Cruise ship passengers tell of horror
Updated on 01 August 2008
Cruise ship passengers have spoken of their horror journey that saw the ship they were on battered by 25ft swells and high winds off the coast of New Zealand.
More than 42 passengers were injured aboard the P&O cruise ship including one passenger who suffered a fractured pelvis, another who broke ribs and four others who received minor fractures.
Some of the 1,732 passengers aboard the Pacific Sun feared for their lives with one emailing a message reading: "We are nearly on our side. If we get out of this, it will be a miracle."
Some passengers' injuries reportedly happened when machines in the ship's casino came loose while crockery flew in the dining area during the storm.
Eventually, the vessel, which was on an eight-night South Pacific cruise was able to dock in Auckland, New Zealand. The company said it had been "superficially" damaged.
One of the first to disembark was Jacinda Pollard. She said: "We heard stuff crashing everywhere. We heard screaming, things were a bit of a mess. Casino machines fell over."
One woman, Cerise Jordan, said her mother, who had been aboard, had confirmed that a number of passengers had been injured - most with varying degrees of bruising. She said that the staff had been fantastic in extremely difficult circumstances.
Ms Jordan said: "Last night when the ship rolled she and her party were in the casino. They were injured as a result of machines coming loose and rolling into them. When in the dining hall the ship rolled again and she said all the crockery went flying."
The vessel is owned by P&O Australia which is a separate company from the UK P&O Cruises but is part of the Carnival empire which includes Cunard.
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