A cruise ship that could remain at sea for an extra few days, Pacific Encounter, finds itself at the mercy of Cyclone Alfred, as passengers play a waiting game. While, admittedly, there are worse places to be “stuck”, the significant delay in returning to port has caused some issues for travelers trying to get back home.
The ship, which is soon to be a part of Carnival’s fleet as Carnival Encounter, was supposed to dock in Brisbane, Australia on Saturday after a 4-day sailing. But heavy wind and rain have battered the east coast of the country, shutting down the port and cutting power to hundreds of thousands of residents in the cyclone’s path.
Because of the tropical cyclone, P&O Australia had to cancel Pacific Encounter’s final voyage before transferring to Carnival Cruise Line.
Flooding has wreaked havoc on land, while the storm has also impacted cruise ship schedules. Royal Caribbean’s Quantum of the Seas and Carnival Luminosa have both had to cancel sailings in addition to Pacific Encounter.
“I’ve Run Out of Money”
One New Zealander who is currently sailing on Pacific Encounter recently expressed frustration with the current condition of being stuck at sea.
Cody Hampson, a 20-year-old plumber, is facing a desperate situation, stranded on the P&O cruise ship and facing financial hardship and job insecurity after the storm forced a delay in the ship’s arrival at Brisbane’s port.
“To be honest I’ve run out of money, I don’t know if they’re going to refund me for my flight back home from Brisbane, I haven’t received confirmation for that. Yeah, so I’m a bit stuck,” Hampson said.
“I’m supposed to be starting back up on Wednesday at work and my boss sort of doesn’t understand that I’m stuck on a cruise ship.”
To make matters worse, Hampson said he does not have cruise travel insurance that would have offered some compensation for the situation.
He also stated that keeping in touch with his extended family has been difficult because of the poor Wi-Fi signal on the ship, which has also been impacted by the storm.
The ship’s delay in returning to port in Brisbane has caused a pile up of missing flights and postponed travel arrangements.
Hampson referred to the situation as “havoc”, as the delay in returning home has caused logistical issues for other passengers on board as well.
“There’s many many people that are missing flights, lots of people are running out of money, people have left kids at home and stuff that are sort of unable to be supervised any longer cause work is starting back up,” he stated.
As Pacific Encounter waits for the all-clear to return to port, it’s not the only ship hoping for a swift arrival back on land. Cruise ship tracking data shows Quantum of the Seas, Carnival Luminosa, and Crown Princess just off the coast.
