Bigger than big

The Sapphire Princess dwarfs North Head. Picture / Brett Phibbs

The largest cruise ship to visit NZ, the Sapphire Princess, headed out of Auckland last night for Tauranga after a day berthed at Princes Wharf.

The world's seventh-largest cruise ship is more than two-and-a-half times the size of the Titanic and 20m too tall to fit under the Auckland Harbour Bridge. Sporting jet-like turbine pods on its funnel, the ship can carry 2700 passengers and 1100 crew - 11 jumbo jet-loads of people.

It will spend three months in this part of the world, carrying mostly overseas passengers across the Tasman.

The Sapphire Princess was built this year. Next year her sister ship, the Diamond Princess, heads Downunder.

Beige-clad and trainer-shod American tourists disgorged into Auckland City streets yesterday morning. Their average age is 50, the age group most able to afford the 30-day cruise, which will end in Sydney.

Cheaper 12-day cruises will take tourists to ports around New Zealand, into Milford Sound and across the Tasman, at prices ranging from $2635 for a shared inside cabin to $11,651 for a luxury suite, meals included.

On board, passengers enjoy Vegas-meets-Titanic decor and top-of-the-line facilities including a wedding chapel, five pools (one with a retractable roof), a mini-golf course and hot-rock spa massages.

"The magic of a cruise holiday is that the view changes every day," said Captain Attilio Guerrini. But on a chilly Auckland day, on-board charms held the most allure. 

Weight: 116,000 tonnes. That's 300 Air NZ jumbo jets, and heavier than the world's largest aircraft carrier, the 100,000-tonne USS Nimitz.

Towers 63m or 18 storeys above the sea.

290m long (the length of three football fields) and 49m wide. Tipped on her stern she would be just 38m shorter than Auckland's 328m Sky Tower.Travels at 22 knots (41 km/h).

1337 cabins, 750 with private balconies.

On an average day passengers and crew get through 622kg of seafood, 8300 eggs and 2600kg of fresh fruit.

Back in Auckland: January 6 and 30, and February 23.