Queen Mary 2 mutiny ploy pays off for passengers

The threatened passenger mutiny aboard Cunard's Queen Mary 2, traveling at reduced speed subsequent to brushing the side of the shipping channel cruising from Ft. Lauderdale January 17 and breaking one of her four propulsion pods, has been averted.

Some passengers were dismayed that all three ports of call were skipped between Ft. Lauderdale and Rio de Janeiro after the incident, and found Cunard's initial offer of a 50% refund lacking. Having plenty of time onboard to organize their counterattack, these modern-day mutineers threatened to refuse to leave their staterooms and disembark on January 26 in Rio unless Cunard made a better offer.

In a move that showed Cunard the downside of providing ubiquitous satellite phone and Internet connectivity from the ship for passengers, the rebels managed, while enroute, to engage a British law firm to whip up publicity around a potential class-action lawsuit.

Cunard, undoubtedly calculating the cost of negative PR if the passengers made good on their threats, increased their refund offer from 50% to 100%, successfully mollifying the rebels and averting a showdown.