About 80 Tauranga residents are closely considering taking a cruise ship holiday after enjoying a fundraising tour aboard the Pacific Dawn.
The tour, held by P&O Cruises and Tauranga's Air New Zealand Holidays Store, raised $6000 for the Red Cross' Christchurch earthquake relief effort.

Pacific Dawn alongside at Port of Tauranga.

Many of the 84 people who took the tour did so to give them a better idea of what it would be like to take a holiday aboard a cruise ship.
One such person was Geoff Bird. He says the tour was an eye-opener.
'It was awesome to get the opportunity to see what facilities they had,” says Geoff.
'It was an opportunity that you don't get often and I think they should do it more often because it would help people decide to take a trip on one.”
Organising to open ships for tours is no easy task, however, and P&O Cruises New Zealand manager Shannon Currie says he would like to do it more often, but security concerns are a barrier to this.
'However, we made an exception on this occasion because it was an opportunity to help raise funds for such an important cause.”
The tour sold out promptly, which came as no surprise for Shannon.
'We know the Bay of Plenty residents love cruising and many people often line the base of the Mount to see our ships come into port, so we weren't surprised when the fundraising event on the Pacific Dawn sold out so quickly.”