Brisbane International Cruise Terminal Not Finished On Time?

[DDG 41]

According to @springaussie in the 2020-2021 RCI Deployment thread the BICT will not be finished on time and both Carnival and RCI will be forced to used the grain terminal the whole season. Not Looking good. At least they have a small semi-temporary terminal with a cafe in the grain terminals limited facilities. In Addition if this is true could we see Portside continuing to serve Pacific Explorer in 2021 as she can get down the river. Does anyone know whether like when they have done previous turnarounds at the grain terminal will Portside be used a staging area and then send guest over by bus and bags over my trucks? This still may just be a rumor as the port schedule (https://www.portbris.com.au/Operations-and-Trade/Shipping-Schedule/) still has them calling at BICT.

 

 

Here a quote:

"Royal Caribbean and Carnival are using the Grain Terminal Fisherman Islands for the 20/21 season and not the new cruise terminal in Brisbane.  I assume it will not be finished on time.

( Info supplied by Royal Caribbean and Carnival phone bookings)"

 

Here the link:

 

Edited April 11, 2019 by DDG 41

[Mr&MrsCookie]

Don't believe everything you read.  If there was a chance of it not being finished on time, then I'm sure we all would have got wind of it in Brisbane at least by now.  

If the grain terminal had to be used, then everything you would assume would probably happen there.  The only times I've heard about people getting processed at Portside and bused to grain terminal was when there was a last minute change eg recently was too windy to get to Portside so docked at grain terminal and people were bused there.  

[Aus Traveller]

I am not getting into the discussion about whether the terminal will be completed on time or not, but on a few occasions, we have checked in and boarded the ship at the Grain Terminal.

[By The Bay]

From the Port of Brisbane web site :Media Release

 

“Queenslanders are eagerly awaiting the opening of the terminal next year, which will be ready for the 2020 cruising season.”

 

I will go with this information. Time will tell.

 

I also noted this: "There are currently no local or state government plans to link the BICT to public transport options."

[MicCanberra]

I am not surprised either way, sometimes these projects get finished on time and sometimes they do not. No big deal.

[SinbadThePorter]

I would be very surprised if this is true, mainly because we are still 18 months out from the completion date.

 

Unless they have found out that something is catastrophically wrong with the site, I don't think they'd even be able to tell this far out that they weren't going to make the deadline.

 

I would imagine that the Grain Terminal will still get some use whenever there are two large ships in port. Maybe that is where the confusion lies.

[Dobby_The_Ship_Elf]

I drove past it all last week ....... mega road werx and buildings everywhere

 

[DDG 41]

1 hour ago, Dobby_The_Ship_Elf said:

I drove past it all last week ....... mega road werx and buildings everywhere

 

Drove past it? Do you drive on the river? How? The Construction site is along the river and is only able to seen by a little round about.

[The_Big_M]

10 hours ago, By The Bay said:

From the Port of Brisbane web site :Media Release

 

“Queenslanders are eagerly awaiting the opening of the terminal next year, which will be ready for the 2020 cruising season.”

 

I will go with this information. Time will tell.

 

I also noted this: "There are currently no local or state government plans to link the BICT to public transport options."

 

Another unfortunate approach. Why are our governments so backward thinking? In most overseas centres, integration with public transport is a key design element.

[MicCanberra]

I thought there was some government funding for the road network in the area.

[MicCanberra]

https://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/traffic-transport/roads-infrastructure-bikeways/current-road-intersection-upgrades/brisbane-international-cruise-terminal-roads-upgrade-pinkenba

[Kiwi Kruzer]

The best thing they could add to the upgrade would be a parking building.

At least that would be profitable.

[MicCanberra]

1 hour ago, Kiwi Kruzer said:

The best thing they could add to the upgrade would be a parking building.

At least that would be profitable.

I agree, there is never enough consideration to new builds for parking and transport. Most places get built and then 6 months later get retrofitted with some of these necessities to help cope with the demand.

[Aus Traveller]

2 hours ago, Kiwi Kruzer said:

The best thing they could add to the upgrade would be a parking building.

At least that would be profitable.

There isn't a parking building near Portside, just private parking operators. When we were speaking to one of these late last year, he said he could operate just as easily with ships docked at the new terminal. His facility is a couple of kilometres down-river from Portside.

[MicCanberra]

1 minute ago, Aus Traveller said:

There isn't a parking building near Portside, just private parking operators. When we were speaking to one of these late last year, he said he could operate just as easily with ships docked at the new terminal. His facility is a couple of kilometres down-river from Portside.

That would work with a shuttle.

[Aus Traveller]

1 minute ago, MicCanberra said:

That would work with a shuttle.

That is what the parking operators do - they each have a few mini buses that run a continuous shuttle service when a ship is in port.

[Aus Traveller]

9 hours ago, The_Big_M said:

 

Another unfortunate approach. Why are our governments so backward thinking? In most overseas centres, integration with public transport is a key design element.

The location for the new terminal was chosen as an ideal place for larger cruise ships to dock. It is at the mouth of the river in a location that is wide enough for them to turn. Not far past this area, the river becomes too narrow for large ships to turn. Then there is the Gateway Bridge that restricts the size of ships that can pass up the river.

 

This rather remote location is great for the ships, but it makes regular public transport unfeasible. It is one hour by cruise ship from Portside, near where the last CityCat stop (Bretts Wharf) is. Even if the ferry could travel the distance in (say) 40 minutes that is a lot of extra time out of a visitor's day. Add that 40 minutes to the scheduled time from Bretts Wharf to the city. That is probably another 40 minutes or more. I don't think the number of passengers wanting to travel on the CityCat would warrant a special service.

 

There would be no reason to have public buses running to the new terminal because there is nothing else in the area for them to service. It is most likely that a shuttle bus would operate to the city. This is what happens from the Grain Terminal (across the river from the new terminal).  That would be a faster trip to the city for passengers rather than a public bus that stops continually.

[MicCanberra]

Agreed, but they may also incorporate a river shuttle, at least that way they can still get to the city by river.

[Aus Traveller]

33 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

Agreed, but they may also incorporate a river shuttle, at least that way they can still get to the city by river.

I don't think a ferry service would be cost effective. The Council has only 21 fast ferries and I don't think they would want to take a few out of their regular service to operate to the mouth of the river for cruise ship pax. Only a limited number of pax would want to take the long river trip to the city so the ferry would be only partly full, with no back-loading. Even now, the CityCat from Bretts Wharf to the city has only a small number of ship pax on board.

 

Buses would provide a faster and cheaper ride. They would cover costs with probably only 25-30 pax, but would easily fill up. A few buses could operated a continuous shuttle service as the trip to the city would be about 45 minutes (half the time of the ferry). Currently the shuttle buses from the Grain Terminal cost $20 to the city. This service can be operated by a private bus company, while obviously the ferry service would have to be the City Council.

[MicCanberra]

Wouldn't have to be all the way into the city, could be a private shuttle or boat between Brett's wharf and the new terminal.

[SinbadThePorter]

1 hour ago, Aus Traveller said:

I don't think a ferry service would be cost effective. The Council has only 21 fast ferries and I don't think they would want to take a few out of their regular service to operate to the mouth of the river for cruise ship pax. Only a limited number of pax would want to take the long river trip to the city so the ferry would be only partly full, with no back-loading. Even now, the CityCat from Bretts Wharf to the city has only a small number of ship pax on board.

 

Citycat ferries are available for charter:

 

http://www.transdevbrisbane.com.au/brisbane-ferries/charter-a-citycat/

 

"The CityCats can carry up to 162 passengers and are available between 11.30-14.00 and after 19.00, Monday – Friday and all day Saturday, Sunday and public holidays."

 

Although as you can see the hours are not convenient, except on weekends.

 

The trip from Eagle St wharf in the CBD to Apollo Rd wharf at the end of the ferry run is about 45 minutes. Although a lot of that is picking up and dropping off passengers, so probably about 30 minutes direct. The distance from Apollo Rd to the new cruise terminal is roughly comparable, so a chartered express citycat should be about 60 minutes. Outside of peak hour a bus or taxi should be about 30 minutes. Inside of peak hour, who knows?

 

That said I don't think it will happen. It will be private shuttle buses and taxis.

[MicCanberra]

Possible excursion/transfer to the CBD for people.

[Aus Traveller]

5 hours ago, SinbadThePorter said:

 

Citycat ferries are available for charter:

 

http://www.transdevbrisbane.com.au/brisbane-ferries/charter-a-citycat/

 

"The CityCats can carry up to 162 passengers and are available between 11.30-14.00 and after 19.00, Monday – Friday and all day Saturday, Sunday and public holidays."

 

Although as you can see the hours are not convenient, except on weekends.

 

The trip from Eagle St wharf in the CBD to Apollo Rd wharf at the end of the ferry run is about 45 minutes. Although a lot of that is picking up and dropping off passengers, so probably about 30 minutes direct. The distance from Apollo Rd to the new cruise terminal is roughly comparable, so a chartered express citycat should be about 60 minutes. Outside of peak hour a bus or taxi should be about 30 minutes. Inside of peak hour, who knows?

 

That said I don't think it will happen. It will be private shuttle buses and taxis.

That is most likely.

 

A CityCat could be hired for a weekend ship visit, but it wouldn't be economic as a way to get to the CBD. Maybe it  could work as a Shore Excursion - a guided leisurely boat trip up the river followed by a guided tour around SouthBank with morning tea.

[MicCanberra]

Found this post on another thread. Credit to Porky55

[The_Big_M]

15 hours ago, Kiwi Kruzer said:

The best thing they could add to the upgrade would be a parking building.

At least that would be profitable.

 

That's only of use to locals, and only a limited number of them. 

 

Parking isn't a long term viable option for growth; it gets you into the same mess as a lack of terminals, and encourages congestion and just isn't suitable for many.