Wollongong 3rd Cruise Port?

[SinbadThePorter]

I seem to recall that Norwegian did a departure from Port Kembla, but I can't find the proof.

[Chiliburn]

12 minutes ago, arxcards said:

And Radiance.

https://www.portauthoritynsw.com.au/news-and-publications/2018-news/radiance-of-the-seas-returns-to-port-kembla/

 

However, there is a common thread to both ships - they were only day visitors.

 

Newcastle usually gets between a dozen and twenty day visits each season, but that doesn't make them the "New Sydney" for cruising either.

Not that I’ve been there but I don’t think Port Kembla is a real top port of call. Like you wouldn’t be boasting in the club lounge.

But if you think about it ,under the circumstances it could be a fairly good departure Port.
A cruise terminal,a few nice hotels near the beach and a train .  Plus it has L.N.G.

 

[arxcards]

5 hours ago, SinbadThePorter said:

I seem to recall that Norwegian did a departure from Port Kembla, but I can't find the proof.

In September 2019, they announced they were going to embark a cruise in Port Kembla in January 13th, 2021 - yep, that didn't happen. As they are often late to the party, OPT was already booked solid before they scheduled their season for Norwegian Jewel. At that stage, they had little choice.

https://cruisepassenger.com.au/news/look-out-sydney-norwegian-has-made-wollongong-an-embarkation-port/

 

NCL has now settled for Norwegian Spirit for their Sydney seasons, allowing them to berth at White Bay if the OPT is busy. It would be curious to know how fast the cabins were selling for the Kembla departure while they were available, and if that played a part in them swapping their Jewel for Spirit. 

 

It might become a necessity, but I think it is a dead herring. I would pay more to cruise on P&O out of White Bay than I would to cruise on anything else out of Kembla - and P&O is otherwise on the bottom of our list. Surely a trial of an evening embarkation at OPT has to be tried.

[arxcards]

22 hours ago, SinbadThePorter said:

I seem to recall that Norwegian did a departure from Port Kembla, but I can't find the proof.

As an add, initially this wouldn't have gone down well, as the cruise was available to book as a Sydney departure for approx 6 months prior to Port Kembla being announced. In the end, Norwegian managed to relocate their 13th January 2021 turnaround back to Sydney, well before the season ended up being cancelled for covid.

Edited September 18, 2023 by arxcards

[Chiliburn]

It looks like Royal Caribbean has been contemplating  Port Kembla for a while.

 

https://www.cruisemapper.com/ports/port-kembla-port-5085

[gbenjo]

51 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

It looks like Royal Caribbean has been contemplating  Port Kembla for a while.

 

https://www.cruisemapper.com/ports/port-kembla-port-5085

Contemplating, perhaps ..the Radiance visited there in 2016. It is now 2023 and yes, we have had two  years of covid interruption but surely if it were a  viable alternative , something would have happened by now. Possibly P&O and Carnival, with a large majority of “ local” guests,  could be turned there  ( they tried that in Newcastle a few years back I believe  ) but only as an “overflow” alternative.

[arxcards]

7 minutes ago, gbenjo said:

Contemplating, perhaps ..the Radiance visited there in 2016. It is now 2023 and yes, we have had two  years of covid interruption but surely if it were a  viable alternative , something would have happened by now. Possibly P&O and Carnival, with a large majority of “ local” guests,  could be turned there  ( they tried that in Newcastle a few years back I believe  ) but only as an “overflow” alternative.

Newcastle had two short seasons in consecutive years, 2011 & 2012 I seem to recall. This wasn't an overflow, but an attempt to help squeeze another couple of years out of Pacific Sun. There was plenty of space at the Barangaroo tent for Pacific Sun, if they could find enough cruisers left in Sydney that would cruise on the old lady.

 

It nearly worked, and Newcastle nearly scored a cruise terminal. Now more than 10 years has passed, and there is no Sydney surrogate. Local guests liked the idea of cruising out of Newcastle but preferred to catch a train to Sydney and try out newer ships. 

 

If fully promoted, a Kembla to Kembla cruise could work. To fit with that, you also need at least one xxx (Sydney, Auckland or other) to Kembla departure and a Kembla to xxx departure. I am not so sure those would sell.

[gbenjo]

1 hour ago, arxcards said:

Newcastle had two short seasons in consecutive years, 2011 & 2012 I seem to recall. This wasn't an overflow, but an attempt to help squeeze another couple of years out of Pacific Sun. There was plenty of space at the Barangaroo tent for Pacific Sun, if they could find enough cruisers left in Sydney that would cruise on the old lady.

 

It nearly worked, and Newcastle nearly scored a cruise terminal. Now more than 10 years has passed, and there is no Sydney surrogate. Local guests liked the idea of cruising out of Newcastle but preferred to catch a train to Sydney and try out newer ships. 

 

If fully promoted, a Kembla to Kembla cruise could work. To fit with that, you also need at least one xxx (Sydney, Auckland or other) to Kembla departure and a Kembla to xxx departure. I am not so sure those would sell.

I meant Port Kembla could be an overflow terminal  not that Newcastle was. 

[Chiliburn]

That article says a home port ,turn around ,for Royal Caribbean.

I suppose the cruise lines have to wait for the government to make the decision ,they have the final say.

That article seems to suggest the outer harbour in Kembla and it looks like there’s a train line .

 

Speculation of the seas Graham and your even speculating now.

[Aus Traveller]

1 hour ago, arxcards said:

Newcastle had two short seasons in consecutive years, 2011 & 2012 I seem to recall. This wasn't an overflow, but an attempt to help squeeze another couple of years out of Pacific Sun. There was plenty of space at the Barangaroo tent for Pacific Sun, if they could find enough cruisers left in Sydney that would cruise on the old lady.

 

We went on a Pacific Sun cruise from 18th to 28th September 2010 from Newcastle. It was ridiculously cheap ($398pp) giving us the impression that P&O had difficulty filling the ship. We felt it was because the ship was leaving from Newcastle, not just because it was the Pacific Sun.

[arxcards]

1 hour ago, gbenjo said:

I meant Port Kembla could be an overflow terminal  not that Newcastle was. 

Yep, got that. Newcastle was an attempt to try a new embarkation city though. They might get lucky to try a couple of Kembla departures on their own terms, but as an overflow I sense they are trying to call Kembla a Sydney cruise terminal - that won't cut it.

[arxcards]

50 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

We went on a Pacific Sun cruise from 18th to 28th September 2010 from Newcastle. It was ridiculously cheap ($398pp) giving us the impression that P&O had difficulty filling the ship. We felt it was because the ship was leaving from Newcastle, not just because it was the Pacific Sun.

Cool, it was 2010 & 2011 then. Yes, they had trouble filling the ship, but were having the same difficulty wherever they based her. They even had a "V8 Supercruise" scheduled from Sydney for the Townsville race and that fell flat as well. I was somewhat involved in a couple of arms-length projects and the overall feedback from potential passengers (and T/A's) was they didn't want to cruise any longer on Pacific Sun. Even those that had enjoyed the ship previously had a been there - done that response and had moved their sights to Dawn/Jewel & Pearl as well as other cruise lines.

 

Most of these cruises were looped through Brisbane and were also available as a 10 night Brisbane to Brisbane (Islands + Newcastle) itinerary. Brisbane had also had their fill of Pacific Sun by then. There were many other contributors such as having a big white embarkation tent, cruising in shoulder season, not being an established base, and having a ship that was becoming unreliable. And yes, one of the best cruise ports in the world is just a couple of hours down the coast from Newcastle - a point that shouldn't be lost on those proposing Port Kembla.