New Zealand Summer sail

Crown Princess – her first cruise was in 2006, 3090 passengers, and we never felt crowded. This would be our third cruise to New Zealand and we hoped to see the Bay of Islands, which will be our last stop of this cruise having missed the Islands during our last New Zealand cruise in January 2023 due to heavy rain.

We sailed from Sydney late afternoon on the 8th of February to the southern parts of New Zealand known as Fiordland National Park. We arrived around 06.30 am on the 11th of February and entered Milford Sound as the sun lit up the cliffs.

The views are from our balcony, and in the above picture you can see the starboard bridge wing.

We made our way deeper into Milford Sound.

Unfortunately during the previous evening we heard the alarm for the emergency medical team to be directed to one of the passenger cabins.
As we made our way further in to the Fiord the Captain broadcast that we would be stopping to disembark a sick passenger and the family.

As we waited for the anticipated helicopter the captain arranged for the Crown Princess to slowly turn on the spot so that the passenger could enjoy the view.

We were at this spot longer than anticipated because the helicopter could only take one passenger, so a launch had to be organised for the ill person and the family. Later in the day the Captain broadcast that it was a successful operation and the sick person’s life was saved.

The wait in Milson Sound was so long that the next fiord, which was Doubtful Sound had to be canceled so as to bring the cruise back on schedule.