Today sees the Port of Tauranga host three cruise ships at the same time _ a first for the Bay of Plenty port.
With a total capacity of 3482 passengers and 1483 crew, the three ships started arriving at 6.15am.
The first due in was the Volendam, with up to 1432 passengers
and 588 crew. The Dawn Princess was next at 6.45am carrying up to 1950 passengers and 830 crew. The Orion is the last to arrive at 10.30am, with a capacity of 100 passengers and 65 crew.
Retailers and tourism operators in Rotorua and Tauranga have been preparing for this unprecedented influx of cruise visitors.
Free shuttles will carry people from the ships to the Mount and Tauranga downtowns, with Tourism Bay of Plenty staff at the dockside iSite to provide options to passengers who are not on pre-booked package tours.
Acting manager Glenn Ormsby said Rotorua would, as usual, be a popular package tour, while he hoped passengers on their second visit would opt for something closer to their ships.
Tauranga's cruise season started with the Sun Princess' arrival on October 18 and runs through until the Spirit of Enderby visit on April 17 _ an extension of about a month at each end compared with previous seasons.
A total of 54 visits are scheduled during this period and the port is expecting two ships to be berthed together on six occasions, although today is the only time three will be in
port at the same time.
The 2010/11 season has 29 per cent more visits than the previous year, but is still down on the record 58 berthings in 2008/2009 season.
- APN News & Media
