All fingers and toes have been crossed for the past 24 hours, in the hope nothing stops cruise ship Golden Princess from gracing the waters of Otago Harbour this morning.
The 2600-passenger vessel is expected to arrive in Port Chalmers at 6.30am from Akaroa.
Not only will it be the port's first cruise ship arrival for the season, it will also be the first time the 14-year-old vessel has visited Dunedin.
Diamond Princess was to have been the first of 70 ships for the season, but its early October visit was cancelled because of bad weather, leaving Dunedin tour operators out of pocket.
Since then, local businesses have been awaiting the arrival of Golden Princess in the hope they can make up some of their lost earnings.
Dunedin iSite visitor centre manager Louise van de Vlierd said
the ship's visit was expected to pump millions of dollars into the city's economy.
''I think local tour operators will be happy to see it come in in the morning, because it missed Akaroa today [yesterday] due to bad weather.
''We're keeping our fingers and toes crossed ...''
While only 70 ships are scheduled to visit this season, their increased size - 2550 passengers per ship compared with 1900 last summer - means an estimated 154,000 passengers are expected, up from the estimated 136,000 people who visited Dunedin on 75 cruise ships last season.
Golden Princess was refurbished in May, providing passengers with 10 restaurants/cafes, seven showrooms/lounges including a night club and cigar bar, and myriad on-board activities including a casino, a theatre, four pools, nine spas, a library, art gallery, wedding chapel, and lawn court for golf putting.
The 290m long, 54m high, 109,000 tonne cruise ship is expected to leave for Fiordland at 6pm today.
