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3700% port fee rise in Sydney

Katana_Geldar

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bazzaw

bazzaw

Posted
Posted

I guess that the cruiselines will squeel - but at the end of the day somebody has to pay for infrastructure and maintenance. So - it will be us via the fares :).. I would be interested to know what the relative costs of berthing are at comparable places. However, it would not be easy to find something comparable to berthing in Curcualr Quay under the Sydney Harbour Bridge and across from the Opera House - there is only one like it!! :p

 

Barry

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Cruise ship fan

Cruise ship fan

Posted
Posted
I guess that the cruiselines will squeel - but at the end of the day somebody has to pay for infrastructure and maintenance. So - it will be us via the fares :).. I would be interested to know what the relative costs of berthing are at comparable places. However, it would not be easy to find something comparable to berthing in Curcualr Quay under the Sydney Harbour Bridge and across from the Opera House - there is only one like it!! :p

 

Barry

 

Sydney was already one of the most expensive ports in the world. Now it is well as truly the most expensive, nowhere else is even close.

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6andy6

6andy6

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I guess that the cruiselines will squeel - but at the end of the day somebody has to pay for infrastructure and maintenance. So - it will be us via the fares :)..

Barry

 

Government and ourselves (the taxpayer) should pay for it.

 

End of story.

 

I get tired of this...let the cruiselines or airlines pay for the infrastrcuture. That is double dipping just as Telstra do with a call connection fee than a charge for the call.

 

We can't as a country bemoan the lack of tourism and the jobs its creates, the income it injects into the economy and the increased tax therefore the government gets from people employed (not to forget the excise they may already be paying for things like diesel and the purchase of food and services at turn around) AND THEN come up with a complaint that they need to pay for the infrastructure. They are already doing that by the income they introduce that may not have been there if the industry did not exist.

 

The simple fact is cruise lines pulls out of Sydney then the corresponding drop in income from all the people boarding, people that stay at hotels the night before or after the cruise , taxi's, coach drivers (transport), truck operators (bringing in the food, drinks etc to restock the ship), the check in staff, tourists spending money on tours, food and souvenirs in the port,,,dries up. And I can tell you that would be worth more than a piddling $50 million port upgrade (honestly where do they get these prices for - how hard is it to build a huge shed with toilets, a kiosk and some air con).

 

What they regular lines should do is negotiate with the Qld government - I am sure they would like the cruise industry based up there. And anyway - it is likely to be more convenient in Brisbane. The not only can cruises head out across the pacific which is just as close from Brisbane, then can pop up the coast to our own more popular tropical destinations such as Cairns which from Sydney are just that little bit to far to include in a South Pacific cruise.

 

Unfortunately these days people and governments are far to greedy and fail to think laterally on these things. Look at Miami - do you think the $220 or $300 mio they recoup on building cruise terminals is not more than made up by the influx of passengers boarding and disembarking these ships and the income they generate for the local economy? But the NSW government, like many in this country are just to blinkered to see long term...

 

Sydney/NSW needs to be careful - there is not one reason the locally based cruise industry needs to be based there (I'm not talking now about world cruises that stop by - they would still need to come in - I'm talking the point to point Sydney-South Pacific/New Zealand -Sydney cruises).

 

This also discounts the tourists are already indirectly paying for the infrastructure when they pay the GST which the Commonwealth collects and pays back to the states....

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The_Big_M

The_Big_M

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Are we going to get hit any more port charges for fully paid up cruises we have out of Sydney, i.e. Celebrity Solstice on March 4 to Auckland ? We had to pay the package up front in October.

 

No, this was announced in the budget some months back and I posted a thread then.

 

The charges only come in from July 1 next year so don't impact your cruise as it's before then.

 

As for cruises after this date, some lines have already factored it into the charges on sale now, and others are still evaluating.

 

It was interesting to read that this brings the charges into line with other cities like

"Oslo, Venice, Southampton, Copenhagen, St Petersburg and Rio de Janeiro."

I'm not as against it as I was before if that's the case. Certainly the previous fee was on the generous side, due to the fact it had actually gone down substantially some years ago. $3000 for half a day and the work involved, including the extra mooring upgrade they recently put through at OPT is an incredible bargain! It just made some of the cruise lines even more profitable when they sailed here.

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NSWP

NSWP

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No, this was announced in the budget some months back and I posted a thread then.

 

The charges only come in from July 1 next year so don't impact your cruise as it's before then.

 

As for cruises after this date, some lines have already factored it into the charges on sale now, and others are still evaluating.

 

It was interesting to read that this brings the charges into line with other cities like

"Oslo, Venice, Southampton, Copenhagen, St Petersburg and Rio de Janeiro."

I'm not as against it as I was before if that's the case. Certainly the previous fee was on the generous side, due to the fact it had actually gone down substantially some years ago. $3000 for half a day and the work involved, including the extra mooring upgrade they recently put through at OPT is an incredible bargain! It just made some of the cruise lines even more profitable when they sailed here.

Thanks for the reply. Port charges are also big overseas, beside Sydney. e.g. on our Golden Princess 31 day cruise in March 2014, Buenos Aires to LA, the Port Charges etc are around $475 pp. The cruise then is $3000 and the port charges etc $475 !

Must be the South Americans ripping into it.

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newfarmers

newfarmers

Posted
Posted

 

What they regular lines should do is negotiate with the Qld government - I am sure they would like the cruise industry based up there. And anyway - it is likely to be more convenient in Brisbane. The not only can cruises head out across the pacific which is just as close from Brisbane, then can pop up the coast to our own more popular tropical destinations such as Cairns which from Sydney are just that little bit to far to include in a South Pacific cruise.

 

I remember reading somewhere that it cost more to turn around a ship - docking fees, replenishing, bunkering, security, baggage handling etc etc - at Portside in Brisbane than it did to do the same in Manhattan. I'm sure I read it was the most expensive (per passenger) port in the world.

 

Maybe I'm mistaken. If not, Sydney's possibly finally going to catch up to us, not that either should be proud :D

 

pete

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Sutho

Sutho

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The article is laughable how towards the end it suggests cruise lines should help pay for the new terminal at White Bay. Not many ships can get under the bridge. I know its an inherited problem from the previous government that built that terminal but very soon it will not have any ships docking at it when all the P&O Australia ships go on their merry way and are replaced with larger ones.

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joejoe 59

joejoe 59

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I guess that the cruiselines will squeel - but at the end of the day somebody has to pay for infrastructure and maintenance. So - it will be us via the fares :).. I would be interested to know what the relative costs of berthing are at comparable places. However, it would not be easy to find something comparable to berthing in Curcualr Quay under the Sydney Harbour Bridge and across from the Opera House - there is only one like it!! :p

 

Barry

Come on nothing compares to the Brisbane river:D

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avalon007

avalon007

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I guess it was so underpriced for so long it really makes a maasive difference now they have brought prices more inline with other world famous cities offering such a fabulous place to dock.

 

Even if the cruise lines pass it on it's only a small amount per person, it won't break the bank & I guess it's a case of user pays if they do. We being the users or cruisers in this case. :)

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The_Big_M

The_Big_M

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Come on nothing compares to the Brisbane river:D

 

Pity many ships aren't even able to get down it past the grain wharf, either due to size or capacity. And the grain wharf is a terrible location for cruisers, with woeful infrastructure. (You can choose: taxi, or taxi.)

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