This was an active volcano. Not just hundreds of years ago. Now. Recently. People in Hawaii built houses on old lava fields, and were surprised at the recent eruptions that sent down new lava to torch their homes. When Mt. St. Helen's erupted, there was ample warning. There was a huge bulge in the mountain. The "safety zone" was totally inadequate. If it had not happened on a weekend, there would have been loggers in the forest, trying to get as much "valuable" timber out as possible before the mountain did its thing. As it was, several campers lost their lives, some had to dash out at 100mph to outrun the ash cloud, and one was crushed by a falling tree trying to do so. There was one official watcher at a forward geology station, which was too close. He was concerned (apparently his bosses were more blase'), actually turned away two co-workers who wanted to camp out: we're too close, it's not worth the risk, the ridge may not protect us. His last words were in his radio dispatch when the mountain blew: "Vancouver (Washington), this is it!" They named the ridge after him.
A lot of those people in New Zealand were on a CRUISE ship--come see the bubbly, cuddly, active volcano. There are cruises to Antarctica, although various navies have all warned that there aren't enough resources to rescue a cruise ship that gets stuck in the ice or hits an iceberg or runs aground. A year or two ago, there was a medical emergency at an overwintering Antarctic station. Ski planes from Canada (one stayed in Chile as a back up) had to fly down, because the mighty US Airforce couldn't land its supply planes in such conditions. They landed in pitch darkness on a wind-blown, ice-covered "airstrip", and you have to admire the airmanship of the pilots. Talk about risky. Science can be risky, but it isn't frivolous, heedless risk. Maybe the pay-off is worth the risk. But tourist photos for a scrapbook aren't worth the proverbial bucket of warm spit.
The problem with modern technological civilization is that no one gives the earth any credit. It is a formidable thing, we not only don't understand it, we can't control it, and if it goes off we have no defense. A little humility would be in order. I hope the cruise ship owners are sued into bankruptcy. I hope New Zealand's government does a re-think about what they allow--it is unfortunately a very rare civil servant who will stand up to money, and when one does that person usually loses a job.