Doug Wright

Two cruise ships due later this week are Albatros, on its first visit under this name, and Regatta, on its maiden call. They are two of the vessels calling here in what has turned out to be a record cruise-ship season.

It was interesting to see Pacific Dawn and Dawn Princess in port together last Thursday, then Diamond Princess a day later. These three cruise liners illustrate the growth in size of vessels that have represented Princess Cruises locally for just over 11 years.

Last year proved to be a very interesting one with such a large number of vessels calling here for the first time. And the last of these to enter the harbour was the attractive Spirit of Adventure, which was berthed at Port Chalmers last Thursday and Friday.

The visit last Friday by the 77,441gt Sun Princess that marked 50 years of calls to this harbour by international cruise ships, could not have happened at a more appropriate time in the cruise ship calendar.

Polarcus Alima and Jaya Amazon provided something totally different to the waterfront scene at Port Chalmers when they met there by chance, last Wednesday morning.

The cruise ships Celebrity Century, here for the first time last Tuesday, and Radiance of the Seas, on its third visit on Friday, have more than one thing in common. They are from two arms of the Royal Caribbean group and both were built in the covered, state-of-the-art shipbuilding facility of Jos L. Meyer Werft, at Papenburg, on the River Eems, 40km inland from the North Sea.

It was interesting to see the Lauritzen group represented here by a bulk carrier and a tanker within a few days of each other late last month. Both red-hulled vessels were on their maiden visits.

Now a familiar visitor to the port, Holland-America's Volendam makes its 27th visit today. And in two days' time sister ship Zaandam will be making its first appearance here.

Under the heading "Cruise ship bonanza for businesses", the illustration in last Tuesday's Otago Daily Times Special Anniversary Edition shows the famous Queen Elizabeth 2 passing Pulling Point on its first visit on February 4, 1992.

As replacements for the 2824TEU, chartered Cap vessels, Hamburg-Sud has transferred four of its own larger 3630TEU Bahia-class ships to its Trident service this year.