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

[arxcards]

6 hours ago, NSWP said:

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

Yes, plus visitor maps and a free shuttle. I makes for a great experience when visiting, but I reckon the wharf markets make more money out of the ships than the shops in town do.

[arxcards]

4 hours 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.

We have paid $20pp US and $25pp US for that privilege from FI grain terminal even back more than 10 years ago, yet the discussion is that this now should to be free. Paper maps are becoming redundant. The volunteers were organised via Brisbane Ports and the city council, and I think it was the covid pause that stopped this being viable.

[arxcards]

8 hours 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.

Yes, distance and the lack of a suitable spot to build a ferry wharf. It is a lovely way to get into Brisbane but if they charged $30pp return, would they get enough takers to make it profitable? Whichever way, Brisbane council is not going to subsidise cruise passengers to get into the city, and why would they treat our smaller numbers any differently from the masses that arrive at the airport?

 

As with White Bay in Sydney, that is an interesting comparison. They have a wharf to arrive to and a much shorter distance to ferry, yet it was never popular enough to make any service viable. White Bay celebrates her 10th birthday on Sunday, but BICT has been is use for less than a year. Let me guess what we will still be discussing in 9 years time 😉 

[colourbird]

10 hours ago, arxcards said:

Yes, distance and the lack of a suitable spot to build a ferry wharf. It is a lovely way to get into Brisbane but if they charged $30pp return, would they get enough takers to make it profitable? Whichever way, Brisbane council is not going to subsidise cruise passengers to get into the city, and why would they treat our smaller numbers any differently from the masses that arrive at the airport?

 

As with White Bay in Sydney, that is an interesting comparison. They have a wharf to arrive to and a much shorter distance to ferry, yet it was never popular enough to make any service viable. White Bay celebrates her 10th birthday on Sunday, but BICT has been is use for less than a year. Let me guess what we will still be discussing in 9 years time 😉 

 

Yes people would pay $30 for a return ferry to Brisbane City over the $40 for the Princess shuttle bus + additional cost of a ferry ride if they were going to travel on one.

 

White Bay is different as it is closer to the city. I've walked to and from there (without luggage) or just caught the public bus home (it's 20 minutes walk from the ship). It's easy to get a taxi too.

[MMDown Under]

When people talk about the distance from

BICTvto the city, I recall the long distances from many cruise ports in SE Asia  to the closest cities.  Passengers just paid the transfer costs!! 

[arxcards]

3 hours ago, colourbird said:

 

Yes people would pay $30 for a return ferry to Brisbane City over the $40 for the Princess shuttle bus + additional cost of a ferry ride if they were going to travel on one.

 

White Bay is different as it is closer to the city. I've walked to and from there (without luggage) or just caught the public bus home (it's 20 minutes walk from the ship). It's easy to get a taxi too.

All depends on who and where you are. For me and many others, White Bay is a taxi from Central, BICT is a taxi from the airport or accommodation in Hamilton, same-o. Getting a taxi to White Bay is dead easy, but luck of the draw getting one out of there - a lot like BICT.

 

There are passengers in Brisbane that walk to the nearest bus stop to travel to Portside for the ferry or Doomben station for the train home. Inconvenient, but cheap and doable. 

 

As for a City Cat making it to Pinkenba, there is much better odds of Ferry McFerryface making it to White Bay.

[cruiser3775]

21 hours ago, arxcards said:

Getting a taxi to White Bay is dead easy, but luck of the draw getting one out of there - a lot like BICT.

My experience was that, on disembarkation in Brisbane, there were very few taxis available. We were disembarking hours before the next cruise passengers would be arriving, so you wouldn't expect taxis to be coming in to the BICT then. It's not like they would be picking up many local passengers in a very industrial area. I imagine most local workers have to get there in their own cars.

So there was a huge queue for taxis for disembarking passengers. I would normally have taken a taxi to the airport with my luggage, but I could foresee the problem with advice from CC contributors, so I paid $30 in advance for the Princess bus transfer to the airport.  This was quick and easy and not greatly different in price to the taxi fare.

[MMDown Under]

1 hour ago, cruiser3775 said:

My experience was that, on disembarkation in Brisbane, there were very few taxis available. We were disembarking hours before the next cruise passengers would be arriving, so you wouldn't expect taxis to be coming in to the BICT then. It's not like they would be picking up many local passengers in a very industrial area. I imagine most local workers have to get there in their own cars.

So there was a huge queue for taxis for disembarking passengers. I would normally have taken a taxi to the airport with my luggage, but I could foresee the problem with advice from CC contributors, so I paid $30 in advance for the Princess bus transfer to the airport.  This was quick and easy and not greatly different in price to the taxi fare.

This is good example where cruise transfers are a good option.

[arxcards]

1 hour ago, cruiser3775 said:

My experience was that, on disembarkation in Brisbane, there were very few taxis available. We were disembarking hours before the next cruise passengers would be arriving, so you wouldn't expect taxis to be coming in to the BICT then. It's not like they would be picking up many local passengers in a very industrial area. I imagine most local workers have to get there in their own cars.

So there was a huge queue for taxis for disembarking passengers. I would normally have taken a taxi to the airport with my luggage, but I could foresee the problem with advice from CC contributors, so I paid $30 in advance for the Princess bus transfer to the airport.  This was quick and easy and not greatly different in price to the taxi fare.

Yes, for both Sydney's White Bay and Brisbane, they are out of the way until they start bringing passengers to the ship and taxis are already busy on weekday mornings.  I also prefer using the ships' bus transfers to the airport when arriving in Brisbane, or to Central station from White Bay.