Latest Updates

26 January, 6 PM - Letter from Carol Marlow - Passengers booked on NYC to Rio to get 100% compensation including air fares. Passengers booked on Valparaiso or LA cruises to get full time at sea NYC to Rio pro rata compensation or a choice of discounted cruises to be taken before 2007.

HOPEFULLY, THIS WILL MEAN NO PROTESTS TOMORROW AIMED AT DELAYING THE DEPARTURE TIME.

Common sense has prevailed... at last!

More details later... I'm off to the casino to down a few G&T's with no fruit or veg LOL!

Carol, if you're reading this blog... Don't worry, be happy... it won't take us that long to run up our bar tab to cover any losses incurred on our ticket, you'll be back making money in no time (grin)

Jack & Ann

26 January - ABC Good Morning America Lead Item - Rebuttal Triggered by an Email sent to me today at 1:45 AM 

This Blog/Diary is laid out in chronological order (1st to last). Some of the day's events are left on the home page, while others have separate pages. If you get lost while browsing the site, just click anywhere inside the top banner image and you'll be returned to the home page.

15 Jan - Flight Over, Safely On Board, Made a Mess of the Panoramic Pictures.. 

17 & 18 Jan - Got really sunburned, won $40 in the casino and the ship's bust!

19 Jan, 3 AM - Ship's still bust and I can't get to sleep...

19 Jan - Finally underway at 6:30 am, no fanfare and no announcements as yet regarding changes to itinerary

19 Jan - Due to the lost sailing days, it's been announced (midday) that the port-of-calls, St. Kitts, Barbados and Salvador de Bahia have been cancelled. The QM2 will now take a straight run in to Rio. Obviously, there's a lot of angry passengers, so the compensation package will have to be very generous to mollify the more vocal complainers. 

20 Jan, 4:30 - Still on UK time (+5) and finding it impossible to get a full night's sleep.

Compensation
Details of the first offer of compensation have been released by Cunard. Essentially, passengers on the NYC - Rio trip have been offered a 50% refund after the cost of flights (and tax?) have been deducted from individual PAID FARES.

Passengers on 24 or 38 day cruises have been offered a 6 day pro-rata refund also after deducting flight costs etc. I guess Cunard regard the first two days as full value NYC to FL and the following 9 days to Rio as the number of days to apply the compensation offer, which is fair enough I guess, as that's the equivalent to 66%.

The Commodore held an open meeting yesterday at 1:30 for passengers to ask questions and air their grievances. I didn't attend (having a massage in the Canyon Ranch Spa at the time ;), but apparently he was given a very hard time by a couple of Aussie and American passengers who asked some very awkward questions about the incident. However, the poor chap had to revert to the "company line" and left much to speculation.

In my opinion the compensation package is about right, it'll be interesting to gage other responses later today. (update) MY OPINION HAS NOW CHANGED IN THE LIGHT OF FURTHER INFORMATION/SPECULATION THAT CUNARD/CARNIVAL KNEW THAT ALL PORT OF CALLS TO RIO HAD BEEN SCRAPPED PRIOR TO LEAVING FORT LAUDERDALE. THIS EFFECTIVELY TRAPPED ALL PASSENGERS ONBOARD, WHEN MANY MAY HAVE EXERCISED THEIR RIGHT TO LEAVE THE CRUISE AT FL AND CLAIM A FULL REFUND. (updated: 21 Jan, 00:01)

I just hope the entertainment improves or some original shows are performed, as they are basically the same as last year's cruise and once you've seen one rock opera... you've seen them all! (NOTE TO THE BBC WEB SITE THAT ONLY REPUBLISHED (without my permission) THIS PARAGRAPH: This criticism was made because of my taste in music and was in NO WAY meant to deride the dancer's and singer's performances and professionalism.)

20 Jan, 5:30 am - Starting 2nd breakfast of the day (had 4 yesterday), guess it'll be another day of endless food venues and alcohol outlets (smile).

Other passenger comments can be found at the Cruise Critic Bulletin Board.

20 Jan, 3 pm - Last night's cocktail party, very first art lesson and more on how people are reacting to the compensation offer.

20 Jan, 5:30 pm - Just got back from the pub quiz (lost again). Some of our team attended an impromptu meeting with the ship's Captain earlier today and discussed the compensation package, the FL departure issue and "what happens after Rio". From snippets of the type of questions asked that I've been able to gather together, it seems to have been quite a volatile meeting. As a direct result, an official meeting between Cunard and passengers is scheduled for tomorrow. Until then, I'm going to carry on eating...

20 Jan, 10 pm - I've updated the cruise calendar (right side links) with the latest 'post Rio' destination information included with the daily entertainment program for tomorrow. 

The atmosphere on board is getting very tense, many people are only now realising how they may have been "kidnapped" and forced to go on a 9 day sea cruise, because no option to disembark was given while in FL. It is suspected that Cunard/Carnival probably had already made the decision to scrap all port of calls FL to Rio.

Tomorrow's meeting at 1:30 pm will probably be oversubscribed, hope they put it on the ships TV. Until then, I'm going to carry on visiting ALL eating venues and alcohol outlets...

Ships clocks go forward one hour tonight, so that means I'll lose a hour of sleep, which will probably mean I'll be awake 25 hours in one day!

Strewth, roll on tomorrow's breakfasts 1, 2, 3 and 4 followed by lunch 1 &2, tea, dinner and midnight buffet!

<<<<message to my son>>>

Dave

32 corners came up on roulette tonight for the first time. The system bet covered all the corners of 32 and the centre with 1 dollar chips... paid out 67 dollars plus $5 dollar stake.... Ask Jack, after all, he does know best!

<<</message>>> 

21 Jan, 1 PM - Commodore's meeting with passengers to discuss the compensation package and changes to the itinerary post Rio. 

21 Jan Day's Summary: More Art Classes, Night in the Casino and "Revolting" Passengers Prepare to Sit-in at Rio.

22 Jan  Day's Summary: Contacted by Daily Telegraph, Invited to a Meeting in the Queen Elizabeth Suite

To my great surprise, I received the following email this morning:

>>Dear Jack,

I have been following your diary with interest and the Daily Telegraph is very keen to do a story on the situation aboard the QM2 for tomorrow's newspaper. I would be very grateful if you could give me a number on which you could be contacted, or if you could give me a call.
Many thanks in advance,
Amy Iggulden<<

Amy called my cabin telephone using the shore-to-ship satellite phone connection and asked for an interview. 

I told her there was no "Mutiny on the QM", but there is a lot of discontent and anger about the cavalier way Cunard/Carnival did not allow passengers to choose if they wanted to sail non stop to Rio or cancel the trip and claim a full refund. I offered to find out who the various spokespeople are for the international protest groups that have been formed.

Amy sounds like a very nice person and I hope she remembers that JackatSea.com is a personal blog/diary and does not necessarily represent the views of all passengers.

Anyway, I tracked down the leader of the US protest group and explained the situation. He invited me to an international protest coordination meeting held in and hosted by the passenger residing in the Queen Elizabeth Suite. About a dozen people from a variety of countries attended the meeting and it was quite a lively affair. It was decided to send the contact details of three spokespeople to Amy and wait on her response.

I didn't stay for the whole meeting because I had another pressing engagement (pub quiz & cocktail-of-the-day). On the way out I was given a short tour of the suite and all I can say is WOW! It's huge and very plush with fantastic panoramic views and loads of living space... that's the way I now aspire to travel! However, it'll probably take more than a few Google ads to achieve that kind of spending power (grin).

23 Jan, 2:10 AM - Received an inbound call direct to my cabin telephone from the Sydney Herald. 

After some not so gentle prodding, Ann got up and answered the phone. It seems the reporter was concerned that Aussies were not having a "fair go" to air their views, she also wanted to know how many Australian nationals might be involved in any protest action. Ann said "no comment, don't know", as we've only really spoken to 1 Aussies couple and that was to discuss roulette betting systems and the history of 32 Corners! Anyway, Ann has offered to pass on contact details for the Sydney Herald to any Aussie onboard who may wish to talk to a reporter.

After the call, I couldn't get back to sleep, so I went out on the balcony for some fresh air. The sound of the sea rushing by a few feet below is quite exhilarating especially at night. However, I was in for an even better experience. I just happened to glance up to the night sky and saw the start and end of the most magnificent shooting star display I've ever seen. It went on for about 10 seconds and was truly a most memorable sight.

Although I was slightly p####d off to be woken in the middle of the night, things turned out OK.

An email sent to me from a couple of passengers joining the ship in Rio:

Linda and Kathy, we'd be delighted to meet with you, maybe you could ask Kathy to bring a bag of (Texas) luck, 'cos that's the only way we'll win the pub quiz! (grin). Alternatively, I guess we could wait until after the quiz to indulge in the Cocktail of the Day (or three!).

See you in Rio, and I hope Cunard/Carnival get things sorted by then and avoid any unpleasantness.

23 Jan, 5:30 - Shameful Press Report, Up date on Protest and today's address to the passengers by the Commodore.

24 Jan Summary - Email Contact by BBC and ABC Good Morning America. Invited to a Champagne birthday dinner party and our FIRST Brazilian...

25 Jan - Preview: Worst hangover EVER. Art display and a short venture on to the sundeck (AKA - Fried Passenger Platform). 4:15 pm - Missed a telephone call from CBS, because I was down at the pub quiz "supping" (note: NOT sipping) the cocktail of the day! 

Jan 26 - Music Trivia a Great Way to Start the Day! Includes panoramic photo and question list.

26 January - ABC Good Morning America Lead Item - Rebuttal in Response to an Email sent to me today at 1:45 AM

More later...

This diary will be updated regularly (15th Jan to 22nd Feb 2006) and primarily it is intended to keep our family and friends informed about our progress during the voyage. Hopefully, we'll be able to publish some memorable pictures and descriptions from each port of call.

Other Internet users are welcome to read the pages and download pictures for their personal use. I would also encourage visitors to send recommendations of places to visit or tour companies to use at the various ports of call, based on their own experience or research.

Pre-voyage Research - Seeing What WE Want at the RIGHT Price!
Earlier this year we both enjoyed a ten day cruise around the Caribbean on board the Queen Mary 2 calling in at three Islands; St. Maarten, St. Thomas and St. Kitts. The ship offered organised excursions for each island and in the main, we were quite happy with our choices. However, the total cost of these excursions was just over $1,200. We both felt that with better research prior to the cruise, we would have selected different excursions or even arranged for a local guide/tour from the Internet and obtained better value for money.

The Queen Mary 2 is scheduled to call in at SIXTEEN ports during the New York to Los Angeles 2006 voyage. Follow the links in the "Voyage Calendar" to view my latest research for each port-of-call. During the voyage each of the port links will be updated with new information, pictures and descriptions of our onshore excursions.

Daily Cruise Diary of Onboard Events and Experiences
The QM2 has become famous for providing a varied onboard daily itinerary combining the very best in lectures, leisure and cuisine... and we intend to experience EVERYTHING! (smile).

Due to business commitments I will have to login to the Internet for around one hour each day. While online I plan to update these pages, probably not daily, but at least every other day. 

About Cunard and Queen Mary 2
There's absolutely no point in duplicating the information on Cunard's UK web site. Follow the link below for full ship details.

Queen Mary Home Page

Top Tip - don't miss this section of their web site.

Virtual Tours of the QM2
You'll need to have QuickTime installed or be prepared to download a 20mb program. In my opinion it's well worth the effort. All of the main areas of the ship are covered with high quality 360º panoramic viewpoints:

About Us
I'm fifty and Ann is "forty something", we've been married twenty six years and have four children. We live in Kings Clipstone, which is about five miles north of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire. I'm chairman and technical director of the family company and Ann is a school teacher. We both regard the forthcoming cruise as "timeout" from our normal lives and intend to make the very best of our time onboard the ship and at every port-of-call.

Contact Us
Fellow passengers or people with recommendations for port-of-call tours please use jackatsea@askjack.co.uk to send information. People with Skype enabled are more than welcome to call me username: "jackatsea".

Business Contact Details for My Current Client List
32 CORNERS Ltd
Sterling eConsultancy is a Division of 32 Corners Ltd
Mansfield Business Centre UK
Email: info@32corners.co.uk
SKYPEin No: 0044 121 288 1037 
(Calls are charged at normal UK landline rates, answer phone service)
SKYPE Username: "jackatsea" 
(Skype to Skype calls using the Internet are FREE from anywhere to anywhere in the world)
www.skype.com 

1st & 2nd Legs of Our Voyage/Adventure 'round the Horn

Blog/Diary Events 15 to 26 Jan 06 - New York to Rio de Janeiro
The pages recording the "Shenanigans" and controversy of the first leg of our voyage.

Blog/Diary Events 27 Jan to 7 Feb - Rio to Valparaiso
Happier times, great pictures, finally 'round the Horn, some funny stories along the way.

Blog/Diary Events 8 to 22 Feb - Valparaiso to Los Angeles
A sad tale of sickness and quarantine with some memorable tours and a "cunning plan"...

32 Corners Info Finance & Business: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8   9 - 10 - 11 - 12 - 13 - 14   Try Vicky's Articles: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 eCons Info Database: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 Food: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 Pets: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 Internet: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 Politics: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 Parents: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 Sport: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6

Disclaimer
Jack at Sea is a personal diary/blog and has absolutely NO business affiliation or official connection with Cunard other than being written by a passenger booked on the QM2 Around Americas Cruise 2006. All information is presented as-is with no warranties or guarantees of accuracy from links to other web sites.