Welcoming committee: Picton plans to charm cruise passengers with 'smiling' locals

“We want to be welcoming, and people love seeing New Zealanders, and they love seeing locals when they are travelling,” says Destination Marlborough general manager Jacqui Lloyd.

The tourism body is looking for Marlburians to volunteer to be the “smiling face” of the region, as Picton readies itself for its first cruise ship in 955 days.

The Ovation of the Seas will berth at Shakespeare Bay on October 26. The first of 48 ships scheduled to visit the port town this season.

And while the town’s much-loved Flower Ladies – who make and handout handmade buttonholes – and the cruise ship market are planning a comeback, Destination Marlborough wants to really roll-out the red carpet.

After all, a person is better than a sign, Lloyd said.

“It's an opportunity for some lovely wonderful Marlborough welcoming faces to be able to welcome all these North Americans and Australians back to our shores and give them welcome maps and help direct them and be the smiling face for the region on arrival.”

New Zealand’s , which opened the doors for cruise ships to return to the country for the first time since the Covid pandemic started. The 48 cruise ships that visited Picton prior to the pandemic contributed .

Lloyd said a third of cruise passengers booked their local tours from the ship.

“So the ship organises their own tours, and that will be a mix of things in the Marlborough Sounds, in the Wairau Valley and even as far as the gardens in the Awatere, so anything that is within a 5-hour round trip is what they tend to aim for from Picton.

“A third of the passengers will get off and come into the i-Site to look for other tours they can do for the day or some of the pre-booked things before they've got here. So they do a lot of booking online.

“And then about a third will get off and just wander around Picton and go to the shops, have coffee, have lunch, do some of the walks.”

Lloyd said Picton’s operators and businesses were getting as ready “as anyone can be” amidst a global labour shortage.

“But the cruise lines are fully aware of that. And ... they're making sure that the passengers are aware and are managing expectations on what to expect in all New Zealand ports.

“Because everyone knows that tourism operators and hospitality are struggling a little for staff.”

Lloyd said the Royal Caribbean ship, Ovation of the Seas, which can carry nearly 5000 passengers and 1300 crew members, would be at 70% capacity, making it easier to manage.

A total of 55 cruise ships were scheduled to visit New Zealand during the 2022-23 summer season, with 48 stopping at Picton. Twenty of those would have fewer than 900 passengers, while 18 would have more than 2000 passengers.

“Whereas in previous years we probably had 20 or 30 over [2000 passengers],” Lloyd said.

The Picton Flower Ladies were also gearing up for the season. They make and hand out buttonholes to cruise passengers as they get off the ship.

Yvonne Rigby, who has been a Picton Flower Lady for 33 years, was looking forward to having the ships back.

The volunteers made the flower arrangements one or two, maybe three, days before the ship arrived, and kept them in a chiller.

“Then we pick them up, take them down to the wharf, put them into baskets, and welcome people ashore.”

The 76-year-old said they were having a meeting this week to see how many volunteers would be able to help this year.

“A lot of people have been hesitant about cruise ships coming in because of Covid, but I'm not worrying about it.

“I am looking forward to seeing them.”