Which ships can sail under the Harbour Bridge?

[erewhon]

It's a couple of inlets around the coast, beside Woolloomooloo. A very nice location, but not generally available for cruise ships.

 

Thank you for your reply.

[The Fox]

Leanne, I think it is called the Norwegian Spirit now. It is 76800gt, approx 2000 passengers with capability of 2800 passengers, 879ft long, 14 decks....and the layout/fittings etc are stunning. I can send you a copy of our dvd if you want, just email me. The dining was via choice of numerous restaurants ie chinese, japanese, steakhouse, french, normal formal, buffet etc. Best shows I have seen yet on the seas. The list goes on.....

Jen

 

I agree Jen both Leo and Virgo are great ships .we love them....wonder what happened to Gemini?....it was very popular with Aussies...only small in size but big on fun.

 

Col

[Kiwi Kruzer]

I agree Jen both Leo and Virgo are great ships .we love them....wonder what happened to Gemini?....it was very popular with Aussies...only small in size but big on fun.Col

 

 

Hi Col,

Gemini was a lovely ship. We did a Singapore /Phuket/Singapore cruise on her. Wish more ships would cruise out of Singapore.:rolleyes:

According to Wiki, Gemini is laid after its owners went belly up..

 

History

The Crown Jewel was built in 1992 for Crown Cruise Line (a subsidiary of EffJohn[1]), and which was itself the merger of Finland Steamship Company and Johnson Line. The vessel Crown Jewel/Gemini is the largest cruise ship ever built in Spain.[2] Crown Cruise Line used the ship for cruises from the United States to Canada, Bermuda and the Caribbean. In 1993 the ship was chartered to Cunard Line and renamed Cunard Crown Jewel.[3] In 1995 the ship was sold to Star Cruises, and renamed SuperStar Gemini and placed on cruise traffic from Singapore.[3][4] In February 1997 the ship suffered an engine room fire.[4]

In September 2007 Star Cruises reported that SuperStar Gemini had been sold and left the company fleet in December 2008.[5] Reportedly the buyer was Clipper Group, a Bahama-based company who would charter the ship to a new operator in 2009.[6] In 2008, the Clipper Group announced that they would rename the ship the Vision Star and lease the ship to the Spanish cruise ship operator, Vision Cruises. In March 2009, Vision Cruises ceased operations. In early 2009, Mediterranean Classic Cruises (formerly Monarch Classic Cruises) was booking cruises in the Aegean Sea aboard the Vision Star. However, these cruises were cancelled due to the non-availability of the Vision Star from Vision Cruises. Instead, the SuperStar Gemini was renamed Gemini, and currently has a Spanish operator, Quail Travel Group. Since the bankruptcy of Quail in 2011 Gemini has been laid up and awaits sale or charter.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MS_Gemini

[Bella cruiser]

Superstar Gemini was my parent's very fave ship they were very dissapointed when she was sold.

Last I heard about Gemini was that she is laid up at Tilbury, London & was used during the Olympics as worker'accommodation.

[erewhon]

This morning have printed our boarding passes for a cruise on the Oosterdam, the pass states that we will disembark at Wharf 5, Bangaroo on January 2nd.

 

The documents show that the Oosterdam will also berth at Wharf 5 Bangaroo, on February 6th, March 3rd and 16th.

[Sutho]

Well I just hope it doesnt crash into the Sydney Harbour Bridge!

 

Personally I will believe it when I see it. I am sceptial it will fit under. It is a taller ship than the Sun class that can fit under. Unless the funnell of Oosterdam is really short then it has no chance of getting under.

 

Apparantly the old P&O Canberra was once to dock at Darling Harbour and it crashed into the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

One year they put a Celebrity ship , Millennium I think , on Athol Buoy, and all the pax reported to Barangaroo and were ferried over to the ship.

Perhaps Wharf 5 at Barangaroo is the marshaling point?

 

[Shiprobbo]

Apparantly the old P&O Canberra was once to dock at Darling Harbour and it crashed into the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

 

Not quite right, Canberra never could and never did go under the bridge. The incident occured when she was going astern from Circular Quay and clipped the top of her mast on the bridge when she went too far back. The top itself was retractable, however was not lowered on this occasion, even lowered however she was too tall to go under. When SCPT was redeveloped over the summer of 1985/6, the works had to be completed before Canberra called on her World Cruise that year. The issue of using up-harbour wharves was less of an issue in those days as Canberra and QE2 were really the only ships calling in Sydney that needed to use the Quay based on air draft. From memory the first ship to use the revamped Sydney Cove Passanger Terminal was Royal Princess on her maiden arrival.

 

Sorry to be picky, but in the 70's/80's/90's, the alternate passanger terminal was not at Darling Harbour, but at 13 Pyrmont with an overflow at 20/21 Pyrmont. 13 Pyrmont was converted to a temporary casino while the Star City facility was built. After the old 13 Pyrmont was converted to the casino, the passanger wharf moved to 10 Darling Harbour, before them moving to 8 Darling Harbour a few years later.

 

Cheers,

[Sutho]

Thanks for clearing that up about Canberra.

 

What we really need here is the measurements of the Oosterdam and in particular its height to mast and funnel. Its so hard finding that information on the net.

 

It was only by chance that I came across Oriana's measurement on a plaque on its bridge wing.

 

[NSWP]

HAL's OOSTERDAM is a Vista Class Ship, same as Arcadia, which Sutho and I were on this year.

 

I was told on Arcadia that Vista Class ships cannot fit under Sydney Harbour Bridge, thus we sailed from OPT, Circular Quay.

 

Now one thing for sure, Celebrity Solstice which we are on next, will not fit under the Bridge, berthed at OPT.

[aussiedisneyfan]

I have emailed a friend who works onboard the Oosterdam and told her to ask the captain! hee hee.

[Sutho]

Lets hope your friend can get some answers on the dimensions.

 

This topic has got me interested now as we have Oriana's dimensions above and the Oosterdam is bigger than Oriana. Photos cant tell measurements but you can see below Oosterdam is bigger. Unless Oosterdam has really short decks then I cant see it going under.

 

 

[erewhon]

I have emailed a friend who works onboard the Oosterdam and told her to ask the captain! hee hee.

 

Will be interested to read the response:D

Who is the Captain?

[Sutho]

Ok from the same angle and level we know Oriana cant fit under:

 

 

Oosterdam is in question if it can or cant:

 

 

and Sea Princess can

 

[Australian family]

I have emailed a friend who works onboard the Oosterdam and told her to ask the captain! hee hee.

 

At least the first time it is scheduled to go under is at the end of our cruise. :D:D

[Australian family]

Lets hope your friend can get some answers on the dimensions.

 

This topic has got me interested now as we have Oriana's dimensions above and the Oosterdam is bigger than Oriana. Photos cant tell measurements but you can see below Oosterdam is bigger. Unless Oosterdam has really short decks then I cant see it going under.

 

 

Sutho maybe you could make a trip into town and get some shots of the Oosterdam attempting to go under the harbour bridge.:D

 

And then you will have some before and after shots on Wednesday 2nd January.

Edited November 1, 2012 by Australian family

[Sutho]

I will be happy to go down and watch it. I still want to see some dimensions.

 

On wikipedia under Zuiderdam it says it has a height of 57.83m keel to funnel tip. So that means we deduct the draught of 7.8m to come to a height of 50.83m.

 

Above the bridge clearance is 49m so what are they going to do run the ship at flank speed making it sink deeper and hope for the best as it attempts to go under.

[cassamanda]

This morning have printed our boarding passes for a cruise on the Oosterdam, the pass states that we will disembark at Wharf 5, Bangaroo on January 2nd.

 

The documents show that the Oosterdam will also berth at Wharf 5 Bangaroo, on February 6th, March 3rd and 16th.

 

Tend to think Kiwi Cruzer might be on the ball regarding using Wharf 5 as a marshalling point. Wharf 5 closes on Feb 28 and all Darling Harbour shipping moves to White Bay. However, unless Oosterdam is on Athol Bouy then she would have to Berth at OPT.

From my first post (#2) my deduction (without cold hard fact) is that she is 50m (known draught is 7.9) making her 1m too tall for the bridge.

Would also be interested in the Captains reply.

[aussiedisneyfan]

My friend has messaged me. She is off to the bridge to ask. Internet for her is intermittent so I might not get the answer for another few days.

[erewhon]

aussiedisneyfan,

Thanks for the update.

[Sutho]

I am still anxiously waiting for an answer to the height question for certain :). I have enough memory cards, battery packs and lenses to go down to Sydney and photograph the ship crashing, record the evacuation and rescue and get detailed photos of the damage.:D

 

This has got me intrigued though. I did notice on another thread someone generously posted photos of the aft deck of Oosterdam and I do admit its funnel is rather short. I know for certain that Oriana cant fit under. I also know for certain that Oosterdam has one extra deck in place above where the decks finish on Oriana. It is the same for the Sun class. The Sun class just fits under. So assuming Oosterdams funnel is really short it has no chance of getting under in my opinion. Unless at some refit they are removing the funnel.

 

 

Just adding I posted on HALs facebook with the question and one person has replied with

Roughly 204.8 feet from Plemsol line to top of the stacks.. Have not found definitive value as of yet.

That makes it 62.4m

 

Got me wondering now but it looks like it must be anchoring and people checking in there.

Edited November 2, 2012 by Sutho

[Cruise ship fan]

This may not be that accurate since it is based on information of Wikipedia. The Oosterdams sister ship Zuiderdam has a height of 50.03m from the water line. The size is slightly different from the Oosterdam but that should give a good idea. Plus you can take away 0.10m since the Oosterdam sits deeper in the water. So make it 49.93m

 

With a clearance of 49m for the Harbour bridge (an am guessing this is based on high tide), it would be slightly less then 1m too high. If they went under at low tide and filled the ballast tanks, maybe even refuelled before going under, it appears that she may just be able to get under.

Edited November 3, 2012 by Cruise ship fan

[Sutho]

Just an update I asked on HAL's facebook page about their height and what bridges they can fit under. Not too long ago I got this response on facebook page on HAL's wall.

[/url]

Holland America Line Hello Tony! We reached out to our staff onboard the Vista class ships to find this answer for you. From the waterline to the top of the funnel the Vista class ships are approximately 58 meters high. Our Vista class ships have sailed under the Bridge of the Americas in Panama, the Lion’s Gate bridge in Vancouver, B.C., and the Golden Gate bridge in San Francisco, California just to name a few. We hope this information was helpful. Happy Cruising!

[Cruise ship fan]

Wow that numbers funny, thats the exact number I kept getting for the total height from keel to top of the funnel. Guess there is a lot of miss information out there. I could of sworn she was not 58m from the water line we I saw her, oh well can't argue with the people who own the ship.

Edited November 7, 2012 by Cruise ship fan

[NSWP]

Wow that numbers funny, thats the exact number I kept getting for the total height from keel to top of the funnel. Guess there is a lot of miss information out there. I could of sworn she was not 58m from the water line we I saw her, oh well can't argue with the people who own the ship.

58 metres, straight from the horse's mouth, so to speak.