Angry mutiny on cruise ship

Passengers had their lifejackets at ready when the Aurora limped across the Tasman on one engine. Photo / Martin Sykes

Passengers on a cruise ship that broke down and was left stranded in Auckland for five days are forming a mutiny and threatening legal action after they missed out on visiting some of New Zealand's most scenic spots.

The mainly British passengers are still at sea and have reached South America after the P&O-owned Aurora left Auckland on March 19.

But about 600 of the 2000 passengers have formed a protest group - dubbed the Aurora Committee - and held a meeting with captain Paul Brown after they visited just two ports in 22 days. One member described the ship as a "red hot bed of distress, frustration and anger".

The passengers are supposed to be enjoying a 93-night world cruise, which departed Southampton on January 11.

Problems started on the 76,000 tonne ship when a propeller shaft failed soon after leaving Sydney.

It limped across the Tasman and into Auckland on one engine and had to stay an extra four days for repairs.

The delay meant the 2000 passengers did not visit Wellington, Napier and the Bay of Islands.

Visits to Moorea and Tahiti in French Polynesia were also cancelled so the Aurora could make up time and head straight for Honolulu.

P&O told the UK's Daily Telegraph it regretted the disruption to passengers, who each paid upwards of 8599 ($22,000) for the cruise.

P&O has offered them compensation including 500 ($1300) and a refund of the cost of four days' cruising.

But the Aurora Committee is now threatening legal action to compensate for the cruise, which some passengers had saved for 20 years to afford. Committee member Jennifer Dunthorne told the Daily Telegraph: "The failure to visit three ports in New Zealand and two Pacific Islands has turned this cruise ship into a prison for some.

"Only visiting two ports in 22 days is not what I saved for 20 years to do." Committee chair Elizabeth Marshall contacted the Herald on Sunday while the ship cruised through the Panama Canal. Marshall said more than 50 per cent of the passengers had signed a petition on board to express their dissatisfaction with P&O's compensation package.

But negotiations with the crew were turning sour.

Marshall said the captain had now refused passengers any space where they could meet and discuss the issue with their fellow passengers.

Instead, P&O had advised passengers to write to the company individually when they returned to the UK.

"The passengers who have signed the petition are getting increasingly angry and frustrated with the attitude of the company, which is failing to listen to the majority of passengers. The committee are trying to keep the lid on their frustration and anger."

Marshall said the committee felt the company was "pushing us to seek retribution through the courts".

While she said the catering and restaurant staff were doing their best to keep the passengers happy, "the holiday for most of us has been ruined".

On the website cruises.co.uk, Dunthorne described how passengers went to bed on the first night on the Tasman, fearing they would later be woken and sent to the lifeboats.

Dunthorne described the scenario as "truly unforgivable". "This beautiful ship which has been the pride of the P&O fleet has become a red hot bed of distress, frustration and anger."


AURORA

2000: The champagne bottle fails to break at the vessel's blessing ceremony.

2000: Aurora breaks down in the Bay of Biscay on its maiden voyage.

2003: On a Christmas cruise to the Canary Islands, 600 people catch the norovirus bug.

2005: Aurora cancels a much-delayed world cruise due to propulsion system problems .

2005: A norovirus outbreak sees 200 people confined to their cabins off Lisbon.

2008: Hundreds of passengers tested for Hepatitis E after seven passengers contracted the virus during an 11-week world cruise.