OPT Renovations What do you think?

[gbenjo]

Well here we are, half way through the first season since the completion of the renovations to the OPT in Sydney so I thought it might be interesting to get, from people that have used it, their opinions/ criticisms( constructive??)and suggestions about the finished product. As some of you know, I work down there from time to time and have my own thoughts about the upgrade but will keep them to myself at the moment to see what the actual users of the terminal think.

[Dizziedi]

We have gotten on and off 4 times in the last 6 weeks. I think getting on has improved greatly but getting off is not so good. The bag collection area is not big enough (IMO) and the queue to pass through Customs has been a "long" snake each time.

 

We will again disembark on Tuesday (from the Radiance) so will see how that goes.

 

Cheers

Di

[MicCanberra]

I think the OPT has improved with both the embarkation and debarkation. That said we have been given special treatment. :cool:

 

One issue that seems to be heard on these boards is the pick up area but this is hardly an OPT fault and more of a Sydney roads/traffic issue, as we tend to arrive by Train to circular quay, it doesn't affect us.

[goodycruising]

We did a back to back on Voyager in November. Looked forward to the shiny new terminal, particularly after being on that lucky first Solstice cruise that had to embark at White Bay the previous November, and wait in line in the sun for an hour to get on. That was an understandable debacle, so no worries, move on.

 

Our personal observations are:

 

Getting on first time:- As Suite and Diamond we got the priority boarding at a bit after 11 am. That seemed to go pretty quickly through getting the sea pass, and through the customs people, but then the line-up for getting through the scanners. I don't know how it went later, but I would only imagine the lines got longer at that bottleneck? I know Voyager is a lot of people, but it has been coming for years. What is the story with not having an realistic amount of scanners for boarding?

 

We were surprised to see the long snaking lines when getting off for the first leg of our trip, as we had to this time due to new rules apparently. We waited until about 9.30, as we felt those that had connections deserved to go first. We were a bit bemused that the shiny new terminal was still heavily backed up, and that terrible snaking around, and around, and around through so many bags! That late in the morning. It seemed a very large amount of backward and forward walking.

 

Then we came back later in the afternoon to resume on our second leg, and at about 3 pm we were disappointed to still be in lines for going through customs again, and have our carry on scanned again. We understand the need for it, but didn't expect it still to be busy then.

 

When we eventually finished our cruising, we got off very early and it was quick. We had priority due to our Diamond loyalty and that was quick and easy. There were a lot of bags there, but there was a shorter route through to the escape door!

 

We have been on Voyager before, as well as Rhapsody, Radiance and Solstice. We have done two previous B2B trips (Radiance and Solstice) and we understand the rules for B2B have changed and we don't mind that.

 

But, the flow in the terminal from our personal perspective, for the times we were there, seemed to have been made worse rather than better. Maybe in the past we we luckier with our timings? Radiance will always be better with so many less passengers. But what will happen when Ovation gets here??? Please tell me there will be more scanners brought into operation.

 

I also see that the staggered timings, that have been running for a while with RCI, are being ignored by many people. You see it here, and very much so on other social media. "My boarding time is 3 pm, what time should I try and push in?" All answers are usually "just get there when ever suits you love, we do. Nobody ever turns you away". Am I right Graham? Or is this only a small part of the problem. How about the staggered times be monitored a bit more, and it would soon get around on social media that they are in place to help with the flow. If a few people got told to come back at their scheduled time, then maybe it would improve the situation. Maybe not, it is possible there has been a design flaw, and the expensive upgrade has not been quite as it should have been?

 

We also noticed when we were debarking that many passengers were leaving way before their allotted time. We had our time slot as allocated due to our loyalty level, but many people were getting off with a variety of baggage tag numbers. Nobody was monitoring that end of it either. Does it make a difference? I am not sure.

 

So maybe we expected too much from the millions spent. Maybe there are back office, and/or general layout improvements. Certainly better air conditioning I think. More seating once you have your sea pass, before you get to customs. I will be interested to see later this month how Explorer goes. Has there been fine tuning this season, and have you seen changes that have made things better?

 

I will also be interested in other people's feedback, as experiences are perceived differently.

 

My husband said that he felt the drop off baggage area was better. But is it really, or are we comparing to the temporary tents, which worked ok as long as it was not raining. Wet bags are something we now plan better for, and we are plastic bagging up a lot more stuff so that that experience doesn't happen again.

 

I have to say, the staff was always fantastic, before during and after the reno. They are very pleasant and patient with all of us. :)

[The_Big_M]

I have similar experiences to the above, though only have been through it once this season.

 

Boarding was so quick I didn't even get to join queues in the main area - that's certainly an improvement over the past. And there were masses of chairs as well, which was brilliant.

 

As above, once you get through to xray though, there's a bit of a wait. Wasn't bad in my case, but it was the only queue to get on the ship really.

 

Getting off isn't so good though. Signage and the path out wasn't great, turns out there's some secondary short cut closer to bags that nobody knew about. The main line was loooong, though at least moved at a reasonable speed. Noticed some damage to the pylons too, which I thought was pretty early, so it wasn't really well designed for its purpose.

 

All up, nothing I'd be complaining about, but if there was room for improvement it was on the disembarkation side of things.

[MicCanberra]

We found lots of friendly staff directing people and providing information at every turn both on the way on and off.:D

[Kiwi_cruiser]

I will let you know what its like when we get on the Queen Mary 2 in March 2016.

[Aussie FF]

As we get priority boarding, I was very disappointed that we had to wait quite a while with every-one else downstairs, before we could proceed upstairs, to the priority lines.:mad:

[GUT2407]

A few issues.

 

But nothing major.

 

I found embarkation a bit chaotic, being told one thing then told no to do that. (not your mob gbemjo the others). But all up about on oa ore renovations. I actually though the tent for luggage drop off (during renos) was better than them just taking if off you.

 

Disembarkation had he same issue as always my luggage and Mrs Gut's were miles apart, there must be some way to ensure pieces of luggag put out together (on the shop) remains in some sort of proximity to each other.

[GUT2407]

A Cade, or even a few vending machines wouldn't go astray either.

[MicCanberra]

Do you mean a Café?

If they do that, then you will need more seats and more toilets.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Disembarkation had he same issue as always my luggage and Mrs Gut's were miles apart, there must be some way to ensure pieces of luggag put out together (on the shop) remains in some sort of proximity to each other.

 

Much to my surprise our four bags were neatly stacked together when we disembarked from Solstice late December. They are marked with a fairly distinctive logo, handpainted (and I'm no artist so it's a long way from perfect), so it's fairly obvious that they are "related". But that's the first time we've found them all together.

 

That disembarkation was OK, easy to find luggage, long but quick-moving queue after that. Chaos outside the terminal, especially for private pickups.

 

Embarkation and disembarkation from our Rhapsody cruise last March were both very efficient.

 

Our next cruise from the OPT is Golden Princess in April.

 

Gbenjo, slightly off-topic but I'm curious to know the answer. We boarded Solstice in Auckland and were able to take our Aldi power adaptor (in reality a mini-powerboard with exchangeable plugs, 4 USB ports and 2 sockets) onboard. In fact there was no mention of not being allowed to take powerboards onboard. Yet someone reported that on their Solstice cruise, departing from the OPT, that powerboards were being confiscated. Any idea why the difference in policy?

[GUT2407]

Nah Cade, you know where they teach you to type Cafe:D

[GUT2407]

Nah Cade, you know where they teach you to type Cafe:D

 

 

You know a bit like White Bay managed to get one thing right.

[RosieCanberra]

The OPT has improved markedly, and it appears that the number of personnel has also increased which is great.

 

I find the layout easy to navigate, each step of the way has a guide/crowd controller. I agree there are queues for security scanners however they move quickly. Since the renovation the time needed to board has reduced. Admittedly we have status with some cruise lines so have priority boarding, but we have also boarded in the general queue (P&O Pacific Aria was docked at the OPT for the maiden voyage on 25 November. There was a large queue as the ship delayed boarding by a few minutes, but the OPT staff had everything in control, and were strict in only allowing those with the correct boarding time to enter the terminal. Even though there was the delay, boarding was quick and smooth).

 

So kudos for the new terminal but also for the excellent staff. They are quick, knowledgeable and friendly, even those on crowd control smile and wish travellers a good cruise.

Cheers

Rosie

[tillydog]

I also vote a thumbs up to the new look OPT. Had a seamless embarkation and debarkation, although there had been an issue with the computers at Check-In for a little while. This glitch also affected the computers at Guest Services on board the ship. I dont sweat the small stuff, but it did bring out a great deal of whingers/complainers!!

[GUT2407]

I also vote a thumbs up to the new look OPT. Had a seamless embarkation and debarkation, although there had been an issue with the computers at Check-In for a little while. This glitch also affected the computers at Guest Services on board the ship. I dont sweat the small stuff, but it did bring out a great deal of whingers/complainers!!

 

 

Never seems to be any lack of whingers and complainers.

 

I'm sure some of them would complain if they won lotto.

[GUT2407]

My biggest grumble is the lack of pick up for private vehicles.

 

That's another plus for White bay (hey I've found two positives for it, but boy the negatives outweigh them about 100 to 1.

[OzKiwiJJ]

My biggest grumble is the lack of pick up for private vehicles.

 

That's another plus for White bay (hey I've found two positives for it, but boy the negatives outweigh them about 100 to 1.

 

Agreed, but there just isn't the space at the OPT to improve that, unfortunately, unless they build an extra level above the taxi pickup area.

[GUT2407]

Agreed, but there just isn't the space at the OPT to improve that, unfortunately, unless they build an extra level above the taxi pickup area.

 

 

Which they should have done as part of the reno's they'd make $$$$$ when ships weren't in Port.

 

 

I know that if I'm picking someone up I'd rather White Bay, where I can park, get a coffee, watch the ship load up, have a chat to those about to board, etc etc.

 

OPT drive around till they make their way up to George Street, hope I don't get booked while tossing their bags in the back of the car.

 

But OPT has so much else gong for it.

[fire eater]

What are the two positives, Gut?

Thanks.

fe

[fire eater]

For White Bay, I mean.

fe

[GUT2407]

What are the two positives, Gut?

Thanks.

fe

 

 

The Parking for drop off and pick up and the cafe where I can get a drink and snack while waiting.

 

If you're cruising out of there going under the Coathanger.

 

-vs

 

No public transport

Nothing to do while waiting

Nowhere to stay

No long term parking

Even driving a pain to get to

Taxi costs an arm and a leg

[MicCanberra]

OPT is a clear winner in my book.

 

Circular quay and the rocks have plenty of food and drinks available if you wish to buy a snack prior to boarding. And there is nowhere in Sydney CBD that has easy parking/or easy driving.:D

[OzKiwiJJ]

The Parking for drop off and pick up and the cafe where I can get a drink and snack while waiting.

 

If you're cruising out of there going under the Coathanger.

 

-vs

 

No public transport

Nothing to do while waiting

Nowhere to stay

No long term parking

Even driving a pain to get to

Taxi costs an arm and a leg

 

Cruising under the harbour bridge is a major plus, and the parking.

 

Easy to get to from where I live, and free. :D :D But then so is the OPT but we have to pay the bridge toll for that (or go the long and tedious way around).