Steam was a mere memory after early 1958. It is believed that the last run of steam in regular service departed Medicine Hat, Alberta, towards Calgary as power for a stock extra.

P&o Putting Travellers Lives In Danger With Faulty Ship The Pacific Dawn

Honourable Minister Mr Peter Lawlor

Sir

 I was a passenger on the P&O Cruise Ship Pacific Dawn which departed Brisbane on the 30th of Jan 2010 for an 11 Night Cruise Number 005N Tasmanian Wonders.

I wish to draw your attention to the following matters which I believe should be acted upon by your office in an endeavour to prevent further likewise situations arising for future passengers travelling with P&O Cruises on the Pacific Dawn.

## Passengers with Disabilities

Passengers have to Walk 900 meters from the Check in Counter to access the Ship, the area set aside for disabled passengers is very small and incorrectly labelled  "Wheel Chair Passengers Only"

People with disabilities are not always wheel chair bound , the area is not policed and members of the public that are not actually travelling are permitted use the seats that people with disabilities should be seated in.

I arrived at 0900 hours and was checked in by 0910, I was given the A Boarding card which indicated that I was to be boarded in the First Group , The P&0 employee  "James Hooley" who was in charge of the Disabled Boarding area did not carry out his job, he was boarding people at his own discretion not in accordance with their check in time, I lodge a complaint with him and his superiors but these complaints were ignored and I was assisted on board at 1345 hours.

The Area for Wheel Chair Assistance should be Policed so as only people with disabilities travelling on the ship are permitted to enter and remain in this area.

##THE SAFETY CONCERNS ABOUT PACIFIC DAWN

P & 0 Permitted the Pacific Dawn to depart Brisbane knowing that the Ship was in need of at least 31hours of Planned Maintenance , the vessel had been damaged and divers were flown in from Vancouver to repair the damaged underwater seals on the propeller shafts.

This Planned Maintenance exceed the 31 hours that P&0 allocated which in turn destroyed the rest of the Itinerary.

The Ship was supposed to sail from Hobart at 2359hours and cruise along the east coast of Tasmania calling in to cruise Wine Glass and Great Oyster Bays.

The Still Defective Vessel departed Hobart at 1745 hours, now 17.45 hours late which cause the scenic portion of our cruise to be abandoned and late arrival into Burnie which again caused Tour Cancellations and missed appointments for the passengers.

En route from Burnie to Melbourne the Vessels engines stopped on two occasions whilst navigating  Bass Straight , the first occurrence was at 2247 hours and we were left drifting until approximately 2319 hours , the second occurrence was at 0212 hours and again the vessel was left drifting for about thirty minutes

The Late Arrival into Melbourne again caused the Cancellation of Shore Tours and caused further disappointment to passengers especially people who were looking forward to travelling on the Puffing Billy Steam Train.

The vessels engines again stopped  just after letting the pilot off just out side the Sydney Heads, I was standing at the stern and could see that there was no propulsion from the propellers as the vessel drifted south for approximately two kilometres before the engines came back on line we then then turned north and headed up the coast to Brisbane.

I lodged a formal Complaint with the Captain at his Cock tail party and handed him back the unacceptable $25.00 credit that P&O had credited to all adult passengers to make up for the missed itinerary.

I also informed the Captain that he Should keep his very British Comments about Australia and its citizens to himself as his comments had offended me and many other passengers.

I contacted the Purcer and lodge a formal complaint with the Revenue Officer Riccardo Garbin and requested him to ask P&O Customer Relations office to Contact me by phone, I was Contacted by Meredith Schwencke who did not care all she would say is that the $25.00 was all that P&O was prepared to pay and that we were lucky to get that as we were not entitled to anything as all the problems that the cruise experianced were covered in the contract of carriage.

I booked on this cruise so see the East Coast of Tasmania ,Burnie and to travel on the Puffing Billy in Melbourne , P&O`s lack of maintenance on the Pacific Dawn caused the Engine Failures and the Planned Repairs to the Damaged Propeller Seals caused a major change in the itinerary, I am seeking a full refund of all monies paid to P&O and my connecting fares to and from the defective vessel.

P&O are at fault and have destroyed the travel plannns of hundreds of people who booked on this cruise to see the sights that I have mentioned.

I will send a copy of this Email to P&0 in Sydney and in London and if they have not contacted me by Monday the 15th of Feb I will Forward this Email to the Media.

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