Ovation of the Seas cruise ship cancels Christchurch go to

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A 4000 passenger cruise ship has been stopped from entering Lyttelton Harbor after a night of heavy winds.

The ovation of the seas, the largest cruise ship to ever visit Christchurch, was due to berth at the newly opened cruise wharf this morning.

Facing difficult conditions off the headlands overnight the ship turned north to sail up the country to sail on to Wellington, where she is due tomorrow morning.

“Unfortunately, the Ovation of Seas was unable to berth this morning due to strong north-west winds in the forecast for the day here at Lyttelton,” said a spokesperson for the Lyttelton Port Company.

A floating city: A handful of people walked to the end of the mole to watch Ovation of the Seas make her first visit to Dunedin since the pandemic. Photo / ODT, Stephen Jaquiery

The vessel made the decision not to call just after 7am this morning. Passengers were due to disembark at 9.30 am.

“While this is disappointing, the reality is safety is always the first priority and there are wind speed limits for all berths and vessel types here in Lyttelton as at other ports.”

It is not unusual for a small number of cruise calls not to occur due to weather conditions, said the port.

The vessel is due back to Lyttelton on December 28.

She sailed from Port Chalmers, Dunedin yesterday.

Christchurch Attractions, which operates the city’s trams and gondola rides, said that it was expecting a number of cruise passengers across its attractions.

“The city as a whole was expecting to see a big spike in visitors today associated with cruise visitors, which we’ll now miss out on. In general we are seeing plenty of tourists, international and domestic.”

Last week some ground handlers came under criticism for the pricing of shuttle services connecting cruise tourists from Lyttelton to Christchurch. Last week passengers from Celebrity Eclipse were charged up to $50 for the 15-minute drive to the central city, putting some passenger from making the journey.

Lyttelton Port Company and operators Celebrity said that coach prices were set by independent shuttle operators.

Celebrity Eclipse is piloted into Lyttelton Harbor as the first arrival at the new cruise wharf and largest ship since the 2011 rebuild. Photo/Supplied

Ovation’s quarantined cruise passengers

One of three Quantum class ships belonging to Royal Caribbean, Ovation is the largest cruise ship to visit New Zealand. She was last in the country in 2019.

On arrival to New Zealand last week the ship confirmed that it was sailing with over 100 confirmed cases of Covid 19 aboard.

Cruise Industry New Zealand CEO, Kevin O’Sullivan told the Herald that Covid cases at the maritime border were planned for and far more heavily managed than airport arrivals.

“It’s something to be expected. The air borders are not controlled anywhere near as closely as maritime borders. If cruise passengers have a notifiable disease of any sort that is a known quantity,” he said.

Cruise Line Royal Caribbean said in a statement that positive cases had to isolate in their quarters for five days with daily antigen tests.

Ship operators Royal Caribbean Cruise Line were contacted for comment on the missed call in Christchurch.