A long line of holidaymakers has formed at Auckland’s ferry terminal this morning, all waiting to catch the next trip to Waiheke Island.

One of the passengers told the Herald he had to wait two hours at the terminal and then had only a 60 per cent chance he would get on the next ferry.

Last week, Fullers 360 chief executive Mike Horne said services might be disrupted over the holiday period.

“This is our busiest time of year and we expect demand to be high.

 “As such, we continue to encourage customers to make the most of their summer travels by travelling off-peak, arriving at their departure pier early, plan ahead/check our timetables and pre-purchase tickets online.

“We’ve developed summer travel tips that sit on our homepage.”

Travellers wait to catch the ferry to Waiheke Island. Photo / Dean Purcell

Horne said to manage demand and incentivise travelling off-peak, Fullers360 had introduced a $35 off-peak deal.

The fare provided customers travelling off-peak with a 25 per cent discount to the standard return fare.

“Usually during the peak summer period, we would have access to backup boats to transport passengers who were unable to board their preferred service. However, due to crew shortages, we are currently unable to provide this scaled level of service. Unfortunately, it’s a matter of people, not vessels - we have the boats, but not the crews to operate more services that we would so love to deliver,” He said.

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Long queues of people waiting to catch the ferry to Waiheke Island. Photo / Dean Purcell

Fullers was anticipating the Christmas weekend to be fairly busy with people travelling for the holidays.

“As such, we have issued travel advice on our website and the MyFerry app reminding people to plan ahead, check our timetables and arrive at least an hour early to give them the best possible chance of boarding their preferred sailing.”

The peak summer timetables had been adjusted to ensure the reliable delivery of ferry services in line with the crew they had available, Horne said.

“The reality is our business has been grappling with skills shortage issues for over a year, alongside many other transport and tourism operators in New Zealand.

“We are working hard to resolve this, including launching a domestic and international recruitment campaign, increasing pay for our employees, investing in training and development and partnering with competitors to sustain our summer timetable.

“We are also actively engaging skilled workers from other markets including the Philippines, South Africa and Australia; however, there is no quick fix.”