? re White Bay

[Vader1111]

Will all cruise ships leave from this new terminal?

 

Am sailing Radiance of the Seas in Nov, booked hotel near Circular Quay to be handy and watch ship come in. Now I'm thinking perhaps I made a boo boo.

You won't have a problem unless Royal Caribbean magically discover a way of knocking a couple of decks off the top of the ship, allowing her to fit under the Harbour Bridge.

 

White Elephant Bay will remain just that - usable only by the ever decreasing number of ships able to fit under the Coathanger.

[cassamanda]

Will all cruise ships leave from this new terminal?

 

Am sailing Radiance of the Seas in Nov, booked hotel near Circular Quay to be handy and watch ship come in. Now I'm thinking perhaps I made a boo boo.

 

Only ships that fit under the bridge. White Bay just replaces Barrangaroo in effectively the same bay.

[Dawn1004]

Phew.

 

Wasn't aware that only those who couldn't fit under would be using the new terminal. Good to know.

 

Thank you and happy cruising. :)

[By The Bay]

4,800 passengers on each ship? Really:rolleyes:. With another ship at OPT, there just ain't enough taxis in Sydney. There will also be shuttle buses available as per the existing Barrangaroo arrangements.

 

There is room for two ships at White Elephant. Also if you count departing and arriving passengers and crew, 4800 might be in the ball park. I have spoken to P&O and they have no plans to provide shuttle buses to CBD. They will have shuttles to the Airport terminals.

[By The Bay]

I wonder what the queueing/holding facilities are like for cabs there?

 

There will be overflow taxi parking for 30 taxis and 7 bays for drop off/pickup.

[cruise love]

There is room for two ships at White Elephant. Also if you count departing and arriving passengers and crew, 4800 might be in the ball park. I have spoken to P&O and they have no plans to provide shuttle buses to CBD. They will have shuttles to the Airport terminals.

 

I will be visiting the new terminal nest week I will let you know how it is

 

I think they will need to have shuttles to the CBD

 

cruise love

[cassamanda]

Just to confirm - there will definitely be mini bus and coach pickup/set-down areas with additional coach parking. I will be driving one of the coach pick ups on Monday morning for a city tour etc

[cassamanda]

Here is a pdf of the bus arrangements at white bay

http://www.sydneyports.com.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/28655/Coach_Mini-Bus_Routes_Within_the_White_Bay_Cruise_Termianal.pdf

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Pacifc Pearl has just docked there today ..

 

[cassamanda]

Here are some pics of the new terminal taken this morning. The debarking seemed to be going fairly well. Plenty of room for big buses but not enough for the minibuses and limo's. Taxis were in abundance and are on the other side of the terminal as you look at the photo.

No parking for cars, just drop and go. The cars you see are for staff. Some people even walked from the Roberts Rd gates almost a mile from the ship.

 

Entrance into terminal. Bag drop is outside to the right out of frame.

 

 

The gangway leads to the upper deck of the terminal then you go down the escalator/lifts to the checkout areas.

 

 

[The_Big_M]

Heh, and I thought those metal girders were the framework!

 

Didn't realise they'd gone for the modern industrial look. More permanent than the previous terminals though!

[cassamanda]

Heh, and I thought those metal girders were the framework!

 

Didn't realise they'd gone for the modern industrial look. More permanent than the previous terminals though!

Yeah, very arty;). Supposed to blend in with the background sandstone cliffs. When you go inside through the glass doors, the check-in counters are right in front of you just like at the airport. There is a small cafe in the right corner. There is seating for about 200 people.

[CroNich]

If oosterdam can fit under the bridget surely the Rhapsody and maybe even the Radiance wouldnt have problems squeezing under there, this could free up more space at the OPT in the summer months for larger ships

[gbenjo]

If oosterdam can fit under the bridget surely the Rhapsody and maybe even the Radiance wouldnt have problems squeezing under there, this could free up more space at the OPT in the summer months for larger ships

 

 

Not unless they can drop the water level ( or raise the deck of the bridge ) by four or five metres. RCI would love to be able to use White Elephant Bay if they could because the facilities are so much better than the OPT ( disregarding the location)

[mr walker]

The TV news (Ch9 Sydney) had a story on the new terminal last night which showed it in a good light. Still, for me, if I was to visit Sydney on a cruise ship, I would expect/hope to be berthed at a place where I could see the Opera House etc. It would be a bit of a letdown to be at White Bay.

 

gbenjo - guess the bigger ships will have to wait for the next ice-age to be able to go under the bridge :) Our forefathers back in the 1920's should have had greater foresight and built the bridge a bit higher :D

[Sutho]

Oosterdam can "just" fit under the bridge. All the measurements said it would not, ships like Arcadia a clone will not, but apparantly Oosterdam has a shorter funnel. Its only the P&O Australia ships and the Princess ones that are based here that will fit under. Royal Caribbean and Carnival ships that come here are too big. For what cruise lines want the Navy base is not even big enough for a terminal. Most of the buildings on Garden Island would have to be destroyed to build a terminal there and then the wharf is not straight enough either to dock large ship in the area where a terminal could be built.

 

White elephant bay will not last long. It will be a proven waste of money the last curse of the labor government we booted from office a few years ago.

 

If anyone has flown into Sydney recently and has seen Botany Bay, the port there is being enlarged. Go to google earth and hit the timeline button and go to the most recent imagery. You will see that they are building up new wharfs large enough to berth the largest ships in the world. If Sydney gets too small to host cruise ships the only option would be to share or lease a space at Botany Bay.

[gbenjo]

Noted on Chanel 7 news last night they said that now White Bay was "finished" ( sorry....completed:D) Sydney Ports would turn their attention to the multi million dollar "refurb" of the OPT........ We can only hope

[MMDown Under]

 

If anyone has flown into Sydney recently and has seen Botany Bay, the port there is being enlarged. Go to google earth and hit the timeline button and go to the most recent imagery. You will see that they are building up new wharfs large enough to berth the largest ships in the world. If Sydney gets too small to host cruise ships the only option would be to share or lease a space at Botany Bay.

 

Guess you have heard that the NSW Government has privatalised Botany Bay Port on a 99 year lease.

 

A good deal of the movie received will by spent by the NSW Govt on improving roadworks to the port, etc.

[cme2c]

Wonder why they call it White bay when the ships dock in Johnstons bay? Thanks for the photos, cassamanda, they are great and show the minibus problem. I still don't know how I'm going to get 4 people and their luggage there in May, but I'm sure I'll figure it out.

[cassamanda]

Noted on Chanel 7 news last night they said that now White Bay was "finished" ( sorry....completed:D) Sydney Ports would turn their attention to the multi million dollar "refurb" of the OPT........ We can only hope

Here is the text of the news report on 7.

 

"Nearly 2000 passengers have trialled Sydney's newest cruise ship port after disembarking the Pacific Pearl at White Bay.

The 63,000 tonne P&O ship berthed at 7am (AEDT) at the $57 million terminal.

NSW Roads and Ports Minister Duncan Gay said the arrival was a milestone.

"We are just coming to the close of what has been another record Sydney cruise season with 265 ship visits and we have already taken more than 280 bookings for next season.

"Given the unprecedented growth in cruising, this new terminal is very timely indeed," he said.

The public will have pedestrian and cycling access to the waterfront adjacent to the terminal when there are no ship activities.

Mr Gay said the state government will now focus on an upgrade of the Overseas Passenger Terminal."

[cassamanda]

Wonder why they call it White bay when the ships dock in Johnstons bay? Thanks for the photos, cassamanda, they are great and show the minibus problem. I still don't know how I'm going to get 4 people and their luggage there in May, but I'm sure I'll figure it out.

There were several airport shuttle buses coming and going as well as taxis and maxi cabs.

The staff car park could be better utilised for shuttle buses, with staff parking made available "out the back" behind the terminal.

[gbenjo]

Wonder why they call it White bay when the ships dock in Johnstons bay? Thanks for the photos, cassamanda, they are great and show the minibus problem. I still don't know how I'm going to get 4 people and their luggage there in May, but I'm sure I'll figure it out.

 

Maybe they thought if they build the terminal in Johnston,s Bay it would be all WHITE :D:D

[gbenjo]

Wonder why they call it White bay when the ships dock in Johnstons bay? Thanks for the photos, cassamanda, they are great and show the minibus problem. I still don't know how I'm going to get 4 people and their luggage there in May, but I'm sure I'll figure it out.

 

If you look at DIY Daves second photo in post #3 of this thread ( I don't know how to copy it to this reply:o ) Johnstons Bay is actually on right hand side of the "triangle" of land in the photo and the terminal can be seen on the left hand side.. White Bay ( don't know how they actually define the borders of each)

[cassamanda]

Some people might be interested in the history of White Bay. Here is a link to an entry in the Dictionary of Sydney

http://www.dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/white_bay

[tillydog]

Does anyone know if the new terminal has an Observation Deck?