Timaru (New Zealand) was bustling on Thursday morning, December 14th, as passengers from the first cruise ship call for the district in 2 years disembarked to take in the sights.
Seabourn's ship Seabourn Odyssey, carrying ~450 tourists, arrived in Timaru on Thursday and became the first of record-breaking 12 visits scheduled for the summer.
Prior to the COVID crisis, about 3 or 4 cruise ships visited Timaru NZ each summer.
While some passengers went on day trips throughout South Canterbury, a large number chose to stay in Timaru where they were directed to the Information Centre.
From there they could choose to do 1 of 5 independent tours taking in the attractions of Timaru, peruse through Timaru Artisan Farmers Market, set up for the day, or look around the port by themselves.
The next cruise ship call to Timaru is on January 16th, when the Seabourn Odyssey ship returns. HAL-Holland America's ms Noordam will be the next to visit, on January 22nd, the largest ship to visit Timaru this season, with up to 1900 passengers and 800 crew.