The second cancellation this season of a cruise ship visit to Port Chalmers has disappointed Dunedin tourism providers.
Sun Princess will not dock at Port Chalmers today, as scheduled, and no reason has been given.
Notice of the cancellation was sent to the Dunedin City Council's economic development unit and other industry professionals yesterday morning.
Sophie Barker, the unit's business development adviser for the visitor industry, said at least the cancellation was not last-minute and gave fair warning to those who catered to cruise passengers and crew.
"It's disappointing but we are glad the notice came through early. Hopefully, there won't be any more cancellations," she said.
Dunedin has missed out on two of the first four cruise ship visits scheduled this season.
Sea Princess' visit on October 14 was cancelled after passengers were stranded on land at Akaroa.
Sun Princess was due to head for Port Chalmers and Fiordland from Akaroa, but instead would go north to the Bay of Islands then to Sydney, Australia.
Dunedin Visitor Centre staff believed the long-range marine weather forecast might be linked to the cancellation, although that was not confirmed by Sun Princess agents.
In an email to operators, an agent stated the reason for cancelling was not advised.
Dunedin's tourism industry was set to benefit from a record cruise ship season, expected to deliver 230,000 passengers and crew into the city.
The next scheduled Dunedin visit by a cruise ship is Radiance of the Seas on Saturday, November 10.
