Pinkenba Renewal?

[sayaguru]

1 hour ago, Aus Traveller said:

Really? Many hundreds doing back to back who would use a shuttle bus?

No but what about the other 2,000+ people getting off. They need to get off and a shuttle would be amazing. If they ran a shuttle to the station all day people get off- get the shuttle to the station. People getting on get the shuttle from there to the ship. Some cruise companies have actually done this. Not Princess. 

[OzKiwiJJ]

3 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

There is a need, someone will fill it and offer a service that will meet that need and make money doing it.

Like the Captain Cook ferry to White Bay? I got the impression that wasn't paying for itself.

 

2 hours ago, bazzaw said:

There is a need - but it is a commercially viable need??? 

It also needs to be a suitable service. Yes, a ferry / train would be ideal but neither would work if people have to drag luggage a long way from the ferry teminal or train station to the cruise terminal. I think that was part of the problem with the White Bay ferry. 

[OzKiwiJJ]

58 minutes ago, arxcards said:

Yes, they do. A typical example:

Princess Cruises - Port - Brisbane, Australia

But those excursion aren't usually available on turnaround days for B2B passengers. 

[MicCanberra]

It might not be perect but personally I think it is a vast improvement on the fishermans island /grain silos across the river.

[OzKiwiJJ]

5 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

It might not be perect but personally I think it is a vast improvement on the fishermans island /grain silos across the river.

Agreed and there is plenty of space for improvements to the area.

[Aus Traveller]

2 hours ago, MMDown Under said:

Do cruiselines have day trip excursions for Brisbane?  I think Brisbane is a beautiful city with a lot to offer day visitors.  (Botanical Gardens (city and Mt Cootha), Roma Street Gardens, Southbank, Queensland Performing Arts Centre, Queensland Museum, Art Gallery, Modern Art Gallery, State Library, Museum of Brisbane, Newstead House and US War Memorial, Qld Maritime Museum  and that is just the city. 

Princess has 14 excursions when Brisbane is a port of call. There would not be sufficient people to run these tours for a relatively small number of B2B passengers. Unless public transport is excellent (like at the OPT in the centre of Sydney) I cannot see many people using public transport for embarkation and disembarkation.

[MicCanberra]

Many will and do at many other ports. Civitavecchia, Dover, Southampton, Barcelona, Yokohama, Lisbon just to name a few

[Aus Traveller]

2 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

Many will and do at many other ports. Civitavecchia, Dover, Southampton, Barcelona, Yokohama, Lisbon just to name a few

These ports are close to the centre of an established city. In Brisbane, the CBD is quite a distance from the coast and cannot be reached by modern ships, particularly after several bridges have been built. 😁

The BICT has to be where the ships can reach and where the water is deep enough even at low tide. I can't see a good public transport system running to the BICT. However, there should be a shuttle bus to the CBD when a ship calls into Brisbane. A local bus company used to do this when Fishermans Island was used so maybe they will start again. Possibly the problem is getting enough drivers for the buses. Finding enough staff is an issue in many industries.

[Aus Traveller]

14 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

We also have to remember that cruise ships didn't operate in Australia for close to 2.5 years so ports did not get revenue during this time. I suspect things will improve in time - maybe not quick enough for some people though. 

 

Even Portside was a bit scruffy the first time we docked there in 2014 or 2015. You disembarked on to the wharf and had to walk a fair distance outside, with no shade or shelter, into the terminal building. By the time we visited there again a new building (apartments?) had been built which included a gangway and walkway inside to the terminal.

Your comment about Portside calls to mind our first cruise out of there in 2008. We had to queue in the open air then go into a big white tent for check-in.

[arxcards]

1 hour ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

But those excursion aren't usually available on turnaround days for B2B passengers. 

Correct. I thought the topic was about Brisbane needing to make it attractive for people to leave the ship and explore Brisbane, which is largely about day visits.

 

Those embarking/disembarking on the day have issues with transport links, but most of them just want to get home or to the airport - not heading into Brisbane to spend money.

 

B2B's are a side discussion to the above two. I know many that have grumbled if they had to leave the ship for zero count in Sydney. If spending a couple of hours around Circular Quay is inconvenient, Brisbane doesn't stand a chance at coming up with anything that can appease this.

[OzKiwiJJ]

6 minutes ago, arxcards said:

 

B2B's are a side discussion to the above two. I know many that have grumbled if they had to leave the ship for zero count in Sydney. If spending a couple of hours around Circular Quay is inconvenient, Brisbane doesn't stand a chance at coming up with anything that can appease this.

I was one of those. It was hosing down and freezing cold, and a couple of idiots decided that they didn't have to leave the ship. There is no coffee cart in the OPT! 😡🤣

Edited January 12, 2023 by OzKiwiJJ

[arxcards]

1 minute ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I was one of those. It was hosing down and freezing cold, and a couple of idiots decided that they didn't have to leave the ship. There is no coffee cart in the OPT! 😡🤣

I have heard multiples, and some were really loud grumbles. I offered a suggestion for a very short walk to the MCA to see some pretty pictures and to relax in their cafe and look at views of the ship and inner harbour. It was met with - why do I have to get of the %#@* ship. 🤣

 

Given that a large % of passengers B2Bing in Brisbane would be local, I also think they would be grumbling if they had to disembark and walk to the coffee cart outside BICT. They would also be less likely to get on a Brisbane shuttle, even if it was gratis.

[joejoe 59]

5 hours ago, Hogbay said:

Unfortunately will be back to the shitpond whalf tomorrow , 7 time  and will be avoiding all future cruise from Brisbane. 

Really! you would rather sit in an airport, wait for a flight, wait for luggage,  catch a transfer, maybe stay at least one  night at a hotel to insure being there on time all because of the Port of Brisbane.

Seems an extreme thing to do to me😏

[Hogbay]

2 hours ago, joejoe 59 said:

Really! you would rather sit in an airport, wait for a flight, wait for luggage,  catch a transfer, maybe stay at least one  night at a hotel to insure being there on time all because of the Port of Brisbane.

Seems an extreme thing to do to me😏

Would rather cruise from the most beautiful harbour in the world . And the feadback about BICT has not ben good at all . REALLY !

[Aus Traveller]

3 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I was one of those. It was hosing down and freezing cold, and a couple of idiots decided that they didn't have to leave the ship. There is no coffee cart in the OPT! 😡🤣

No coffee cart at the OPT and no long-term parking. 😁 One complaint about the Brisbane terminal is that there isn't enough parking. There are several hundred spaces. BTW, there weren't any at Portside and I cannot think of any cruise terminal that has long-term parking.

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, Aus Traveller said:

No coffee cart at the OPT and no long-term parking. 😁 One complaint about the Brisbane terminal is that there isn't enough parking. There are several hundred spaces. BTW, there weren't any at Portside and I cannot think of any cruise terminal that has long-term parking.

Portside Parking aren't that far from the Portside cruise terminal. I really hope they are able to get a new facility operating near the BICT eventually. I really liked their fully undercover longterm parking.

[Sparky74]

1 hour ago, Aus Traveller said:

No coffee cart at the OPT and no long-term parking. 😁 One complaint about the Brisbane terminal is that there isn't enough parking. There are several hundred spaces. BTW, there weren't any at Portside and I cannot think of any cruise terminal that has long-term parking.

We’ve sailed from BICT twice and have never had an issue getting parking. Admittedly I did prebook it both times. 
 

With 33 days until we cruise out of Pinkenbar again, I’ve just booked parking at the terminal with no issues whatsoever. 

[Aus Traveller]

14 minutes ago, Sparky74 said:

We’ve sailed from BICT twice and have never had an issue getting parking. Admittedly I did prebook it both times. 
 

With 33 days until we cruise out of Pinkenbar again, I’ve just booked parking at the terminal with no issues whatsoever. 

Now that there are more ships operating from the BICT, you have to book ahead. For our last cruise, I left it far too late to book P1 so we went by taxi. Our next two cruises are 10 nights and 14 nights respectively, so it is cheaper to go by taxi. It worked very well last time.

[joejoe 59]

4 hours ago, Hogbay said:

Would rather cruise from the most beautiful harbour in the world . And the feadback about BICT has not ben good at all . REALLY !

So glad you have the time inclination & extra money.

[Aus Traveller]

4 hours ago, Hogbay said:

Would rather cruise from the most beautiful harbour in the world . And the feadback about BICT has not ben good at all . REALLY !

We have cruised three times from BICT and don't see any problems with the terminal. Anyway, we have booked on a cruise, not a tour of Pinkenba or the terminal. 🙂

[joejoe 59]

4 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

We have cruised three times from BICT and don't see any problems with the terminal. Anyway, we have booked on a cruise, not a tour of Pinkenba or the terminal. 🙂

My thoughts exactly👍

[OzKiwiJJ]

4 hours ago, Hogbay said:

Would rather cruise from the most beautiful harbour in the world . And the feadback about BICT has not ben good at all . REALLY !

You do have the advantage of living halfway between two cruise terminals! Lucky you. 

 

I have a different problem. I live close to both Sydney cruise terminals but don't like the ships Princess homeports in Sydney. To cruise on my favourite ship in the peak season I would have to go through Brisbane. Luckily Coral Princess does do embarkations for the big cruises from Sydney as well as Brisbane.

[SinbadThePorter]

You have to consider the original source for this story.

 

This is the same mob, who during worst of the pandemic would come out with a story every couple of months about how the new cruise terminal was a $150 million white elephant.

 

Now that the terminal is up and running, they manufacture a story about how the surrounding area is not pretty enough.

 

It's almost enough to make you think that they have an agenda.

[MicCanberra]

5 hours ago, SinbadThePorter said:

You have to consider the original source for this story.

 

This is the same mob, who during worst of the pandemic would come out with a story every couple of months about how the new cruise terminal was a $150 million white elephant.

 

Now that the terminal is up and running, they manufacture a story about how the surrounding area is not pretty enough.

 

It's almost enough to make you think that they have an agenda.

Almost, perhaps the grinding wheel was being under utilised 

[arxcards]

12 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

We have cruised three times from BICT and don't see any problems with the terminal. Anyway, we have booked on a cruise, not a tour of Pinkenba or the terminal. 🙂

Agreed. We have had two port calls there, and a departure. The departure was as smooth as, so the terminal works a treat for what it is meant to do. A bit of a walk on a slight incline, but with the ship in clear view for much of the walk, it isn't the worst walk in the world. The distance from kerb or #1 carpark to the ship is less walking than the distance from CQ station to the ship at OPT, so that apparent issue is a storm in a teacup.

 

For the port calls we caught up with cruising friends. One lot parked and we sat down with a coffee from the cart and chatted. The immediate surroundings are quite nice. The others drove to the pick-up point and whisked us away - so much easier to do in each instance than OPT. The drive out isn't pretty - so what. 

 

Back next month to disembark there. They better have a coffee shop and a free transfer to the airport, or I will be quite upset!!! 😂