Huge News about Brisbane Cruise Terminal

[arxcards]

Only kidding. The long awaited café has finally opened. It will open from 7am each cruise day. I notice they have a stash of ramen noodles for crew rations, but they will need to be under 50c per serve to win them over.

 

 

I was more than happy with the mobile coffee van, which I gather will no longer be invited on site. Image courtesy of Port of Brisbane.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Looks like they only use takeaway cups. It looks more of a kiosk than a cafe - no seating visible.

[NSWP]

Looks like a pie/sausage roll warmer behind the bloke  with cap on. Appears empty. Perhaps the  Queenslanders ate  them all lol. I can see some lamingtons in the glass case, but where are the pumpkin scones a la Flo?

 

But good on them giving it a go, hope they make a quid.

 

 

Edited July 1, 2023 by NSWP

[arxcards]

2 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Looks like they only use takeaway cups. It looks more of a kiosk than a cafe - no seating visible.

It need only sell coffee to be a café. 

[Tripmode33]

I think there's plenty of seating directly outside cafe in shared pubic area of terminal. Where the in-transit guests sit to use terminal wifi until they re-board for next back-to-back.

[cruiser3775]

Nice to see the Brisbane Terminal is finally getting some amenities.  Now what it needs is a nearby place to stay before a cruise. It would have to have an attached restaurant, because there's nothing like that locally.  But if it was close and offered a free shuttle on cruise days, it would be a winner for some enterprising investor.

[SinbadThePorter]

3 hours ago, cruiser3775 said:

But if it was close and offered a free shuttle on cruise days, it would be a winner for some enterprising investor.

 

For June, July and August this year there are 15 cruise days. Assuming that the hotel completely filled on cruise days, that would be about a 16% occupancy rate for the winter.

Edited July 2, 2023 by SinbadThePorter

[arxcards]

5 hours ago, SinbadThePorter said:

 

For June, July and August this year there are 15 cruise days. Assuming that the hotel completely filled on cruise days, that would be about a 16% occupancy rate for the winter.

I agree, it is a bit of an industrial wasteland, which is low lying and prone to flooding. As much as BICT is out of the way for cruisers, a hotel/restaurant will be out of the way for everyone else. While staying in such a place, you would need a cab to go anywhere else - including the airport. Other neighbours include plane maintenance hangars, fuel depot, general light industry and mangrove crabs.

 

Just for info but not for recommendation, for anyone that wants to stay close, try https://www.tradecoasthotel.com.au/

It is as close as anyone would dare build, has accommodation, bar & "restaurant" plus a pie shop next door. Still needs a cab to/from both airport, city & cruise terminals, so may be of some benefit to someone doing a drive & stay - close to Gateway Motorway and closer to the cruise terminal car park. 

[SinbadThePorter]

1 hour ago, arxcards said:

Just for info but not for recommendation, for anyone that wants to stay close

 

I believe that it has seen some "gentrification" in recent years, but that it had been known as something of a blood bucket in the past.

[cruiser3775]

The Trade Coast Hotel looks to be as close as you can get to the BICT, but it's still seven kilometres away.  Given anyone coming into Brisbane by plane would have to get a taxi there and a taxi from there to the port, I can't see much advantage.  There are better places around Hamilton.  Of course, if it offered a free shuttle to the BICT, it might be more attractive to cruisers.

[arxcards]

2 hours ago, cruiser3775 said:

The Trade Coast Hotel looks to be as close as you can get to the BICT, but it's still seven kilometres away.  Given anyone coming into Brisbane by plane would have to get a taxi there and a taxi from there to the port, I can't see much advantage.  There are better places around Hamilton.  Of course, if it offered a free shuttle to the BICT, it might be more attractive to cruisers.

Yes, there are much better hotels in Hamilton that offer a free shuttle to BICT, as long as it is arranged with the booking (means booking direct and not via one of the accommodation apps). They also offer a short walk to catch the cat into the city, and heaps of nearby places to eat. I only mention Trade Coast, as it matches the industrial ambience of the area that will not attract an international standard hotel. As Sinbad mentioned, that is the nicest that hotel has ever been, as it used to be a main watering hole for wharf and abattoir workers. 

 

I have no problems just paying a cab fare between the airport/Hamilton area hotel/cruise terminal.

[mum and son]

So do people wanting a coffee now just wander freely into the terminal at their leisure? Previously they kept everyone herded outside until their boarding time is called, but now is that transit area just open to all?

[arxcards]

11 minutes ago, mum and son said:

So do people wanting a coffee now just wander freely into the terminal at their leisure? Previously they kept everyone herded outside until their boarding time is called, but now is that transit area just open to all?

It is downstairs? For our past occasions, they were fine with anyone going through the side door to access toilets etc, but also preventing anyone from getting to the escalator.

[mum and son]

Just now, arxcards said:

It is downstairs? For our past occasions, they were fine with anyone going through the side door to access toilets etc, but also preventing anyone from getting to the escalator.

Ahhh ok, I was curious. I think I know the location because it was being fitted out when I returned from a cruise in April. I just always felt like the staff were a bit protective of letting everyone wander in and out, without reason. Having something accessible from outside just seemed like a winning concept as that's where the people are. I shall check out the coffee activity next month!

[Gwendy]

Noticed in May there also seems to be a small gift shop to the left as you enter.  No idea how to access as security very careful not to allow anyone in who is not in their boarding time.

[ceeceeDee]

Security were a bit more liberal when we went at the end of May. We arrived about 40 minutes early (not because we're pushy, just that travelling on the M1 is so unpredictable you are either very early or very late so we always allow plenty of time) and were processed more or less straight away. Quite surprised as we expected to have to wait (which we were quite prepared to do). And it's not as though it wasn't busy. There were heaps of people milling about.