Carnival Flags Second Vessel for Australia

[Royalty X]

I'm surprised this article hasn't been mentioned in the last couple of weeks (unless I missed it)...

 

http://www.travelweekly.com.au/travel-today/news/carnival-flags-second-vessel

 

Carnival Cruise Lines has flagged the prospect of operating a second ship in Australia with a decision likely mid next year.

The cruise line said it did not view Australia as only a one-ship market which could mean a second vessel sailing alongside Carnival Spirit.

“The decision would be based on the continued opportunity we saw in the market, based on sales figures and if there is continued demand for a Carnival type of holiday,” Carnival Cruise Lines general manager Jennifer Vandekreeke said.

“We are absolutely committed to Australia as a market for Carnival Cruise Lines, she added.

Meanwhile, a recent Carnival Spirit voyage was delayed due to supply deliveries with Vandekreeke believing a storage warehouse at the Overseas Passenger Terminal would improve turnaround time.

“The cruise industry has grown faster than the infrastructure has. We have to think very carefully about how we can make increased capacity work,” she said.

This is pretty much what we all assumed anyway. It's interesting to note that one person who has commented on the article claims it'll more than likely be the Miracle and it'll be based out of Melbourne.

[Keith1010]

Thanks for posting this.

 

Keith

[bazzaw]

It is one thing to be a visiting cruiseship and quite another to "turnaround" cruiseships (especially in Australia). It is obvious that Sydney OPT is not really suitable as a turnaround terminal - I am not sure of the position of Melbourne in that regard.

 

Barry

[Kiwi Kruzer]

It is one thing to be a visiting cruiseship and quite another to "turnaround" cruiseships (especially in Australia). It is obvious that Sydney OPT is not really suitable as a turnaround terminal - I am not sure of the position of Melbourne in that regard.

 

Barry

 

Station Pier in Melbourne, while not suitable for storage of provisions , is ideal for loading provisions onto ships.

I recall one cruise on Diamond Princess where upon leaving the ship for a days touring I noted several trucks with containers lined up down the very long wharf.

Upon return late afternoon , fork lifts were still busy , and they worked flat out , right up until sailing.

 

It could be that Sydney is just used for passenger turnaround and another port..eg Melbourne,Brisbane , Auckland is used to replenish supplies.

 

 

 

 

[GandM-nq]

Probably this thread http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1744877 , dated the same day as that article.

[GandM-nq]

And I can't believe Melbourne would be a year round base for a cruise ship. Maybe shared with Brisbane (in winter months)?

[timtam2]

The OPT used to work just fine for ships provisioning. Then they flogged off all the space and there are restaurants there instead. Nice as those restaurants are, I always thought that was a stupid move

[The_Big_M]

The OPT used to work just fine for ships provisioning. Then they flogged off all the space and there are restaurants there instead. Nice as those restaurants are, I always thought that was a stupid move

 

Short term Dollars above long term options; it's been the way for quite some time. Same thing caused the loss of the Finger wharf in Woolloomooloo which was ideal for visiting ships. Fortunately, the usage of OPT is more reversible than the Finger Wharf is.

[gbenjo]

The OPT used to work just fine for ships provisioning. Then they flogged off all the space and there are restaurants there instead. Nice as those restaurants are, I always thought that was a stupid move

 

Rumour has it that this situation may/will be changing in the not too distant future (watch this space)

 

It was not such a stupid move to have the restaurants there, at least financially, when there only a handful of cruise ships using the terminal but as the industry has grown it is obvious that they are no longer "needed" If it were up to me I would build another level on top for the restaurants( give them a better view) expand the terminal and everyone(well almost) would be happy.

[6andy6]

Rumour has it that this situation may/will be changing in the not too distant future (watch this space)

 

It was not such a stupid move to have the restaurants there, at least financially, when there only a handful of cruise ships using the terminal but as the industry has grown it is obvious that they are no longer "needed" If it were up to me I would build another level on top for the restaurants( give them a better view) expand the terminal and everyone(well almost) would be happy.

 

...or move them out (with suitable compensation). It's not as if tho there are not, 100 or 200 other restaurants within 15 mins walk.

[wildweston]

Apparently there have been complaints, especially with Voyager blocking the views of the harbour.

[gbenjo]

...or move them out (with suitable compensation). It's not as if tho there are not, 100 or 200 other restaurants within 15 mins walk.

 

But not on the water in such an ideal location.... let them stay and earn a living, they have families to feed too... just move them upstairs .. their rent would help pay for the reno's.

[gbenjo]

Apparently there have been complaints, especially with Voyager blocking the views of the harbour.

 

From who???... The view of the harbour is blocked no matter what ship is in .. especially the restaurants.... but if the ship sails l at 6pm..and most of them don't open in the day anyway.

[Sutho]

Apparently there have been complaints, especially with Voyager blocking the views of the harbour.

 

Serves themselves right for booking at a restaurant where large ships dock. Also serves the restaurant right for leasing a space where it is inevitable ships will dock. No harbour view can be guaranteed from the overseas passenger terminal - a working cruise dock.

 

As far as another Carnival ship goes I hope they are serious about it and I hope it means competative prices for us. They are probably still learning the market with Carnival Spirit here so it is only a matter of time to they work out what they want to do with basing a second ship here.

 

Also what would this mean for P&O Australia? Does it signal the end for this cruise line and the beginning of it being phased out completely? I might have to try one of their ships next year for a short sampler. Its a pity Carnival did not invest the proper money and thought into that line rather than continue with the hand-me-downs. If the Australian market is large enough to support two Carnival ships and three Royal Caribbean ships as well as three Princess ships then surely the market was large enough to justify a new build.

[NSWP]

Traffic Management around the Rocks Area, e.g. road closures, road narrowing, turning restrictions etc, have made it very difficult for supply trucks to gain access to the OPT to victuall ships.

 

I would say VOS and Solstice are getting most of their victualling done in Melbourne, because of better ingress/egress of supply trucks at Station Pier, as has been raised on this thread.

 

Blame Clover Moore and City of Sydney Council.

[MMDown Under]

Apparently there have been complaints, especially with Voyager blocking the views of the harbour.

 

I spoke briefly with a chef from one of the restaurants about whether ships, such as Voyager, blocking their harbour view affected his business. He replied that it wasn't so much the ships blocking the view, but that the restaurant customers avoided the area, when the area was busy with ships disembarking/embarking passengers.

 

I could see what he meant as the Voyager embarking/luggage collection area spread out all the way from the OPT to the first wharf entrance gate.

[Sutho]

Traffic Management around the Rocks Area, e.g. road closures, road narrowing, turning restrictions etc, have made it very difficult for supply trucks to gain access to the OPT to victuall ships.

 

I would say VOS and Solstice are getting most of their victualling done in Melbourne, because of better ingress/egress of supply trucks at Station Pier, as has been raised on this thread.

 

Blame Clover Moore and City of Sydney Council.

 

you might have a bit of knowledge about this one regarding traffic management. Around "The Rocks" area there are parking metered street parks clearly marked. Back in 2010 I drove my grandparents to a cruise and found a park on Hickson Road behind the terminal. It was clearly a car park with street meter. I parked and was going to help the grandparents with a short walk to the terminal with their luggage. A tow truck driver approached me and said I could not park there even though it is metered and that they have to tow away all cars parking in the area. Obviously not wanting to argue I had to move the car to the Opera House car park as I have better access out of the city from there.

 

The thing that struck me was that there were no signs or warnings about no parking and clear away zones apart from the verbal statement from the tow truck driver. It struck me as strange that cars would be prevented from street parking a considerable distance from the terminal and there be no notifications of a change.

 

Any ideas why things like this are being done? I suspected it had more to do with council or state goverment revenue raising by wanting to tow and fine cars anywhere near a cruis ship visits.

[The_Big_M]

If the Australian market is large enough to support two Carnival ships and three Royal Caribbean ships as well as three Princess ships then surely the market was large enough to justify a new build.

 

But it isn't. There's only one Carnival ship here, and the RCL ships and others here are only visitors.

 

The Princess ships only recently started having three but spend much of the year elsewhere on world cruises, and one is even being transferred out to Asia for a period as well.

[The_Big_M]

Around "The Rocks" area there are parking metered street parks clearly marked. Back in 2010 I drove my grandparents to a cruise and found a park on Hickson Road behind the terminal. It was clearly a car park with street meter. I parked and was going to help the grandparents with a short walk to the terminal with their luggage. A tow truck driver approached me and said I could not park there even though it is metered and that they have to tow away all cars parking in the area. Obviously not wanting to argue I had to move the car to the Opera House car park as I have better access out of the city from there.

 

The thing that struck me was that there were no signs or warnings about no parking and clear away zones apart from the verbal statement from the tow truck driver. It struck me as strange that cars would be prevented from street parking a considerable distance from the terminal and there be no notifications of a change.

 

Any ideas why things like this are being done? I suspected it had more to do with council or state goverment revenue raising by wanting to tow and fine cars anywhere near a cruis ship visits.

 

When towaway zones are imposed for special events, signage is put up.

 

I wouldn't be surprised if the towie was clearing spaces for his mates, or some industrial activity and just didn't want you there.

[Cruise ship fan]

you might have a bit of knowledge about this one regarding traffic management. Around "The Rocks" area there are parking metered street parks clearly marked. Back in 2010 I drove my grandparents to a cruise and found a park on Hickson Road behind the terminal. It was clearly a car park with street meter. I parked and was going to help the grandparents with a short walk to the terminal with their luggage. A tow truck driver approached me and said I could not park there even though it is metered and that they have to tow away all cars parking in the area. Obviously not wanting to argue I had to move the car to the Opera House car park as I have better access out of the city from there.

 

The thing that struck me was that there were no signs or warnings about no parking and clear away zones apart from the verbal statement from the tow truck driver. It struck me as strange that cars would be prevented from street parking a considerable distance from the terminal and there be no notifications of a change.

 

Any ideas why things like this are being done? I suspected it had more to do with council or state goverment revenue raising by wanting to tow and fine cars anywhere near a cruis ship visits.

 

If there are no signs they can't tow or fine you. If he towed you it would come under theft.

[rkmw]

when the towie said you couldnt park there you could have taken a photo of the signs just in case you got booked

[cassamanda]

Traffic Management around the Rocks Area, e.g. road closures, road narrowing, turning restrictions etc, have made it very difficult for supply trucks to gain access to the OPT to victuall ships.

 

Blame Clover Moore and City of Sydney Council.

Have to agree with you on this one. Clover doesn't want vehicles of any type in The Rocks, hence the narrowing of George St and the closure of the Argyle Cut to allow a "straight in approach " for heavy vehicles including trucks and tour coaches. Long vehicles can no longer make the left turn out of the OPT into George St and are forced to turn right only.

[CassCruise]

We have just hopped off the Spirit - when talking to our waiter he said he believes that the Miracle is going to be relocated here next year.....

 

Jane

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Spirit class

 

Carnival Spirit 2001

Carnival Pride 2001

Carnival Legend 2002

Carnival Miracle 2004

 

Two more Spirit-class ships sail for Carnival's sister company Costa Cruises,

Costa Atlantica

Costa Mediterranea.

 

[NSWP]

you might have a bit of knowledge about this one regarding traffic management. Around "The Rocks" area there are parking metered street parks clearly marked. Back in 2010 I drove my grandparents to a cruise and found a park on Hickson Road behind the terminal. It was clearly a car park with street meter. I parked and was going to help the grandparents with a short walk to the terminal with their luggage. A tow truck driver approached me and said I could not park there even though it is metered and that they have to tow away all cars parking in the area. Obviously not wanting to argue I had to move the car to the Opera House car park as I have better access out of the city from there.

 

The thing that struck me was that there were no signs or warnings about no parking and clear away zones apart from the verbal statement from the tow truck driver. It struck me as strange that cars would be prevented from street parking a considerable distance from the terminal and there be no notifications of a change.

 

Any ideas why things like this are being done? I suspected it had more to do with council or state goverment revenue raising by wanting to tow and fine cars anywhere near a cruis ship visits.

Sutho, Hickson Rd was often made a 'Special Event Clearway' during some 'big ship visits' or Naval Fleet visits, also NYE etc. These Clearways have precedent over other parking signage. Tow trucks would have been contracted by RTA to tow away from the Special Event Clearways, this might assist your query. In the City of Sydney area, Special Event Clearways have to be authorised by the City of Sydney Traffic Committee which consists of Police, RTA, Council and Local MP. Such Clearways also have to have adequate signage, I find it odd you did not see any. Anyway this is my response.

 

Of course these days it is not RTA- Roads & Traffic Authority but RMS - Roads and Maritime Services - new name, same players.

 

I plead not guilty to what occurred to you in 2010 as I retired in 2003 as the City Traffic Commander - NSWP get it?

 

Cheers mate, merry Xmas, have a good one.