Cruise ship season for the Bay of Plenty is due to finish in less than a month, with another four cruise ships arriving, before a visit by Majestic Princess on April 17 closes off the six-month season.

Two new ‘kids on the block’ this year have been Celebrity Cruises’ Celebrity Edge, and The Resilient Lady from the Virgin cruise line.

Celebrity Edge debuted in Tauranga on December 14, 2023, on the first of 12 itineraries from early December through to April 2024, visiting an impressive collection of 22 ports. 

Celebrity Edge kicking off its 2023-2024 season in Australia, New Zealand and the South Pacific, offering an array of 6- to 13-night itineraries featuring 22 ports, including Tauranga.

It is due back for its last visit of the season on Easter Friday, set to arrive at 6.30am, and due to depart at 4.30pm

Popular Resilient Lady crew

After staying overnight on Saturday, January 13, the Resilient Lady arrived back for another overnight stay on March 13,  with the crew quickly becoming popular amongst the Mount Maunganui community.

Crew members from Resilient Lady, on an early evening rubbish collecting mission on the harbour entrance side of Mauao in March. Photo: Supplied.

On their first visit to Tauranga, the Resilient Lady’s enthusiastic and energetic crew engagement and communication manager Carl Dickinson led a team of crew volunteers on a rubbish collecting mission to the summit Mauao.

On their return visit in March, they again set out in a wave of red sailors with a friendly ‘Ahoy!’, this time heading for the eastern side of Mauao to collect rubbish.

“We had 20 crew from around 12 different countries,” says Carl. ”We went at 5pm until sunset.”

Crew members from Resilient Lady, on an early evening rubbish collecting mission on the harbour entrance side of Mauao in March. Photo: Supplied.

He says Western Bay Wildlife Trust members drew them a map of the area to focus on, that covered the rocks and beach area on the harbour entrance side of Mauao.

“We didn’t get to see any little blue penguins, since I don’t think it’s the time of the year [for that], but we did pick up around two full bags of garbage of things trapped between the rocks.”

Crew members from Resilient Lady, on an early evening rubbish collecting mission on the harbour entrance side of Mauao in March. Photo: Supplied.

He says what they collected mainly consisted of clothing items.

“Like flip flops and wellies, but also cigarette buds, and plastic bottles trapped between the rocks.

“We also found some fishing net pieces that were entangled deep within the rocks.

“We knew we wouldn’t see penguins this time of year, it was just nice to do something good for our favourite New Zealand port, Tauranga!”

Crew members from Resilient Lady, on an early evening rubbish collecting mission on the harbour entrance side of Mauao in March. Photo: Supplied.

While they worked at collecting rubbish, they were treated to the sight of another cruise ship passing by, departing the harbour.

The Resilient Lady is one of a fleet of four cruise ships in the Virgin Voyages line, which has partnered with Climeon for its clean energy system to be deployed on its ships to generate energy from the engines' cooling water to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Virgin Voyages has also banned all single-use plastics from its fleet including straws, water bottles, shopping bags, food packaging, stirrers and takeaway cups.

The on board experience for Virgin Voyages crew and passengers is also a commitment to sustainability with the pioneering of innovative technologies that transform heat from the ship's engines into clean energy, and purifying wastewater so that it’s even clean enough to drink. Carl has a special affinity for Mount Maunganui and Tauranga.

“I am very lucky to have cousins from Tauranga so it holds a special place in my heart,” says Carl.

“All of us on board are very grateful to be able to be in the industry and visit these amazing locations, but also out of environmental stewardship.”

He says Virgin Voyages are a forward-thinking cruise line, “not like the rest”.

“We call it the ‘Epic Sea Change For All’, and the aim is to flip traditional cruising on its head,” says Carl.

Crew members from Resilient Lady, on an early evening rubbish collecting mission on the harbour entrance side of Mauao in March. Photo: Supplied.

Epic Sea Change For All is a vision Virgin Voyages has for not only changing business for good, but also to change the world for the better.

NZ rejects direct Aussie cruise ship

Tauranga’s cruise ship industry missed a much anticipated economic opportunity in November due to an Australian cruise ship failing to meet NZ’s strict biosecurity requirements.

Thousands of passengers and crew on board the Pacific Adventure were turned away from New Zealand shores, heading back to Australia instead of spending the day enjoying Tauranga.

The Pacific Adventure was turned away from New Zealand due to not meeting strict biosecurity requirements. Photo: Sean McGrady.

The ship had left Sydney for hull cleaning off the Bay of Plenty, however the weather didn’t allow this to happen, so the itinerary had to be amended. Local Bay of Plenty tourism operators were affected by the cancelled visit to Tauranga with tours to Rotorua, Hobbiton and Western Bay of Plenty cancelled.

Cruise ships galore

The Royal Princess was the first cruise ship of the season, arriving in port on October 18, 2023. A welcome and refreshing reminder that summer was arriving, and along with it, a flood of tourists keen to experience NZ scenery and meet Kiwis.

Since then, more than 100 cruise ships visited between then and mid-April 2024, with more than 290,000 cruise ship passengers and crew during the six-month season.

The Royal Princess, towering over Rata Street, Mount Maunganui this morning. Photo: Rosalie Liddle Crawford.

Cruise ships returned to the Bay of Plenty in 2022, after a two-and-a-half year hiatus when the Government closed the maritime border due to Covid-19 back in 2020.

Port of Tauranga is consistently voted by passengers as one of the best cruise ship destinations in New Zealand. The port is one of the few ports in the Southern Hemisphere where passengers can walk straight off their ship and into one of New Zealand’s top holiday spots within a matter of minutes.

The influx of tourists is allowing local businesses to thrive, with a minimum of four cruise ships a week, of varying sizes, up until late March.

The Mount Maunganui shops, cafes, bars and restaurants have enjoyed an increased buzz and business as lanyard-wearing passengers navigated their way around the town, wandered the beach boardwalks and explored Mauao, Moturiki and Mount Drury.

Passengers enjoying a dinner cruise on the Bay Explorer viewing the 'Kia Ora' message that lit up the port side of Resilient Lady at her berth. Photo: Ford Saunders.

The Bayfair Shopping Centre has also been a popular spot for cruise ship passengers, some of whom in the past have been known to wander along The Mall in Pilot Bay looking for ‘the mall’.

Passengers have also jumped aboard the city’s public buses and headed to Tauranga’s Historic Village, another popular local destination, which has a working village of artists and artisans.

Coaches also take passengers on day outings to Rotorua and a Middle-earth experience amongst the lush pastures of the shire for a guided walking tour at Hobbiton.

And there have been local bus tours for passengers to enjoy a day out around the Western Bay of Plenty.

The final cruise ship of the season - the Majestic Princess -  is scheduled to depart on April 17.