kiwijohn

8 passengers were rescued from Wellington Harbour this afternoon by the police when their kayaks overturned.

They were safely returned to the ship

THe food on the Queen Mary 1 berthed at Long Beach is mediocre but I stayed on board for the experience only

I did a transPacific cruise on Volendam in2015 and we left from the Carnival Pier at Longbeach so stayed one night on the Queen Mary which is just a walk away from the Carnival Pier

I have done this cruise many times and suggest that port side when coming from Australia is best as most of the coast is on this side.

My first cruise was on "ss Nevasa" on a Mediterranean cruise in 1969. She was a Briish India Ship formerly a troop ship with really spartan accommodation. She was used to take British schoolchildren and teachers cruising but carried a few adult passengers as well.

I bought the CCL shares listed on the London exchange. They seem to be more stable compared to the US listed shares and secondly more Aussies and Kiwis still have UK bank accounts from their OE days where dividends can be paid into each quarter..

The medical expenses and other related expenses of all people including tourists in New Zealand injured by accident are covered by the Accident Compensation Corporation. Of course this does not cover medical evacuation to places outside the country. This also means that injured people cannot sue the person or persons causing the accident in New Zealand. All companies in New Zealand and all vehicle owners have to contribute to the scheme.

A bus carrying 32 people from Celebrity Solitice collided with a car and crashed down steep wooded hillside while returning from Christchurch to Akaroa at 5pm tonight. 20 people were injured, 7 seriously and were taken to Christchurch Hospital. People had to clamber out of broken windows to get out. Celebrity Solitice has been delayed in Akaroa.

Cadburys have been their own worst enemy when they put palm oil into their chocolate against huge opposition from environmentalists and were forced to get rid of palm oil eventually. In New Zealand Whittakers chocolate from Porirua is the market leader because it is of better quality..

NSWP I understand Cadbury's are moving the Dunedin production to Melbourne.

Cadbury's have announced that they will close their Dunedin factory next year with a loss of 350 jobs. However the good news is that they hope to keep the Cadbury World Tourist attraction open but will confirm this later. Many cruisers visit the factory and Cadbury's World when they visit Dunedin. Also at stake is the "Jaffa" rolling down the world's steepest street Baldwin Street in Dunedin which is held annually

The other ship at the adjacent wharf was a cement carrier "Milburn Carrier II" No one was injured.

The Seabourn Encore has been damaged in Timaru Port today when her moorings parted in high wind and she collided with another ship. She is being held in port while an investigation is being carried out. She is a brand new ship on her maiden voyage.

Wikipedia reports the Star was out of action in April 2015 for two weeks due to Azipod problems and her departure was delayed in a cruise out of Singapore in December 2016 due to the same problems so it looks as though the present problems were waiting to happen

It has just been reported that a crew member has died when a a gas bottle exploded on board Emerald Princess at 5pm tonight in Port Chalmers. A Carnival spokesperson said the "person killed was doing work on the hydraulic launch system of tender vessels". The ship has been delayed while investigations are carried out. How safe are gas bottles on board HAL ships???

A fantastic video. I was with you on Volendam in 2011 when we diverted to Russia and visited those two awful ports Vladivostock and Petropavlosk, the latter was a terrible place full of rubbish and melting snow. The trip across the Bering Sea wasn't exactly smooth but Alaska made up for it. I look forward to more of your videos. I will be joining Volendam in March for another Asian cruise. John

Maasdam is at last berthed at Aotea Quay, Wellington on a beautiful sunny day. I am sure the passengers will be glad to get off after missing two ports

I have just looked up the Maasdam's position and she is sailing at 10.2 knots off Riversdale Beach, Wairarapa so she is obviously missing Picton today and maybe she will head back to Wellington where she is supposed to be tomorrow.

Thanks Dave for your excellent reports. I join Maasdam on Friday for a trip across the ditch to Sydney. This will be my first on an S class ship and I am looking forward to it. Sorry you didn't visit our shaky isles. John

A number of people who are deaf have hearing dogs to warn them of danger. These people could be perfectly mobile and have good eyesight. These kind of dogs are allowed on public transport

kiwijohn,

 

If you know, was there damage to Wellington Museum or Te Papa? I most certainly hope not!

Both museums are closed today for inspection of the buildings but there have been no reports of damage

I live in Wellington. The 7.5 earthquake occurred just after midnight last night - really scary. The CBD is closed, hotels are evacuated, schools and universities closed, no interisland ferries running, all trains and buses cancelled and people urged to stay at home today. The CBD and port have suffered damage due to fact part is on reclaimed land. No danger from tsunami now. As the cruise season is just starting I don't know what effect the earthquake will have.

I wish important announcements and Captains announcements could be repeated on a TV channel with captions. Maybe those with iPads or iPhones or other mobile phones could tune in to a shipboard message system and receive important announcements relayed in caption form. The technology exists now. I have a severe hearing loss caused by military service in the Vietnam war and I cannot hear important announcements over the ship's speaker system and I believe this is a safely issue because I travel alone.

As I live at the bottom of the world (New Zealand) we are used to flying long distances to go anywhere to join a cruise except Australia. About 22 hours flying time to Fort Lauderdale and 26 hours to Southampton and we generally arrive the same day that we depart due to time differences.

My first cruise was in 1970 on the "SS Nevasa" a British India ship which cruised round the Mediterranean. She carried groups of British schoolchildren on cruises and a few adults were allowed on board as well. She was a former troop carrier.