Explorer OTS to be based in Melbourne in 2020-2021?

http://www.vicports.vic.gov.au/cruise-shipping/Pages/cruise-ship-schedule-3.aspx

The schedule for station pier in Melbourne for 2020-2021 has a lot of full turnarounds for Explorer of the Seas proposed.

Should I be excited or should I not get my hopes up?

I would get excited.

If it is not Explorer, RC will be using it as a place holder (reservation) for another of its large ships.

I would be half and half :)

I suppose Sydney has dropped the ball and Melbourne will be the winner.

Sydney can’t get it’s act together for more cruise births.

But there’s speculation a oasis class could come to the pacific and will bump the explorer.

I'm excited.:)

Maybe that's straight from her refurb, and will be the repo.:)

Even if it's not EX, if it's RCI we'll be on it.:)

Cheers

Great news for Melbourne, I am excited, especially if it is an extra Royal ship back again.

Ooh!!! I hope Sydney gets a newer ship, or Oasis class.

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Great news for Melbourne, I am excited, especially if it is an extra Royal ship back again.

Certainly is.and while Sydney play around with places like Botany Bay for goodness sake more ships will be placed elsewhere.Remember that decision to be made by "the end of the year" never happened. Luggage Point will come online in 2020 and they are talking about taking a lot of traffic from Sydney. Cruise Line companies will not sit around waiting for governments who can't make decisions.Sydney Harbour is in the top 5 waterways in the world and should be the major port for Cruise Lines ,however it could easily become a backwater if the powers that be don't wake up.Anyhow good for us in Melbourne I reckon the Explorer is a blind for an Oasis.

RCL based 5 ships in Sydney with the current setup. The issue is only one of growth, or to enable an operator to cherry pick premium dates (like was prevented from happening in Luggage Point) so still offers a lot of capacity.

Ooh!!! I hope Sydney gets a newer ship, or Oasis class.

 

 

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There’s speculation on the RC forum of a oasis class coming to the pacific in 2020 ,it is possible.the oasis and allure both have retractable funnels and can travel through the Suez Canal.oasis is planned for a refit about then.

But

RC long term deployment shows all the oasis class as being deployed in the Atlantic but that could change.

Also I don’t think The Asia markets would like the open areas of the oasis . Apparently they don’t like being out in the sun.

There’s speculation on the RC forum of a oasis class coming to the pacific in 2020 ,it is possible.the oasis and allure both have retractable funnels and can travel through the Suez Canal.oasis is planned for a refit about then.

But

RC long term deployment shows all the oasis class as being deployed in the Atlantic but that could change.

Also I don’t think The Asia markets would like the open areas of the oasis . Apparently they don’t like being out in the sun.

With a closer look at loyal to you site ,oasis goes to the Mediterranean mid 2020 where I believe it’s up for a refit .

After that is unknown.it could possibly come though the Suez????

The problem with Melbourne is it's that much further away from places people prefer to cruise to.

As attractive as it would be for 'mexicans' to not have to travel to Sydney or Brisbane to embark, it is another day plus to cruise to the Islands, or even QLD. It's closer to NZ, but many people don't look to NZ as a high choice for their only or occasional cruise.

Whilst many of us on here are frequent cruisers, still many are first or few time cruisers, who want to travel to the tropics etc. Most would tire of cruises to Tassie, ie SA etc, and the extra sea days would be likely a turn-off.

I guess cruises from/to Melb would then include a port day in Sydney, but lack of facilities would likely mean it would be necessary to use tenders, at least on some occasions.

Clearly something needs to be done about more port facilities in Sydney, but I fear that cruisers are a low priority for governments looking to be elected.

NAVY OUT. CRUISESHIPS IN!

The problem with Melbourne is it's that much further away from places people prefer to cruise to.

 

As attractive as it would be for 'mexicans' to not have to travel to Sydney or Brisbane to embark, it is another day plus to cruise to the Islands, or even QLD. It's closer to NZ, but many people don't look to NZ as a high choice for their only or occasional cruise.

 

Whilst many of us on here are frequent cruisers, still many are first or few time cruisers, who want to travel to the tropics etc. Most would tire of cruises to Tassie, ie SA etc, and the extra sea days would be likely a turn-off.

 

I guess cruises from/to Melb would then include a port day in Sydney, but lack of facilities would likely mean it would be necessary to use tenders, at least on some occasions.

 

Clearly something needs to be done about more port facilities in Sydney, but I fear that cruisers are a low priority for governments looking to be elected.

 

NAVY OUT. CRUISESHIPS IN!

These is clearly a market with Cunard and Princess homeporting from Melbourne. Royal will have no problems reaching capacity if they brought a voyager class to be homeported in Melbourne.

Leaving from Sydney harbour is nice, but the lack of a beautiful port hasn’t exactly harmed the industry overseas. Station pier has a nice view of Melbourne from it, but the facilities do need to be improved.

From first hand experience leaving Melbourne, so many flights to and from Sydney for cruises are packed with people, there is clear demand. Plus for those like me who require a day in Sydney to ensure no fog delays for flights, I would only see it as a day extra and I know that I’m not alone.

Plus the way flights are going, two nights extra on a cruise will likely be cheaper than return flights anyway.

Cruises to the pacific from Melbourne don’t include a NSW stop now, so why would Royal add one? Plus a huge number of Royal itineraries are now very light on in port days - I was on a 12 night cruise with 4 port days from Sydney - so why would they feel bad about sea days (read: money making days) when they already do that anyway?

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Cruises to the pacific from Melbourne don’t include a NSW stop now, so why would Royal add one?

I agree with your points that it would work well for people from Melbourne, wider Victoria, SA and Tassie perhaps, but whether it would fill EOS every voyage for the season, I'm not so sure.

On the point of a stop in Sydney, on our cruises on RCI to and from Sydney, there have always been a fair percentage of passengers from OS, or even interstate & many of these have on their list a visit to Sydney, sailing out of the harbour, past the bridge and the Opera House. I think RCI would have trouble in attracting these cruisers if there was no Sydney on the trip. On sailaways from Sydney, most passengers are viewing the sights for the cruise right out to the open sea. In Melbourne, not so much, maybe a "oh, we're moving" and straight inside;)

They might be thinking of developing a different set of itinerary’s.

Melbourne ,Adelaide ,port Lincoln,Burnie,Hobart ,Melbourne .

And New Zealand is popular with the Americans for a cruise destination.

I’d see not leaving from Sydney as a selling point, but each to their own [emoji6]

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I’d see not leaving from Sydney as a selling point, but each to their own [emoji6]

 

 

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Many do, Sydney Harbour is consistently rated one of the top harbours in the world to sail from.

Interesting comments.

For me personally, I have cruised South pacific twice and New Zealand twice, and I LOVE New Zealand (although my December cruise is South Pacific again)

I reckon they would fill EOS out of Melbourne, and would be happy to do cruises to NZ, South Pacific with an extra sea day, and even across the south to Freo.

I hope its true and they base a ship in Melbourne. I also hope they base a ship anywhere in Australia year round, so that we can do a Winter cruise to escape the Melbourne Winter. If Carnival can base a ship in Australia year round, and then now add another, clearly there is a demand.

Interesting comments.

 

 

For me personally, I have cruised South pacific twice and New Zealand twice, and I LOVE New Zealand (although my December cruise is South Pacific again)

 

 

I reckon they would fill EOS out of Melbourne, and would be happy to do cruises to NZ, South Pacific with an extra sea day, and even across the south to Freo.

 

 

I hope its true and they base a ship in Melbourne. I also hope they base a ship anywhere in Australia year round, so that we can do a Winter cruise to escape the Melbourne Winter. If Carnival can base a ship in Australia year round, and then now add another, clearly there is a demand.

So few options during Winter. Even Princess who have a few ships here send them off on long cruises during that time of year.

It will be great for Melbourne to have more ships based here. For us to sail from Sydney or even Brisbane, we have return flights plus hotel, taxis, airport parking and meals to pay for on top of cruise fare. It is nice to sail through the harbour but the main reason for sailing from Sydney or Brisbane is itinerary and ship. Having the Golden Princess in based in Melbourne has been fantastic for cruisers in the southern states. There were quite a few Americans and Brits on our cruise on Golden earlier in the year and some from the northern states. On our next cruise to NZ on Golden, a friend from the Gold Coast will be on board too. I loved sailing to the islands on Golden from Melbourne - extra sea days!

Sailing through Port Phillip Bay was fun, we stayed on deck and looked for landmarks we could recognise, including our home suburb.

I agree that there needs to be improvements at Station Pier but it works pretty well for us (well it did in March).

Leigh

Many do, Sydney Harbour is consistently rated one of the top harbours in the world to sail from.

Sydney is well known by overseas cruisers and is the number one attraction that passengers mention. Great Barrier Reef and Uluru are a close second and third. Few overseas passengers mention Melbourne, in connection with cruising.

Melbourne would be more for local people. I know several people who have flown to Melbourne from Queensland to join a cruise to Tasmania.

I would love to cruise out of Melbourne. Always having to fly to Sydney, pay for a hotel all adds extra costs. An extra sea day or 2 wouldn't bother me, especially on a mega ship. Very interested to see what ends up happening :)

What about circumnavigation of Australia return from Melbourne ???

Cheers Don

What about circumnavigation of Australia return from Melbourne ???

 

Cheers Don

We would come from NSW to do that at the right time of year.

We miss the Oct/Nov Top End cruises from Sydney. The weather was always so nice then.

Radiance does the music theme charters at that time now.