Tourism Minister Stuart Nash says he would love to see cruise ships back in New Zealand and praised the industry's response to the pandemic. 

Overseas cruise ships are still barred from this country and although work is being done by the Ministry of Health and Maritime NZ on a restart, those in the sector say it will be further damaged here by delays in making a decision. 

Nash told the Herald there was a process to go through but he would "love to see them" and cruise was an important part of the tourist economy. 

Before the pandemic the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment estimated cruise ships generated $565 million in spending in the year to June 2019. Spending in regional ports had been increasingly strongly. 

"They're [an] important part of the tourism sector," said Nash. 

"There's no doubt about that. But we're doing is we're slowly opening up the tourism market as we ready as a country and at a point in time cruise will be back." 

Nash also said that internationally, the cruise industry had been a good example of responding to health fears. 

"Cruise is a very good case study of how a sector of the tourism economy was completely gutted. The perception of them was about as low as you could get and they've changed that by working incredibly hard to address the concerns of people who take cruises," he said. 

Last week, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced that fully-vaccinated Australians could enter New Zealand without self-isolation or MIQ from April 13, and a long list of other countries will follow close behind with the same conditions from May 2, including travellers from the US and Britain. 

During a press conference last week, she said there was work going on "now" on the maritime border but settings had not yet been changed. 

Ardern said she expected a date to be brought forward for cruise ships but did not clarify when that would be. 

Tourism Minister Stuart Nash says cruise is an important part of the visitor industry. Photo / Mark Mitchell 

"We will see the return of cruise ships. We haven't made those alterations formally to the border here today [last Wednesday]. That's extra work that we need to go through, but we are expecting, of course, to bring forward the reopening for those borders as well." 

Napier Port's chief executive Todd Dawson has said he wanted a date confirmed soon or there was a risk of another summer season being lost. The NZ Cruise Association is also calling for a decision as soon as possible. 

P&O Cruises Australia recently cancelled 21 cruises scheduled to leave from Auckland between July and November due to the uncertainty. 

The Australian government has lifted restrictions and ships are returning to that country - often part of itineraries that include New Zealand. News programme A Current Affair reports that aside from the requirement for all passengers to be vaccinated, cruise companies will require all passengers to be tested before embarkation. Some lines will also do testing at sea. 

Norwegian Cruise Lines (NCL) is deploying a ship to Australia and New Zealand this summer with voyages from Auckland starting in early January 2023. 

Ben Angell, vice-president and managing director for Asia-Pacific, said he was optimistic border restrictions would be lifted here by then. 

"Australia is making some very positive moves at the moment and I'm confident New Zealand will follow." 

NCL's Norwegian Spirit will cruise in this region after undergoing a $145m refit. 

New Zealanders had embraced fly-cruise also before the pandemic. 

Angell said Kiwis were back enthusiastically booking NCL cruises in other parts of the world since the lifting of self-isolation requirements. Cruises in northern Europe where its new Norwegian Prima debuts in August, the Mediterranean and Hawaii were proving very popular. 

NCL had led the push for all-vaccinated crew and passengers a year ago and had taken other steps to safeguard passengers, including installing air purifiers on ships. 

- by Grant Bradley, NZ Herald