More than 1200 tourists will be wandering the streets of Tauranga today with the arrival of cruise ship MS Maasdam this morning.

According to the Port of Tauranga's schedule, the 10 deck S class cruise ship was due to arrive from Napier at 8.15am and is expected to depart for Auckland at 8pm tonight.

Owned and operated by Holland America Line, MS Maasdam is named after the Maas River in the Netherlands and is the company's fifth ship in its 140-year history to bear the name.

The interior motif pays homage to the historical Dutch East and West India companies of the 17th through 19th centuries, while the centerpiece of the ship is Italian artist Luciano Vistosi's sculpture ‘Totem' which uses nearly 2000 glimmering pieces of glass displayed in a three-story atrium.

Other intriguing art featured on Maasdam are two abstract murals painted especially for the Rotterdam Dining Room and a collection of seven iron teapots and a charcoal brazier from Japan, which date from the end of Edo period (1603–1868).

According to Tourism Bay of Plenty the Maasdam is the eighth cruise ship to pull into the Port of Tauranga since the season began in October.

In total, 83 cruise ships carrying an estimated total of 153,819 passengers and 65,598 crew members will visit Tauranga during the current season which wraps up in April 2017.

The next cruise ship due in Tauranga will be the Sea Princess on December 2 at 5.30pm.

THE MS MAASDAM

• Class and type: S class cruise ship
• Tonnage: 55,575 GT
• Displacement: 10,965 DWT
• Length: 220m
• Beam: 30.937m
• Height: 40m
• Draught: 7.6m
• Decks: 10
• Ice class: 1D
• Installed power: Two Sulzer 12ZAV40S, Three Sulzer 8ZAL40 diesels
• Propulsion: Electric shaftline
• Speed: 22 knots (41 km/h)
• Capacity: 1258 passengers
• Crew: 580