Dunedin is set for the biggest cruise-ship day of the season so far, with more than 4000 passengers expected today.
Diamond Princess, with 2670 passengers and 1115 crew, and Volendam, with 1432 passengers and 588 crew, are both due at Port Chalmers this morning.
Dunedin Visitor Centre manager Louise van de Vlierd said she was excited about what promised to a be a frantic day for the centre.
Now accomplished at dealing with the big cruise-ship days, the centre no longer flew into "panic mode".
The big advantage of cruise ships was having a firm idea of passenger numbers in advance, allowing the centre - and tourist operators - to prepare.
Having two large ships in town meant some passengers would miss out on certain activities if they had not pre-booked, but Dunedin had a wide range of activities for visitors, many of which were free, Ms van de Vlierd said.
Today was the "first big day" since the cruise-ship season started in October.
The next big day was February 3, when exactly 4000 visitors were expected on Pacific Dawn and Sun Princess.
Taieri Gorge Railway chief executive Murray Bond said today was the first day of the cruise-ship season the train was booked out.
Bookings had been down, which probably reflected the fact fewer Americans were on the ships, as they tended to book.
The train had 448 bookings from the ships. Diamond Princess is due at Beach St wharf at 7.15, departing for Milford Sound at 6pm.
Volendam is due at the container terminal at 6.45, and sets sail to Lyttelton at 6pm. eileen.goodwin@odt.co.nz
