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Passengers on board the P&O cruise ship Pacific Star have reported having an enjoyable time on an eight-day cruise despite being battered by Cyclone Funa earlier this week.
Five people were injured when strong winds and high seas caused the boat to roll side to side on Sunday night and passenger Marilyn Farr, of Glenfield, complained she bruised an arm when she was thrown from her chair when the ship turned.
However, P&O says passengers were kept informed throughout the trip and some passengers agreed.
"It was just brilliant," Auckland woman Wendy Dewhurst said of the trip. "They gave people blankets. Nobody was in danger. That captain did everything he could to to keep us safe."
Raj Maikoo, a paediatrician at Middlemore Hospital, said while the experience was not pleasant, things settled down in the early hours of Monday. He said it was a "once in a lifetime experience of a cyclone at sea".
Passengers Raewyn Joyner and Victoria Christian agreed, saying they felt the captain did everything he could to avoid the storm.
However, another passenger, who did not want to be named, disputed P&O's version of events, saying: "We had no warning before the waves hit; otherwise I would not have been sitting on an open deck playing gin when it happened. I am extremely surprised that nothing was tied or secured down."
Two passengers also disputed the 7m swells that P&O reported, saying that the captain said the ship was experiencing 10m swells.
