White Bay terminal ferry in Sydney

I understand there is a ferry from the White Bay cruise terminal to the King St wharf on days when a ship is at White Bay. We will be docked at White Bay for two nights starting on 12/31/18 and wanted to know if the ferry will be running on New Year's Eve. In reviewing the information on the ferry website, the answer is not obvious.

I don't know for sure but I suspect it would be very unlikely. The harbour is extremely busy on NYE, with restrictions on where boats can go due to the fireworks barges.

I don't see why not.

Commercial and public transport still runs then and in fact the government encourages public transport then to reduce congestion.

You didn't specifically ask, but I'm going to pass on my experience regarding the White Bay Terminal Ferry from King Street Wharf.

We took the White Bay Ferry going to our cruise ship. The cost was $9 p/p, so $18 total. It was a convenient way to get to White Bay as we were staying in Darling Harbor. Once the ferry arrived at the ferry dock at White Bay, we still had to walk a flat but tedious .10 mile wheeling our luggage from the dock to the street and then along the fence line to the Terminal Building. You cannot take a short cut because of the fences.

On our return, we took an Uber from the cruise terminal to our hotel at Hyde Park and it only cost $20.

When my wife found out that the difference was only $2, she said in that "I told you so" manner "For $2 more, we could have taken an Uber to the White Bay Terminal and had them deal with the luggage and saved ourselves the walk."

Just something to consider. My wife will never let me forget it.

White bay is a bit of a black hole,it’s a old industrial port.

Your cruise line should have some kind of shuttle service.if not just take a taxi or Uber as such.

Balmain is a nice little suburb just a short walk, research,research.

On 9/17/2018 at 6:39 PM, dkata said:

You didn't specifically ask, but I'm going to pass on my experience regarding the White Bay Terminal Ferry from King Street Wharf.

We took the White Bay Ferry going to our cruise ship. The cost was $9 p/p, so $18 total. It was a convenient way to get to White Bay as we were staying in Darling Harbor. Once the ferry arrived at the ferry dock at White Bay, we still had to walk a flat but tedious .10 mile wheeling our luggage from the dock to the street and then along the fence line to the Terminal Building. You cannot take a short cut because of the fences.

On our return, we took an Uber from the cruise terminal to our hotel at Hyde Park and it only cost $20.

When my wife found out that the difference was only $2, she said in that "I told you so" manner "For $2 more, we could have taken an Uber to the White Bay Terminal and had them deal with the luggage and saved ourselves the walk."

Just something to consider. My wife will never let me forget it.

Wow, I can Identify with this.  Will be doing this next fall and was considering a similar strategy until reading this.  So where did you stay in Darling Harbor and would you recommend it?  Great story.

We stayed at the adina darling harbor apartments. And we recommend it. Read my review on tripadvisor. Great location. Short walk to the ferry that goes to CQ. would stay there again.

dkata...I know the original thread doesn't concern this but your comment is exactly what I have questions about and haven't found any other threads addressing how you can take the King's wharf ferry to White Bay Cruise terminal. I would certainly check other options before we walked over there from Travelodge Wynyard but if Uber is surging and taxi's are $50 it seems like a good back up if need be. I just have no idea how it works? Do we need to pre-book? I assume credit cards acceptable?

From the Travel Lodge Wynyard, you would walk over to Wynyard station and take the Wynyard walk over to Kings Wharf. Once you reached the water, turn left, walk about 300 feet and the King Street Wharf ferry dock is right there. Very easy. Very walkable from your hotel.

On embarkation days, Captain Cook Cruises runs frequent ferries to the White Bay Terminal. If you want to see their schedule, go to the Captain Cook Cruises website for a more up to date schedule. but if I recall they ferries were running in the morning starting around 10 am (we could board our ship at noon)

It's cash only. $AUD 9 per person. No credit cards. You buy the one-way tickets from the ferry conductor(?)/agent/service person  who is there on the dock.  NO need to pre-book. You will, be hauling your own luggage on/off the ferry, so you need to be able to manage your luggage by yourself.

The ferry ride is very short. About 15 minutes more or less. The ferry goes to White Bay ferry dock. You will wheel your luggage up the ramps towards the dock exit, and then you will wheel your luggage 200 feet to the road way, then 350-400 or so feet along the roadway, through the parking lot to the entrance of the White Bay Terminal, where cruise ship personnel will be there to take you luggage and you go check in.

The location of the White Bay Cruise Terminal is in an isolated location, so this is not the place to drop your bags off and then go back into the town for sightseeing via taxi or the ferry back to Kings harbor.

Hope that helps.

That is exactly what I needed! Thank you so much! 

If this thread is still being followed, could someone help me out with a few questions, please?

Exactly where is the Captain Cook ferry's terminal at White Bay, if it's possible to give an address, or at least some other hints?  In looking at a map on Google Earth, it appears the cruise terminal and dock is along the northern side but there are places that might possibly be used for a ferry dock on the southern side, so I can't figure out where the ferry wharf may be.  Of course, I DO see something at the end of the same wharf with the cruise terminal building that might be what I'm looking for.  Also, is it, I assume, a flat but tedious tenth mile walk from the ferry to the cruise terminal once you come up the ferry ramp?  I just want to make sure I understand.  I am not embarking or disembarking there, but instead staying on the ship (back to back cruise).  However, my ship embarks new folks that day, so I'm thinking the ferry will be running, and will help me.  But if I were embarking, I suspect I would take a taxi or Uber. 

Thanks for any additional info you can give me! 

see attached satellite view of the White Bay cruise terminal. I have circled and labeled the ferry dock. I have also added the walking route that you have to take, as fences prevent you from walking directly to the ship. The walk is flat. Hope this helps.

2 hours ago, roothy123 said:

If this thread is still being followed, could someone help me out with a few questions, please?

 

Exactly where is the Captain Cook ferry's terminal at White Bay, if it's possible to give an address, or at least some other hints?  In looking at a map on Google Earth, it appears the cruise terminal and dock is along the northern side but there are places that might possibly be used for a ferry dock on the southern side, so I can't figure out where the ferry wharf may be.  Of course, I DO see something at the end of the same wharf with the cruise terminal building that might be what I'm looking for.  Also, is it, I assume, a flat but tedious tenth mile walk from the ferry to the cruise terminal once you come up the ferry ramp?  I just want to make sure I understand.  I am not embarking or disembarking there, but instead staying on the ship (back to back cruise).  However, my ship embarks new folks that day, so I'm thinking the ferry will be running, and will help me.  But if I were embarking, I suspect I would take a taxi or Uber. 

 

Thanks for any additional info you can give me! 

I went on the Captain Cook Ferry just after it started a few years ago. I then swore I'd never use it again. A couple of weeks ago I used it again and remembered why I swore I'd never use it again. The walk is probably more like half a mile over flat but uneven ground. Very hot on a sunny summer's day, especially when dragging luggage. Be prepared for a long wait at the CC wharf for the ferry.

If you are without heavy luggage and/or just visiting there is an alternative to the CC ferry or a taxi through the city, but you will need an Opal card.

Get a taxi from White Bay to either the Balmain Ferry wharf or the Balmain East Ferry wharf. Balmain East is probably the closest. It's a much shorter, quicker and cheaper drive than into the city. Use your Opal card to catch the public ferry to Circular Quay. From there you can go anywhere in the city or harbour.

Sinbad - Thank you very much for this.  I was a little leary of CC ferry when a poster on another thread, another board, mentioned that the walk was about the length of a football field (or soccer or whatever is proper terminology in Aus).  He had a lot of luggage for a cruise; not sure how he managed.  CC's website implies the wharf is close, but I just didn't think so - which I why I posted here.  So thank you.  I will look into the Balmain area more.  I am not totally opposed to cabs, just prefer not to use them if good public transportation is available.  But it looks like I really need to look at schedules, my timing and stamina, and possibly forget about a ferry from White Bay all together.  

dkata - thanks; very helpful.  I'm a very visual person, and like to know what I'm getting into before I get into it, so thanks!  

Agree to much for me, even when I was healthy (once upon a time long loooong ago)

On 3/23/2019 at 10:32 AM, SinbadThePorter said:

[...]

If you are without heavy luggage and/or just visiting there is an alternative to the CC ferry or a taxi through the city, but you will need an Opal card.

 

Get a taxi from White Bay[....]

You can now use Visa/Mastercard/Amex on Opal card reader-enabled public transport (at the adult on-peak fare, regardless of time of day) if your card supports contactless/tap-and-go payments. Details: https://transportnsw.info/tickets-opal/opal/contactless-payments