The first cruise ship of the season, Celebrity Solstice, dropped anchor in the Bay of Islands yesterday with 2850 passengers and 1250 crew on board.
Forty cruise ships are scheduled to visit the Bay during the 2014-15 season with a total of 63,980 passengers and 29,271 crew.
That's four fewer ships and about 10,000 fewer passengers than in 2013-14 but is still the third busiest season on record. The record was set in the Rugby World Cup season of 2011-12 when 52 ships brought 78,000 passengers to the Bay.
It was an ideal start to the season yesterday with a near cloudless sky greeting the Solstice as it anchored off Russell's Tapeka Pt.
Passengers were greeted at Waitangi jetty and around town by volunteers from Business Paihia's ambassador scheme. The ambassadors meet arriving passengers, direct them to free shuttle buses, hand out maps and offer advice.
The scheme, which started in 2009, is one of the reasons the Bay has gone from the bottom of New Zealand's port rankings to second, as judged by industry organisation Cruise NZ.
Paihia's Village Green craft market and many shops and cafes were humming yesterday. Sightseeing firm Salt Air had two helicopters flying non-stop and marketing manager Michelle Ackers said they had flown 18 trips by 2pm.
"It's really good for the first day of the season," she said.
According to Cruise New Zealand, cruise ships will make roughly the same contribution to Northland's economy this season as in 2013-14 - about $20.7 million - before jumping to $28.7 million in 2015-16.
The reason for the sharp increase is a forecast of more passengers brought by bigger ships. The current average of just over 1600 passengers a ship is expected to climb to almost 2000 next season.
Despite the increase, Northland will still lag behind other destinations such as Auckland (2015-16 estimate $182 million), Otago ($42.5 million), Bay of Plenty ($40.5 million), Wellington ($39.1 million) and Canterbury ($38.5 million). The economic impact figures combine total spending by passengers and crew plus ship-related costs.
The Bay's next cruise ship visitor will be the Sun Princess with 1950 passengers on November 9. Celebrity Solstice will return three more times this season.
The Queen Mary 2 is due to make a single visit on March 22.
The shift towards cruise holidays, however, has hit businesses in inland destinations that depend on coach tours. And while many cruise ship passengers sign up for onshore tours, others have little need to spend on land because all their needs are catered to on board.
Celebrity Solstice was the biggest cruise ship built in Germany at time of its launch in 2008. It cost $950 million, is 315m long and has a gross weight of 122,000 tonnes. It is owned by Florida-based Celebrity Cruises.