White Bay ferry ceases services from Darling Harbour

[CruiseCriticAUeditor]

Have you seen Cruise Critic Australia's new-look Cruise News page yet?

 

Our exclusive news this week:

- Darling Harbour dropped from White Bay service

- A brand new review of Legend of the Seas

- Live report from Curtis Stone's first restaurant on a Princess ship

 

Bookmark it!

http://www.cruisecritic.com.au/news/

 

Louise Goldsbury

Australia Editor

Cruise Critic

[The_Big_M]

They dropped Darling Harbour back in December. I contacted them then and they said that you had to buy a separate ticket if you wanted to travel there.

 

Given they operate the service to Darling Harbour anyway, it seemed reasonable that they could cover a ticket to either destination, as the extra travel time is an inconvenience anyway and going there isn't extra cost for them. Darling Harbour works better for me so if they had have at least allowed that I would have used the service, but there's no point just going to Circular Quay. Their loss.

[Tomo72]

We returned to White Bay on Thursday to find the Ferry desk unattended for an hour. The PnO lady nearby tried to help, but eventually admitted they dont know where they were and there was no point in calling the company as they dont answer until 9-930.

 

TAXI!!!!!

[MicCanberra]

I cannot the service running for much longer if they don't man the booth and sell tickets.

[GUT2407]

I cannot the service running for much longer if they don't man the booth and sell tickets.

 

Strange way to run a business, and it's not even the govt running it.

[MicCanberra]

Strange way to run a business, and it's not even the govt running it.

 

Yes, I wonder what the point of it is if they don't even want to sell the tickets.

[Cruizeee]

Strange way to run a business, and it's not even the govt running it.

 

Like many things, if they are trying to prove it's a fruitless venture, lack of sales will see it disappear quickly.

[SinbadThePorter]

Like many things, if they are trying to prove it's a fruitless venture, lack of sales will see it disappear quickly.

 

Has this service improved at all since I used it early December?

 

We got to Circular Quay 2 minutes after the last ferry left from there for White Bay (my fault). So we had to wait for 40 minutes for the next ferry to Darling Harbour in order to catch the White Bay ferry from there. Finally got to Darling Harbour, but found that the Aquarium Wharf was occupied by a Xmas Cruise boat.

 

Had to wait while the Xmas revelers came onboard in dribs and drabs. In the meantime various White Bay ferries came, honked their horn and left.

 

Finally the Xmas cruise got out of the way and we got onto the next White Bay ferry. When it got to White Bay it motored past my ship and then further and further down the wharf, so we were dropped off at what looked like the far end of White Bay wharf.

 

This left us with with about a kilometer or more of walking and carrying baggage over boiling hot concrete to the actual White Bay terminal building.

 

In the end it took about 2 hours to get from Circular Quay to White Bay and at the end of it I was barely in a fit state to stand in the boarding queues.

 

They lost any future business from me.:mad:

[MicCanberra]

Has this service improved at all since I used it early December?

 

We got to Circular Quay 2 minutes after the last ferry left from there for White Bay (my fault). So we had to wait for 40 minutes for the next ferry to Darling Harbour in order to catch the White Bay ferry from there. Finally got to Darling Harbour, but found that the Aquarium Wharf was occupied by a Xmas Cruise boat.

 

Had to wait while the Xmas revelers came onboard in dribs and drabs. In the meantime various White Bay ferries came, honked their horn and left.

 

Finally the Xmas cruise got out of the way and we got onto the next White Bay ferry. When it got to White Bay it motored past my ship and then further and further down the wharf, so we were dropped off at what looked like the far end of White Bay wharf.

 

This left us with with about a kilometer or more of walking and carrying baggage over boiling hot concrete to the actual White Bay terminal building.

 

In the end it took about 2 hours to get from Circular Quay to White Bay and at the end of it I was barely in a fit state to stand in the boarding queues.

 

They lost any future business from me.:mad:

 

Perhaps that is a reason why they have stopped the darling harbour runs. Without having proper wharf/dock facilities for them selves, it makes it hard to run a business.

[gbenjo]

Like many things, if they are trying to prove it's a fruitless venture, lack of sales will see it disappear quickly.

 

i don't see it is a "fruitless venture" I am led to believe the numbers using the service are vey good and Circular Quay makes more sense as there are connecting transport links ie trains,buses and ferries whereas Darling Harbour does not have that sort of faculty close by.

[The_Big_M]

Has this service improved at all since I used it early December?

 

We got to Circular Quay 2 minutes after the last ferry left from there for White Bay (my fault). So we had to wait for 40 minutes for the next ferry to Darling Harbour in order to catch the White Bay ferry from there. Finally got to Darling Harbour, but found that the Aquarium Wharf was occupied by a Xmas Cruise boat.

 

Had to wait while the Xmas revelers came onboard in dribs and drabs. In the meantime various White Bay ferries came, honked their horn and left.

 

Finally the Xmas cruise got out of the way and we got onto the next White Bay ferry. When it got to White Bay it motored past my ship and then further and further down the wharf, so we were dropped off at what looked like the far end of White Bay wharf.

 

This left us with with about a kilometer or more of walking and carrying baggage over boiling hot concrete to the actual White Bay terminal building.

 

In the end it took about 2 hours to get from Circular Quay to White Bay and at the end of it I was barely in a fit state to stand in the boarding queues.

 

They lost any future business from me.:mad:

 

Quite an ordeal. I'm surprised how many different issues they've had operationally, which isn't going to encourage custom.

 

The last thing you mention about dropping you off a km away from the terminal isn't due to Darling Harbour either.

 

Certainly room for improvement...

[Aus Traveller]

Before the launching of this service, Captain Cook Cruises website said that the drop-off point was 700 metres from the cruise terminal. They probably were not able to get a spot any closer.