Revealed: True size of mega cruise ships sailing in NZ harbours

Explorer of the Seas docked at Princess Wharf. Photo / Greg Bowker

Thanks to growing cruise markets in China and Australia, this summer 135 cruise ships carrying 267,800 passengers will inject more than $543 million into the New Zealand economy.

This season is expected to break records as the ships keep getting bigger.

The largest to visit our shores this cruise season is the famed Queen Mary II,which is the same length as the Sky Tower and has an estimated value of $1.36 billion.

Last week, the Explorer of the Seas visited New Zealand for the first time.The luxury liner is just 34m shorter than the Queen Mary II and carries a similar number of passengers but has a three-deck main dining room, which is the largest restaurant in Australasia, and seats almost 2000 people at a time.

Next year, the Quantum-class Ovation of the Seas will enter New Zealand waters-but it's so large there is nowhere for it to berth, so the current plan is for it to anchor in the Waitemata Harbour and ferry its 4900 passengers to shore.

Chairman of Cruise New Zealand, Kevin O'Sullivan, said this year's 33per cent projected growth for the industry was because the country was becoming increasingly popular for the Australian cruise industry.

However, Mr O'Sullivan said China was a burgeoning market.

"They're the ones bringing bigger and bigger ships and we expect them to just get bigger."

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