Sun Princess heralds cruise ship season

Northland's cruise ship season is under way, even before spring officially begins.

The Sun Princess called into the Bay of Islands on Sunday, with 1950 passengers and 900 crew on the tail end of a 109-day world cruise.

It is the earliest start on record to the cruise ship season, which will see 36 ships with 59,000 passengers and 25,000 crew visit the Bay. The next ship, Dawn Princess, arrives at the more usual time of early October; the last departs on March 20.

The number of ships expected is down from last season's record 52, which was boosted by the Rugby World Cup, but on a par with the previous record set in 2010-11.

The Sun Princess' passengers were almost all Australians enjoying their last port of call before heading home to Sydney.

Salt Air in Paihia was particularly busy with 20 scenic helicopter flights - more than the entire preceding month, marketing manager Michelle Ackers said.

The Paihia community had also done a lot to make the town more attractive and user-friendly, such as renovating the Marsden Rd toilets, organising shuttle buses from Waitangi jetty, and an ambassadors' scheme to help visitors find their way around.

The Sun Princess was also the first ship to visit since Russell wharf was modified to make it suitable for cruise ship tenders. Business association chairman Riki Kinnaird said no tenders came directly to Russell - the choice of where to take passengers was the captain's - but the town still benefited from extra visitors catching ferries from Paihia and Waitangi.

Although the number of ships due this season is the same as in 2010-11, the number of passengers is 15,000 higher thanks to the ships' ever-increasing size. The passengers will be predominantly Australian, with a smattering of Japanese, Britons, Americans and Germans. The biggest ship this season will be the Celebrity Solstice with 2850 passengers and 1500 crew on December 20.

While cruise ships remain a mainstay of the Bay's economy, they are not as lucrative to shore-based businesses as they once were. As prices have fallen, cruising is no longer limited to the wealthy; and with all their needs catered to on board, there is little passengers have to buy on land.

And as ordinary travellers switch from coach tours to cruise ships, some inland destinations are suffering. The Kauri Museum at Matakohe has seen the number of coaches visiting plummet by just over a third in the past year, a drop it attributes to the popularity of cruises.