Holiday fun sinks twice

When Helle Dwyer and her family set off for a cruise last month, they were looking forward to 12 days of relaxation.

Instead, it was an "absolute bloody nightmare" - and for the second time on the same ship.

In a repeat of her cruise on P&O's Pacific Sky in March last year, the ship developed problems at sea and her holiday was cut short.

"It's two years of wasted holidays," said Ms Dwyer. "You just can't believe it can happen."

She and her mother, Birgit Nielsen, with Ms Dwyer's daughter and partner, "queued for hours like cattle" during delays on October 31 before they even got on the ship, Ms Dwyer said.

Their holiday was a replacement for last year's disaster, when the Pacific Sky turned back to Auckland with a crack in its hull.

This time, they boarded the ship in Brisbane.

But first there was a problem with the boiler, then a leak in the engine.

"We spent the first night of our cruise docked in Brisbane harbour, which was absolutely pathetic," Ms Dwyer said.

Worse was to come.

After sailing for about 20 hours, the ship stopped moving. It wasn't until the next morning that the captain announced that one of the engines had broken down.

So the ship turned back to Brisbane - a trip that would take two days with only one engine.

"People were saying all sorts of things," Ms Dwyer said. "It was bloody terrible. You couldn't relax. You were stressed as hell."

P&O Cruises was unable to comment on Ms Dwyer's experience but said the Pacific Sky was now fully functional and back cruising.

On November 3, when the ship turned back towards Brisbane, P&O Cruises managing director Gavin Smith said the company "deeply regretted the inconvenience caused to the ship's passengers and apologised for the cancellation of their holiday".

When the passengers arrived in Brisbane, at the end of their abbreviated cruise, P&O gave them a refund, a 25 per cent discount on their next cruise and a $250 goodwill payment.

But after two disasters on the same ship, Ms Dwyer said she and her family would never set foot on the Pacific Sky again.

The company should give them a free cruise on a different ship, she said.

"We felt honestly like they put our life in danger twice. A third time, it would probably sink."