There was relief at having an influx of customers from Celebrity Eclipse, but tension remained over the threat of Covid-19 being widely circulated again, following reports of more than 130 Covid-infected passengers on the Ovation of the Seas cruise ship in Wellington earlier this week.
The Scottish Shop manager Kaye Foster said there was a bit of tension among staff about the possibility of Covid-infected passengers going into the Dunedin store yesterday.
"The Wellington incident has made us a little nervous.
"But we’re wearing masks, using plenty of hand sanitiser and trying to socially [distance] ourselves from customers."
On the other hand, she was delighted to see so many people in the city.
"This is the busiest the store has been for a couple of years.
"It’s great to see town looking so busy again and everyone’s really happy."
Koru New Zealand Art owner Sandie den Dulk was also excited to see so many people in her shop.
"It’s great to see people coming through the door again and some cash coming in."
However, she also had concerns about Covid-19 and took precautions by keeping her doors wide open and wearing a face mask.
A large group of people from Western Australian iron ore mining town Port Headland said they had seen no sign of Covid aboard Celebrity Eclipse.
Shirley Smart said cruise staff were being diligent about wearing masks, cleaning surfaces, and checking and testing for the virus, and passengers felt safe.
It was lovely to see all the dock staff at Port Chalmers waving and cheering as their vessel docked yesterday morning, she said.
"Coming from a mining town, this place is a big change. It’s green and it’s hilly."
Mrs Soria said they were "frequent cruisers". This was their first visit to New Zealand.
"It’s beautiful - this city is gorgeous. This is one of the best cruises we’ve ever been on."
Gary Brown, of Nova Scotia, Canada, said it was his 57th cruise and his 20th with Celebrity.
Coming in to Otago Harbour had been "absolutely spectacular".
The soy latte he ordered from Union Co Cafe in Port Chalmers was so good he bought a second.
Dunedin had "the best coffee in the world," he said.
He was travelling with a group of about 30 other bridge players and they were enjoying games between sight-seeing.
Celebrity Cruises vice-president and managing director for Australia, New Zealand and APAC Tim Jones said the warm welcome the ship’s 2700 guests received from Port Otago staff was "fantastic".
The ship was nearly full and bookings for the rest of the cruise season were looking packed, too.
The rest of the world had been cruising for about 15 months, but it was only starting up again in New Zealand now.
It was great to be able to support small businesses again, Mr Jones said.
"It’s coming back in a very responsible and safe way."
Passengers were all fully vaccinated and had to take rapid antigen tests before they boarded. Staff wore masks.
Compared with life onshore, the Covid-19 threat was very stringently monitored, Mr Jones said.
Port Otago chief executive Kevin Winders said it was an exciting day - it had been 955 days since the last cruise ship visited.
The cruise industry brought in around $50 million to the city each year, Mr Winders said.
Enterprise Dunedin manager John Christie said it was fantastic to have cruises back.
It was great to be able to celebrate and showcase the city, and lots of retailers, hospitality and tourism operators would be delighted, he said.
"It’s been missed."
