RCI-Royal Caribbean’s liner Ovation of the Seas is currently on a 12-night "New Zealand Cruise" (roundtrip from Sydney NSW Australia) that started on November 23rd. The vessel was prompted to return to Sydney (on day 2 of the voyage) due to a medical emergency.
Following the disembarkation of the passenger (who required urgent medical attention), the ship set a direct course for Wellington NZ, skipping the scheduled call at Port Chalmers/Dunedin NZ.
However, upon reaching Wellington, adverse wind conditions in the harbor led to the decision to skip the scheduled call, as docking the large ship proved challenging. Ovation OTS sailed back into Cook Strait and was slated to stop in Napier NZ.
Facing 3 missed call ports, passengers expressed dissatisfaction, and there were hopes of smooth disembarkation at the voyage's two remaining NZ ports.
Grant Nalder (Wellington Harbourmaster) confirmed the decision to turn back, citing strong winds (between 40-50 knots/21-26 m/s) and emphasizing the importance of ensuring passenger comfort along with berthing challenges.
RCI assured passengers of some form of compensation and communicated the itinerary changes.
You can see the ship's current location and the NZ route changes here (based on CruiseMapper's satellite AIS data).
For more Ovation of the Seas incidents and accidents see the ship's CruiseMinus page.