The season starts on Monday afternoon with the arrival of Royal Princess. That visit will be followed by up to 126 more from cruise ships until April 7 next year.
The sector had an unexpectedly strong rebound last season from the Covid-19 pandemic’s challenges, but problems on the ground included bus services at Port Chalmers struggling to cope with the influx and heritage buses needing to be deployed to get passengers from the port to Dunedin for Taieri Gorge train excursions.
Lack of room for Port Chalmers residents on buses — partly because of a shortage of bus drivers — caused frustration during the past cruise season.
The Otago Regional Council announced last week almost 300 additional bus trips to and from Port Chalmers had been put on the schedule over the next cruise season to ease pressure.
At a presentation about the cruise sector for the Dunedin City Council this week, Dunedin visitor centre manager Louise van de Vlierd was confident the appropriate number of buses and drivers would be in operation.
"We should be able to keep the local community happy," she said.
That came after news last month an arrangement had been agreed between Dunedin Railways and KiwiRail to bring a train service back to Port Chalmers for the gorge excursion trip.
"We won’t be able to have trains for every ship, but it’s a great improvement, and we’re working to get back to where we were pre-Covid 19 when it comes to trains," Port Otago sustainability and cruise manager Carolyn Bennett said.
City councillor Christine Garey, who had in the past spoken of the need for the cruise industry to renew its "social licence", said it was important for the community to be on board and welcoming to visitors as the sector rebounded.
She expected improvements to bus services and other preparations would help achieve this.
Cr Andrew Whiley said the cruise sector provided a financial windfall for the city in many ways.
There were 101 visits last season, bringing almost 150,000 passengers to Otago and more than 73,000 crew.
Port Chalmers was normally first or last on any New Zealand itinerary and Cr Whiley said Dunedin was rated highly as a destination.
Last season, the weather resulted in the cancellation of just two scheduled arrivals.
"Let’s hope the winds at the head are calm and the tides are favourable," Cr Whiley said.
The largest ship on the circuit, Ovation of the Seas, is due to visit eight times during the season.
One of its stops is to be an overnight stay, on December 18.
That is expected to benefit the hospitality sector.
Cr Sophie Barker said the cruise industry provided a much-needed boost to the tourism economy.
Port Otago had invested in facilities to welcome passengers and the gorge train ride was an important experience for visitors, she said.
Cr Steve Walker acknowledged the cruise financial windfall, but added there was a significant environmental impact.
He wanted the port to be rigorous about managing that.
Dunedin, and more broadly New Zealand, needed to live up to a clean-green image, Cr Walker said.
Cr Whiley said the industry was making strides in energy efficiency.
