Since departing from its home port of San Francisco, Star Princess and its 2600 passengers have visited Hawaii, Tahiti, Samoa and Fiji, but nothing had prepared them for a cold spring day in Dunedin.
One passenger caught out by the "wind chill factor" was Donna Decew, of Seattle.
"We had to buy some more layers," she said.
"The wind is very cold."
Phil Gogarty, of Liverpool, said he did not mind the cold - he was used to it, but not everyone on Star Princess saw it that way.
"People let out a bit of a groan when they read the temperatures aboard. But what can you do?"
One option available to passengers was to stock up on winter clothes before returning to the northern hemisphere winter.
Bivouac Outdoor manager Rebecca Toschi said the store had an influx of cruise ship passengers, many of whom bought New Zealand merino products, as well as jackets, gloves and hats.
Octagon Market regular Betty Walsh, of Country Woollen Knits, said she sold a "good number" of hats and scarves to passengers.
"Some said they had to borrow clothes from other passengers because they did not pack anything warm."
I love Merino owner Kevin Smith said his hats, scarves and socks proved popular.
Not just clothing retailers benefited from the cool weather yesterday, with bars and cafes reporting a busy Tuesday. Albar owner Steven Collins said a steady stream of cruise ship passengers called into the Stuart St bar wanting to sample some local brews.
"For some reason, we are selling more beer than whisky," he said.
Cruise NZ chief executive Craig Harris said as a rule of thumb, each port visit by a cruise ship contributed about $500,000 to the local economy.
Dunedin Visitor Centre manager Louise van de Vlierd said apart from one passenger asking where the kangaroos were, the day had "gone like clockwork".
