Wollongong Gets It First Cruise where Passengers will Embarkation

[Emoliash]

After years of lobbying it appears that Wollongong have got their first cruise ship where embarkation will occur! Newcastle will be jealous.

 

It is the Norwegian Jewel in 2021. I wonder if people will be prefer to not have to travel to Sydney to get their holiday underway. It is certainly beneficial for regional people. https://www.illawarramercury.com.au/story/6382038/the-first-cruise-ship-to-embark-from-wollongong-announced/

[sewgood]

Exciting news, glad to see regional NSW getting in on the action.

I am curious about the unexpected vist in 2017 mentioned in the article.

Thanks for letting us know about this developement especially for those of us who live in Southern NSW.

[MicCanberra]

I think it is a good thing also, will take some pressure of the Sydney cruise terminal.

[Emoliash]

5 hours ago, sewgood said:

Exciting news, glad to see regional NSW getting in on the action.

I am curious about the unexpected vist in 2017 mentioned in the article.

Thanks for letting us know about this developement especially for those of us who live in Southern NSW.

I think mechanical difficulties meant they had to add Port Kembla in as a port https://www.cruisecritic.com.au/news/news.cfm?ID=7495

[gbenjo]

Looks as though NCL did not have much choice as there is a ship in every day for about a week either side of the 13th Jan 2021 so if I guess it was a case of having to find somewhere  to embark rather than them wanting to go to the Gong.

Spare a thought also for the poor  check in staff ( mostly from Sydney) who will have to get down there by 6am  for the debark.  It's hard enough getting to the OPT by then. 😡😡

[MicCanberra]

Do you guys do NCL as well?

[Emoliash]

Sydney does need another cruise port ASAP.  As most international or interstate travellers will want to sail from there. When is the Government going to make a decision on this?Though if I was a regular cruiser living to the south or south west of Sydney I would probably welcome the option of driving and parking in Wollongong. 

 

[MicCanberra]

28 minutes ago, Emoliash said:

Sydney does need another cruise port ASAP.  As most international or interstate travellers will want to sail from there. When is the Government going to make a decision on this?Though if I was a regular cruiser living to the south or south west of Sydney I would probably welcome the option of driving and parking in Wollongong. 

 

The Government (state or federal)  will likely never make a decision until there is money in it for them directly.

[NSWP]

I lived and worked in Wollongong, 72-76.  I always thought of it as a dump, but in recent years it has been spruced up a bit.  But a shocker of a cruise ship stop - Port Kembla Steel Works area.😮

Edited September 13, 2019 by NSWP

[MicCanberra]

Close enough to Sydney for embarkation, and really handy for South Coaster's and Southern Tablelander's. As for what to do in the area, there are the beaches, Kangaroo valley, Bowral, tree top walk are all handy. Now the port area itself, I haven't seen but compared to some other major ports it couldn't be too much worse.

[NSWP]

14 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

Close enough to Sydney for embarkation, and really handy for South Coaster's and Southern Tablelander's. As for what to do in the area, there are the beaches, Kangaroo valley, Bowral, tree top walk are all handy. Now the port area itself, I haven't seen but compared to some other major ports it couldn't be too much worse.

Very industrial area Mic, filthy smoke belching out of ye olde steelworks.   A visit to Kiama Blowhole, or Berry or the Sea Cliff Bridge would also be on from the 'Gong.  Perhaps even up to Robertson pie shop, that would be a treat.😁

[MicCanberra]

The pies would make it worth it I suppose.

[gbenjo]

15 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

Do you guys do NCL as well?

 Yes we do, hence my comment , if it were the other mob I would not care😂😂

[MicCanberra]

LOL, I thought so..

[lyndarra]

There's an excellent display of vintage aircraft here.

 

https://hars.org.au/

[The_Big_M]

15 hours ago, Emoliash said:

Sydney does need another cruise port ASAP.  As most international or interstate travellers will want to sail from there. When is the Government going to make a decision on this?Though if I was a regular cruiser living to the south or south west of Sydney I would probably welcome the option of driving and parking in Wollongong. 

 

To be fair they did make a call about a new port in Botany Bay, but that's being held up with disputes...

[ilikeanswers]

On 9/13/2019 at 10:43 PM, gbenjo said:

Spare a thought also for the poor  check in staff ( mostly from Sydney) who will have to get down there by 6am  for the debark.  It's hard enough getting to the OPT by then. 😡😡

 

Can't they source staff from the Wollongong area?

[MicCanberra]

They possibly could do that and probably would have to do it as if there is a ship in at Sydney and at Port Kembla, they would need double the staff. Training up another hundred or so staff would be time consuming and costly and not very efficient for the first few embarkations and such. Much easier to get the people who are already trained and want the work there for the day to do it and supplement those with the trainees from the area, until they are sufficiently capable.

[gbenjo]

6 hours ago, ilikeanswers said:

 

Can't they source staff from the Wollongong area?

They could......if it were to be a regular happening , but  this looks to me to be a one off, perhaps  a test for the future, but realistically (and practically) Wolllongong would not really work as an ongoing embarking port.
We have enough staff to turn two ships in the same day ( we do so already when needed) but it would be the long distance to get there for most that would be the hassle.

Edited September 14, 2019 by gbenjo

[Emoliash]

13 hours ago, The_Big_M said:

To be fair they did make a call about a new port in Botany Bay, but that's being held up with disputes...

Disputes or politics?

[MicCanberra]

I believe the local council is against the extra traffic and such.

[gbenjo]

I believe another terminal anywhere except Sydney Harbour is self defeating as the biggest draw card  is the Harbour itself and the sail out or in  that goes with it.

[The_Big_M]

Lots of cities have ports outside the city centre, including many growing rapidly, as well as older ones.

 

Sure, it's nice to have but just like the airport location, it doesn't stop people coming and going.

[MicCanberra]

8 hours ago, gbenjo said:

I believe another terminal anywhere except Sydney Harbour is self defeating as the biggest draw card  is the Harbour itself and the sail out or in  that goes with it.

I agree that the harbour is the draw card but if more ships want to come, they have to go somewhere and Sydney cannot handle it at the moment. I suppose they could embark at PK or elsewhere, and then sail in and out for a few hours, would still be costly and disappointing  as it wouldn't be as good but better than nothing.

[Docker123]

 

I guess if a ship sails out of Wollongong, it should have Aunty Jack as the godmother.

 

Edited September 16, 2019 by Docker123