The spectacular Golden Princess is set to tie up in Napier next Monday. Photo/File
The spectacular Golden Princess is set to tie up in Napier next Monday. Photo/File
The population of Napier is set to surge by a couple of thousand next Monday, although it will also decrease by a couple of thousand by the end of the day.
But within three weeks it will surge again as the annual cruise ship season really takes hold.
The firstarrival will be that of the Golden Princess on October 9 and it will be the only arrival for that month before the season sparks into more regular arrival life on November 3 when the Noordam is the first of four arrivals that month.
It will be the first of two early season arrivals for the 109,000-tonne liner which is operated by the Princess Cruise Line - it is scheduled to make its second visit of the season on November 22.
The Golden Princess will arrive from Wellington at 6am with 2636 passengers and 1100 crew.
At this stage it appears the weather will play ball, with MetService's long-range forecast being one of cloud but no rain, and a temperature of around 17C.
The 2017/18 cruise ship season will be one of the biggest yet with 60 scheduled arrivals - 15 more than last season.
It is a large slice of the tourism industry which is on the rise and 66 arrivals have already been locked in for the 2018/19 season.
Napier i-Site Visitor Centre manager Jane Libby said there would be times over the following months when extra staff and volunteers would be brought on board to cater for the thousands of expected passengers as there were days when two liners would be arriving on the same day.
About 102,000 passengers are set to arrive in Napier with Cruise New Zealand figures indicating they would contribute to a $22 million boost to the Hawke's Bay economy.
"We are ready and waiting and all geared up," was how Ms Libby put it.
