Sea cruisers feared for their lives

**alphakitty** · 07-24-2007, 11:39 AM

Horrendous' is the word Wayne Harper uses to describe his recent cruise ship holiday.

The Papatoetoe man and his wife were among 1200 passengers on the P&O cruise ship Pacific Star recently battered by galeforce winds and 10-metre high waves after it left Auckland.

The couple had been looking forward to their holiday all year and treated themselves to accommodation with its own verandah on the top deck.

The ship left Princes Wharf on July 10 and set sail for an eight-night cruise of the South Pacific.

The couple enjoyed dinner at 6pm on the first night but by the time they got back to their stateroom, Mr Harper says the storm had well and truly begun.

A bottle of champagne that had been left for them on a dressing table had smashed on the ground as the sea began to swell.

The storm got worse as the night wore on. Mr Harper says the evening was terrifying.

"It was so bad that my wife and I thought that was it," he says.

Waves were coming over the bow and crashing over the front hull of the boat near the Harpers' cabin.

A large transmitter only metres away from their room was ripped off and their walk-in wardrobe was flooded with 3cm of water.

Some people moved to the promenade deck with blankets and pillows.

The wind was screaming, he says.

"You knew you were going up a wave because you'd be pinned into the bed and then it felt like you were dropping in a lift as you came down."

Luckily the couple have spent many hours on the water and weren't seasick but say they will never forget the carnage of the storm.

The boat was cracking and groaning all night in the storm that lasted a good 15 hours, he says.

Mr Harper says the P&O stewards were great in what were very trying conditions.

The boat made its way to Vanuatu and passengers were flown back to Auckland on specially chartered flights.

"Everyone started clapping when the plane touched down in Auckland. We were so happy to be home," he says.

The Harpers have been given a full refund and a 25 percent discount voucher for another cruise.

A second Pacific Star cruise was cancelled because the battered ship returned to Brisbane for repairs to its damaged hull.

**alphakitty** · 07-24-2007, 11:41 AM

And another take on this cruise:

Hell for some, a bonus for Diane

The Marlborough Express | Tuesday, 24 July 2007

The brief voyage of P&O Cruises' liner Pacific Star was called the cruise from hell by one passenger, but a Picton woman on the ship said the experience was a "bonus".

Diane Carver who returned home to Picton with husband Brian last Wednesday said the rough weather had not bothered her.

"I have been back and forth across Cook Strait often enough so I can handle rough weather," she said.

The cruise ship left Auckland on Tuesday, July 10 but it struck gale force winds that forced the remainder of the tour to be cancelled.

Some windows and external doors were damaged along with the ship's satellite equipment during the unusually bad weather so the ship berthed in Port Vila, Vanuatu. Passengers were progressively disembarked and stayed in the town to be flown back to Auckland over the next few days.

Diane said she had been aware of the rough weather, particularly about 2am, but she was unaware that televisions had flown around the place, as one passenger reported.

"I didn't see that or anyone panicking and the captain and crew couldn't do enough for us," she said. She did not see anyone being sick, although there were white bags around.

Diane enjoyed spending more time that she would have had in Vanuatu and the couple also got to see Noumea which they flew into but which was not on the original tour schedule.

A full refund is to be given to the 1200 passengers on the Pacific Star as well as a 25 percent credit on their next cruise in recognition of the difficult

circumstances.

Diane said this was a bonus and she might consider another trip, perhaps on P&O Cruises' new ship, Pacific Dawn, that she understood would begin operating later this year.