Pacific Star

[rockie]

Has anyone heard how they are faring. I believe they left Auckland yesterday in the middle of our cyclone. We have been without power for a day and it could be two more days before it comes back on where we live. Power lines and trees down all round our neighbourhood. I have to come into town to daughters place to get my internet fix.

[LouLou28]

Checked out the web-cam yesterday afternoon after she sailed - and it did look rough! (My stomach lurched just looking at the still picture!!)

 

They look like they are in much calmer seas today on the web-cam! :)

[karmac]

Has anyone heard how they are faring. I believe they left Auckland yesterday in the middle of our cyclone. We have been without power for a day and it could be two more days before it comes back on where we live. Power lines and trees down all round our neighbourhood. I have to come into town to daughters place to get my internet fix.

 

I was about to ask "if you don't have power how did you post this?" You answered my question:p . Anyway, hope all is back to normal soon.

 

Karen

[Chivalrygirl]

I can't believe they took that ship out to sea. They must have had the most horrendous experience and I would almost guarantee that the folk on that ship will probably never ever go to sea ever again. That was just down rate stupidity on the part of P & O Australia.

 

As reported in the NZ Herald this morning, lots of damage to the ship, lost their satelitte tower and as for the passengers, my god. 10 metre waves, does not bear thinking about.

 

So what do they give the passengers, $100 voucers and no medical charges for the 48 hours of the cyclone.

 

You know thinking about how bad this was, people still do not have their power on and might have to wait for it over the weekend as well. Even in my senior years I don't remember anything like this before. Once in 150 years they are telling us hmmmmm interesting eh!

[MsMinx]

I watched it leave Auckland the other day and thought it looked pretty rough, but I didn't realise it was that bad! OMG 10m waves!! I don't think I could've handled it. $100 and free medical for 48 hours wouldn't cut it for me. But I guess they're stuck between a rock and a hard place. If they go they risk the passengers complaining about the rough ride, if they stay they risk the passengers complaining about the delay (and the passengers on the next cruise complaining about being delayed too). I guess the captain wouldn't have gone if he felt it wasn't safe though. Maybe he thought it would be less choppy further out at sea?? Hopefully the passengers on her are all enjoying themselves now though :)

[Kiwi Kruzer]

The NZ Herald is calling it

Dream cruise to Vanuatu turns to 'holiday from hell'

here is the article

 

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1/story.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10451304

 

Dream cruise to Vanuatu turns to 'holiday from hell'

5:00AM Friday July 13, 2007

By Eloise Gibson

Passengers on a Pacific Star cruise were so ill as the ship was battered by storms off Auckland that they have been given free doctors' visits and $100 vouchers.

 

About 1000 passengers left Auckland on Tuesday for an eight-night cruise and were hit by the atrocious conditions.

 

People on board reported passengers being sick and damage to the boat by swells of up to 10m.

 

One passenger said the dream trip to Vanuatu had started like the holiday from hell.

 

P&O Cruises spokeswoman Sandy Olsen said some of the ship's external windows and doors, as well as its television satellite equipment, were damaged in the storm.

 

"It would have been an uncomfortable couple of days for the people on board," she said.

 

"As you can imagine, some people were unwell due to seasickness."

 

Conditions were so bad the ship has cancelled a planned stopover in Lifou, New Caledonia, and will head straight for Vila to make its scheduled Friday night stopover.

 

Ms Olsen said passengers would get $100 spending money and P&O would waive doctors' charges for those who needed medical help during the storm.

 

Cruise chiefs were also offering free wine and soft drinks to passengers at a Captain's Dinner tonight, and giving free room services to those who preferred to stay in their rooms.

 

The ship is due back in Auckland in the middle of next week.

[MsMinx]

Here is a vid I did of it leaving Auckland. Doesn't go very long but you can see how rough the water was. Hopefully no one was injured when they were being tossed around like a toy boat in the bath :(

[Riffraff]

Better to have the bad weather at the start of the cruise so they can have the rest of the cruise to relax and get over it, I say! They were stuck either way - if they hadn't gone, no doubt more passengers would have complained, so better to head off and ride through it to get to calmer waters. The free medical care is a good thing. P&O can't control the weather, it's all part of the fun of being on the sea :)

[Riffraff]

The NZ Herald is calling it

Dream cruise to Vanuatu turns to 'holiday from hell'

here is the article

 

Cruise chiefs were also offering free wine and soft drinks to passengers at a Captain's Dinner tonight,

 

The wine and soft drink are always free at the Captains Dinner!

 

There must be something unusual about me - I would have loved to be on board during this rough weather. Makes it more exciting:D (Good thing I don't get seasick!)

[chaz cruiser]

The wine and soft drink are always free at the Captains Dinner!

 

No that is only at the cocktail party. No longer free drinks at the dinner.

 

I was just thinking about those poor people who are going to come home to smelly fridges and freezers if the power went off! Hopefully they have good friends or families who have gone round to check their places...

 

Cheers,

Charmain

[frog cruiser]

Boy I know how they feel been in a cyclone on a ship from CTC .

Cabin over from us broke its porthole and water every where in our cabin.

XHubby sick kid also.Both quickly cured with threat of needle.

Yes even mum who was with us in the next cabin fell into a strange mans

arms.Our waves were 14mtrs had to sit in Noumua for a couple of days and straight back to Oz.

We was also on the cruise that had the freak wave last year was it getting old.(Suey and Chaz no need to agree)

But my worry is that I am booked on the White Lady's first cruise when she cames home.:(

Suey will tell u that mum now has it not going and us down the coast:eek:

But not me I am sure she will be OK

[Skyrules]

No that is only at the cocktail party. No longer free drinks at the dinner.

 

I was just thinking about those poor people who are going to come home to smelly fridges and freezers if the power went off! Hopefully they have good friends or families who have gone round to check their places...

 

Cheers,

Charmain

 

Yes, he was thinking of the cocktail party, not dinner........ Silly boy :D

[Kiwi Kruzer]

They are not having much luck on this cruise.

Another storm is on the way with heavy rain

and it looks like they may run into it on the way back.

[K-JCoopsie]

Hi all....I am pleased this wasn't us on the Star a month ago...we thought it was pretty rough with 6 m swells and even had quite a few sick then.

The north is definitely expecting more storms and terrible weather soon...poor buggers...we are lucky in the South.

 

The following was an article in today's Sunday Star Times...pretty sure the reporter is onboard....

 

Wild seas turn trip to nightmare

 

By KAREN ARNOLD - Sunday Star Times | Sunday, 15 July 2007

 

Hundreds of Kiwi holidaymakers suffered a horrendous night at sea on Tuesday as hurricane-force winds battered their cruise ship off the North Island's north coast.

 

 

The nightmare began just hours after the P&O Pacific Star left Auckland on the first leg of an eight-night South Pacific cruise.

Although forecasters predicted a storm, nothing had prepared the crew and passengers, including many schoolchildren on holiday, for the 12 hours of extreme weather they were forced to endure.

Captain Ivan Jerman said the hurricane-force winds, which averaged 75 knots gusting to 90 knots, and 9m swells were the worst conditions he had sailed in during his 35-year career at sea.

The Pacific Star suffered considerable damage, including broken windows, damage to the bow and the loss of a satellite dish overboard.

One passenger, Joy Meekings, from Whangaparaoa, said she would never go on a cruise again. Already anxious about sailing, Meekings said the appalling weather forecast heightened her concerns as she boarded the ship in Auckland on Tuesday.

It didn't wane when the group were shown to their cabin on deck 4, where boards were lined up along the corridor, and were soon put up to cover each cabin window.

But the first real signs of the impending storm were felt about two hours into the voyage.

Jerman encouraged people to stay in their cabins where they spent an anxious night as the ship was tossed about. Diners had to battle seasickness, rolling seas and sliding cutlery and crockery. One elderly woman fell after her chair slid and tipped over backwards.

By 8pm, the second evening show had been cancelled, bars were closed and services reduced to a minimum as passengers and staff struggled to stay upright. A visit to Lifou in the Loyalty Islands was cancelled because of the time lost during the storm. By Friday, the sea was calm and weather warm. All activities and services had resumed and Meekings and her friends were looking forward to visits to Vanuatu yesterday and Mystery Island today, before the ship begins its return leg to Auckland.

[rockie]

I have just learnt that neighbour around the road are onboard, so it will be interesting to hear their version. Apparentely he was worried about sailing before they went, so this will probably put them off.