A group of young German tourists joined about 100 people who were at St Clair and St Kilda beaches yesterday, making the most of the warm weather.
Elsewhere in the city Christmas church services and a number of communal meals and events enlivened the day.
And as usual, staff at the Queen Mary Maternity Centre at Dunedin Hospital were being kept on their toes.
But it was the cruise ships that added an extra dimension to Dunedin streets and visitor attractions.
Sea Princess and Volendam between them spilled more than 4000 passengers and crew into the city.
For some, it was a chance to visit the city's attractions, go shopping or take in the scenery and wildlife. But for others, Christmas Day was a great opportunity to just disembark, relax, soak up some sun and get "a decent cup of coffee".
For some of the city's tourism attractions the ships boosted the season's numbers; for others the effects were less clear-cut.
Taieri Gorge Railway operations manager Grant Craig said the train excursion hosted 520 passengers on Christmas Day - the largest contingent of cruise-ship passengers in its history.
"That's very good. There were also a lot of local residents on board who had nothing else to do on Christmas Day."
"This is only the second time we've opened the castle on Christmas Day. Last year we opened for the cruise ships, but they arrived late, so it's difficult to compare."
Headfirst Travel sales and operations manager David "Cheeks" Way was in the Octagon most of the day and booked more than 200 passengers on Otago Explorer and City Hopper tours.
It was one of the busiest days this year, he said.
Volendam passenger John Wyllie, of Brisbane, said he was one of hundreds with a sweet tooth who packed the Cadbury factory for their mid-cruise chocolate fix, while many of their fellow passengers went on wildlife tours on the peninsula.
Sherie Barnett, of Adelaide, said she spent most of her day in Dunedin shopping and would have liked more shops to have been open.
"We tried in vain to get rid of our Kiwi dollars, but alas ...
"But it's a beautiful place, and we'll be back," she said.
However, Don and Janice Brinkworth, of Sydney, said they had been to Dunedin before, seen all the sights and were content to just sit in the Octagon and relax.
"This stop is a chance to get a decent cup of coffee, because you don't get it on the ship.
"We planned this to be a relaxing day, just sitting here, looking at the Robbie Burns statue."
Jan Porter, of Brisbane, agreed. She was happy just to sit and admire the city's beautiful buildings.
"I even appreciated the seagulls - they're cheeky."
Both Volendam and Sea Princess left Port Chalmers last night.
