A massive crowd was on hand in Mount Maunganui to bid bon voyage to cruise ships Noordam and Ovation of the Seas on Friday night.

Both cruise ships were in town for the day, with the Noordam and Ovation docking in the Port of Tauranga within half an hour of each other from 9am, and departing 12 hours laters.

SunLive reporter Rosalie Liddle Crawford who was in the Mount for both ships' departures says it was a spectacular evening.

'The full moon rose up over the horizon between the Noordam and Ovation of the Seas leaving, and Venus was clear in the sky above Mauao. It was stunning.”

'Noordam'.

Yesterday was Ovation's second time in Tauranga, with its first visit taking place on Boxing Day.

The USD $1 billion (NZD $1.4B) Royal Caribbean ship is the fourth largest cruise ship and is longer than three rugby fields (348m) and has a gross tonnage of 168,666.

While the Noordam is no stranger to our shores, with the cruise ship making annual visits to Tauranga for several years now. The Holland America Line vista class cruise ship is 285m long and has a gross tonnage of 82,500.

During their latest trips, Ovation carried an estimated 4180 passengers and 1300 crew, while the Noordam carried 1918 passengers and 800 crew, according to Tourism Bay of Plenty.

Traffic was also bumper-to-bumper in the centre of the Mount with the mass of people making their way home at about 10pm, adds Rosalie.