A cruise ship coming into Napier Port early this year. Photo / Ian Cooper
A cruise ship coming into Napier Port early this year. Photo / Ian Cooper
The upcoming cruise season at Napier Port will begin later than most other Kiwi cruise destinations, but the port says it will not affect what is shaping as “a record season ahead”.
The port is expecting up to 91 cruise visits starting on November 14 with the National Geographic Orionand ending in early April - providing a welcome boost to the Hawke’s Bay economy.
The NZ Cruise Association says Napier continues to be a popular destination for cruise liners and a “lighter” start to the season across New Zealand would ramp up, culminating with the biggest cruise season in the country’s history.
The likes of Auckland, Bay of Islands, and Tauranga have already begun welcoming their first international cruise ships of the 2023/24 summer season.
Other major ports are set to welcome cruises before Napier including Picton (November 5), Dunedin (November 6), Lyttleton in Christchurch (November 7), Wellington (November 8), and Gisborne (November 13).
Last year, the season began about three weeks earlier at Napier Port, when the Ovation of the Seas became the first cruise ship to visit the region in two and a half years post Covid.
Napier Port says the later start date is simply down to cruise companies and their scheduling.
Chief operating officer Adam Harvey said the port was excited to welcome back cruise ships.
“We’re confident Napier remains a popular choice of destination for the passengers and cruise lines with demand pointing to a record season ahead.
Ovation of the Seas, one of the biggest cruise ships in the world, is scheduled to return to Napier on November 29. Photo / Paul Taylor
“Our current schedule has 91 cruise calls booked to Napier during the season - November through to April - including 18 double days [which means] two cruise vessels in port at the same time and two triple days.”
The first big bopper to arrive at Napier Port will be the Grand Princess on November 22, which has capacity for 3100 passengers.
“We anticipate over 130,000 cruise passengers to arrive in Napier between November and April, which will add a significant and timely financial boost to our regional economy.”
Cruise Association chief executive Jacqui Lloyd said there was a “lighter” start to the international summer cruise season this year, but it was nothing concerning as cruises make their way down from the Northern Hemisphere.
“[We are expecting] the largest cruise season that New Zealand has had.
“There is certainly no lack of interest, it is just sometimes the schedules move around a little bit.
”We are expecting 1050 port calls, 260,000 passengers, about 149,000 crew, and on 54 ships - which is the largest cruise season New Zealand has had.”
She said it would ramp up from December through to February and March as the weather was much warmer.
“[A later start] is certainly nothing untoward from Napier, in fact from a cruise line perspective the feedback we get from the cruise lines is nothing short of magnificent for Napier and Hawke’s Bay.”
