Today I went on a Failure Cruise. To partly make up for not going on harbor cruises at either Akaroa or Russell, I went on one in Auckland Harbor. It made it to its first stop, at Rangitoto Island, then developed “technical issues with the port engine” and couldn’t complete the cruise. We churned slowly back to the pier, turning 270 degrees left in order to go right. I overheard the captain telling the mechanic that the port engine “stopped,” which probably does qualify as a technical issue.

The lack of an engine made tying up more difficult.

But they finally managed it.

And we all got refunds, so I got half a cruise for free. Not a bad deal, really.