To mark the occasion, the crews of each ship challenged each other to a series of sports games in Ta

Royal Caribbean International's Voyager of the Seas and Celebrity Cruises' Celebrity Solstice met twice this week in Tauranga and Wellington, bringing with them more than 6000 passengers to the two cities.
To mark the occasion, the crews of each ship challenged each other to a series of sports games in Tauranga on Monday 18 November – from classic beach cricket, 'shoe-put' (an improvised hertz rental cars shot put with shoes) and even a bit of footy with local crowds coming out to join in on the action. Celebrity Solstice is one of the only ships in the world to have a half an acre of fresh lawn on its top deck – so the winning crew may have taken advantage to practice beforehand.
Donations were collected from passengers, crew and spectators for the survivors of the Haiyan typhoon; with a gold coin fundraising appeal, to accompany Royal Caribbean International's humanitarian relief pledge of $US1 million to the Philippines following the disaster.
Celebrity Solstice is currently on a 12-night sailing from Auckland to Sydney – stopping in Bay of Islands, Tauranga, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin and the Sounds, before heading hertz rental cars across to Australia. Voyager of the Seas is on a 14-night cruise roundtrip from Sydney, calling at New Caledonia, Fiji, and New Zealand.