KEY POINTS:
The gale-force winds and huge swell off the New Zealand coast which damaged the Pacific Star and forced P&O to abandon an eight-day cruise to the Loyalty Islands and Vanuatu is a useful reminder to would-be cruise passengers of a rather sad fact of geography: Your ship will not be sailing into tranquil tropical waters the instant it exits the Hauraki Gulf.
There is quite a lot of ocean to get through in between - at least two days' worth after leaving Auckland before you reach your first port of call in the islands - so bring some effective seasickness medication with you.
In comparison to the ordeal suffered by passengers on the abandoned cruise, there was little more than a gentle roll once the Pacific Star hit the open sea on our cruise to Fiji and Vanuatu last month.
Even so, two members in our 20-strong party of journalists, partners and P&O public relations consultants endured cabin-confining bouts of seasickness. They were similarly queasy during the final leg back to Auckland when the sea was rougher, by which time most passengers had got their "sea legs' and comfortably adjusted to the ship's movement.
Both sufferers chose not to take advantage of an anti-seasickness jab dispensed by the ship's medical centre at a cost of around A$100 ($111). Another member of the group who did have the injection after feeling sick early on quickly recovered and was fine for the remainder of the cruise.
Those who think the relative sanctuary of a cruise ship obviates the need to take out travel insurance should also think again. One passenger on our cruise broke a bone in a leg after falling during one of the ship's beach stops in the Fiji islands.
She returned to the vessel, but medical staff decided the bone needed resetting. So she was off-loaded in Vanuatu and flown back to New Zealand for surgery.
Also worth including in your medical kit is a bottle of hand sanitiser. A vomit-inducing stomach bug rampaging through the passenger complement is always a major worry for cruise lines.
There are consequently constant reminders on board about washing hands properly and frequently.
Precautions were such on the Pacific Star that those standing in line to shake the captain's hand at his welcome-on-board party first had to wipe their hands with disinfectant dispensed by another crew member.
