Wharf extension OPT

[gaechann]

Umm.... no you won't ......"perhaps" when you return.:confused:

I will probably still be there, don't normally finish till four so so.

 

Nope, I'll be flying home from Perth so not returning via Radiance. I'll look out for you next Monday afternoon then.

 

Gae

[gbenjo]

Thanks a lot Graham, much appreciated.

Not sure if this has been mentioned previously (apologies if it has) but are taxis getting in ok for drop-offs for passenger embarking?

 

No, there is no problem at all with taxis dropping off for embark, all the traffic problems seem to be with" private" pick ups in the mornings. Might be a clue there:D

[gbenjo]

Graham - I didn't realise you were Royal And Celebrity. I didn't know who worked for who at the terminal, and thought maybe you were contracted to whoever was at the OPT. There you go! We have been pretty loyal to Royal so far, so we shall see you a few times before too long. :)

 

Can you tell us why the ships seem to be leaving earlier lately? We thought that previously about 6.30pm was our more common time to sail away but 5pm seems to be happening a bit? Or have we remembered that wrong - as we didn't think about it much until seeing some posts here lately. Maybe we have just forgotten. :)

 

I'm not ( Royal & Celebrity). I just happen to work for the company that they contract has its head office in Barcelona and handles this sort of work all over the world for many different cruise lines and has 1200 employees.

 

To be honest I do not know why the ships leave at the times they do other than to say there is a "no go" ferry exclusion time frame so that they do not to interfere in peak times with ferry movements but sorry to say don't really know exactly what they are.:o:o I will try to find out though and let you know.

Edited October 13, 2014 by gbenjo

[goodycruising]

Thanks Graham. It is not important, just interesting. If you find more info that would be nice.

 

We once arrived on a 2.30pm flight in, and were on board and in our cabin buy about 3.30ish, and while I have said never again, we will be checking our documents more carefully in future and not presume all the cruises are leaving at the same time. :)

Edited October 13, 2014 by goodycruising

[gbenjo]

I'm not ( Royal & Celebrity). I just happen to work for the company that Royal contract to do their shoreside work in australia. The company, Intercruises, has its head office in Barcelona and handles this sort of work all over the world for many different cruise lines and has 1200 employees.

 

To be honest I do not know why the ships leave at the times they do other than to say there is a "no go" ferry exclusion time frame so that they do not to interfere in peak times with ferry movements but sorry to say don't really know exactly what they are.:o:o I will try to find out though and let you know.

Oops Somehow deleted part of what I was saying so added it into my quote in red :o:o

Edited October 13, 2014 by gbenjo

[lazy day]

Grahame

 

Thanks for all the info on what's going on at the OPT. Do you have any idea once the wharf and extensions are finished if the cruise ships will reverse in in the future?

[gbenjo]

Grahame

 

Thanks for all the info on what's going on at the OPT. Do you have any idea once the wharf and extensions are finished if the cruise ships will reverse in in the future?

 

Not really, there only a couple of ships that do " reverse park" and that is because of the location on those ships of the access doors in relation to the wharf and where that positions the ship along the wharf in relation to Circular Quay (access & safety for the ferries) The wharf extension will give them another 60 metres to play with but it still might be that it is more favourable to tie up stern in, we will just have to wait and see.

[MicCanberra]

Nope, I'll be flying home from Perth so not returning via Radiance. I'll look out for you next Monday afternoon then.

 

Gae

 

Have a great cruise Gae.:D

[MicCanberra]

Not really, there only a couple of ships that do " reverse park" and that is because of the location on those ships of the access doors in relation to the wharf and where that positions the ship along the wharf in relation to Circular Quay (access & safety for the ferries) The wharf extension will give them another 60 metres to play with but it still might be that it is more favourable to tie up stern in, we will just have to wait and see.

I think it really depends on the ship. I know they are different size and class ships but just an example.

The Solstice always has the stern closest to the Quay and the bow to the bridge for loading on the port side, while the Century is opposite with Bow in and stern to the bridge, load on starboard side. :D

[Alaskanb]

Will the wharf extension change how a person walks to the Park Hyatt after debarking? We arrive next February so I'm hoping all will be completed by then.

[gbenjo]

Will the wharf extension change how a person walks to the Park Hyatt after debarking? We arrive next February so I'm hoping all will be completed by then.

 

No it will make no difference Even during the extensions street access to the Park Hyatt is not affected.

[gbenjo]

To ensure that the OPT renovations proceed to completion as early as possible the builders have asked Sydney Ports and the cruiseline(s) for some "uninterrupted" time to complete some vital stages of the their work. Obviously every time there is a ship in they loose access to those areas of the terminal required to process passengers and with the season getting into full swing there are more and more of those days. So as not to delay the build any longer than necessary Sydney Ports have decided that they will shut the terminal "where possible" for about a fortnight to enable vital the work to go ahead. I think this work will include the installation of elevators and travelators etc.

 

To this end, as far as Royal Caribbean and Celebrity are concerned, the dates and cruises affected are:

 

Sunday 26th October Celebrity Solstice

Tuesday 28th October Rhapsody of the Seas

Monday 3rd November Celebrity Solstice

Tuesday 11th November Celebrity Century

 

Obviously all passengers will receive details in emails etc about the changes from RCCL but basically what will happen is this.

The ships will still berth at the OPT. Debarking passengers will also get off at the OPT but there will be no taxis (or private vehicular transport) as far as I know, allowed at the terminal. There will be transport arranged for airport transfers etc and all the details for this will be explained to passenger via email etc.

 

Embarking passengers will be processed at White Bay (starting, I believe a lot earlier, around 8am I think) and then transferred to the ship at the OPT by chartered ferries. There will be coaches provided at the OPT to take guests to White Bay who may go to the OPT in error. I believe they will be able to drop their luggage off there if that is the case.

 

Don't know what Carnival will be doing and there are a couple of days where we will have to use the OPT because there is another ship using White Bay. I know every effort will be made to make this as easy as possible and if anyone has any questions please post away or if you like you can email me Happy to give my email address if you want it.

Any CCer going on one of these cruises may want to post this info in their roll call.... the more that know about it the better.

 

[The_Big_M]

Wow, big news. Not nice for those affected.

 

Thanks for letting us know.

[Hazydavo]

Thanks for posting Graham. Yes very important news indeed.

Will be there on 25/11 so at this stage I'm not affected.

However for those who are, it may take a bit longer "from arrival to cocktail" I would think.

[goodycruising]

Yep, we will be on 26th Oct, and staying for B2B for 3rd Nov, so we shall see. The 3rd Nov overnights and leaves 4th, so those passengers will be doing day trips from the OPT. That might be interesting.

 

I totally understand the reason, but I know my roll call from the 3rd Nov has many people that have left overseas locations already to get here, and they may be getting a surprise if they don't access their emails. We are possibly talking an older demographic here.

 

With only a week and a half to the 26th Oct, I would have thought an earlier decision may have been a good idea, but anyhow, I shall go to the roll call and see if there is any other posts.

 

Thanks very much for your info. We certainly have not received anything yet from Celebrity. Well actually we have, they have told us to come to the OPT!

[gbenjo]

Yep, we will be on 26th Oct, and staying for B2B for 3rd Nov, so we shall see. The 3rd Nov overnights and leaves 4th, so those passengers will be doing day trips from the OPT. That might be interesting.

 

I totally understand the reason, but I know my roll call from the 3rd Nov has many people that have left overseas locations already to get here, and they may be getting a surprise if they don't access their emails. We are possibly talking an older demographic here.

 

With only a week and a half to the 26th Oct, I would have thought an earlier decision may have been a good idea, but anyhow, I shall go to the roll call and see if there is any other posts.

 

Thanks very much for your info. We certainly have not received anything yet from Celebrity. Well actually we have, they have told us to come to the OPT!

 

Much of the detail was only confirmed today so maybe the notifications will come tomorrow (thats why I could not say before)

[goodycruising]

Much of the detail was only confirmed today so maybe the notifications will come tomorrow (thats why I could not say before)

 

Well, I have wondered what White Bay looks like, and as every ship we sail with RCI/Celebrity seems to not fit under the bridge, we thought it might be a while till we had to go there.

 

Looks like this will be a series of first time experiences. :)

[MicCanberra]

Thanks for letting us know Graham. I am sure all those affected will manage to find out in time, it is one of those necessary inconveniences to make it better for the future.

On a side note, does that mean you will be at white bay now for those check-ins?

[Tredebo]

We go out on Century next Wednesday so out before this starts but we get back on 30 Oct. Sun Princess is scheduled for White Bay so disembarkation is going to be fun by the sound of it. Nothing like a little adventure!

[gbenjo]

We go out on Century next Wednesday so out before this starts but we get back on 30 Oct. Sun Princess is scheduled for White Bay so disembarkation is going to be fun by the sound of it. Nothing like a little adventure!

 

The day you return (30th Oct)will not be affected as it will be a "normal" OPT turnaround due to the fact that the Sun Princess will be at White Bay so it will business as usual.

[MMDown Under]

Is it still possible for the public to farewell passengers from the public viewing platform at OPT, or will that area be closed?

 

The departure I'm interested in is 3rd November, Celebrity Solstice.

[timtam2]

Im going on Century on 30 October - I was wondering why it wasnt on the list...but now I see why. It will be a pain for the workers to be interrupted for 1 day!

[MicCanberra]

Is it still possible for the public to farewell passengers from the public viewing platform at OPT, or will that area be closed?

 

The departure I'm interested in is 3rd November, Celebrity Solstice.

 

If the OPT is closed for embarkation, I would imagine the public area would also be closed. You may need to be farewelling your friends from a differing point, perhaps the Opera house.:D

[Kharvavad]

The day you return (30th Oct)will not be affected as it will be a "normal" OPT turnaround due to the fact that the Sun Princess will be at White Bay so it will business as usual.

 

Hello Gbenjo,

Thanks for the warning.

We are also taking cruise on Celebrity Solstice on November3d, 14.

I have no problem checking at Whitebay.

We have booked Sydney Opera Tour at 3:00pm on November3rd and we have booked one tour on November 4th at 6:30am.

Could you please tell what should we do?

Can we walkout to the sydney Opera house directly from Cruise?

Thanks.

Hema

[gaechann]

Here's some more information from the Sydney Ports website:

 

Construction details

 

The OPT wharf will be extended by approximately 60 metres to bring the northern face into line with the existing forecourt.

As well, a permanent mooring dolphin will be placed in Campbell's Cove and a new mooring bollard constructed to the south of the passenger terminal building.

 

What's involved

- site establishment (hoardings, sheds and equipment)

- use of two cranes, one on the wharf and the second on a barge

- use of trucks and transport barges to deliver materials

- piling work

- concrete pouring

- installation of precast concrete slabs and decking

 

What you will notice

- hoardings placed around the work site

- increased vehicle and vessel movements associated with the work

- some noise and possible vibration when piling is in progress

 

What will change

- no access to the north eastern forecourt works area

- parking around the terminal reduced on non-ship days

- pedestrian access to the northern forecourt via Circular Quay West Road only

- access to the northern viewing deck closed for safety reasons

 

What won't change

- access to the Roads & Maritime pontoon at Campbell's Cove

- no parking on days ships are in port

 

Our commitment

We will work to ensure appropriate safety, traffic and environmental controls are in place at all times and make every effort to minimise the work's impact on the community.

 

Here's some more information which most of us are well aware of:

 

NOTE: The image I tried to include was of QM2 berthed at the OPT showing the overhang into Campbells Cove where the northern mooring anchors were installed.

 

I also had a picture showing the OPT with the northern extension proposed but..... couldn't download it either! Perhaps they were both too large! GRRR!!!

 

The OPT wharf extension is the second of two major projects (along with the OPT Upgrade) being undertaken by the Port Authority of New South Wales to ensure the iconic passenger terminal can meet the evolving needs of the booming cruise industry, including the rising number of larger cruise ships visiting Sydney.

 

Because they are longer than the wharf, these larger ships must use special anchors installed two years ago in Campbell’s Cove as a temporary solution to ensure their safety while berthed.

 

The cruise ship overhang also restricts ship-to-wharf access, decreasing provedoring capacity, as well as access to Campbell’s Cove by tall ships, super yachts, water taxis and other smaller vessels.

 

The OPT wharf extension will upgrade berthing safety and reliability for cruise ships, allow more efficient servicing of these vessels and improve access to Campbell's Cove for other marine traffic while the large ships are in port .

 

Key features of the project include:

· Extending the north eastern section of the existing wharf by approximately 60 metres

· Constructing a new mooring dolphin (a fixed above-water pile and concrete deck mooring structure that is not connected to shore) within Campbell’s Cove to the north of the OPT

· Constructing a new mooring bollard to the south of the OPT.

 

Key benefits of the project will include:

· Additional wharf space to improve the servicing of vessels through increased laydown areas and circulation and allowing use of currently inaccessible ship loading doors

· Increased public open space of approximately 1,000 square metres as the extended wharf would be accessible to the public on non-ship days

· Improve access to Campbell's Cove for all other marine traffic while the big ships are in port

· The opportunity to address maintenance issues with the ageing wharf infrastructure

· Broader benefits linked to improved cruise ship operations and mooring.

 

As with the OPT Upgrade, the majority of the wharf extension work is scheduled to take place during the cruise low season, from May to September/October 2014, with minimal impact on cruise lines or their passengers.

 

A major part of this work began on Thursday 12 June 2014 and involves the installation of piles and concrete structures using large plant and equipment including both a land-based and a barge-based crane.

 

Piling can be noisy and may cause vibrations. The following measures have been put in place to minimise the impact of this work:

· independent monitoring adjacent to the site at the start of piling to measure noise and vibration impact

· installing additional noise and vibration monitoring equipment if initial testing indicates it is required

· piling in stages using different hammers to mitigate any impacts

· piling during set times only

· ensuring appropriate safety, traffic and environmental controls are in place at all times

 

The terminal will continue to operate throughout the extension project, hosting cruise ships and their passengers.

Edited October 15, 2014 by gaechann