New York is Cancelled for Cunard’s Queen Mary 2 as Ship Remains in Barbados

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Guests on the current Queen Mary 2 voyage have been informed that the scheduled call in New York will no longer take place due to the vessel waiting for essential crew members to join the ship in Barbados.

Port of Call Cancelled for Queen Mary 2

Cunard Line’s Queen Mary 2 will no longer be making its scheduled visit to New York on January 3, 2022, due to the Omicron variant and a strain on resources.

Queen Mary 2 will now remain docked in Barbados until the evening of January 2, 2022. The visit to New York has to be cancelled to make sure the ship arrives back in the UK on time on January 10, 2022. It comes as the Cunard vessel has to wait for additional essential crew members to join the ship for the long journey home back across the Atlantic just as a precaution.

When the vessel first arrived in New York on December 10, 2021, there were confirmed cases onboard which amounted to 0.7% of the ship’s capacity. Guests were being isolated and did disembark the ship to quarantine in a local hotel.

In a letter sent to guests on board on December 28 from Captain Andrew Hall, it said: “Having spoken to the relevant authorities and to our head offices in Miami and in Southampton about our long onward itinerary we have concluded, that as a precautionary measure, we will need to take on additional manning in essential roles onboard before we continue our voyage back to the UK. Given the current international travel situation this will take a few days so we will remain here in Barbados until the new crew members can join.”

Queen Mary 2 in New York
Photo Credit: Belikova Oksana / Shutterstock

The iconic ocean liner is currently on a 28-day Caribbean cruise that departed Southampton in the UK on December 13, 2021. The voyage could have also been broken up with guests embarking in Southampton and disembarking in New York rather than doing the round-trip. It’s resulted in some guests needing to change their travel arrangements to get back to New York.

The letter goes on to say, “As per my broadcast, our focus now is making sure that for those guests due to disembark on January 3 in New York, the onward journey home is as smooth and easy as possible, and we will assist in making these arrangements. We are looking at flight options for you, and we will be in contact directly with exact details and confirmation.”

Guests may face some amended services on board during the voyage back to Southampton, and guests can remain on the vessel while it awaits for the additional crew members to join in Barbados.

Compensation Being Offered

With New York no longer on the itinerary, guests are being compensated to make up for it. The cruise line is offering an enhanced 125% Future Cruise Credit depending on the number of days sailed.

Queen Mary 2 Cruise Ship
Photo Credit: NAN728 / Shutterstock.com

The credit can be used for any new sailing that is booked before December 31, 2023, for any sailing that is on sale at that time. Guests can also request a full refund if the Future Cruise Credit is no interest to them.

Worrying Times for Cruises Due to Omicron

Even though cruise lines have strict protocols to deal with positive cases onboard, multiple ports have recently denied cruise ships to protect their citizens.

Royal Caribbean, Carnival Cruise Line, and Holland America ships have been denied entry at some ports in the Caribbean and Mexico. Puerto Rico recently tightened its entry requirements for cruise passengers resulting in further cancellations.

Queen Mary 2 is one of the most iconic ships in the world and the only one of her class at just over 149,000 gross tons and a guest capacity of over 2,600 and 1,200 international crew members. The ocean liner was the largest in the world when she entered service in 2004.

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