But for the popular Volendam, it marks the end of a chapter of more than three years' employment on the seasonal Australia-New Zealand cruise ship circuit.
The 60,906gt, 1999-built vessel is being replaced next season by the larger 81,769gt, Vista class Oosterdam, commissioned in 2003. This vessel is scheduled to make the first of eight calls later this year, on October 29.
Volendam made its first appearance here on October 31, 2008. And the ship's 10 visits this season brings the total to 34, more than any other unit of the Holland America Line (HAL) fleet.
This also means that eight HAL vessels will have made 74 local calls while cruising in this part of the world. The line made its local debut when the 55,451gt Maasdam, dating from 1993, made a one-off visit on October 21, 1994.
Next to appear, and also only once, was the 37,783gt, steam turbine-powered Rotterdam, on February 11, 1997. Built at Rotterdam and now preserved there, this notable vessel in which twin ducts replaced the conventional funnel, commenced its maiden voyage on HAL's transatlantic passenger service to New York from Rotterdam, on September 3, 1959.
After that Nieuw Amsterdam made four calls in 1998-99 and Prinsendam seven between 1999 and 2004. The replacement for this ship was Maasdam's sister ship Statendam, which made 22 visits to Port Chalmers from December 30, 2005, to February 23, 2008, when Volendam took over for the next season.
Amsterdam has turned up on four occasions since February 2002, and Zaandam was here for the first time last November.
Something different and interesting for a change is the Australian-built, Tongan-registered Hakula that berthed at Dunedin yesterday to load fertiliser.
This smaller 4226gt, 5379dwt vessel is suitable for carrying a wide range of cargo and has two cargo holds served by one 25-tonne capacity crane. The ship can also carry 141 TEU, 81 in the holds and 60 on deck.
The 13-knot ship was completed at Newcastle on August 21, 1986, by the Carrington Slipway Pty Ltd. It went into service as Sandra Marie owned by Intercontinental Shipping Pty Ltd and managed by Howard Smith Shipping of Sydney.
It has traded under the current name since it passed to Mainstream Shipping Ltd in August 1998. Another Carrington-built vessel that visited Port Chalmers last year, on August 1, was the 6574gt, research and icebreaker vessel, Aurora Australis, delivered in March 1990.
The photo in one of last week's 100 years ago columns of Waimana at Port Chalmers on its maiden voyage, depicts the steamer with the original counter stern.
But this had changed when the ship made its only postwar visit and occupied the same berth from September 15 to 22, 1951.
The 8129gt vessel had inherited a dummy cruiser stern, fitted when it became a mocked-up imitation of a Royal Sovereign class battleship when acquired by the Admiralty after the outbreak of war in September 1939.
Delivered from the Workman Clark yard at Belfast in November, 1911, Waimana was on its final voyage to New Zealand when it arrived here nearly 40 years later.
The steamer, which also carried the names Herminius and Empire Waimana, arrived at Milford Haven for demolition on January 27, 1952.
