Brisbane container port

[amandawalker1]

Hi

We are on Sun Princess next month and it seems it docks at Brisbane container port, not Dockside. Does anyone know how to obtain a Hire car from there or a company that will bring one to us for the day????

[rkmw]

Hi

We are on Sun Princess next month and it seems it docks at Brisbane container port, not Dockside. Does anyone know how to obtain a Hire car from there or a company that will bring one to us for the day????

 

you might have to get the shuttle into Brisbane and get the hire car from there and drop it off back in Brisbane, never caught the shuttle from there but i believe it takes about 45 minutes one way

[jfadra]

you might have to get the shuttle into Brisbane and get the hire car from there and drop it off back in Brisbane, never caught the shuttle from there but i believe it takes about 45 minutes one way

 

There are no Hire Cars there only Taxis. Last month my Son caught a Taxi to the Airport where he had arranged to pick up a Hire Car. The Taxi was $30 each way. We all went down to Dreamworld for a few hours....we met our family who lives in Queensland. You will need to allow time to drop back the car and then Taxi it back to the ship. This is quite an out of the way place. It took 40 mins to get to Dreamworld.

[amandawalker1]

Thanks for the advice, we were at that port last year and got a shuttle to Brisbane . but this time we want to drive up to Sunshine coast and it seems the best way is to get a car. Seems silly the hire cars don't deliver.

Did you book the Taxi or just find one?

[goodycruising]

I would check with the hire car company. You might find if they will bring a car to the port then the fee might be quite high, or it might save you time and money on the alternatives. Worth a few phone calls.

 

I would imagine that eventually a company will realise this is a good opportunity and set up a few cars for people at the terminal. There must be ships there from all companies on a pretty regular basis now?

 

Taxis cost around $60 one way to the city apparently, but we were quoted a bit more by a taxi at the terminal???? We wanted to go to North Brisbane suburbia and that was going to be about $100!!! Not sure what the actual cost would be, but traffic conditions, particularly on returning in the evening, could add quite a bit. We ended up doing the shuttle and taxi from the city and the taxi trip was over $40 for us from the city to our relatives house one way. Add the return trip on the shuttle bus to central Brisbane at $24 each (Royal Caribbean recently) and our trip costs for the day were pretty high.

 

So a family of four particularly would get good value if a company charged $100 odd for a car. We recently paid $115 recently in Hobart for a Commodore station wagon for the day (that did not include insurance excess reduction fee, as we had travel insurance already). If we had done homework and pre-booked we would have done better I presume. It is easier in Hobart as it is a short walk to several hire places.

 

We will be checking out if the hire cars will come to the port and what the costs would be next time we get to Brisbane. The terminal is certainly a long way out.

[Gold Coast Cruisers]

Is there a clase of ships in port on the day? Because Sun Princess is usually docked at Portside. Maybe check online by googling brisbane shipping schedule just to double check.

 

Jill:)

[rkmw]

Is there a clase of ships in port on the day? Because Sun Princess is usually docked at Portside. Maybe check online by googling brisbane shipping schedule just to double check.

 

Jill:)

 

the Pacific Dawn is at portside so the Sun Princess is at the grain terminal

[jfadra]

Thanks for the advice, we were at that port last year and got a shuttle to Brisbane . but this time we want to drive up to Sunshine coast and it seems the best way is to get a car. Seems silly the hire cars don't deliver.

Did you book the Taxi or just find one?

 

We did not book the Taxi as my son had no trouble getting off the ship once it had docked. He then came back to the ship for the rest of us...8 in all.

We had booked a Carnival car to carry 8... through his work $100 for the day which was a good price.

All of the bigger ships have to dock here.

[The_Big_M]

There are no Hire Cars there only Taxis. Last month my Son caught a Taxi to the Airport where he had arranged to pick up a Hire Car. The Taxi was $30 each way. .

 

Was that price split?

 

The normal taxi fare to the airport is more like $60.

[The_Big_M]

Hi

We are on Sun Princess next month and it seems it docks at Brisbane container port, not Dockside. Does anyone know how to obtain a Hire car from there or a company that will bring one to us for the day????

 

I was looking into this for my recent trip there. Couldn't get any to drop off, and the cost and time of multiple journeys made it not really cost effective against using the shuttle... even though it should be.

 

If you're booking for 8, the savings would stack up though.

[The_Big_M]

Did you book the Taxi or just find one?

 

As long as you're getting off in the morning, you're better off just getting one at the terminal. There's a good supply then, although there can be a bit of a queue (10-15 min).

 

If you book there's another surcharge on top, and it's a fairly tight space for trying to meet up so you'd probably have more stress trying to find your taxi and wondering if/when he's arrived.

[30thbirthdaygirls]

You could hire a car for the day that may be more cost effective and you can get around more freely. I'm from Brisbane Gold Coast area and would recommend you try smaller car hire companies as they are more affordable and are more likely to meet you. We have used East coast car hire many times for our friends and family that visit, definitely worth sending them an email and asking if they could accommodate your needs.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[Kiwi Kruzer]

There are no Hire Cars there only Taxis. Last month my Son caught a Taxi to the Airport where he had arranged to pick up a Hire Car. The Taxi was $30 each way. We all went down to Dreamworld for a few hours....we met our family who lives in Queensland. You will need to allow time to drop back the car and then Taxi it back to the ship. This is quite an out of the way place. It took 40 mins to get to Dreamworld.

 

If the taxi fare was only $30 , the port cant be that far out. We were charged that from Portside to the Airport.

[Flipper133]

Seems obvious that pax seeking to do their own arrangements other than going to the CBD, will generally have no alternative than to catch a taxi....the question then is where to.

 

If you only want to go to the CBD, then Taxi fare Calculator ( http://www.taxifare.com.au/ ) says 25klm...25 minutes and $55.

 

If you want to hire a car, then it might depend on your choice of car hire places, and where you intend to drive to.

 

Examples are:

 

ABEL Car hire @ Carina (closest to Grain Terminal) is 18klm/20 minutes and $43. This would be best if plans are to head south (Although read their "fine print" carefully.)

 

AVIS/Budget & Others at Fortitude Valley (nth end of CBD) is 23klm/23minutes and $52

 

Budget has a depot at Hamilton (near the Portside Cruise terminal) which 19klm/18 minutes and $43. This could be best if plans are to head north.

 

Probably worth booking a cab for the return trip to the wharf.

 

cheers

[amandawalker1]

Thank you so much, that is really helpful. Nothing like local knowledge!!!!

 

I shall get emailing now.

 

The excursions on Sun Princess are very limited only three in Brisbane showing, Australia Zoo, CBD and XXX brewery tours.

 

Plan to go North as have done the shuttle into Brisbane twice now and theres not too much to see that needs seeing again in CBD. Have done Gold Coast a few times to, so thought Bribie Island and a bit further up might be interesting.

[The_Big_M]

If the taxi fare was only $30 , the port cant be that far out. We were charged that from Portside to the Airport.

 

As said above, the standard price is about $60 from the port to the airport.

[Flipper133]

Thank you so much, that is really helpful. Nothing like local knowledge!!!!

 

I shall get emailing now.

 

The excursions on Sun Princess are very limited only three in Brisbane showing, Australia Zoo, CBD and XXX brewery tours.

 

Plan to go North as have done the shuttle into Brisbane twice now and theres not too much to see that needs seeing again in CBD. Have done Gold Coast a few times to, so thought Bribie Island and a bit further up might be interesting.

 

Hi Amanda (I tracked down that you are a Kiwi)

 

Strange that there are only limited ship's excursions for The SP for your cruise. A couple of years ago we were on SP (and docked at the Grain Pier) and we had lots of options...as we are locals we chose the one that went to Sirromet Winery:p. BTW its XXXX (not XXX) ...its how we spell Beer in Brisbane.

 

Hiring a car seems good option, as is the plan to head north. Not so sure about Bribey however...but if you haven't been before well why not. You should have time to see some of the Sunshine coast, and if I may, I would also suggest that you swing through the Blackall Range and see places like Montville and Maleny.

 

I note that your cruise visits Briz Vegas on a Saturday, so generally the roads should be quieter, although the run up north will be a bit busier. Road is good (now) but watch your speed...plenty of "enforcement" between Bne and the Sunny Coast.:eek:

 

Cheers

[amandawalker1]

Correct on all counts...

 

xxxx - always wondered what that stood for - can't edit it so my stupidity will remain.

 

Maybe there will be more options on the actual boat. I am looking at the cruise booking site where you add your preferences etc. Cruise personaliser.

 

Looking up your suggestions....

[amandawalker1]

Maleny to Montville Looks perfect - Thanks again for being so helpful

[Einreb61]

We were at the grain port in October on our trip on The Voyager from Singapore to Sydney. My head office for work is in Brisbane and we have done all the touristy things so were more than happy to stay Onboard for the day. We met a fellow passenger who had sent emails to every car hire company whilst we were in Darwin a couple of days earlier trying to organise someone to bring a car to the port, no one would do it. On the morning we arrived in Brisbane he then rang them all and pleaded and begged and was told bad luck it wasn't on their pick up and drop off points. He was told to catch the shuttle into town or a taxi to the airport and pick a car up there and then drop it back to either/or at the end of the day. He was extremely frustrated and in the end spat the dummy and decided to keep his money in his pocket/bank and ended up staying Onboard. He was writing an email to Brisbane council, Brisbane Tourism and RCI to see if they could collaborate in getting something sorted. I don't know where his emails ended up. A number of passengers coming back weren't impressed with the shuttle buses as apparently at the end of day the queues to get became massive.

On an aside, we had the best day as that was the day we wandered the ship and took all our pics of the ship when no one was around :)

[Gnomey]

We were collected by my Sister last year from the grain terminal and spent a lovely day with her family. When we saw her again at Christmas she told us they were slugged $29.00 toll for accessing the port. We didn't see any toll signage anywhere but that was what they paid for two trips to the ship. Not an impressive effort by Brisbane at all, but something to be aware of if driving to the ship.

Steve.

[30thbirthdaygirls]

It is cashless toll on the gateway bridge which you get slugged for the e toll, you have 3 days to pay online or hire cars should have a gadget attached to the car best to ask them when doing the paperwork. it should cost around $4 to go over one way. The inner city bypass is $3 or so. Interstate people get caught out a lot then cop a fine later as they don't sign it enough.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[bronte2]

I hope you are successful in hiring a car for your stay in Brisbane.

 

Just a word of caution re heading to the Sunshine Coast. As you will be here on a weekend, if it's a nice day there will be a lot of weekend traffic heading to the beaches on the Sunshine Coast. We drive to and from Brisbane most weeks, sometimes on weekdays and sometimes on Saturday morning. I've noticed that on Saturday morning the north bound traffic has been very heavy but obviously this could change week by week.

 

Also the road up the Blackall Ranges to Maleny is a lot busier at weekends and there are roadworks just outside Maleny which has reduced the road to one lane. This means that there are delays as the uphill traffic alternates with the downhill traffic. The delays aren't significant but you just need to factor this in to your journey.

 

I don't want to put a dampener on your trip, but just let you know, so you can consider your schedule. If you do venture to Maleny and Montville make sure you drive along Mountainview Rd and take in the lovely views of the Glass House Mountains. Other wonderful views can be had from the lookout on the Maleny-Montville Rd.

I hope you enjoy your day.

[Cruise_me_Crazy]

Have you thought about a day trip to Wivenhoe Dam. Swimming, great cafe (cormeret bay cafe :)) and some lovely little country markets at fernvale! I also love the hinterlands between godly & Bris. The English pub, fox & hound(?) & various wineries & tea rooms is also an easy destination!