It was meant to be a dream voyage for Rose Nesbit and her partner Will Macoillan – a final holiday before the birth of their precious first baby. But the trip turned out to be a terrifying experience that left Rose fearing for her unborn baby’s life.
Rose (24) and Will (21) of Christchurch booked the eight-day voyage on P&O’s cruise liner Pacific Sun to celebrate their third anniversary together. But nothing could prepare them for what was in store when the ship was swept up in a nightmare storm 600km north of Auckland.
Rose, who was five months pregnant, ended up hiding in a tiny space under the wardrobe in their cabin, praying that her baby would survive, as the ship lurched from side to side, battered by towering waves up to 7m high.
“When the first big wave hit, I was sitting in bed and all of a sudden there was a massive pitch all the mattresses slid off the beds. We watched as the phone get pulled from the wall and go flying across the room. I was thrown from the bed, smacking my head on a table, and landing on my stomach. I’m pretty sure I got concussion and I was terrified that my baby was hurt.”
“Will shouted, ‘Are you okay? Is the baby all right?’ Then he bundled me up and pushed me into a gap below the wardrobe. I sat crouched there with a bin that I was vomiting into because the lurching had made me very seasick. When we opened the cabin door, we could see stuff flying down the corridor.”
“I thought we were going to die. I was in tears the whole time. I was hysterical. I kept on saying, ‘I hope I haven’t lost the baby. If I’ve lost the baby I’ll never get over it’.”
Rose, who works as a nanny, had to wait until the ship docked to see her midwife for a check-up, as the ship’s medical staff were busy with injured passengers. Thankfully, her baby was fine, despite the harrowing ordeal. But Rose and Will, a bricklayer, are angry that their trip of a lifetime turned into such a test of endurance.
The Christchurch couple saved hard and booked the cruise at a cost of $1445 each. When Rose discovered she was pregnant she called the P&O travel agent who assured her that her baby would be okay.
Bad weather spoiled the eight days, which were meant to be spent visiting three tropical islands. The high seas also gave Rose seasickness from the first night.
“After the first night we woke in the morning and Will, who doesn’t normally suffer from motion sickness, was quite nauseous. I started vomiting an hour after waking and was vomiting all day every day I was sick.”
The bad weather meant the ship could only visit Port Vila and one other island the trip to the third island was cancelled and the ship was heading back to Auckland when it hit 140kmph winds and huge waves.
“The massive waves were coming up to our window and we were on the sixth floor of the ship,” Rose says.
More than 40 passengers were injured when the ship rolled sharply to one side. Will says he was preparing for the worst. “We were going to put the lifejackets on but the captain kept saying there was no need even though the crew was walking around with them on,” he says. “I stayed awake all night because every time we went over on one side, it sounded like thunder and the back end of the ship smashed into the water. It has put me off boats completely.”
Rose has vowed never to go on another cruise and is shocked that P&O’s offer of compensation for the nightmare ordeal was simply an offer of 25% off their next cruise and free counselling sessions.
“The ship should never have left Auckland,” she says.”We didn’t get to see all the islands and we didn’t get to enjoy the trip because the boat was so rocky. A lot of people from that trip won’t be going on another cruise. I’m just glad we got through it in one piece, but I won’t forget it in a hurry, for all the wrong reasons.”
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