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Posted
2 hours ago, twangster said:

Ocean Time had a good one for April 1st. 

A update on Lelepa would have been better ,that one has been going for years.

Posted
1 hour ago, KWofPerth said:

So what are we currently thinking? Navigator to Brisbane, or Singapore?

Know one knows?

Going from port bookings across the pacific there’s no evidence either way .

Brisbane still has Voyager booked for the 26-27 season.

Quantum has port bookings in Cairns and 2 odd ones in Brisbane .November/ March which could be a trans pacific to Singapore.

Its your guess.

 

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Posted
On 4/1/2025 at 5:51 PM, KWofPerth said:

So what are we currently thinking? Navigator to Brisbane, or Singapore?

It’s looking like Navigator is going to Singapore as there’s a few port bookings in Hong Kong for it.

It looks like a possible pacific transit via Japan in October and back in April????

 

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Posted

Navigator looks like it may be going Los Angeles to Tokyo then Tokyo to Singapore where it begins normal Singapore itineraries.

Anthem looks like it does a 1 night deadhead repo from Seattle to Vancouver then it does a Hawaii cruise before it's transpacific to Sydney where it begins normal Sydney itineraries.

Quantum looks like it does a 25 night transpacific from Los Angeles to Brisbane where it begins normal Brisbane itineraries.  

The Voyager references for October 2026 and beyond on the Port of Brisbane site appears to be placeholders for Quantum.

Posted

G'Day from Brisbane.  

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I had a decent view of the Botany Bay cargo port in Sydney while landing before connecting to Brisbane.

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It's a rather industrial looking area but then again most US cruise ports are industrial in nature.  Miami, Port Everglades, Cape Liberty, San Pedro, Seattle to name a few, like Brisbane and many cruise ports around the world, cruise terminals often piggyback onto existing deep water cargo ports which are industrial in nature. 

Port Everglades, the first Oasis class home port ever is a secure marine deep water cargo port due to its role in the fuel supply for South Florida requiring a vehicle security inspection just to get into the port area.  Once within the port there are no tourist venues of any kind.

We are lucky in Port Canaveral that Royal has terminal one right beside tourist venues by foot.  The rest of Port Canaveral including the cruise terminals on the other side of the port are out of luck without a shuttle or any transit to get to the touristy side.  That's usually where Voyager class end up.  

The charm of cruising from Sydney has always been Circular Quay with easy access to tourist venues, hotels and transit all by foot with beautiful views for sail away.  If a cruise terminal was added to Botany Bay it seems most of that Sydney charm would be gone for cruisers.

For what it's worth, a source at the port in Brisbane told me that while the first season left some room for improvement, Quantum's season that is just ending has been successful typically over double occupancy (100%) capacity all season long and many times approaching SOLAS maximum capacity.

If that is the case you can see why they are bringing Quantum back.  Don't mess with success.

Posted
3 hours ago, twangster said:

G'Day from Brisbane.  

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20250405_130612.thumb.jpg.26830c5b846ea0322f23056f06a3b355.jpg

I had a decent view of the Botany Bay cargo port in Sydney while landing before connecting to Brisbane.

20250404_102649.thumb.jpg.828ea5db0d553a9c6d9b856128b856da.jpg

20250404_102702.thumb.jpg.9f26b9039f17ea3943019195079443d5.jpg

It's a rather industrial looking area but then again most US cruise ports are industrial in nature.  Miami, Port Everglades, Cape Liberty, San Pedro, Seattle to name a few, like Brisbane and many cruise ports around the world, cruise terminals often piggyback onto existing deep water cargo ports which are industrial in nature. 

Port Everglades, the first Oasis class home port ever is a secure marine deep water cargo port due to its role in the fuel supply for South Florida requiring a vehicle security inspection just to get into the port area.  Once within the port there are no tourist venues of any kind.

We are lucky in Port Canaveral that Royal has terminal one right beside tourist venues by foot.  The rest of Port Canaveral including the cruise terminals on the other side of the port are out of luck without a shuttle or any transit to get to the touristy side.  That's usually where Voyager class end up.  

The charm of cruising from Sydney has always been Circular Quay with easy access to tourist venues, hotels and transit all by foot with beautiful views for sail away.  If a cruise terminal was added to Botany Bay it seems most of that Sydney charm would be gone for cruisers.

For what it's worth, a source at the port in Brisbane told me that while the first season left some room for improvement, Quantum's season that is just ending has been successful typically over double occupancy (100%) capacity all season long and many times approaching SOLAS maximum capacity.

If that is the case you can see why they are bringing Quantum back.  Don't mess with success.

Port Botany has been kicked around for a while as a extra cruise terminal for years.

Our Government is desperately looking for an extra birth and unfortunately Sydney harbour is full . Sydney harbour would have to one of the best ports in the world but  I think once they decide on a place cruise ships will be pushed out .

The current favourite is Port Kembla ,Wollongong , about a hour south. Which is also a industrial port.

As ugly as Port Botany is , it’s ideal. It’s only 15-20 minutes from central Sydney and you can throw a rock at the airport with 1.2 kilometres of straight wharf.

The N.S.W government approached the current owners,Hutchison ports a few years ago. They said they weren’t interested in the cruise industry as they were tired up with the Chinese belt and road cargo project .

Hopefully BlackRock might have a different view if they take it over but apparently the takeover is being blocked by the Chinese government.

 

 

Posted

Quantum and Anthem confirmed.

The pricing looks reasonable, noting it is in Aussie dollars, but are not school holiday sailings.

Another point to note, is that the NZ sailing only includes Dusky Sound. No Doubtful or Milford 😞

Posted
16 minutes ago, KWofPerth said:

Quantum and Anthem confirmed.

The pricing looks reasonable, noting it is in Aussie dollars, but are not school holiday sailings.

Another point to note, is that the NZ sailing only includes Dusky Sound. No Doubtful or Milford 😞

They were talking about banning ships in Milford 

Posted
10 minutes ago, KWofPerth said:

Looks like it's either happened, or Royal has seen the writing on the wall and doesn't want to advertise what it can't deliver.

If it’s true , going to hurt their bookings . The only reason I would go to the South Island is to see the sounds . The rest are all ugly industrial ports .

Posted
7 minutes ago, Chili said:

If it’s true , going to hurt their bookings . The only reason I would go to the South Island is to see the sounds . The rest are all ugly industrial ports .

I've said before and I'll say again, visiting NZ by cruise just doesn't do it justice. It's the perfect road trip holiday.

Saying that, a cruise is a cruise and will still be enjoyable. 

Posted
9 hours ago, KWofPerth said:

Quantum and Anthem confirmed.

The pricing looks reasonable, noting it is in Aussie dollars, but are not school holiday sailings.

Another point to note, is that the NZ sailing only includes Dusky Sound. No Doubtful or Milford 😞

Meaning of course, Navigator to Singapore. Could be a good option.

Posted
9 hours ago, KWofPerth said:

Quantum and Anthem confirmed.

The pricing looks reasonable, noting it is in Aussie dollars, but are not school holiday sailings.

Another point to note, is that the NZ sailing only includes Dusky Sound. No Doubtful or Milford 😞

I was wondering why that sailing was so cheap. I might book even if it is only 9 days. I would like to visit Dunedin, missed out last year.

8 hours ago, Chili said:

They were talking about banning ships in Milford 

I'm not surprised in the slightest. 
 

8 hours ago, Chili said:

If it’s true , going to hurt their bookings . The only reason I would go to the South Island is to see the sounds . The rest are all ugly industrial ports .

Yes. I went to visit all of these ports last year on my 10 day cruise. They were indeed all industrial working ports and were almost like a 25-40 minute bus trip to/from the port. I'm glad I got to see Dusky, Milford and Doubtful then if they really are banning cruise ships from entering the Sounds. 

Posted

Just saw yesterday morning royal added one cruise to New Zealand in November 2026 depart sydney and today they have taken it off along with one Pacific island one in Feb 2027 from brisbane... Got excited they were finally doing deployment after delay and delay... Now have a teaser and took it back so quickly..

Posted
7 hours ago, twangster said:

It's still curious to me that test loads exist.  Isn't that why IT has prod and test?  

Amen. Or how when they do load the real sailings in, they seem to get loaded in piece meal. They don't have batch/mass publish functionality?

Posted
1 hour ago, Chili said:

26-27 should be out this week, I think it’s usually around Wednesday.

Some time around 0z Wednesday, sometimes a couple hours earlier. But that's like Friday afternoon for you Aussies right?😀

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