Overcrowded Sydney Harbour

[KWofPerth]

It appears to me that the delay in the release of Australian itineraries is all down to RCI's pulling of Voyager from the overcrowded Sydney Harbour. There is simply not enough space at the Overseas Passenger Terminal to accommodate all the ships that want to dock there. With local governments not coming to the party to invest in infrastructure or make use of Garden Island (naval base), RCI reached the reluctant decision to move Voyager to Sydney and sail Radiance out of Melbourne/Auckland.

http://www.escape.com.au/holiday-ideas/cruises/ocean/voyager-of-the-seas-to-finish-cruising-in-australia/news-story/603f56149a14b3c0ab366700ead2e02b

This is quite sad considering how the industry is booming down this way, and the thrill of sailing out of Sydney Harbour.

[WAAAYTOOO]

I had gathered that this was the problem - that the government had not been willing to invest in upgrading the facilities there.  What a shame !

[KWofPerth]

A couple more articles on the subject...

http://www.travelweekly.com.au/article/sydneys-cruise-tourism-economy-sinking/

http://www.travelweekly.com.au/article/tourism-at-risk-as-cruise-ships-sail-past-sydney/

The second article at least concludes with this optimistic quote from the Managing Director -

“We expect that local demand for Royal Caribbean’s innovative and ground breaking ships will see a fourth Royal Caribbean ship return to Australian shores in 2019/20. Our determination to remain the number one cruise line in this region is undiminished,” Armstrong concluded.

[PRC]

Apparently there's issues all over the region.  

 

Auckland's pushing back:

 

http://m.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11848618

 

[KWofPerth]

11 minutes ago, PRC said:

Apparently there's issues all over the region.  

 

Auckland's pushing back:

 

http://m.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11848618

 

Ouch. Stinging article!

[RCVoyager]

5 hours ago, PRC said:

Apparently there's issues all over the region.  

 

Auckland's pushing back:

 

http://m.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11848618

 

In some ways I get it when it comes to spending tax payer money to accommodate private interests.  Here in the US, professional sports franchises hold cities hostage exactly the same way all the time.  It's not pretty, but it's how business gets done.

I don't know if Auckland should build the facility the RCCL is requesting or not, but I get the feeling this particular writer has an agenda that is beyond a yes or no answer to the question.  When I see an article that is so one sided that contains rhetoric such as "Armstrong's pride and joy the Ovation of the Seas", I smell a rat.

Why was there no mention of the economic advantages such an investment would bring?  Why was there no mention of civic pride?  There was nothing about opportunities for Australians to travel around the world from Auckland.  There wasn't even really a complaint about how much it would cost.  It was a one-sided hit piece from beginning to end.

Again, I don't know if the local Government should build this thing or not, but reading an article like this, with its agenda, tells me it's a pretty good idea.

 

 

[EmersonNZ]

This has become a bit of an issue for Auckland.... there are two issues at play (1) environmentally it means extending into the sea. Our Resource Management Act while allowing this means the extension has to be weighed up against impact to environment, cultural concerns and concerns of other users etc. (2) as suggested there is a genuine feeling that local government needs to be careful building infrastructure that benefits a commercial entity (foreign at that) without clear commitments which would see a return on investment (Especially as the Port itself is a company, though ironically partly owned by Auckland City). IT is easy to say 'but the city benefits from tourism, while true the reality is that benefit in the case of cruise ships (due to their one day stay ) is normally limited to small groups of residents. It certainly is a huge positve benefit... but hard to argue that that benefit which is not highly distributed should not be paid for by those that benefit the most (The port who gets the port fees, the cruise company or the tourism operators etc). I cna argue it either way.

The good news it looks like Auckland will be getting an extension maybe a bit later than it should have. It's funny to think that far small cities in New Zealand (my home of Dunedin with a population of $128k v Auckland 1.4m for example) has a port able to doc Quantum or Oasis class (in our case 2 at once if the need is ever there) ships but Auckland doesn't.

[soak01]

It appears that the 2018/19 Australia/NZ deployment has again been delayed, possibly now until early June.  The previously advertised deployment schedule has also been removed from the RCL website, so something must be afoot.  Is it only Radiance, Explorer, Ovation and Voyager which are yet to be deployed.  Maybe we are going to get a further new ship or could RCL base a ship year-round (well I can dream!).

[EmersonNZ]

I don't think it too long before Australia gets a ship year round. It might not be a Quantum/OASIS size ship to start with but I could see a Voyager or Radiance doing top end Australia and/or South Pacific cruises through the southern hemisphere winter (A heck of a lot of Kiwis and Aussies head to the Pacific for a mid winter escape so why not do it on a cruise ship?).