The giant cruise liner Ovation of the Seas, which is the largest ship to visit the Bay, tied up at Napier Port slightly behind schedule this morning.
Rising southeasterly winds stepped in to create a delay in being able to berth and then send forth an estimated 5000 passengers.
It had been due to arrive at 7am but the marine crews were not about to take any unnecessary risks as the winds rose.
It eventually tied up at the number two wharf around 8.30am.
"There were no real problems and it all went smoothly," port communications advisor Breanna Cullen said.
"They found the right windows between gusts to get it in nicely — it was quite a sight to see as it came in."
Ms Cullen said the marine team had been through highly specialised training in dealing with giant ships like the 346m, 168,666-tonne Ovation of the Seas.
Members of the team had travelled to Australia and gone through programmes using a "Smartship" simulator which allowed them to go through the procedures in dealing with large ships in all sea and weather conditions.
It was the liner's second visit to Napier, having made its maiden call here last January.
The preparation for that visit took about a year to get sorted and part of allowing such sea giants to call here meant carrying out a $400,000 investment in upgrading and strengthening the primary cruise ship berth area.
From just after 9.30am a constant stream of chartered coaches began arriving at the Napier i-Site Centre offloading area and the centre itself saw queues forming to get in, to get "where can we go" advice.
Most organised tours were sold out, and queues also began forming for rides in the vintage Art Deco vehicles parked nearby.
The cafes began to fill, as did the streets of the CBD and the Art Deco centre where extra staff had been put on to cope with the numbers.
"We've got everyone on deck" i-Site general manager Jane Libby said.
Extra staff for the counters had been put on as well as extra teams of inner-city "ambassadors" and street management crews.
"It has all gone very smoothly," Ms Libby said.
"They (passengers) struck some cold weather down south but they've arrived to see this great sunshine."
Many chose to simply take walks through the gardens and beachfront.Twenty shuttles had been put on to cope with the numbers.
Street closures had also been put in place around Lighthouse Rd to prevent traffic grid-locks which emerged when the big liner made its first visit, with hundreds of people trying to get to the Bluff Hill look-out and other spots to get a glimpse of it.
The ship's arrival comes on the same day Statistics New Zealand's Tourism Satellite Account, shows cruise ship tourists to Napier last year spent a total of $12.3m. A rise of 23.7 percent on 2016.
The lookout route was open to foot traffic only.