The first planned voyage of the Le Laperouse is scheduled to leave Dunedin on January 30 and travel to Auckland with 180 passengers on board.
Cabins range from $15,000 to the $75,000, and the first cruise is sold out.
While the vessel and crew - who will all complete mandatory isolation - are from offshore all food and beverages will be purchased in New Zealand.
At least 400 people are booked on subsequent voyages.
Sarah Clarke from Christchurch travel company Holland Clarke & Beatson said their fares alone will bring in $2.5 million to a struggling travel sector.
"We have also committed to spending $100,000 in Auckland on arrival on ship repairs," she said.
"And there will be a huge amount of spending that will go on at the ports along the way too.
"It's set to generate a lot of money … we've been working for months, and everything is all systems go - but the Ministry of Health is not signing off and we need an answer really soon because the clock is seriously about to stop."
She said the idea for the cruise was about supporting local companies including travel agents who were "all working desperately hard simply to survive".
"We manufactured this initiative back in May this year, 'pivoting' in response to Covid, after it became apparent that this pandemic was going to create strife for us, and our industry, for quite a long time," she said.
"The voyage we have chartered, has been sold to New Zealanders by local travel agencies, agencies that have shown considerable initiative in the face of great adversity to engage their clients in travelling and exploring New Zealand this summer," she explained.
"Many of (the agencies) are teetering on the edge of survival … and even the booking of a couple of cabins on this charter will mean the difference between survival and failure.
"What is now required is an exemption from the Ministry Of Health under the 'Maritime Border Order 2020'."
Clarke said an identical exemption was granted to Heritage Expeditions - who worked alongside her company and Wild Earth on their parallel application - to bring the Spirit of Enderby into NZ, which is now on it's third voyage of the summer.
"(French cruise ship operator and owner of the vessels) Ponant have been working closely with MoH and have confirmed will be following all procedures and protocols to ensure that the vessel and crew is Covid free," she said.
"We cannot understand for love nor money that we cannot get approval for something that is safe - the cruise can't happen unless it's Covid-free to start with," said Clarke.
"We should be able to take advantage of our work, be able to honour our commitments, and make so many New Zealanders delighted.
"The economic impacts to travel agents across New Zealand, are significant.
"Simply by giving approval travel agents are getting subsidised – we are not asking the government for a handout."
A Ministry of Health spokesperson said Ponant previously submitted an application for an exemption for Le Laperouse, which was declined by the Ministry because it did not meet the requirements of either of the two categories of the Maritime Border Order - delivering the ship to a business, and carrying out a refit or refurbishment of, or a repair to, the ship that is more than minor.
"The result and the reasoning of the decision were communicated directly to the applicants.
"Ponant submitted a further application, including new information which is currently under assessment. This entails a full fresh assessment of the new application and all other relevant information."
A response is expected before Christmas.
"The Ministry of Health has been directly in touch with both Ponant and Heritage Expeditions/Wild Earth Travel consistently since the first applications were received.
"The purpose of the Maritime Border Order is 'to prevent, and limit the risk of, an outbreak, or the spread, of Covid-19'. All applications for exemptions to enter New Zealand are considered within the framework of the Order and exemptions are only made if the application clearly meets the criteria of the Order, to ensure that the primary purpose of the Order is upheld. It is a privilege to get an exemption, not a right."
Staffing of the vessel is separate. Immigration NZ will decide on visas for crew they may wish to bring in. Any such crew would need to go into managed isolation and quarantine for 14 days.
