The visitors' marquee was going up at Port Chalmers yesterday, and all eyes will be on the new Octagon shuttle parking bay as the Sea Princess makes its second attempt at being the first cruise ship of the season.
The 261m vessel, with a capacity of 1950 passengers and a crew of about 900, was to have been the first ship of the season on October 8.
The ship was instead in dry dock in Sydney with what were reported as technical issues.
This was just one of the dramas with the ship recently, including a ''go-slow'' resulting in several missed ports during a cruise to the north of Australia, before several hundred passengers were hit by a gastrointestinal bug on the voyage from Fremantle to Singapore.
Sea Princess is due to berth at Port Chalmers at 7.15am from Akaroa. It departs for Fiordland at 5.45pm.
Dunedin City Council visitor industry business development adviser Sophie Barker said the i-Site visitor centre marquee was being set up yesterday.
The council would also be monitoring the new cruise ship shuttle area in the Octagon.
The Octagon carriageway has a new 50m long shuttle stop area on its lower side, and drivers will not be able to turn right from the carriageway into the circular street around the Octagon.
The cruise ship season this year should bring 80 ships and the industry is estimated to be worth $38 million a year to Otago.
