Cruising returned to New Zealand for the first time since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic when P&O Cruises’ Pacific Explorer sailed into Waitemata harbour, Auckland on August 12, according to Travel Weekly Australia.
The ship was on a 12-night round-trip South Pacific cruise from Sydney that also called at Fiji.
Guests received a traditional Maori welcome after berthing at Queen’s Wharf.
Cruise Lines International Association MD for Australasia, Joel Katz, said the New Zealand cruise community could now begin rebuilding an industry that was previously worth almost NZD570 million (R5,9bn) a year to the country’s economy.
“New Zealand has now joined the rest of the world in a careful resumption of cruise operations. We now have an opportunity to revive a sector that previously supported many thousands of jobs in communities right around the New Zealand coast,” Katz said.
Pacific Explorer was the first ship to visit as part of a gradual resumption of operations in New Zealand that will continue with visits by other vessels in the spring and summer.
