Busy day for Tauranga today ..28 Jan..

[Kiwi Kruzer]

3 ships in the Port of Tauranga today.

That will keep the tour companies busy.

Dawn Princess, Oosterdam, and Silver Whisper.

 

 

[pattyj 1204]

They really will be busy, The Solstice should be arriving soon, right?? Nice picture. Thanks for sharing.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

They really will be busy, The Solstice should be arriving soon, right?? Nice picture. Thanks for sharing.

 

Solstice will be there on Sat Feb 1.

[johndon]

It certainly raises the question of how can Tauranga cope with an influx of six or seven thousand people off of three cruise ships?

Wonderful for their local economy but is there the infrastructure, transport and services that can cope?.

If this is a first for 3 ships to call on the same day I would suggest that with the huge increase in cruise ships operating out of Australia and New Zealand asnd likely to further increase in the next two or three years then many of the small ports that currently are on itineraries of ships will be unable to cope. Port Chalmers is another case in point and the requirements of commercial cargo ships still has to be taken into account.

The next five years could be very interesting.

 

John

[OzKiwiJJ]

In the case of Tauranga, they can bring coaches down from Auckland. And the wharf is actually at Mt Maunganui so an easy walk to shops, cafes, the Mount, and the surf beach.

 

Port Chalmers could be a real problem though but offering trips on the Taieri Gorge Railway with the train picking passengers up from the port probably helps. Also during the cruise season they may relocate some of the coaches from Queenstown that are used there in the ski season.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

In the case of Tauranga, they can bring coaches down from Auckland. And the wharf is actually at Mt Maunganui so an easy walk to shops, cafes, the Mount, and the surf beach.

 

Port Chalmers could be a real problem though but offering trips on the Taieri Gorge Railway with the train picking passengers up from the port probably helps. Also during the cruise season they may relocate some of the coaches from Queenstown that are used there in the ski season.

 

 

Queenstown is very popular during the summer holiday season as well.

 

 

However its a very good point that is raised and is of concern to both Australia and NZ.

How much does a town or port spend on infrastructure to cope with thousand of tourists who descend on it for just the 1 day and are then gone ?

I have observed , that as cruising has increased in Au and NZ, the ports that were initially very keen to welcome the ships are now starting to wane in their enthusiasm for welcoming cruise ship passengers.

Perhaps at the end of the day when they add how much has been spent ,it does not meet their expectations.

Passengers that flock ashore and beat down tour operators, shopkeepers and the like do not help matters.

I know of one tourist town where a local taxi driver locks his cab away and takes the day off when a cruise ship calls . He is sick to the teeth of obnoxious passengers who want nothing more than to beat him down in price just so they can get back on the ship and boast to others about how much they have saved .

 

 

[OzKiwiJJ]

 

Queenstown is very popular during the summer holiday season as well.

 

 

 

I know but a lot of summer tourists arrive by car or campervan, whereas in the ski season many people prefer to catch the buses up to the skifields. Consequently there may be less demand for buses in Queenstown in summer.

 

Still, the huge numbers of people coming off two or three cruise boats must stretch smaller towns in NZ, and other places like the Pacific Islands, to the max.

 

I haven't experienced cruise ship congestion in NZ but did notice it in Europe, especially in Florence.

[Oz_Steve]

Voyager of the Sea was in Suva and it clogged the place up. I wasn't here but the week before there were 2 ships and it was apparently quite difficult to get a cab.

[Fozwald]

 

Queenstown is very popular during the summer holiday season as well.

 

 

it's difficult to get a cruise ship into Queenstown harbour though Kiwi Kruzer :cool:

[johndon]

They will have to use the EARNSLAW for a tender

 

John

[OzKiwiJJ]

They will have to use the EARNSLAW for a tender

 

John

 

As long as they have the pianist playing singalong songs :D

[dancinman66]

 

Queenstown is very popular during the summer holiday season as well.

 

 

However its a very good point that is raised and is of concern to both Australia and NZ.

How much does a town or port spend on infrastructure to cope with thousand of tourists who descend on it for just the 1 day and are then gone ?

I have observed , that as cruising has increased in Au and NZ, the ports that were initially very keen to welcome the ships are now starting to wane in their enthusiasm for welcoming cruise ship passengers.

Perhaps at the end of the day when they add how much has been spent ,it does not meet their expectations.

Passengers that flock ashore and beat down tour operators, shopkeepers and the like do not help matters.

I know of one tourist town where a local taxi driver locks his cab away and takes the day off when a cruise ship calls . He is sick to the teeth of obnoxious passengers who want nothing more than to beat him down in price just so they can get back on the ship and boast to others about how much they have saved .

 

 

 

Yeah infrastructure is an issue, look at Brisbane and Sydney

Sydney gets hand me down ships due to how rough the local cruising is on a new ship they like to break them in elsewhere, and since all the newer ships are getting bigger, none of the new ones can fit under the bridge

White bay and barangaroo is stupid

they should develop garden island as we now regularly have them at anchor in the harbour

 

the gold coast suggestion is good

Dunedin could throw an extra berth in with a bit of dredging, but some of the others are an issue - Melbourne realistically only can take two ships at a time

 

the next five years will be very interesting

Greg:)

[MicCanberra]

Thanks for posting the pic. I suppose there were no major issues as I didn't see anything on the net about it. :D