Cruise protest averted by full refunds

Passengers on the Queen Mary 2 today called off a planned sit-in to protest a last-minute itinerary shift after the cruise operator said it give passengers full refunds.

Passengers on the world’s largest and most expensive passenger liner, which arrived in Rio de Janeiro today, had threatened to protest against a decision by the Miami-based operator, Cunard, to cut stops in Barbados, St. Kitts and Salvador, Brazil, to make up for time lost due to a damaged motor.

The sit-in was called off after Cunard said it would fully refund passengers.

Cunard spokeswoman Julie Benson said passengers were being offered two options, either a full refund or 50% in cash and 70% in credits to be applied to future cruises.

An earlier offer of a 50% refund did little to placate the angry passengers.

Benson said the passengers who were continuing on past Rio would only be refunded for the New York-Rio leg, however.

The ship had left New York on January 15, carrying more than 2,500 passengers and was scheduled to arrive in Los Angeles on February 22.

Cunard said the company’s British-based managing director held meetings with passengers aboard the ship in the port of Rio de Janeiro this morning to discuss the refunds.

Passengers described a tense situation aboard the cruise liner.

“There were many meetings with the commodore and crew. One day they would say one thing and the next another, the atmosphere became a little tense, people were angry especially the Brazilians and the English passengers,” said Spanish passenger Francisco Durvan.

Others said only few of passengers were unhappy over the skipped stops.

“Well, most of us were happy and made the best of the bad situation,” said British passenger Julia Williams.

“But, there was a small minority, who were quiet aggressive to the Commodore, rude to him, and, you know? They got what they wanted in the end but it made for an unpleasant atmosphere for them. I don’t think that they enjoyed their tour at all.”

The British-flagged ship was delayed after one of its four propulsion motors was damaged in an accident in a Florida shipping channel.

Cunard is owned by Miami-based Carnival Corp, the world’s largest cruise operator.