Rugby fans opting to stay afloat on cruise ships that will provide accommodation during the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand will find themselves in the heart of the action.

Five cruise liners have already been confirmed to provide much needed accommodation for the major event and are likely to provide beds for up to 10,000 visitors.

Two ships will berth in Auckland, two in Wellington and another in the South Island port of Lyttelton near Christchurch, ensuring visitors are well placed to enjoy top class action on the field as well as luxury on the water.

Floating hotels
In Wellington, the fans’ floating hotels will be berthed within shouting distance of Westpac Stadium, where the RWC matches are to be held.

Next door to the stadium is the New Zealand Rugby Union’s headquarters, and within a short walk is downtown Wellington - renowned for nightlife and a café, bar and restaurant scene that outdoes New York on a per capita basis.

Auckland is also to host two grand cruise liners that will berth downtown close to restaurants, shops and transport facilities. While the Viaduct Harbour is already the city’s entertainment hub, further development will increase the focus on the waterfront and RWC organisers promise a revamped wharf area will become "party central" during the major event.

Official RWC agents
Two cruise ship companies, Adventure World and CruiseCo, have been named amongst the 20 official travel agents of the World Cup.

The companies say that while packages are yet to be finalised, deals are likely to include accommodation onboard in Wellington, with a cruise up the New Zealand coast to Auckland and on to the Bay of Islands between the quarter and semi-finals.

The Rugby World Cup is one of the largest sporting events in the world and is likely to attract more than 60,000 visitors to New Zealand.

The cruise liner option is aimed at easing the accommodation crunch and will be similar to the set up used during the 2005 British and Irish Lions tour - when 671 fans stayed on the Pacific Sun - though on a much larger scale.

Andrew Burton, chief executive of Rugby Travel and Hospitality Ltd, says cruise ships will play a major part in the success of the tournament.

Accredited agents will begin selling travel packages on 1 January 2010, the first time World Cup tickets go on sale.

About 700,000 of the 1.7 million tickets will be sold to overseas fans.

Global ticketing
Corporate and hospitality packages will go on sale a month later, followed by a global ticketing programme in April that will allow fans to buy groups of tickets for a particular venue or team.

Individual tickets will go on sale in August.

No prices have yet been confirmed for the travel packages - ticket prices will be announced later next month - but Mr Burton said they would cater for everyone, from the cruise-ship crowd to those in campervans.

Ticket prices will be similar to the last tournament in France. The cheapest tickets will probably cost about NZ$30; quarter-finals are likely to be around NZ$350, semi-finals about NZ$600, and tickets to the final about NZ$800.