Does Princess have a free shuttle from Port into Brisbane and back?

[lissie]

1 hour ago, arxcards said:

Sorry to put a fork in your nightie - that is the now defunct Portside cruise terminal, which is all but dismantled. From that spot, it was even easier to walk a few hundred metres and catch a cat up the river to the city.

 

The new terminal is out in the boondocks, and there is no 20 minute bus  interval there

Oh I see - that's odd - I assumed that was the new one as in 2020 we ported near Port Lytton- miles from the city!  There is still a bus but takes forever like 1.5 hours - I'd be ubering it.  At least the new one is near the airport 

[cruiser3775]

20 minutes ago, lissie said:

At least the new one is near the airport 

Sorry to tell you Lissie, but it only looks nearby.  To get to the passenger terminals, you have to do a long U shaped drive around three sides of the airport. It's actually about 13 kms away.

[OzKiwiJJ]

37 minutes ago, lissie said:

Oh I see - that's odd - I assumed that was the new one as in 2020 we ported near Port Lytton- miles from the city!  There is still a bus but takes forever like 1.5 hours - I'd be ubering it.  At least the new one is near the airport 

They had to build the new Brisbane International Cruise Terminal (BICT) right out at the mouth of the river as:

a) the bigger ships can't get under the Gateway Bridge to the old terminal.

b) the big ships need a wider turning space which is why they used to dock at a temporary terminal at the Grain Terminal on Fishermans Island but that was a working dock so was not an ideal stopping place. Shuttles ran from there but weren't free. The one time I stopped there, in 2016, it was US$25 return on a USD onboard currency cruise.

 

This is where the new terminal is:

 

Edited April 12, 2023 by OzKiwiJJ

[arxcards]

42 minutes ago, lissie said:

Oh I see - that's odd - I assumed that was the new one as in 2020 we ported near Port Lytton- miles from the city!  There is still a bus but takes forever like 1.5 hours - I'd be ubering it.  At least the new one is near the airport 

That one dates back to the days when the ships were a tad smaller, and as Julie mentioned, there was a length restriction in the turning basin. Sun/Dawn/Sea Princess were the longest ships that could turn there.

 

Google maps is great for a lot of things, but they don't get rid of old wood, not in Oz at least. Portside cruise terminal has been officially closed for two years, yet it still has a place marker. The same applies for businesses that have closed. 

[cruiser3775]

And this is the route  to the airport - it is actually 15 kms to the domestic terminal. Pity you can't just drive across the runways!

https://www.google.com.au/maps/dir/Brisbane+International+Cruise+Terminal+-+BICT,+1+Cruise+Terminal+Dr,+Pinkenba+QLD+4008/Brisbane+Airport+(BNE),+Airport+Dr,+Brisbane+Airport+QLD+4008/Brisbane+Airport+(BNE),+Domestic+Terminal,+Bribie+Way,+Brisbane+Airport+QLD/@-27.4017316,153.0858984,13z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m20!4m19!1m5!1m1!1s0x6b93e1443f384133:0x7d95aec9aca010fd!2m2!1d153.153504!2d-27.3820211!1m5!1m1!1s0x6b93e1ff43d19a6f:0xf02a35bd7207010!2m2!1d153.1218303!2d-27.3942144!1m5!1m1!1s0x6b93e1f00147ce73:0x6588306c2f672d2f!2m2!1d153.1203145!2d-27.3851757!3e0?hl=en

[NSWP]

1 hour ago, arxcards said:

I don't think it works that simply. Places like Burnie & Newcastle put on free shuttles because the wharf is inside a secure zone. I have watched for years while volunteering for the port in Newcastle - half of the passengers don't even get off the bus, and just use it for a free sightseeing lap and get back on the ship. Getting passengers to part with money works most effectively when you can get them to attractions such as Australia Zoo, so they aren't likely to put on free transport in competition to those tourist traps.

Good points, but if the local authorities won't provide them, then the cruise lines lines should build the shuttle cost into the fare of everybody.    'Fair enough?'

 

When I was in Honolulu the Walmart buses were rolling up to the ships taking pax into Walmart, but as you say young Geoffrey, many just wanted the free lift into town, lol.

[colourbird]

One solution would be for Brisbane Council to add an additional Rivercat stop after the Northshore Hamilton stop, specifically to use on cruise ship days, and operate ferry services directly to the cruise terminal. By  extending the Rivercat service, Brisbane Council can improve the  experience for cruise passengers and establish the city as a welcoming and tourist-friendly destination, rather than leave thousands of us on the outskirts of the city.

[arxcards]

37 minutes ago, NSWP said:

Good points, but if the local authorities won't provide them, then the cruise lines lines should build the shuttle cost into the fare of everybody.    'Fair enough?'

 

When I was in Honolulu the Walmart buses were rolling up to the ships taking pax into Walmart, but as you say young Geoffrey, many just wanted the free lift into town, lol.

Lots of good PR and goodwill for a city to throw out a welcome mat, visitor maps, a town crier, a pipe band, free shuttles & volunteer guides. A large majority of passengers do not spend money in Aussie ports beyond a decent coffee or a drink, so governments would rather have passengers doing tours (ship or independent) to places that are very good at capturing tourist dollars.

[OzKiwiJJ]

40 minutes ago, NSWP said:

Good points, but if the local authorities won't provide them, then the cruise lines lines should build the shuttle cost into the fare of everybody.    'Fair enough?'

 

 

Why should I pay for a shuttle service I may not want? I'd prefer to be able to choose whether I want to pay to go into Brisbane on a port visit there. It's not like I've never been there before. Sometimes we enjoy going into the city but other times we might just want to stay on the ship, especially if the weather isn't the greatest.

 

Many ports around the world are a fair distance away from the towns and cities they service. Some provide free shuttles out of the port if it is a working port but those shuttles may not necessarily go to the city centre on the cruise line itinerary.

 

At Lyttelton the free shuttle only goes to the Lyttelton township - you pay for a shuttle into Christchurch.

 

At Civitavecchia (for Rome) the shuttle takes you to the port gates where you can walk into the town of Civitavecchia but it's an expensive excursion into Rome itself.

 

Broome provides free shuttles into town but Darwin charges for a shuttle up the hill however you can walk there.

 

I'm not sure what Sydney's White Bay offers these days. In Melbourne you need a Myki card to use the shuttle from the terminal. 

[OzKiwiJJ]

17 minutes ago, colourbird said:

One solution would be for Brisbane Council to add an additional Rivercat stop after the Northshore Hamilton stop, specifically to use on cruise ship days, and operate ferry services directly to the cruise terminal. By  extending the Rivercat service, Brisbane Council can improve the  experience for cruise passengers and establish the city as a welcoming and tourist-friendly destination, rather than leave thousands of us on the outskirts of the city.

I think the issue is that the BICT is a considerable distance down river from the current last stop. I'm not sure how much more time it would add to the ferry journey and whether it would be cost effective. It certainly would be my choice of transportation on a nice day. We did it a couple of times when we were on cruises that stopped at Portside and it was lovely.

[Aus Traveller]

28 minutes ago, colourbird said:

One solution would be for Brisbane Council to add an additional Rivercat stop after the Northshore Hamilton stop, specifically to use on cruise ship days, and operate ferry services directly to the cruise terminal. By  extending the Rivercat service, Brisbane Council can improve the  experience for cruise passengers and establish the city as a welcoming and tourist-friendly destination, rather than leave thousands of us on the outskirts of the city.

The new BICT is a long, long way down the river from the last CityCat stop at Hamilton. It used to take cruiseships an hour to reach the mouth of the river after they left Portside. A CityCat would travel faster, but even if it took 30 minutes, that would mean it would take well over an hour for a non-stop ferry trip to the CBD. In addition, an new jetty would have to be built. None of this would be cost-effective. The CityCat would have passengers going towards the city in the morning but no return traffic until a bit later in the day. Likewise, in the afternoon there would be passengers going from the CBD, but none returning. I cannot see this happening because it would be very expensive for the city.

 

It would make more sense to have shuttle buses. I have an idea that the shuttle buses that used to operate to the Grain Terminal on the other side of the river were privately owned.

[colourbird]

8 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I think the issue is that the BICT is a considerable distance down river from the current last stop. I'm not sure how much more time it would add to the ferry journey and whether it would be cost effective. It certainly would be my choice of transportation on a nice day. We did it a couple of times when we were on cruises that stopped at Portside and it was lovely.

We actually went on the Rivercat from North Quay to Northshore Hamilton on our recent visit and just walked around Ascot and back to Brett's Wharf for the return trip to the city before catching our bus back to the ship.

[colourbird]

20 minutes ago, arxcards said:

Lots of good PR and goodwill for a city to throw out a welcome mat, visitor maps, a town crier, a pipe band, free shuttles & volunteer guides. A large majority of passengers do not spend money in Aussie ports beyond a decent coffee or a drink, so governments would rather have passengers doing tours (ship or independent) to places that are very good at capturing tourist dollars.

When we were there a couple of weeks ago Princess didn't supply any maps and they didn't have anyone at Ann Street to assist anyone needing directions. There were no greeters either.

 

Luckily for around a dozen elderly passengers who couldn't work out how to get to the information centre or the river, my wife and I are regular visitors to Brisbane and were able to take them to North Quay ferry terminal via the information centre.

 

You'd think Princess could have had one or two crew members at Ann Street for the duration.

[Aus Traveller]

17 minutes ago, colourbird said:

When we were there a couple of weeks ago Princess didn't supply any maps and they didn't have anyone at Ann Street to assist anyone needing directions. There were no greeters either.

 

Luckily for around a dozen elderly passengers who couldn't work out how to get to the information centre or the river, my wife and I are regular visitors to Brisbane and were able to take them to North Quay ferry terminal via the information centre.

 

You'd think Princess could have had one or two crew members at Ann Street for the duration.

I haven't ever seen ship's staff acting as greeters or helping with directions. However, in many towns and cities I have seen volunteers in that role. Maybe the difference is the size of the city. For example, there weren't any greeters or people helping with directions in Sydney, other than volunteers near the ferries in Circular Quay and they weren't weren't there because of the ship. There weren't any at Hobart recently either. This is in contrast to smaller towns/cities like Eden and Burnie where the volunteers do a brilliant job.

 

Another point to consider is the legality of ship's staff working ashore. On a cruise several years ago, the captain apologised for the delay in loading luggage and said that his crew could not work ashore. I will mention that the check-in staff and shore-based security are all local people working for a company who contracts to provide this service. The only member of the ship's crew I have ever seen working ashore is someone from the crew office who is the point of contact for arriving crew.

 

P.S. Local volunteers are much better as greeters or helping with directions because they are familiar with the city. I wouldn't expect the ship's crew to be very knowledgeable about the city.

Edited April 12, 2023 by Aus Traveller

[colourbird]

50 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I think the issue is that the BICT is a considerable distance down river from the current last stop. I'm not sure how much more time it would add to the ferry journey and whether it would be cost effective. It certainly would be my choice of transportation on a nice day. We did it a couple of times when we were on cruises that stopped at Portside and it was lovely.

The wharf would be around 15 minutes away from Hamilton. The main benefit would be for cruise passengers being able to catch the ferry into the city and back to the ship instead of having to catch the bus into the city and then a ferry up or down river and return to catch the bus back to the ship.

[NSWP]

1 hour ago, arxcards said:

Lots of good PR and goodwill for a city to throw out a welcome mat, visitor maps, a town crier, a pipe band, free shuttles & volunteer guides. A large majority of passengers do not spend money in Aussie ports beyond a decent coffee or a drink, so governments would rather have passengers doing tours (ship or independent) to places that are very good at capturing tourist dollars.

Yep, Town Crier and guides at Eden for the ships.

Edited April 12, 2023 by NSWP

[Aus Traveller]

1 hour ago, colourbird said:

The wharf would be around 15 minutes away from Hamilton. The main benefit would be for cruise passengers being able to catch the ferry into the city and back to the ship instead of having to catch the bus into the city and then a ferry up or down river and return to catch the bus back to the ship.

I don't believe the CityCat could travel from Hamilton to the BICT in 15 minutes. As I mentioned, it used to take cruise ships a full hour so my guess would be 30 minutes for a ferry. Don't assume that all visitors want to go on the CityCat. I agree it is a lovely trip but the lower section of the river isn't very scenic.

 

The main drawback would be the cost to the City Council. I don't believe there is any way they would go for it, particularly when they have just spent a fortune on repairing flood damage to jetties and infrastructure.

[OzKiwiJJ]

10 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

I don't believe the CityCat could travel from Hamilton to the BICT in 15 minutes. As I mentioned, it used to take cruise ships a full hour so my guess would be 30 minutes for a ferry. Don't assume that all visitors want to go on the CityCat. I agree it is a lovely trip but the lower section of the river isn't very scenic.

 

The main drawback would be the cost to the City Council. I don't believe there is any way they would go for it, particularly when they have just spent a fortune on repairing flood damage to jetties and infrastructure.

I think it would take longer than 15 minutes too. I imagine there is a speed limit on the river too (5 knots?) so the CityCats wouldn't be able to go four times faster than the cruise ships did even if they were capable of such speeds. 

[Aus Traveller]

19 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I think it would take longer than 15 minutes too. I imagine there is a speed limit on the river too (5 knots?) so the CityCats wouldn't be able to go four times faster than the cruise ships did even if they were capable of such speeds. 

The speed limit of 6 knots applies to cruise ships and to the City Cat. With that in mind, it could take 45 minutes for a City Cat to travel from Hamilton to the BICT.

[MMDown Under]

6 hours ago, arxcards said:

I don't think it works that simply. Places like Burnie & Newcastle put on free shuttles because the wharf is inside a secure zone. I have watched for years while volunteering for the port in Newcastle - half of the passengers don't even get off the bus, and just use it for a free sightseeing lap and get back on the ship. Getting passengers to part with money works most effectively when you can get them to attractions such as Australia Zoo, so they aren't likely to put on free transport in competition to those tourist traps.

The Grain Wharf Terminal with big ships had bus transfer to and from the city (ANZAc Sq)

for $20 pp.  There was a marquee there with

volunteers handing out maps and providing assistance.  I’m ashamed that service is

not provided by the new BIT!  short

sighted by cruise lines and Auths.

[Aus Traveller]

7 minutes ago, MMDown Under said:

The Grain Wharf Terminal with big ships had bus transfer to and from the city (ANZAc Sq)

for $20 pp.  There was a marquee there with

volunteers handing out maps and providing assistance.  I’m ashamed that service is

not provided by the new BIT!  short

sighted by cruise lines and Auths.

May, just maybe, as we are now 'living with COVID' some of these services like volunteers might re-appear. Also maybe a problem with providing a shuttle bus service is finding the drivers. I understand there is a real shortage.

[MMDown Under]

3 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

May, just maybe, as we are now 'living with COVID' some of these services like volunteers might re-appear. Also maybe a problem with providing a shuttle bus service is finding the drivers. I understand there is a real shortage.

I have just been to the National Folk Festival with lots of volunteers of all ages.  Cruise

Lines deserve to loose their elderly passengers if they don’t subsidise transfers and insurance, with support of Auths.

[OzKiwiJJ]

2 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

The speed limit of 6 knots applies to cruise ships and to the City Cat. With that in mind, it could take 45 minutes for a City Cat to travel from Hamilton to the BICT.

Another way to look at it is that it takes 20 minutes or so by car from Hamilton to the BICT at say an average of 35kph to allow for traffic and the bad roads, so at 6 knots (11kph) it could easily take 45-60 mins - the river is more direct so it might take less than an hour even at that speed.

[Aus Traveller]

2 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Another way to look at it is that it takes 20 minutes or so by car from Hamilton to the BICT at say an average of 35kph to allow for traffic and the bad roads, so at 6 knots (11kph) it could easily take 45-60 mins - the river is more direct so it might take less than an hour even at that speed.

That is a good way to explain how long it would take for a CityCat to travel from Hamilton to the BICT.

 

I think that people are not aware, or have forgotten, how long it used to take a cruise ship to sail from Portside to the mouth of the river where the BICT is.

Edited April 12, 2023 by Aus Traveller

[OzKiwiJJ]

6 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

That is a good way to explain how long it would take for a CityCat to travel from Hamilton to the BICT.

 

I think that people are not aware, or have forgotten, how long it used to take a cruise ship to sail from Portside to the mouth of the river where the BICT is.

Most people probably never even noticed. They'd watch the sailaway, maybe stay on deck until the ship went under the Gateway Bridge, then go off for a drink and/or dinner.

 

It always amuses me when peoole ask why cruise lines don't offer return cruises from Australia to places like Japan. Or people eho complain that world cruises, or the Hawaii/Tahiti cruises, have too many sea days. Maximum speed for a cruise ship is around 22 knots (40kph). I always ask people to consider how long it would take to drive somewhere if they were limited to that speed or less.