A string of four cruise visits in one week is underway as the Coral Princess, expected to sail through the Nobbys heads around 8am on Wednesday, follows Oceania Insignia and Silver Shadow on February 24 and 25, and precedes the expected arrival of the Borealis on Thursday.
The back-to-back visits come as the state seeks to ramp up Newcastle's cruise economy after the NSW Port Authority signed a new new 10-year licensing agreement with the Port of Newcastle last October.
Under the agreement the authority takes control of the city's cruise schedule that is already projecting visits through August 2026.
The palatial Seven Seas Explorer marked the city's first visit of the year on January 23, as the cruise industry returns to a steady optimism in the wake of the COVID pandemic.
The Port Authority noted the 18 visits to Newcastle in 2024 representing a slight increase on the 14 from the previous period, with projections for 17 in 2025 according to its cruise schedule.
In October, the season was touted as the biggest since the pandemic, with 331 total cruise calls into ports across the state, up 16 per cent on the previous summer, the Port Authority said.
The increasing numbers prompted Business Hunter boss Bob Hawes to forecast Newcastle's visitation rate could double under the Port Authority's ambitious plan, raising questions about the state of the city's visitor infrastructure.
"The Port Authority is quite ambitious about visit numbers this year, which is (about 18)," Mr Hawes told the Newcastle Herald.
"The prospects for Newcastle are far greater than we see now; I think we could see up to 30 vessels."
"If we do get a greater number of vessels, I think it would also add impetus for looking at how we improve our visitor economy infrastructure.
"It is a real prospect to add horsepower to the idea of improving out that infrastructure and to show better hospitality and meet the needs of a diversity of visits.
Plans for a much-publicised cruise terminal in Newcastle hit troubled waters before the project was ultimately scuppered in November 2019 amid a standoff between the Port of Newcastle and the state over extra funding for the $12 million venture.
The Port Authority's schedule forecasts 37 vessels slated to sail into the Carrington berths from Wednesday, February 28, through April 2026.
The Coral Princes boasts more than 700 balcony staterooms with a capacity of 2000 guests over 16 decks.
