Live from Pacific Explorer - 31st May - Australia is Cruising Again

[arxcards]

First impressions of arriving at the new terminal. Number one is that you ate there much quicker. The cruise lines will love the time it saves on the Noumea crossing, and the possible delays because of strong winds on the river.

 

I took a look out on deck, and I see a new terminal, an expansive parking area, planes landing into the airport, ships docked at the wharves opposite, plenty of mangroves, and the Gateway bridge in the distance.

 

It might be different on the road into Brisbane, but you would have to know there is a waste treatment plant there to include it in your impression.

 

Still, there is that preconceived notion that will long be raised by those that know the area.

 

More pictures later.

[arxcards]

2 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

We can see the ship from our house. Great to see a cruise ship docked in Brisbane.🙂

Can you see me waving? 😂

[OzKiwiJJ]

43 minutes ago, possum52 said:

We were charged for the shuttle from the grain terminal back in 2015 and also took the ferry from Portside. Love that cruise up the river to the CBD.

The last time we did the ferry trip, in 2019 on the Hawaii/Tahiti cruise, the ferry captain was a real character. He kept up a steady banter about captains of real boats (the ferry) versus captains of "that big white thing", then went past the ferry terminal so everyone could get great photos of the ship, before returning to the ferry terminal to drop us all off. Great fun!

 

I hope they eventually run ferries up to the new cruise terminal when there is a ship in port. It's so much nicer getting the ferry on a lovely sunny day then sitting on a shuttle bus.

[Porky55]

4 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I hope they eventually run ferries up to the new cruise terminal when there is a ship in port. It's so much nicer getting the ferry on a lovely sunny day then sitting on a shuttle bus.

Would assume this will be demand driven - if we ask CityCat often enough and enough people, maybe they’ll see the need? 🙏🤞

[cme2c]

38 minutes ago, arxcards said:

First impressions of arriving at the new terminal. Number one is that you ate there much quicker. The cruise lines will love the time it saves on the Noumea crossing, and the possible delays because of strong winds on the river.

 

I took a look out on deck, and I see a new terminal, an expansive parking area, planes landing into the airport, ships docked at the wharves opposite, plenty of mangroves, and the Gateway bridge in the distance.

 

It might be different on the road into Brisbane, but you would have to know there is a waste treatment plant there to include it in your impression.

 

Still, there is that preconceived notion that will long be raised by those that know the area.

 

More pictures later.

That looks nice! Better than dodging around containers!

[Aus Traveller]

1 hour ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Princess charged us the one time we docked at the grain terminal. I'm not sure whether the shuttles at Portside were free on the times we stopped there as we took the ferry into the city.

I don't think there were shuttle buses from Portside to the CBD. People could use the ferries.

[Aus Traveller]

43 minutes ago, arxcards said:

Can you see me waving? 😂

I looked carefully, but even with my binoculars I couldn't see you. ☹️ The atmosphere is a bit hazy this morning.

[Aus Traveller]

32 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I hope they eventually run ferries up to the new cruise terminal when there is a ship in port. It's so much nicer getting the ferry on a lovely sunny day then sitting on a shuttle bus.

I think it is unlikely they will extend the ferry route to the new cruise terminal. It takes a cruise ship a full hour to travel that far so, at a guess, it could take a CityCat around half an hour. It would be a more scenic trip to the CBD than by road, but much, much slower than in a bus or car.

[Cbtours]

23 minutes ago, cme2c said:

That looks nice! Better than dodging around containers!

Looks and sounds great 

[Kiwi_cruiser]

Pacific Explorer made it to Brisbane!:

 

 

 

[Kiwi_cruiser]

On 6/1/2022 at 8:55 AM, NSWP said:

Tell Capitano to turn on the bridgecam, it is not in operation.

 

I have been nagging P&O on Facebook about her webcam!

 

I guess its time for another nag, lol

[OzKiwiJJ]

47 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

I don't think there were shuttle buses from Portside to the CBD. People could use the ferries.

I do recall seeing buses on a couple of occasions but didn't take much notice of them as we were going to use the ferry. 

[OzKiwiJJ]

42 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

I think it is unlikely they will extend the ferry route to the new cruise terminal. It takes a cruise ship a full hour to travel that far so, at a guess, it could take a CityCat around half an hour. It would be a more scenic trip to the CBD than by road, but much, much slower than in a bus or car.

I don' t think they'd extend it on a regular basis but might run special ferries when ships are in port, perhaps at a higher fare. Not in the immediate future though. 

 

If there are no other ferry stops between the new terminal and the current last one then it would be a clean run. Those CityCats move fairly quickly but it is a considerable distance from Portside by water.

 

Ah well, I guess we'll be staying on the ship on cruises that include a Brisbane port visit, unless we need to do some shopping.

[Aus Traveller]

21 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I don' t think they'd extend it on a regular basis but might run special ferries when ships are in port, perhaps at a higher fare. Not in the immediate future though. 

 

If there are no other ferry stops between the new terminal and the current last one then it would be a clean run. Those CityCats move fairly quickly but it is a considerable distance from Portside by water.

 

Ah well, I guess we'll be staying on the ship on cruises that include a Brisbane port visit, unless we need to do some shopping.

It would be great if they ran a special cruise CityCat - from the new terminal directly to the CBD where the could make a couple of stops and to Southbank. However, they would have to build a new jetty for the ferry at the new terminal because the existing wharf would be too high for it to be used for a river ferry. A new ferry pontoon would cost a lot. I can't see it happening.

[Elorac123]

25 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I don' t think they'd extend it on a regular basis but might run special ferries when ships are in port, perhaps at a higher fare. Not in the immediate future though. 

 

If there are no other ferry stops between the new terminal and the current last one then it would be a clean run. Those CityCats move fairly quickly but it is a considerable distance from Portside by water.

 

Ah well, I guess we'll be staying on the ship on cruises that include a Brisbane port visit, unless we need to do some shopping.

Wouldn’t mind betting a lot of people think your way too.

A $50 to $60 fare to Brisbane would add a lot to your shopping

[OzKiwiJJ]

22 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

It would be great if they ran a special cruise CityCat - from the new terminal directly to the CBD where the could make a couple of stops and to Southbank. However, they would have to build a new jetty for the ferry at the new terminal because the existing wharf would be too high for it to be used for a river ferry. A new ferry pontoon would cost a lot. I can't see it happening.

I agree it's unlikely but ... wouldn't it be great. 

[OzKiwiJJ]

19 minutes ago, Elorac123 said:

Wouldn’t mind betting a lot of people think your way too.

A $50 to $60 fare to Brisbane would add a lot to your shopping

The problem with the new terminal is that there is nothing there. Portside had shops, restaurants and cafes, and a movie theatre, so when you had to get off the ship for passport checks as happened to us on one cruise, you could at least fill in the time pottering around Portside.

[arxcards]

2 hours ago, Porky55 said:

Would assume this will be demand driven - if we ask CityCat often enough and enough people, maybe they’ll see the need? 🙏🤞

They will need a wharf first. 

[arxcards]

1 hour ago, Kiwi_cruiser said:

 

I have been nagging P&O on Facebook about her webcam!

 

I guess its time for another nag, lol

Check the cam sites. Explorers cam did ping just before they arrived in April. Maybe it is active again, but doesn't have a link to it.

[arxcards]

33 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

The problem with the new terminal is that there is nothing there. Portside had shops, restaurants and cafes, and a movie theatre, so when you had to get off the ship for passport checks as happened to us on one cruise, you could at least fill in the time pottering around Portside.

Give it time. For now it is a bit barren, but it is nice outside the terminal and plenty of room for food trucks for now. There was a coffee and cake truck there this morning. 

[arxcards]

Just to add, this terminal has the capacity to turnaround any ship in the world, from the most convenient location for the best Coast in Australia and the Pacific Islands. Watch this space.

 

I said hello to your premier this morning. Well, actually I called out to thank her and she stopped to acknowledge me.

 

Your terminal is officially open.

 

[Cbtours]

1 minute ago, arxcards said:

Just to add, this terminal has the capacity to turnaround any ship in the world, from the most convenient location for the best Coast in Australia and the Pacific Islands. Watch this space.

 

I said hello to your premier this morning. Well, actually I called out to thank her and she stopped to acknowledge me.

 

Your terminal is officially open.

 

Love it! Did you add her to CC lol

[arxcards]

For anyone who is seeing Brisbane media, there is a group shot of Annastasia with a bunch of cruisers in white t-shirts. Barb is in the picture. It would be a great souvenir if it is published.

[Cbtours]

Just now, arxcards said:

For anyone who is seeing Brisbane media, there is a group shot of Annastasia with a bunch of cruisers in white t-shirts. Barb is in the picture. It would be a great souvenir if it is published.

Wow fame!

[CDaze71]

16 minutes ago, arxcards said:

For anyone who is seeing Brisbane media, there is a group shot of Annastasia with a bunch of cruisers in white t-shirts. Barb is in the picture. It would be a great souvenir if it is published.

Is that the selfie I saw from Cruising with Honey ?