NSW goes to the polls tomorrow in a close-fought battle that could mean the end of the cruise industry’s hopes of expansion.
Labor and the Liberals are neck-and-neck, with Labor ahead in some surveys.
Their leader, Michael Daley, has already vowed to “kill stone dead” the idea of putting cruise ships at Port Botany.
And even though the Federal Government has made the project a priority, the looming election for national seats in May could mean Bill Shorten calls the shots.
And there can be little doubt that he would be unlikely to impose a Port Botany development on NSW with Mr Daley in charge.
So with Garden Island ruled out, that leaves Sydney expansion with no-where to go.
Meanwhile Queensland is quietly showing NSW the way, with Brisbane’s Luggage Point already signing up megaliners for its kick-off season in 2020.
Royal Caribbean announced this week it will homeport Radiance of the Seas at the terminal from November 2020, sailing more than 20 cruises and giving the economy a $20 million boost from passenger spending.
Susan Bonner, managing director of Royal Caribbean International in Australia and New Zealand, promised a one-fifth increase in sailings in future, adding returning to Queensland after a three-year absence is an important part of the line’s growth plans.
Carnival Cruise Lines has already announced its 2,124-passenger Carnival Spirit will operate out of the city year-round starting in 2020.
The ship currently is based in Sydney.
The Carnival Spirit would offer voyages out of Brisbane to the South Pacific with stops in Vanuatu and New Caledonia. It’ll also offer short trips to the North Queensland region of Australia.
Port of Brisbane Chief Executive Roy Cummins said Luggage Point opens up ‘a whole new world’ of opportunities for cruising in Queensland.
“Providing capacity for mega cruise liners like Radiance of the Seas means more investment in the region and more jobs,” Cummins said.
President of Carnival Australia and P&O Cruises Australia, Sture Myrmell, said the new terminal was a ‘win-win’ for cruising as well as the Queensland economy.
“It means Brisbane can take its place on the world cruising map for some of the globe’s most iconic cruise lines with ships too large to use existing facilities at Portside,” Mr Myrmell said.
“The terminal will be a major piece of national infrastructure and the single most important investment in cruise tourism in Queensland in 12 years.”
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In relation to the comment about the Radiance to Brisbane…if true…
Radiance of the Seas ????????????? = FLOP and a kick in the cruising aft end for Brisbane !
This is a nice but OLD ship with little to offer over the other list of OLD ships sailing out of Brisbane. When will RC and P&O Australia get real about supporting this new terminal with a newer class of ship.
The new facility was deigned to cater for large ships not sub 100,000 t dwarfs. Get real. Looks like we will have to continue the trip to Sydney to experience modern cruising.
There is No Way we will book on any ship as it currently stands out of Brisbane, except maybe for the Spirit, which is very sad for the locals who again have been shafted by RC and P&O Australia. Good luck to Sydney, who seems to now have returned a friendly Liberal government who likes to support large cruise liners.
State Govt. in Qld must be wondering what is going on. There was a real chance here to send, even if only for a limited number of sailings, a mega liner to Brisbane to launch the new facility to the world market. Sailing out of Brisbane cuts days from reaching south pacific islands/FNQ and could have opened up new opportunities. Sadly we will be stuck with more of the same and have to drive further out of the city to access the old tubs. Not our family.
Well !!!! after reading all these reports re Sydney not being able to expand more cruise terminals and Brisbane taking on more cruiseships, I lament to think what Melbourne powers to be are thinking. Melbourne is the home port for The Golden Princess only. It’s very frustrating to Melburnian cruisers to hear all this, when basically we always have to fly somewhere else to embark on a cruise. There is huge revenue to be gained from cruise ships now & well into the future, but no we just keep our heads in the sand and let the revenue go to all the other states as up grading the port of Melbourne has no priority in the foreseeable future. Good luck to the other cities who are able to see the feasability of such a venture.
Unfortunately, Newcastle harbour belongs to the Chinese, nit the NSW government.
I have sent numerous pictures and ideas where the Government could berth the extra cruise ships on Sydney harbour and have been ignored. The process would cost very little. You can see the Sea walk as it is in Norway Geiranger and there is spaces on Sydney Harbour, east side of Bradley’s Head and west side of Port Jackson Bay out of the ferry lanes and there is no residence to get upset and no need to use any roads and ferries just pick up from the Walk way and take people back to Circular Quay . I don’t think either government wants to do anything with it and are ignoring it. If they had run out of ideas why don’t they ask the people of Sydney for ideas but no as they are not interested in it. They are quick to implement a Green tax on Ships but give nothing back in return.
If you are not going into Sydney Harbour, then come to Wollongong (Port Kembla) or/and Newcastle (Port Waratah).