Whether you’re a Lyttelton business owner, a seasoned ship spotter, or a Christchurch resident, you should be excited about the impending cruise season.

That’s because this year, for the first time since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, cruise ships will be calling in to Lyttelton.

This season also marks the first time since the Canterbury earthquakes that large vessels will be able to come back to Lyttelton, rather than berthing in Akaroa.

With damage sustained to the Cashin Quay berths during the earthquakes, large cruise vessels were turned toward Akaroa Harbour, while Lyttelton took on a supporting role for the smaller vessels.

But, thanks to the investment of nearly $67 million into a cruise berth facility – the only one of its kind in New Zealand – LPC is ready and waiting for the nearly 90 booked vessels to arrive.

Our Bulk Cargo and Marine head of commercial Andrew Todd says “tireless” work has been going on behind the scenes for some time, to ensure Lyttelton is ready for the thousands of passengers estimated to arrive this season.

“LPC has been engaging with our stakeholders, such as ChristchurchNZ, Tourism NZ and Christchurch City Council, to make sure we’re all working collaboratively, and everyone has been tirelessly working to make sure this will be a success,” Andrew says.

“We’ve just closed applications for a cruise coordinator role too, which is exciting.”

The workload is now actually too much for the business-as-usual team, which is a good sign.

“So we need that dedicated resource to coordinate the internal and external relationships, and we’re going through that process now with the intention of having someone posted in August.”

And with the season starting in late October, and finishing in late March or early April, the time is ticking down to the rekindling of Lyttelton’s love affair with cruise.

“Seasons beyond this one we’re expecting similar vessel numbers, if not even higher.

We’re very excited from a business point of view, having gone the past two and a half years without the cruise industry in Lyttelton,” Andrew says.