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Dunedin Anticipating a Successful Cruise Ship Season in 2017

Monday 27 November 2017, 9:20PM

By Beckie Wright

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Dunedin is seeing a growing and successful cruise ship culture, boosting the tourism and economy of New Zealand’s historical first city.

With about 90 cruise ships scheduled to arrive, this season has been forecasted to increase its cruise ship visit by 27% relative to last year’s 76 cruise ship visits. If the ships are filled to capacity, an estimated 184,000 passengers and 80,000 crew members will visit Dunedin this season.

The New Zealand Cruise Association estimated the cruise ships and passengers visiting this season would boost the Dunedin economy by $38 million.

Dunedin i-Site Visitor Centre Manager Louise van de Vlierd said that in the 2018-2019 season, 30% more passengers had booked on a cruise with a stop in Dunedin compared to the last. Cruise ship visitor numbers are also expected to continue to rise.

The first cruise ship to herald this great wave was the Golden Princess, carrying about 2500 passengers. According to Mr Bob Sherrod, a passenger aboard with his wife Connie, the passengers represented 33 countries and the crew represented more than 40 countries.

Noordam, the second cruise ship of the season to dock at Dunedin with a capacity of 1918 passengers, experienced an arrival delay by three hours due to a thick fog covering the entrance to Otago Harbour. However, despite starting out on a negative note, the situation quickly turned into a positive as the ship’s captain delayed their departure to 9pm instead of 6pm.

Tourism operators such as Back to Nature Tours had staff happily waiting for the ship to dock. Managing director Chris Roberts said that while a delay was not ideal, it was part of the cruise ship business.

If your cruise is docking at Dunedin this season, choose Back to Nature Tours for the best Dunedin Shore Excursions to visit popular Dunedin attractions and experience the beauty of the Otago Peninsula. Visit their website to view their range of Dunedin tours as well as popular Tauranga tours to the Hobbiton movie set.