
Incident |
| 31.12.06 |
QE II |
A 62-year-old female passenger from Germany, traveling
with her husband on a 16 day
Christmas / New Year's cruise from Southampton (London), was reported
missing this morning while the vessel was traveling between Madeira and
Southampton. A search of the ship and surrounding waters
proved unsuccessful. The ship is due back to Southampton January
2. Website for missing
person -- appealing to passengers or crew on this cruise. |
Passenger Missing |
| 6.12.06 |
Queen Mary 2 |
From a passenger: Leaving Barbados, we were advised that a door on one of the bow thrusters was malfunctioning, and we could only make 18 knots. We arrived in St. Kits 4 hours late, and a team from Miami flew in with divers to repair. We were treated to a party on deck before arriving in St. Kits, with free drinks as compensation. Divers apparently cleared the damage, and we left St. Kits on time and the rest of the cruise was on schedule. FYI, we were 3-4 hours delayed (2 December) in embarkation boarding due to immigration (?) or computer problems. Never did get the correct story, and ship left 2 hours late. Restaurants onboard closed at the regular time that day, leaving many late boarding guests with little or no food until dinner. | Mechanical problem |
| 13.7.06 |
QE II |
From a
passenger: We were on the QE2
Iceland/Norway cruise. One evening out in the North Sea we were
caught with a following sea and for a short time the wind beam
on. The result a 5 degree roll on top of a 5 degree list that
lasted 20-30 minutes -- the
video clip shows the result. The rolls were very smooth and very
controlled. I've seen the old girl rolling further but the list
was more than I have seen before. Needless to say no damage was
caused and everything carried on as normal. See video by
clicking here. |
Minor List |
| 13.5.06 |
Queen Mary 2 |
A 40-year old crew member died after a fight with a 49-year
old crew member. Both men are Filipino. The assailant was
confined to his cabin and investigations begun. |
Crew Fight - Death |
| 2.5.06 |
QE II |
Transport Canada confirmed the
ship had discharged 3,000 litres if what crew described as "paper pulp
in Canadian waters off Cape Breton on September 9, 2005.
Investigators say it is unclear what was dumped, but there was some
speculation it was primarily toilet paper. |
Environmental |
| 14.2.06 |
Queen Mary 2 |
Cunard announced two sailing would be cancelled so a
propeller pod problem can be repaired. A 12 day Mediterranean
cruise in May will be replaced with a six day Norwegian fjords voyage,
and a seven night Caribbean cruise in November has been cancelled
. The propulsion problem has affected other schedules.
According to a passenger who is on a Rio to New York cruise in April
(as reported in the Miami Herald), "I sought assurances from Cunard
that my cruise would proceed as scheduled, and was told there were no
problems. I made my final payment last week. I now find
that visits to Salvador in Brazil and Fort Lauderdale have been
cancelled and St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands substituted." |
Cancellations / Itinerary changes |
| 22.1.06 |
Queen Mary 2 |
The BBC
reports that passengers have threatened mutiny over the dropping of
three port calls on the voyage from Fort Lauderdale to Rio. They
complain that they weren't told of the schedule change (dropping of all
port calls) until after the ship left for Rio and that they should have
been given the option to not take the cruise. Some passengers
threatened to refuse to disembark when the ship arrives in Rio.
At the same time, More than
200 passengers joined in joint litigation (class action suit) against
Cunard. Shortly after an announcement on January 26 that the
ship would arrive in Rio 22 hours later than scheduled, and likely in
view of widespread media attention and negative publicity along with
the planned legal action, Cunard capitulated and offered passengers a
full refund for the cruise and airfare. Threat of a class action
suit was dropped. |
Threatened Mutiny --- Class Action --- Line Capitulates |
| 17.1.06 |
Queen Mary 2 |
The ship returned to Fort Lauderdale shortly after leaving
port for a 38-day trip around South America and ending in San
Francisco.
The ship departed shortly after 1 PM but soon returned because
something felt wrong with one of the azipods (propulsion units).
An investigation revealed that the ship touched some sort of
submerged object and one of the four motor pods was damaged.
The ship left 41 hours later than its initial departure and will
operate on 3 rather than 4 motors (meaning reduced speeds. The
first segment of the
cruise,which began in New York and for which Fort Lauderdale was an
unscheduled stop, will skip its port calls in
St. Kitts, Barbados, and Salvador in order to end
in Rio on January 27.
Passengers on the first segment will receive a 50% refund; those
continuing on the second and final segment ending in Los Angeles will
receive a six-day pro-rata refund. |
Engine problems --- Delay |
| dd/mm/yy |
Ship |
2005 |
Incident |
| 27.6.05 |
QEII |
More than 200 passengers have signed a petition protesting a
decision to anchor nearly three miles away from Tuesday's fleet review
that are part of Trafalgar 200 events. Passengers claim brochures
promised the ship would be "at the heart and soul" of the festivities
-- Cunard says the "slight change" in location was to accommodate the
increase in the number of vessels taking part in the fleet
review. Read details here. |
Disappointed passengers |
| 30.5.05 |
QEII |
British media report that police are investigating a woman's
claim that she was sexually assaulted aboard the cruise ship on May
25. A 25-year-old crew member was arrested in connection with the
allegation. |
Sexual Assault |
| 19.4.05 |
Queen Mary 2 |
An 82 year old German passenger jumped overboard into the
icy waters of the North Atlantic off Newfoundland's Grand Bank sometime
in the evening. This is the second suicide this year on the Queen
Mary -- the first was in January when a US passenger killed himself
while on a Caribbean cruise (further details on the latter case are not
available). |
Passenger overboard - Suicide |
| 14.4.05 |
QEII |
One of three tapestries commissioned by Cunard in 1969 was
reportedly thrown overboard by crew members. In addition, another
tapestry was damaged and crew toilets were vandalized. Three crew
members were arrested when the ship docked in Southampton April 16. |
Vandalism |
| 12.2.05 |
QEII |
12 passengers arriving for a segment of the world cruise
were "bumped" because the ship was overbooked. Passenger bumped
were transferred instead to the Sapphire Princess for a cruise to New
Zealand. |
Overbooked |
| 1.1.05 |
QEII |
According to passengers aboard QE2, the liner lost power in the early hours of New Year's Day while on her Christmas Cruise. Without power there is no propulsion, ventilation, lighting or water. Apparently, the ship drifted in this state for about an hour before power was restored. | Power loss |
| dd/mm/yy |
Ship |
2004 |
Incident |
| 25.6.04 |
Queen Mary 2 |
A
BBC investigation led the
UK's Maritime and Coastguard Agency to warn Carnival Corporation that
panels in 900 of the bathrooms "do not fully meet fire regulation
standards."
The ship was fitted with 1300 additional smoke alarms and there
are
plans to install sprinklers in the bathrooms. |
Noncompliance
with Fire Standards |
| 11-19.6.04 |
Queen Mary 2 |
I received the following from a passenger: There was a man overboard incident during the Caribbean cruise from 6-11 to 6-19-04; the rumor aboard was that it was a suicide. There was also a delay in St Thomas because they did not have the "paperwork" in order with the USCG. This delayed disembarkation more than 3 hours. | Man Overboard Delay |
| 1.6.04 |
Caronia (1) |
A
passenger reported that the
ship "suffered a total power failure following a leak from a
swimming pool
that took out the main electric board. Drifted for approximately
2
hours before partial power restored. Incident caused delay
resulting in revised itinerary. No reports of injury (well none
mentioned to passengers)." |
Power failure |
| 12.4.04 |
Queen Mary 2 |
The ship arrived in Southampton, at the end of its second transatlantic cruise, 3.5 hours late. The ship was delayed in Lisbon while a problem with a door over a bow thruster was repaired. It was unable to make up the time from Lisbon to England because one of the back-up engine turbines had not been working properly since the start of the trip. | Delayed arrival |
| 6.4.04 |
Queen Mary 2 |
The ship encountered gale fore 12 winds and 70 foot seas on its maiden transAtlantic crossing. Click here for photos. | Heavy Seas |
| dd/mm/yy |
Ship |
2003 |
Incident |
| 15.11.03 |
Queen Mary 2 |
Fifteen
people died on Saturday when a dockside gangway to
the Queen Mary 2 collapsed at Saint-Nazaire in western France. As up to
50 visitors were walking onto the liner across a gangway, the structure
collapsed under them, injuring about 32 people, 12 of them seriously |
Accident |
| 12.3.03 |
Caronia |
Three
passengers arrested
after British police seized 20 kilograms (44 pounds) of cocaine
found in luggage. The seizure in Southampton had a street value
of US$1.8 million |
Drug bust |
| dd/mm/yy |
Ship |
2002 |
Incident |
| 27.6.02 |
QE II |
Two workers airlifted (from 250 miles southwest of Ireland) after they were blasted with scalding steam from a faulty boiler valve. See: Report of the Escape of Steam and Hot Water on Board QE2 in the mid Atlantic Resulting in one Fatality on 23 June 2002 , Marine Accident Investigation Branch Report 17/2003 | Workers injured |
| 24.5.02 | QE II |
Departure
delayed from NYC because of a leak in a condenser.
Departs more than 13 hours late. Arrival in England expected to
be on schedule. |
Delayed departure |
| 21.5.02 |
QE II |
A large sea water leak was discovered in the aft engine room, caused by the perforation (by corrosion) of a sea water inlet pipe. The leak was stopped after several efforts (over 36 hours), but not before several hundred tones of sea water had to be pumped overboard so that workers could get at the leaking pipe in the engine room (which was submerged by water from the leak). For additional details see Report of Investigation into Flooding of Aft Engine Room of Passenger Ship Queen Elizabeth 2, 21/22 May 2002, Marine Accident Investigation Branch Report 9/2003 | Flooding
of Aft Engine
Room |
| 23.2.02 | Caronia |
Detained and fined by Brazilian authorities after nearly 8000 gallons of heavy fuel oil spilled into Guanabara Bay near Rio de Janeiro. Departure delayed one day and ship fined $410,000. | Environmental |
| dd/mm/yy |
Ship |
2001 |
Incident |
| 22.7.01 |
QE II | A 28 year old crew member (reportedly a chef) went overboard
while the ship was 95 miles off the south west coast of Ireland |
Passenger
overboard |
| 5.4.96 |
Royal Viking Sun |
The ship was holed as it struck
a coral reef in the Gulf of Aquaba. Passengers were evacuated and
sent home. The ship was detained by the Egyptian Government and
fined $23.5 million. |
Grounded - Holed |
| 7.8.92 |
QE II |
Grounding of the United Kingdom Passenger Vessel RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 Near Cuttyhunk Island Vineyard Sound, Massachusetts August 7, 1992. (NTSB Report Number: MAR-93-01) | Grounded |
| dd/mm/yy |
Ship |
2009 |
| 19.3.09 | Queen Mary 2 | From a passenger: We are currently on the QM2 World Cruise and the ship is in semi-lockdown with Norovirus. no idea of the numbers but the crew are going all out to contain it. |
| dd/mm/yy |
Ship |
2007 |
| 30.12.07 |
Queen Victoria |
The
British media reports 80 passengers (4%) onboard the ship's 16-day
Christmas/New Year's cruise have contracted norovirus and are
quarantined in their cabins. The ship left London December 21 and
returns January 6. This is the ship's second cruise after being
christened in early December. Passengers have dubbed the trip as the
"cruise from hell" after complaining about poor room service, blocked
toilets, a lack of Christmas decorations, cold food, and extra charges
for tea and coffee. |
| 12.1.07 |
QE II |
The ship reported that 10 of 1002 (1.0%) crew and 136 of 1652 (8.23%) passengers had reported ill on the 8 - 22 January cruise from New York to Los Angeles. Symptoms were consistent with gastrointestinal illness (e.g., norovirus). Update January 15: 22 of 1002 (2.2%) crew and 243 of 1652 (14.71%) passengers reported ill. Update January 22: 28 of 1022 (2.79%) crew and 276 of 1652 (16.71%) passengers reported ill. |
| dd/mm/yy |
Ship |
2006 and earlier |
| 27.2.06 |
Queen Mary 2 |
Centres for Disease Control report that an elevated number of Queen Mary 2 passengers and crew were experiencing symptoms consistent with acute gastroenteritis. On February 22, the ship’s medical staff reported that 31 of 1271 (2.44%) crew were ill and 86 of 2498 (3.44%) passengers were ill. The predominant symptom was diarrhea. The 14 day voyage concluded on February 22, 2006, (sailing dates: 02/08/2006-02/22/2006) in Los Angeles, CA. |
| 6.3.04 |
Queen Mary 2 |
The
ship reported that 33 passengers (1.35%) and 55 crew (4.07%) were ill
with symptoms consistent with Norovirus. The CDC posted this
information on its website on March 17th, which is twelve days after
the ship had docked in Fort Lauderdale (from Sint Maarten); 19 days
after it was first alerted that an unusual number of passengers and
crew had reported being ill. |
| 25.2.04 |
QE II |
The
ship, on a world cruise, reported five days after
leaving Sydney, Australia for Guam that 82 passengers and 24 crew had
reported gastrointestinal illness likely caused by Norovirus. |
| 19.1.04 |
QE II |
29
passengers (1.86%) and
46 crew (4.56%) reported gastrointestinal illness suspected to be
caused by Norwalk-like virus. The twelve day cruise ended in Los
Angeles on January 19. |
| 18.1.03 |
QE II |
Outbreak investigation by CDC for gastrointestinal disease caused by Norwalk-like virus -- 75 passengers (4.52%) and 19 crew (1.96%) |
| 30.4.02 |
Caronia |
45 passengers (6.67%) and 2 crew
(.51%) reported ill on the cruise running April 18-30. |
| 24.3-
5.4.02 |
Caronia |
225
passengers (and at least 15 crew) reported symptoms of
gastroenteritis. An investigation determined the cause to be e
coli from water bunkered at Guatemala. It was ingested with
water and ice cubes made from the water. See CDC
for more information. |
| 11.3 - 29.3.01 |
Caronia |
78 passengers (19.35%) and 44 crew members (11.58%) reported
ill -- norovirus. |