Yesterday saw the arrival of cruise ships Azamara Onward and the Noordam, which along with the warm weather, meant that Dunedin was "humming nicely", Port Otago’s general manager for customer service Craig Usher said.
"We’ve got our busiest week of the cruise season coming up.
"There should be about eight different ships visiting Dunedin over the next few days."
Mr Usher said the return of university students to the city had also improved foot traffic immeasurably.
"Everything feels like it’s picking up again, but it’s been a horrendous summer everywhere in New Zealand."
Mr Usher said the bad weather across the country meant there had been "quite a few logistical changes" to cruise ships’ arrivals.
"We’ve all had to do a significant amount of juggling this season."
The cruise season begins to "dampen down" after Friday, as there will be "an eight-day gap" before another "double day" of cruise ships on March 7 and again on March 11 and 12.
"But there has been constant flow this week and that’s good for everyone."
Dunedin i-Site team leader Izumi Nakamura said over the next week Dunedin would welcome just under 20,000 cruise ship passengers and 8000 crew members.
"We’re going to be frantic sorting it all out.
"There will be lots of visits to our traditional tourist attractions, but there will also be some interesting requests.
"Lots of our American visitors can’t wait for a meat pie or decent coffee."
Gelato Junkie general manager Leni Bebensee said it had been a mixed season for her, as so much of the success of the business relied on the weather and the foot traffic.
"If they drop the cruise ship passengers off closer to us in town, then we usually benefit from that.
"But we’ve been busy today."
