The cruise ship Ovation of the Seas (2016) became the largest ship to ever visit New Zealand, when she came to Auckland at the crack of a grey summer dawn on 27 December 2016. She was too large to berth at any wharf so had to anchor mid-harbour and ferry her 4,000+ passengers ashore by tender.
The third Quantum class vessel built for for RCL, Ovation of the Seas is due to make another two calls at Auckland in the New Year. Currently based in Sydney for the southern summer season, she will cruise the New Zealand coast, calling at Dusky, Doubtful and Milford Sounds in Fiordland, Dunedin, Picton in the Marlborough Sounds, Wellington, Tauranga, Auckland and the Bay of Islands.
Quite a few maiden callers will again come to Auckland this season, although the weather has not been very kind. Holland America’s Maasdam has been twice, when it rained both times. And it was overcast, when Ovation of the Seas visited. She is due to visit twice more, in January and February.
Photos by seapixonline.com
