P & O Australia/Pacific Adventure in the news

[aussielozzie18]

Don’t think this has been mentioned here yet.  
 

Monday’s P & O 13 day Kiwi Adventure Cruise to NZ had an itinerary change due to the ship having a dirty hull and weather preventing it being cleaned before entering NZ waters (you know the same issue that’s been happening for months..)

 

Article by 9news online today and one female passenger had an unique way of expressing her & her husband’s displeasure..
 

 

 

 

 

[MicCanberra]

Sad news, why are they (cruiselines) not anticipating this and having the hulls cleaned prior to heading over the Tasman.

[Yaya_in_Oz]

I'd be livid unless the compensation is a full refund/cruise credit.

 

Its getting ridiculous. The cruise lines know what the regulations for entering NZ are and so there is no excuse for not having the cleaning done prior to departing for NZ. Its not good enough. I don't care what it says in the fine print about the cruise lines being able to change their itineraries at the drop of a hat. This isn't a change its a whole different destination. Well they all seem to get away with it on a regular basis. I'd honestly think twice about booking to NZ.

[MMDown Under]

7 minutes ago, Yaya_in_Oz said:

I'd be livid unless the compensation is a full refund/cruise credit.

 

Its getting ridiculous. The cruise lines know what the regulations for entering NZ are and so there is no excuse for not having the cleaning done prior to departing for NZ. Its not good enough. I don't care what it says in the fine print about the cruise lines being able to change their itineraries at the drop of a hat. This isn't a change its a whole different destination. Well they all seem to get away with it on a regular basis. I'd honestly think twice about booking to NZ.

It is not good enough.  Passengers paid to go overseas to NZ, not a local cruise to Tassie.

[NSWP]

28 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

Sad news, why are they (cruiselines) not anticipating this and having the hulls cleaned prior to heading over the Tasman.

Perhaps a cheaper rate to clean it off nz.

Edited November 24, 2023 by NSWP

[Belmont Babe]

 A couple of bits cut and pasted from the letter distributed to current passengers -

 

"As you are aware, we were required by New Zealand authorities to undertake a hull clean to remove a recently discovered, high-risk species before we could enter New Zealand.

As a successful hull clean is weather dependent, whilst we were initially optimistic the forecast would allow us to complete this work safely, unfortunately the weather has not aligned with the predicted forecast and conditions dramatically changed upon the divers entering the water. Similar weather conditions are also forecast for the coming days making the possibility of further cleaning very remote.

As a result, we have not been able to safely complete the required additional cleaning of the ship’s hull. With New Zealand’s strict biosecurity requirements, this unfortunately means the ship cannot receive clearance to enter New Zealand and we are unable to continue with a New Zealand itinerary."

"The ship had undergone multiple inspections in the months leading up to this New Zealand cruise, however it was only during the final inspection that the high-risk species was located and unfortunately, the change to the forecast weather conditions has not been in our favour to be able to remove it."

 

Edited to add, the underlining is mine.

Edited November 24, 2023 by Belmont Babe
Clarity

[MicCanberra]

Maybe they are picking up this species in few days crossing the Tasman between Australia and NZ.

[CDaze71]

I read on FB that they're getting 50% FCC plus $300pp OBC. 

[Flickit]

I've been tracking this since I noticed it mentioned on Reddit and here, a couple of days before it left Australia:

 

We have just discovered some high-risk invasive species on a small, localised section of Pacific Adventure’s hull, which needs to be removed before the ship will be permitted to enter New Zealand.
The hull had been deemed clean during a recent full dive inspection that was carried out to ensure the ship was ready to enter New Zealand. However, a final inspection has now uncovered this high-risk species, which was unexpected given the recent full dive. 

 

It went over to NZ and stopped way offshore near Tauranga and a couple of dive boats headed out to it, it sat out there for around 24hrs drifting at 2kn, earlier today it started steaming west... 

https://www.cruisemapper.com/?imo=9192351

 

Not a good situation for the passengers 😞 ... Odd they're allowing it into Tassie ports, we're usually pretty careful, unless it's a species we already have... 

[bretts173]

I love these cruises, anyone that doesn't somewhere, misses a heap of ports due to engine troubles are my favourites. Loads of FCC and OBC is a win for me. 

[arxcards]

25 minutes ago, CDaze71 said:

I read on FB that they're getting 50% FCC plus $300pp OBC. 

The 50% FCC is for the cruise component only, and not for charges/taxes. That shrinks the FCC amount. Hopefully they will also be getting any port charges refunded for the missed ports, as they become void. The refund is noice, but they can't refund a portion of peoples limited amount of holidays. If you cruise for the ship, no probs; if you cruise for the itinerary it doesn't make-up for that.

 

Lots of ships have been pre-empting this work, and are spending time anchored off Bundaberg. Yes, it was recently identified, but crap clings better to crap than it does to something clean.

[Flickit]

9 minutes ago, arxcards said:

Lots of ships have been pre-empting this work, and are spending time anchored off Bundaberg. Yes, it was recently identified, but crap clings better to crap than it does to something clean.

 

I can understand them having issues last year with the covid shutdown but there's not really any excuses this year... (NZ released statements a couple of months ago stating they would be very strict with biofouling this year > https://www.mpi.govt.nz/news/media-releases/dirty-bottom-alert-for-visiting-cruise-ships/ )

 

I'm jumping on the QE on the 3rd of Dec heading for NZ so I've been keeping an eye on her movements.. While in Singapore a few days ago there was a dive boat alongside for 10 hours, so fingers crossed she's all clean... 

Edited November 24, 2023 by Flickit

[arxcards]

3 minutes ago, Flickit said:

 

I can understand them having issues last year with the covid shutdown but there's not really any excuses this year... (NZ released statements a couple of months ago stating they would be very strict with biofouling this year)

 

I'm jumping on the QE on the 3rd of Dec heading for NZ so I've been keeping an eye on her movements.. While in Singapore a few days ago there was a dive boat alongside for 10 hours, so fingers crossed she's all clean... 

Good luck. No excuses for QE this year either.

[Jim_P]

I think NZ will soon be kissing goodbye to the cruise industry entirely. The cruise lines can't afford this kind of thing repeatedly happening. And it certainly does nothing to help Australia get more and newer ships to homeport here.

[Flickit]

7 minutes ago, Jim_P said:

I think NZ will soon be kissing goodbye to the cruise industry entirely. The cruise lines can't afford this kind of thing repeatedly happening. And it certainly does nothing to help Australia get more and newer ships to homeport here.

It's not only the biofouling... The Majestic Princess was in Hobart a couple of days ago and the amount of smoke it was billowing out really isn't a good look for places that pride themselves on being "clean green' locations...  They probably need to clean up their act all round but we'll be the ones that end up paying for it.. 

Edited November 24, 2023 by Flickit

[arxcards]

To the contrary, cruise ships are going to make every effort to comply with NZ requirements. There are plenty of ports that have already lost their appetite for cruise ships. In our market, a Tahiti cruise is nothing like it used to be, and Isle of Pines + Mare have extended their cruise ship ban for another year.

 

Sydney is pretty just about maxxed out for summer space already. NCL and HAL are restricted to sending older ships that will fit under the bridge in order to have somewhere to berth. Brisbane & Melbourne are not filling the ships they have, and that is the only reason more ships are not here this summer.

 

Burning the cheapest bunker fuel and carrying around foreign species of flora & fauna isn't a good way of representing a global brand.

[bazzaw]

10 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

Sad news, why are they (cruiselines) not anticipating this and having the hulls cleaned prior to heading over the Tasman.

Because the business model doesn't allow for any breaks between major refits to "fix things" 

[MicCanberra]

Perhaps they should 

[MMDown Under]

Just now, MicCanberra said:

Perhaps they should 

Yes I think they should.  Over the years, there were lots of ships I would have cruised with, if they had better minor maintenance scheduled.

[arxcards]

An interesting quote out there, attributed to one of the passengers aboard. About the letter sent to passengers and the details of the FCC and OBC ... like a turd covered in golden glitter.

[Jim_P]

The letter sent to passengers said that the ship had undergone the required hull inspection prior to the NZ trip and had passed so I dont think this is really on the cruise line. They cant be drydocking a ship for a complete clean and inspection every time they go to NZ. 

 

As an island country with an economy built on exports with thousands of ships coming and going every year for the past 200 years it just seems a little absurd that suddenly cruise ship hulls are such a threat.

[MicCanberra]

Lipstick on a pig perhaps

[arxcards]

23 minutes ago, Jim_P said:

The letter sent to passengers said that the ship had undergone the required hull inspection prior to the NZ trip and had passed so I dont think this is really on the cruise line. They cant be drydocking a ship for a complete clean and inspection every time they go to NZ. 

 

As an island country with an economy built on exports with thousands of ships coming and going every year for the past 200 years it just seems a little absurd that suddenly cruise ship hulls are such a threat.

Milford Sound is not a commercial port. The bio inspections have been put in place to protect environmentally sensitive areas like Fiordland National Park.

New discovery of an invasive seaweed found in pristine Dusky Sound | Stuff.co.nz

[ddvgww]

Perhaps they could ban the ships requiring further cleaning from sailing through the Sounds but let them visit their other ports?   Probably not,  I know I'm clutching at straws here but I'm feeling anxious as we are going to NZ on Brilliance of the Seas for 11 nights  on 29th January and again on Pacific Adventure for 12 nights on 17th March.  Yikes!  Wish us luck, sounds like we will need it!

[Ondine]

Are they banning cargo ships and tankers or only cruise ships? 

If it was only the Sounds then surely ships could continue to the main ports. I believe they have also been banned in Tauranga in the past.

Do I smell a rat?