Newcastle no more???

[diy dave]

Seems a shame that the experiment to run regular cruises out of Newcastle seems to have failed. I have a large group of friends leaving today on the Pacific Sun, and Newcastle has disappeared from my on line TA site. Again, it's a pity.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Seems a shame that the experiment to run regular cruises out of Newcastle seems to have failed. I have a large group of friends leaving today on the Pacific Sun, and Newcastle has disappeared from my on line TA site. Again, it's a pity.

 

 

I have only seen it from the bridge cams , but it would appear that there is no shortage of room for the ships to dock there.

 

 

[Sutho]

I think the experiement has more to do with a rubbish ship rather than a lack of interest in cruising. I know allot of people who are still dirty at P&O Australia for shafting the city of Newcastle with that piece of scrap metal that only broke down and was in such a state of disrepair that it only ruined peoples holidays.

 

I think the bigger issue was that P&O wanted to test if Newcastle would work as an embarkation port should they no longer have a terminal in Sydney. I know there was allot of worry by the cruise lines when the closed down wharf 8 Darling Harbour and announced that White Bay would be the new terminal. No one knows better than the cruise lines that this wont work as there will soon be larger ships. Newcastle started as an experiment hoping that the people who would travel to Sydney would travel to Newcastle.

 

It may not have been a bad idea considering allot of retirees live in areas like Port Stephens, Nelson Bay, Forster, Tuncurry and even the Central Coast and Newcastle is easily accissible to them. The only major problem with the experiment was the rubbish ship they chose to come here.

[Sandielle]

I have only seen it from the bridge cams , but it would appear that there is no shortage of room for the ships to dock there.

 

Haven't been to the port, but Newcastle is a nice area - especially around Lake Macquarie. DH's cousin had a business there for many years - I think the sons have taken it over.

[Aus Traveller]

Haven't been to the port, but Newcastle is a nice area - especially around Lake Macquarie. DH's cousin had a business there for many years - I think the sons have taken it over.

We went on a cruise on the Pacific Sun out of Newcastle. It was a beautiful port to sail out of/back into, even though embarkation was from a tent with portaloos. Had a fantastic cruise too. :):)

[musicorn]

I have cruised out of Newcastle on the Pacific Sun and the port was great just as the cruise was.

 

I don't really think the ship makes much difference to this experiment because there will be as many people who don't like the Sun as there would be who do not like any of the P&O ships.

[diy dave]

I think the experiement has more to do with a rubbish ship rather than a lack of interest in cruising. I know allot of people who are still dirty at P&O Australia for shafting the city of Newcastle with that piece of scrap metal that only broke down and was in such a state of disrepair that it only ruined peoples holidays.

 

I think the bigger issue was that P&O wanted to test if Newcastle would work as an embarkation port should they no longer have a terminal in Sydney. I know there was allot of worry by the cruise lines when the closed down wharf 8 Darling Harbour and announced that White Bay would be the new terminal. No one knows better than the cruise lines that this wont work as there will soon be larger ships. Newcastle started as an experiment hoping that the people who would travel to Sydney would travel to Newcastle.

 

It may not have been a bad idea considering allot of retirees live in areas like Port Stephens, Nelson Bay, Forster, Tuncurry and even the Central Coast and Newcastle is easily accissible to them. The only major problem with the experiment was the rubbish ship they chose to come here.

 

I know a lot of people who have cruised from Newcastle before and thoroughly enjoyed the P&O ships. I have not sailed in one so I can't comment, but I notice you haven't either Sutho so are you biased or what???

[The_Big_M]

I think the experiement has more to do with a rubbish ship rather than a lack of interest in cruising. I know allot of people who are still dirty at P&O Australia for shafting the city of Newcastle with that piece of scrap metal that only broke down and was in such a state of disrepair that it only ruined peoples holidays.

 

I think the bigger issue was that P&O wanted to test if Newcastle would work as an embarkation port should they no longer have a terminal in Sydney. I know there was allot of worry by the cruise lines when the closed down wharf 8 Darling Harbour and announced that White Bay would be the new terminal. No one knows better than the cruise lines that this wont work as there will soon be larger ships. Newcastle started as an experiment hoping that the people who would travel to Sydney would travel to Newcastle.

 

It may not have been a bad idea considering allot of retirees live in areas like Port Stephens, Nelson Bay, Forster, Tuncurry and even the Central Coast and Newcastle is easily accissible to them. The only major problem with the experiment was the rubbish ship they chose to come here.

 

I completely disagree.

 

Itineraries out of Newcastle were at a time when P&O were trying to expand the market as there had been tremendous growth. Subsequently a number of other lines also started operating, or increased operations, here.

 

Nobody in the industry "worried" that all cruises out of Sydney would be stopped as they "would not have a terminal" - Darling Harbour is on the same side of the bridge as White Bay so there was and is no impact to operations from that move and a replacement was always planned. Further, there are numerous other ports used for cruising in Sydney amongst them OPT, Athol Buoy as back-up and a number of others. There was no risk that P&O could not have departures from Sydney... :rolleyes:

 

As for the ship and line, it is equally inconceivable that another major line such as Royal Caribbean or HAL would have departures from there in addition to, or even in replacement of Sydney. It is only lines which have a large number of ships operating that can base theirs in secondary ports. Further, primary ships do not get based in secondary ports - they operate better for more casual cruises for convenience. Those who want to pay the premium prices will sail from the premium locations (that's not a disservice to Newcastle, but just a reflection that Sydney is always going to attract more tourists being the bigger city with more attractions and connections).

[Sutho]

I think the ship is a big factor in it. P&O Australia have seen the light and admit Pacific Sun is rubbish and have sent it on its belated merry way this year. However back to the real point if for instance a major line decided to sent a top ship to Newcastle as embarkation/disembarkation and use it as a port before Sydney and use Sydney as a tourist call, Newcastle would get the numbers.

 

I would bet money on it that if Royal Caribbean based Voyager of the Seas here that they would fill it up. (I know it wont happen). If QM2 did its embarkation/disembarkation here (I know that wont happen), it too would still get the numbers that Sydney attracts.

 

This website only represents a very small minority of cruise passengers. Most of the names here you can easily memorise and count on one hand. In the big picture there are more people dissatisfied with P&O Australia and Pacific Sun cruising out of Newcastle than the very small minority on here who enjoyed it.

[Sutho]

I know a lot of people who have cruised from Newcastle before and thoroughly enjoyed the P&O ships. I have not sailed in one so I can't comment, but I notice you haven't either Sutho so are you biased or what???

 

I know several people who have had revolting experiences on the Pacific Sun (greater than 8 excluding my grandparents). I personally would not try P&O Australia as they do not offer the value for money relaxing cruise experience that other lines do. On P&O UK and Princess ships you can stretch you day out as long as you want and have a leisurly late lunch (FOR FREE) at one of the deck grills in the high noon. On ships like that you dont have to join a cattle queue for food. On P&O Australia you have to pay for deck grill food and you have to have your lunch in a certain time period which means lining up in a cattle queue. Not my idea of a relaxing holiday.

 

Apart from that the other lines have brand new ships with the latest facilities available making the cruise experience a whole lot better. P&O Australia have the old hand-me-down rust buckets that have seen better days in other lines. When you crunch the numbers the P&O Australia ships being the age they are have the worst passenger space ratio in the entire cruise industry and that is mainly due to the old ships they are operating that are no longer marketable to the North American/European cruise markets who demand brand new bigger and better ships each year.

 

Its like shopping for clothes some people are happy to go to the smith family or st vincent de paul to by their cloths, others go to DJ's or somewhere high end. If you were to compare P&O Australia to that it would be at the lower end.

[Sandielle]

I have cruised out of Newcastle on the Pacific Sun and the port was great just as the cruise was.

 

I don't really think the ship makes much difference to this experiment because there will be as many people who don't like the Sun as there would be who do not like any of the P&O ships.

 

Agreed. Of course, the ship doesn't make that much difference, Musicorn - any thinking person would know that. However, I think one factor is that there is a wider choice of itineraries cruising from Sydney. I would definitely go from Sydney, rather than Newcastle, if I were that close.

[Bella cruiser]

We departed from Newcastle on our Pacific Sun cruise in 2010. I hadn't cruised from Newcastle before and found it very easy to get to and the embarkation/disembarkation was smooth and well run. I hope other ships depart from Newcastle in the future as you can provide some great day trips from there, like the Hunter Valley vineyards etc.

 

We really enjoyed our cruise as well:) Pacific Sun was a fun ship and we met a lot of nice well traveled people, who also thoroughly enjoyed their cruise.

 

We met one couple who were whinging about everything on the first day and when we ran into them at the Purser's desk on the last day surprise, surprise they were still whinging to all who would listen about the same old things.:rolleyes:

 

I believe P&O has a very good passenger satisfaction rating and that the silent majority are very satisfied, Sutho has been listening to the vocal small minority. Some of whom seem to have been so obsessed in small things that displeased them that they forgot to enjoy themselves.....oh well their loss.

 

However I will spare you a fleeting thought and smile when I have my free lunch from the deck grill on the Pacific Pearl in June.

[Aus Traveller]

I completely disagree.

 

Itineraries out of Newcastle were at a time when P&O were trying to expand the market as there had been tremendous growth. Subsequently a number of other lines also started operating, or increased operations, here.

 

Nobody in the industry "worried" that all cruises out of Sydney would be stopped as they "would not have a terminal" - Darling Harbour is on the same side of the bridge as White Bay so there was and is no impact to operations from that move and a replacement was always planned. Further, there are numerous other ports used for cruising in Sydney amongst them OPT, Athol Buoy as back-up and a number of others. There was no risk that P&O could not have departures from Sydney... :rolleyes:

 

As for the ship and line, it is equally inconceivable that another major line such as Royal Caribbean or HAL would have departures from there in addition to, or even in replacement of Sydney. It is only lines which have a large number of ships operating that can base theirs in secondary ports. Further, primary ships do not get based in secondary ports - they operate better for more casual cruises for convenience. Those who want to pay the premium prices will sail from the premium locations (that's not a disservice to Newcastle, but just a reflection that Sydney is always going to attract more tourists being the bigger city with more attractions and connections).

In my opinion you have put that very well (as usual!).:)

 

I feel there is another point on the popularity of cruises out of Sydney v. Newcastle - it is one of the most beautiful harbours in the world and it is hard to beat a sail-away from Sydney, particularly from Darling Harbour when the ship sails under the bridge. I think Newcastle would always be 'second-best' to Sydney and with the ports so close to each other, it is 'no contest'.

[Sutho]

In my opinion you have put that very well (as usual!).:)

 

I feel there is another point on the popularity of cruises out of Sydney v. Newcastle - it is one of the most beautiful harbours in the world and it is hard to beat a sail-away from Sydney, particularly from Darling Harbour when the ship sails under the bridge. I think Newcastle would always be 'second-best' to Sydney and with the ports so close to each other, it is 'no contest'.

 

I seriously dont think it is right at all because it is illogical to try and set up a cruise base so close to Sydney as an alternative. P&O were looking primarily to replace Sydney altogether should they not get their way with docking and fees in Sydney.

 

Newcastle cannot compete with Sydney that is a given fact. What P&O wanted to do was to replace Sydney altogether and try and relocate the main base out of Sydney. There was quite a write up in the papers about it when wharf 8 was shut down and P&O did not want a base at White Bay. There were even threats of moving the enitre base out of Sydney which is where Newcastle came in. P&O (Carnival) saw it as a cheaper alternative to base native ships and deploy them on cruises from Australia. It would have saved them allot of money if they could base them in Newcastle permanently.

 

I am going to have to start looking up old papers and news articles relating to this because the motive for setting up in Newcaslte was not to expand their business but more to test the waters in relocating from Sydney.

 

Visiting foreign ships come to Sydney but the idea Carnival had in ships based here that Newcastle with its close proximity could be the equivelent of people leaving London to depart on a cruise from Southampton. (its a similar distance).

[bazzaw]

 

I would bet money on it that if Royal Caribbean based Voyager of the Seas here that they would fill it up. (I know it wont happen). If QM2 did its embarkation/disembarkation here (I know that wont happen), it too would still get the numbers that Sydney attracts.

 

 

Tell us why you think it won't happen. Could it be that the Executives of Royal Carribean don't know as much about cruising as you do??

[Aus Traveller]

I seriously dont think it is right at all because it is illogical to try and set up a cruise base so close to Sydney as an alternative. P&O were looking primarily to replace Sydney altogether should they not get their way with docking and fees in Sydney.

 

Newcastle cannot compete with Sydney that is a given fact. What P&O wanted to do was to replace Sydney altogether and try and relocate the main base out of Sydney. There was quite a write up in the papers about it when wharf 8 was shut down and P&O did not want a base at White Bay. There were even threats of moving the enitre base out of Sydney which is where Newcastle came in. P&O (Carnival) saw it as a cheaper alternative to base native ships and deploy them on cruises from Australia. It would have saved them allot of money if they could base them in Newcastle permanently.

 

I am going to have to start looking up old papers and news articles relating to this because the motive for setting up in Newcaslte was not to expand their business but more to test the waters in relocating from Sydney.

 

Visiting foreign ships come to Sydney but the idea Carnival had in ships based here that Newcastle with its close proximity could be the equivelent of people leaving London to depart on a cruise from Southampton. (its a similar distance).

But, London can't be used as a port.

 

I think it would be hard for anyone who wan't at the upper level of Carnival management to know what they planned to do and why.:) It is easy for journalists to speculate and state it as fact. Even if Carnival made threats to "leave Sydney" it could have been a bargaining tactic. I could not see a major cruise company like Carnival with two (and now three) locally based brands moving out of Sydney and leaving it to their opposition.:)

[Megagirl]

We went on a cruise on the Pacific Sun out of Newcastle. It was a beautiful port to sail out of/back into, even though embarkation was from a tent with portaloos. Had a fantastic cruise too. :):)

 

Sadly, cruising out of Darling Harbour at the moment is 'a tent with portaloos' too.

 

There will always be customers who are not satisfied with their product choice,:mad: they're usually the vocal ones.

 

Fortunately I'm one of the silent majority who has thoroughly enjoyed all 13 of my P&O cruises.:D

 

Jenny

[Aus Traveller]

Sadly, cruising out of Darling Harbour at the moment is 'a tent with portaloos' too.

 

There will always be customers who are not satisfied with their product choice,:mad: they're usually the vocal ones.

 

Fortunately I'm one of the silent majority who has thoroughly enjoyed all 13 of my P&O cruises.:D

 

Jenny

We have sailed out of the Darling Harbour tent several times and feel it works very well. It is better-appointed than the tent that was used for our Newcastle cruise.

[thied]

I seriously dont think it is right at all because it is illogical to try and set up a cruise base so close to Sydney as an alternative. P&O were looking primarily to replace Sydney altogether should they not get their way with docking and fees in Sydney.

 

Newcastle cannot compete with Sydney that is a given fact. What P&O wanted to do was to replace Sydney altogether and try and relocate the main base out of Sydney. There was quite a write up in the papers about it when wharf 8 was shut down and P&O did not want a base at White Bay. There were even threats of moving the enitre base out of Sydney which is where Newcastle came in. P&O (Carnival) saw it as a cheaper alternative to base native ships and deploy them on cruises from Australia. It would have saved them allot of money if they could base them in Newcastle permanently.

 

I am going to have to start looking up old papers and news articles relating to this because the motive for setting up in Newcaslte was not to expand their business but more to test the waters in relocating from Sydney.

 

Visiting foreign ships come to Sydney but the idea Carnival had in ships based here that Newcastle with its close proximity could be the equivelent of people leaving London to depart on a cruise from Southampton. (its a similar distance).

 

Do you think that P&Os threats of moving the enitre base out of Sydney was a ploy to see what reaction thay would get from the NSW gov pr Sydney gov or some other cruise related body?

[Sutho]

Do you think that P&Os threats of moving the enitre base out of Sydney was a ploy to see what reaction thay would get from the NSW gov pr Sydney gov or some other cruise related body?

 

Their threats of moving out of Sydney was clearly a ploy and testing Newcastle was part of that. It makes no sense setting up Newcastle as a alternative to Sydney as the Australian cruise market is just too small to have so many departure ports. Just like many have said our market is too small for larger 100,000+ton ships.

 

I think the main idea was to see if Newcastle could be used for the local departure port and leave Sydney for the visiting ships and seasonal ships. P&O Australia is the only line to sail here year round and I think they were looking for a cheap alternative to base their ships should negotiations fall through with Sydney.

 

 

As for the other questions above about why I think Voyager of the Seas would never be based here - Newcastle does not have the facilities to handle such a ship and embark and manage all the passengers. Hypothetically speaking if Newcastle did have a cruise terminal large enough for a ship like Voyager of the Seas and hypothetically if it was based out of Newcastle for its Australian season it would still pull the numbers. We all know this wont happen as Newcastle lacks the cruise terminal facilities and is not likeley to get any in the foreseable future.

[Sandielle]

Sadly, cruising out of Darling Harbour at the moment is 'a tent with portaloos' too.

 

There will always be customers who are not satisfied with their product choice,:mad: they're usually the vocal ones.

 

Fortunately I'm one of the silent majority who has thoroughly enjoyed all 13 of my P&O cruises.:D

 

Jenny

 

You nailed it, Jenny! :):):) Actually, I think the physical side of leaving from the tent at Barrangaroo is a whole lot easier than leaving from Portside, Brisbane. There you have to wind your way around, then upstairs and around and about again before you get to the gangway. :D It's quite a way as opposed to walking out of the tent and boarding. The check-in etc has always been very quick and easy though. As long as the end result is that I board the ship, you won't hear any whinging from this happy cruiser.

[thied]

Their threats of moving out of Sydney was clearly a ploy and testing Newcastle was part of that. It makes no sense setting up Newcastle as a alternative to Sydney as the Australian cruise market is just too small to have so many departure ports. Just like many have said our market is too small for larger 100,000+ton ships.

 

I think the main idea was to see if Newcastle could be used for the local departure port and leave Sydney for the visiting ships and seasonal ships. P&O Australia is the only line to sail here year round and I think they were looking for a cheap alternative to base their ships should negotiations fall through with Sydney.

 

 

As for the other questions above about why I think Voyager of the Seas would never be based here - Newcastle does not have the facilities to handle such a ship and embark and manage all the passengers. Hypothetically speaking if Newcastle did have a cruise terminal large enough for a ship like Voyager of the Seas and hypothetically if it was based out of Newcastle for its Australian season it would still pull the numbers. We all know this wont happen as Newcastle lacks the cruise terminal facilities and is not likeley to get any in the foreseable future.

I thougt so and I agree .

 

 

What do you think about flash cruise terminals?

 

I for do not care as long as its clean and it works, as on a deparutre day we would only be there a couple hours, and if we are visiting a port we hope off the ship and through the terminal and away into sunset so to speek.

, and return later that day.

[thied]

You nailed it, Jenny! :):):) Actually, I think the physical side of leaving from the tent at Barrangaroo is a whole lot easier than leaving from Portside, Brisbane. There you have to wind your way around, then upstairs and around and about again before you get to the gangway. :D It's quite a way as opposed to walking out of the tent and boarding. The check-in etc has always been very quick and easy though. As long as the end result is that I board the ship, you won't hear any whinging from this happy cruiser.

you could all ways use the lift at port side. I find both ports very good. all ways planty of staff to help any one that needs help.

[Sutho]

I thougt so and I agree .

 

 

What do you think about flash cruise terminals?

 

I for do not care as long as its clean and it works, as on a deparutre day we would only be there a couple hours, and if we are visiting a port we hope off the ship and through the terminal and away into sunset so to speek.

, and return later that day.

 

 

Cruise terminals do not bother me what they are like. Circular Quay in Sydney is just fine for me. I like the multipurpose ones like in Hong Kong that double as a shopping centre and something usefull for the locals as well as a dock for the ships.

 

In fact on my recent trip I noticed China puts us to shame. In the space of a year they have built brand new cruise terminals in Shanghai and Xingang and I think they have less cruise ships calls than us. In Shanghai they built up land in the river just for the purpose of a new cruise terminal.

[bazzaw]

For matters such as these , comparisons between Australia and places like China or the US are ludicrous.

 

China is a one Party State with over a thousand million people. The Authorities can do whatever they want. Can you imagine what would happen in Australia if the authorities here decided to fill in part of Sydney Harbour just to build a cruise terminal!! :)