Unseasonable southerly swells and strong winds have caused significant disruption to Cook Strait services in recent days with several Interislander and Bluebridge sailings canned.
Two Interislander sailings between Picton and Wellington were cancelled yesterday, while two further sailings were delayed by hours.
The Kaitaki was due to leave Wellington at 8.30pm with more than 800 passengers on board.
In an email sent to passengers just after 10pm yesterday and seen by RNZ, Interislander apologised for the inconvenience of the delay.
"We will be commencing loading asap but will not be leaving Wellington until the Master is comfortable to depart due to rougher sea conditions than forecast - this could be at least 4 HRS," the email said.
"If you wish to not travel tonight please advise staff but keep in mind that our ships are fully booked for the next week."
The Kaitaki finally set off about 1am today, according to ship tracking website MarineTraffic.com.
The Kaiarāhi, which had 500 passengers on board, was also delayed for hours before setting off from Picton just before midnight Sunday.
Further disruptions were in store today, with two sailings of the Aratere - at 6.15am from Wellington and 11am from Picton - cancelled. However, scheduled Kaitaki and Kaiarāhi sailings were expected to go ahead, a spokesperson said.
Bluebridge 'frustrated' by weather too
Meanwhile, Bluebridge cancelled four sailings yesterday and five today, with further cancellations likely as conditions were likely to remain unsettled until this evening.
"Customers impacted by these cancellations will be contacted by our team for alternate sailing options."
Hannah Eising said passengers were told their 8.30pm yesterday that their service was called off around the same time it was due to leave Wellington.
Given the state of the weather, an earlier decision to cancel would have been helpful, she said.
"Luckily we had accommodation, but there were all those people who wouldn't have had anywhere to stay last night.
"We have three kids three and under and they'd fallen asleep in the car.
"It would have been nice to have a bit more notice before we all lined up and checked in, and all that rigmarole."
Eising said trying to immediately rebook another service had not been easy.
"The phone lines shut at 8pm, so we couldn't ring through and the website crashed."
An attempt to rebook in person was abandoned with lines almost out the door at the Wellington terminal.
She said they learned this morning that they would not be able to get their car on a service until January 12, so had requested a refund and were now booked on an Interislander tomorrow.
Bluebridge spokesperson Will Dady said thousands of passengers have been affected by the ongoing cancellations and the company was as frustrated as them by the relentless southerlies.
It was doing everything in its power to reschedule those affected, but the volume of calls was "putting huge pressure on our call centre".
"We know it's very disruptive for passengers and we appreciate how understanding they've been."
Bluebridge said it was reviewing the schedule to see if additional sailings could be added and confirmed the website was briefly down last night due to sheer volume of people online at one time.
Nano, who only wanted her first name used, and her partner had driven from Kaitaia to ensure they got on a Bluebridge service.
"They gave me emails at 3am and 4.30am telling me no you can't go until the 12th. I just didn't take no for an answer. I had perseverance and decided 'I'm coming in person'."
She said their 1.30pm sailing today had been cancelled but they were now booked on a crossing later that evening.
"I feel very fortunate that I can make it to the South Island, but that water is big and we don't want to be stuck in the middle of the Strait."
Meanwhile, a family on the other side of the Cook Strait planned to abandon their car and boat in Picton to fly home.
Nic Widfeldt said his family was meant to be on the Bluebridge crossing last night, but with no options to rebook for more than a week, they were leaving their vehicles in Picton and flying back to Wellington mid-week.
The plan was to return on the January 15 to collect the vehicles and cross the Strait.
Widfeldt said Bluebridge staff had been helpful, but there had been no offer of compensation and there were long waits to get through by phone.
Bluebridge cancelled five sailings today due to the weather in the Cook Strait and said its Connemara sailings would be delayed.
An 8.15am service managed to depart at 10.30am when swells had reduced.
Bluebridge said customers impacted by the disruptions would be contacted and warned customers of delays on its phone line.
"Please note that our call centre is extremely busy and there will be longer than usual wait times.
"These cancellations will be disruptive to our customers travel plans and we apologise for this, and thank you for your patience and understanding as we work through this disruption."
Passengers booked on Interslander services last night waited several hours for swells to calm down before departing Picton and Wellington.
Two Aratere sailings were also cancelled today.
