Mutiny at Sea?

Jan. 25, 2006— -- Passengers of the world's largest and most luxurious cruise ship are threatening a sit-in after mechanical failures altered their travel plans.

The Queen Mary 2 left New York on Jan. 15, carrying more than 2,500 passengers. Three days later, it hit the side of a Florida shipping channel, damaging a motor and reducing speed. To make up for lost time spent fixing the problem in Fort Lauderdale, the cruise cut stops in Barbados, St. Kitts and Salvador, Brazil.

Some passengers are furious.

"It can best be described as very ugly, a lot of acrimony," said passenger Peter Normancon.

The ship is currently in the middle of a six-day journey at sea, straight to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

"It's a complete fiasco," said passenger Patricia Lewis. "It's nothing more than a ferry ride. We are sitting here and as we speak, I'm looking at the balcony and I see sea and more sea."

Cunard is offering 1,000 passengers who had been scheduled to disembark in Rio de Janeiro a 50 percent refund. That does not cover airfare charges for passengers who have to change their flight because the ship is arriving in Rio de Janeiro on Thursday, a day late.

Not everyone is happy with the offer.

"We used our life savings, and it's just … it's just a holiday of a lifetime, it is a dream and now it is a nightmare," passenger Sandra Ashton said. "I just want to get off the boat. I hate it."

"The main issue I have is the arrogant, aloof attitude taken by Cunard toward the passengers," Normancon said. "They're really acting like a colonial power dealing with a bunch of natives."

Carol Marlow, president of Cunard Line, said the company had made amends.

"We have done, obviously, all we can in terms of trying to compensate them for the lost time and also to give them a great time while they are onboard," she said.

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