Job Anything but Cruisy

By PATTERSON, Colin

WHEN there are three cruise ships tied up in Wellington on the same day, Karen Funnell knows there will be little rest.

Ms Funnell, CentrePort’s cruise ship manager, was up at 4am yesterday to be ready for the arrival of the Statendam and the Europa.

And with the Nippon Maru already berthed at Queens Wharf, there are about 6000 people — crew and passengers — wanting to see the sights around town.

But with port security increased since September 11, it takes meticulous organisation to ensure passengers and crew get to where they want to go.

Ms Funnell says ports are now the equivalent of airports. Her job is to make sure security rules are properly applied, but in a way that does not detract from passengers’ enjoyment.

By the end of the 2006-07 cruise season, 28 cruise liners will have docked in Wellington.

Another 49 ships are scheduled for 2007-08 — a record — and there could be more. Ms Funnell believes the reason more ships are headed this way is that passengers enjoy coming to Wellington. “Before they leave the ships we ask passengers to fill out questionnaires about their voyage. The answers play a big part in deciding where the ships go.”

But they will only keep coming to Wellington if their time in the city is enjoyable.

The cruise ships are Ms Funnell’s main mission in life while they are in port.

She is often at the Aotea Quay cruise terminal, welcoming passengers and answering questions, such as how to get into town (ships’ agents usually arrange a fleet of shuttle buses) and the best places to see in Wellington. Nothing is too much trouble.

“They might want to play golf at Miramar, or they could have an e- mail account and want to use the Internet.”

By midday yesterday Ms Funnell had to arrange for two ambulances to call at the wharf to transport sick passengers to hospital. That is nothing unusual, given that most passengers are in older age brackets.

And while passengers enjoy the sights, ships have to be resupplied. When the Queen Elizabeth 2 was in Wellington, 12 container-loads of supplies were loaded onboard — without interfering with passengers’ access to the ship.

Having three cruise ships in at one time makes life hectic.

“It stretches your resources. But because you know it is going to happen, you can plan ahead.”

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(c) 2007 Dominion Post. Provided by ProQuest Information and Learning. All rights Reserved.