Thousands of passengers aboard the ‘doomed’ P&O Pacific Adventure cruise ship, which was diverted to Tasmania after being denied entry to New Zealand, have docked in Hobart this morning.
Over 2,780 travellers initially embarked on what was meant to be a 13-day cruise around New Zealand – but after the hull was found to be not clean enough – the itinerary was altered to include stops in Tasmania and along the southern NSW coast.
The last-minute change became even more disappointing yesterday afternoon when Pulse revealed that access to the summit of Hobart’s iconic kunanyi/Mount Wellington by road was impossible due to critical maintenance.
Passengers have described the atmosphere on deck as ‘miserable’ and many who had booked the cruise in hopes of an overseas adventure are now ‘absolutely devastated’ by the new itinerary.
Some cruisers, who had flown to Sydney from Hobart for the voyage, decided to disembark the ship this morning and will not continue with the remainder of the journey.
In response to the travel changes, P&O offered all passengers a 50% refund voucher and $300 per person in onboard credit.
In a statement, the cruise giant said they had ‘listened to the feedback’ from their guests and “understand not all of them wish to cruise with us again”.
As a result, they converted the 50% future cruise credit to a cash refund.
“Again, we apologise for the change in itinerary, and thank our guests for their patience and understanding,” P&O said.
