CARNIVAL SPIRIT Passengers Safe After Storm Closed Sydney Harbour
CARNIVAL SPIRIT was caught in a major storm on Monday night and barred from docking Tuesday when the entire port was closed.
The CARNIVAL SPIRIT has finally docked at Circular Quay after being allowed to enter Sydney Harbour on Wednesday morning.
A Sydney Harbour pilot boarded the vessel on Wednesday morning to bring the ship in.
The cruise ship, carrying some 2500 passengers and 1500 crew, was due to arrive on Tuesday morning but was was forced to remain outside the Sydney Heads overnight in rough conditions. Waves reached 15 meters at the peak of the storm, and some passengers on board were feeling reportedly “very queasy”.
The ship was returning to Sydney from what was scheduled to be a 12-day trip to New Caledonia,Vanuatu and Fiji, Carnival said.
The ship offered “a full program of onboard activities and entertainment and the Captain is ensuring guests are as comfortable as possible” while the ship waited for the harbor to reopen, a Carnival spokesperson said in a statement released to the media.
The AP reported that about a foot of rain fell in parts of New South Wales during the storm and winds have reached 60 miles an hour causing much flooding and damage on land.
As passengers waited to disembark the ship, many stood on their balconies, many waving and cheering.
Damage to the 293m ship was described as minor and it was scheduled to depart of for a seven-day Isle de Pines cruise on a modified itinerary.
Add a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.
from Sydney Downunder: As extremely rarely the case historically, the port of sydney is virtually never closed. The conditions at the time were far too dangerous to bring CARNIVAL SPIRIT into our harbour/harbor,not something any passenger should question.